The
Tri-Cities of Virginia (also known as the
Tri-City area or the Appomatox
Basin) is an area in the Greater Richmond Region which includes
the three independent cities of
Petersburg
, Colonial Heights
, and Hopewell
and portions of the adjoining counties of Chesterfield
, Dinwiddie
, and Prince George
in south-central Virginia
.
Other
unincorporated communities
located in the Tri-Cities area include Ettrick
, Fort
Lee
, and City Point
, the latter formerly a historic incorporated town which was annexed to
become part of the City of Hopewell.
Regional description
 Greater Richmond Region
|
Close-up of the Tri-Cities
|
The
Tri-Cities area is centered on the Appomattox River about 25 miles south of
Richmond
. The Appomattox has its confluence with the
James River near historic
City
Point in Hopewell. The applicable
Metropolitan Statistical Area
for the Tri-Cities area is the
Richmond, VA MSA, which includes Richmond
and counties generally to the north of the Tri-Cities area.
Economic diversity is typical of the entire
Richmond-Petersburg region, and helps to
insulate it from hardship due to economic fluctuation in particular
sectors of the economy. The region's central location also allows
it to benefit from growth in other regions of Virginia and the
state as a whole.
Transportation in the Tri-Cities
Interstate 95 is the major
north-south highway.
Interstate 85 and
Interstate 295 also pass
through, as does
U.S.
Route 1 (
Jefferson Davis Highway),
U.S. Route 301,
State Route 144 (Temple Avenue).
Major east-west highways are
U.S. Route 460,
State Route 10, and
State Route 36.
Major
river crossings include the Martin Luther
King Memorial Bridge
and the twin Charles
Hardaway Marks Bridges
across the Appomattox
River, and the Varina-Enon
Bridge and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial
Bridge
across the James
River.
Amtrak passenger railroad
service is provided with a station at Ettrick, an unincorporated town in Chesterfield
County adjacent to both Petersburg and Colonial Heights.
Freight railroad service is provided by both
CSX Transportation and
Norfolk Southern
Corporation.
Bus Transportation is provided by the
Petersburg Area Transit [203397]. There are nine routes serving parts of
Petersburg, Ettrick, Colonial Heights (Southpark Mall area), Fort
Lee, and Prince George County that all have their intersection in
Old Town.
PAT and GRTC together
provide express bus service between Richmond and Petersburg, with
some express buses stopping at John Tyler Community College in
Chester
.
Media
Periodicals include:
Radio and
television stations are the same as those listed for Richmond,
Virginia.
Culture
Like many
cities in the United States, the city of Petersburg is a city that has sought to revitalize the
dilapidated and crime-ridden reputation of its downtown area by
promoting its arts scene. In the 1990s and 2000s, several
areas including the "Old Town" area has seen increased remodeling
and renovating of old, abandoned buildings into
loft apartments and eclectic restaurants. In
2004, the Shockoe Bottom Arts group moved from downtown Richmond to
downtown Petersburg due to lower real estate prices there.
Several
antique shops, an abandoned train station,
and a theater are the centerpiece of "old town" See Also: Petersburg
Similarly, Hopewell has commenced a revitalization projects with
renovations of their harbor complex, "Town Triangle," and the
historic Beacon Theater.
Other
cultural productions in the tri-cities occur at local colleges and
at the Fort
Lee Playhouse on Fort Lee.
Education
Educational facilities in the region are listed as follows:
- K-12
- Colleges and Universities
Infrastructure
The area is served by several
hospitals,
John Randolph Medical
Center (a
HCA Hospital) (Hopewell),
Hiram Davis Medical
Center (Acute Care) (Petersburg),
Southside Regional Medical
Center (Petersburg), and Poplar Springs Hospital (psychiatric
facility) (Petersburg).
Southpark Mall
Southpark
Mall is a large regional
shopping
mall in the tri-cities area. Built in 1988 at the intersection
of
State Route 144 and
Interstate 95, the
mall complex has expanded significantly to
include many
big box retailers.
While the mall itself
is located in Colonial Heights, Virginia, other development has increased throughout the
tri-cities.
Fort Lee
Fort Lee is a
United States Army
post and headquarters of the U.S. Army
Combined Arms Support Command
(CASCOM), U.S. Army
Quartermaster Center and
School (QMCS), the
Army Logistics Management
College (ALMC) and the U.S.
Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA).
A
United States Army
Forces Command (FORSCOM) unit, the
49th Quartermaster
Group (Petroleum and Water), is stationed here. Fort Lee also
hosts two Army museums, the U.S.
Army Quartermaster Museum and the
U.S.
Army Women's Museum. The
fort is named for
Confederate General Robert E.
Lee. Military personnel make up a
significant presence in the tri-cities area.
Federal Prisons
The Tri-cities also is home to a
federal
prison complex called the
Petersburg Federal
Correctional Complex. It consists of medium and low security
Federal Correctional
Institution known respectively as
FCI Petersburg Medium and
FCI Petersburg Low. Despite its name, the
address of the Petersburg Federal Correctional Complex is actually
in Prince George County. In addition, there is United States
Probation Office near FCI - Petersburg, in
Colonial Heights, Virginia, and the
two agencies enjoy a supportive relationship.
Industries
Civil War history
Many sites in the tri-cities area have names reflecting the
region's role in the
American Civil
War.
A major logistics base for the Union Army
was located at City Point and the City Point
Railroad that enabled the siege of Petersburg
is still in operation today. The history of the
Battle of
the Crater
can be viewed in Petersburg
National Battlefield Park
and is commemorated in nearby Crater Road
and the Fort Lee entry "Mahone Gate" gate named after Brigadier
General William Mahone, the hero of
the Battle of
the Crater during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. Fort Lee
itself is named after Confederate Civil War hero Robert E. Lee.
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