►
Description
On the latest episode of Chesterfield Behind the Mic, we talk to Dan Cohen, the director of community enhancement, about what his department does, what revitalization means for Chesterfield, how critical affordable housing is, and much more.
Credits:
Director: Martin Stith
Executive Producer: Teresa Bonifas
Producer/Writer/Host: Brad Franklin
Director of Photography/Editor: Matt Boyce
Producer/Camera Operator: Martin Stith and Matt Neese
Graphics: Debbie Wrenn
Promotions and Media: J. Elias O’Neal
Music:
Hip Hop This by Seven Pounds
Inspiring Electronic Rock by Alex Grohl
Guest:
Dan Cohen, Director of Community Enhancement
Filmed in-house by the Department of Communications and Media
Chesterfield.gov/podcast
Follow us on social media! On Facebook, like our page: Chesterfield Behind the Mic. On Twitter, you can find us at @ChesterfieldVa and on Instagram it’s @ChesterfieldVirginia. And you can also watch the podcast on WCCT TV Thursday through Sunday at 7 p.m. as well as on weekends at noon on Comcast Channel 98 and Verizon Channel 28.
A
A
Once
again,
we've
got
an
interesting
show
for
you
today,
a
little
bit
of
a
different
topic,
something
that
we
haven't
talked
a
lot
about,
but
something
that
is
obviously
on
the
minds
of
a
lot
of
folks,
especially
after
the
recent
Ettrick
Landing
announcement
and
sort
of
the
idea
of
community
enhancement
of
revitalization,
of
affordable
housing,
and
things
like
that
that
come
to
the
community
I
want
to
welcome
our
guest
today,
who
is
Dan
Cohen?
Who
is
our
director
of
community
enhancement?
Dan?
Welcome
to
the
show?
How
are
you
thank
you.
A
I'm
great
I
appreciate
your
time.
Obviously,
this
is
something
that,
for
a
lot
of
communities,
I
think
around
not
just
Virginia
but
throughout
folks
are
finding
out
that
this
is
a
it's
a
topic
that
has
the
potential
to
make
a
real
difference,
not
just
for
the
community
at
large,
but
especially
for
a
lot
of
different
people
before
we
get
into
the
the
sort
of
nuts
and
bolts
of
that
conversation.
Dan
I
want
to
talk
about
a
little
bit
about
your
background.
A
I
always
like
to
to
give
guests
a
chance
to
sort
of
talk
through
sort
of
their
how
they
came
to
be
sitting
in
the
chair
across
from
me
right.
So
how
is
it
that
you
came
to
be
the
director
of
community
enhancement?
Tell
me
a
little
about
sort
of
your
background
and
and
how
it
is
that
you
you
how
what
your
experiences
are
that
brought
you
here.
B
A
B
At
least
right
I've
been
with
the
county,
not
quite
five
years:
okay
I,
the
community
enhancement
Department,
was
formed
several
years
before
I
I
got
here
as
a
matter
of
fact,
and
one
of
the
reasons
why
the
job
is
so
interesting
to
me.
Is
it
really
allows
me
to
play
to
a
lot
of
the
strengths
that
I
that
I
think
that
I
have
I.
A
A
A
B
A
Right
and
then
in
terms
of
I
mean
I
can
imagine
for
a
lot
of
people
who
get
into
the
kind
of
work
you
do.
I
would
imagine
at
some
point.
There
was
some
sort
of
Nexus
right,
some
sort
of
connection
for
you
that
that
connected
sort
of
your
own
internal
thoughts
about
the
world
or
whatever
that
also
connected
with
the
work
that
you
do
was
there
for
you.
What
what
brought
you
to
this
line
of
work?
What
was
it
about
this?
That
really
spoke
to
you
sure.
B
B
A
B
B
Have
that
down
payment
and
you
made
it
to
the
suburbs
and
you
made
it
to
home
ownership
and
so
I
think
that
that's
really
affected
the
choices.
You
know
that
I've
made,
even
in
terms
of
my
educational
background,
going
to
you,
know,
planning
an
architecture
school
right
and
getting
involved
in
the
non-profit
housing
world.
A
B
A
Now
it,
this
is
going
to
be
a
funny
question
to
somebody
who
works
in
community
enhancement,
who
is
the
director
of
a
of
a
Department
of
Community
enhancement,
but
I'm
curious.
What
is
community
enhancement
like?
How
would
you
describe
that
to
folks
who
may
be
listening,
who
don't
have
kind
of
a
good
frame
of
reference
for
what
it
is?
How
would
you
describe
what
community
enhancement
is,
how.
B
B
It's
also
an
opportunity
and
something
that
I
want
them
to
do
for
a
long
time
is
to
be
able
to
use
code
enforcement
in
a
way
to
actually
bring
about.
You
know
some
changes
in
many
other
places
that
I've
worked
or
in
other
places
in
the
United
States.
It's
not
often
actually
that
code
enforcement
can
be
used
to
actually
get
to
a
better
outcome.
A
A
For
for
the
last
four
and
a
half
years
as
you've
seen
sort
of
things
starting
to
progress,
how
would
you
say
that
your
department
and
and
the
the
impact
that
you're
able
to
have
on
the
community?
How
would
you
say
that
that
has
sort
of
sort
of
come
together
in
the
way
that
all
of
the
different
you
know,
Tools
in
your
tool,
bag,
so
to
speak,
are
at
your
disposal
like
how?
A
B
A
B
As
well
and
then
we
also
and
thanks
to
the
assistant
director,
Rich
Billingsley,
you
know
we
keep
tabs
on
what
we
do.
We
have
metrics
for
everything
that
we
do
right
and
we
use
that
to
to
guide
us
and
look
at
the
successes,
and
you
know
sometimes
the
failures
right.
You
know,
as
a
matter
of
fact,
it
makes
some
changes
and
I
also
have
to
say
that
I'm
very
fortunate
to
work
in
a
county
where
you're
allowed
to
take
take
some
risks.
B
Adverse
but
folks
around
here
recognize
and
I
don't
mean
just
the
the
administration.
This
was
even
the
board
members
that
I
that
I
walked
into
when
I
when
I,
when
I,
when
I
came
here,
I'll,
never
forget
one
of
the
board
members.
You
know
who's
no
longer
on
the
board
said.
If,
if
you
try
something,
it
doesn't,
work
don't
be
afraid
to
change
it.
A
B
A
This
point
in
my
life
yeah
now
in
terms
of
the
the
things
that
you
guys
are
able
to
do,
and
certainly
some
of
the
the
impacts
that
have
been
felt
in
the
community.
One
of
the
things
I
really
want
to
talk
to
you
about
is
the
etric
landing
project,
obviously
affordable.
How
housing
is
for
a
lot
of
people?
A
I
also
understand
that,
for
a
lot
of
people
who
hear
the
term
affordable
housing,
they
think
it
means
something
that
it
doesn't
necessarily
mean
so
I'm
curious
to
get
first.
How
would
you
sort
of
describe
what
affordable
housing
is
and
talk
to
me
a
little
bit
about
sort
of
the
etric
landing
project
and
why
that
is
such
a
a
big
deal
for
Chesterfield,
County
sure.
B
There
are
many
definitions
for
what
affordable
housing
is.
You
know,
there's
a
standard
definition
in
the
literature
that
a
person
shouldn't
pay
or
household
shouldn't
pay
more
than
30
percent
of
their
income
towards
their
their
rent
or
their
or
their
mortgage.
Right
what's
happened.
You
know
over
the
last
decades,
quite.
A
B
A
A
B
B
B
A
A
B
A
A
B
A
A
A
B
B
Constructed
by
by
private
developers,
whether
or
not
they're,
for-profit
or
non-profit,
with
tremendous
layers
of
subsidies
and
they're
owned
and
managed
by
private
entities
with
private
property
management
companies
as
a
matter
of
fact,
so
the
whole
the
whole
industry
has
changed.
As
a
matter
of
fact,.
B
A
B
And
you
remove
the
cost
of
the
land,
then
the
the
unit
that
you
live
in
is
that
much
is
that
much
cheaper,
making
more
affordable?
As
I
said,
it
is
a
home
ownership
opportunity
which
appeals
to
a
lot
of
people.
It
gives
you
an
opportunity
to
build
a
little
Equity.
You
know,
as
a
matter
of
fact,
they
could
appeal
to
a
younger
person
who's
first
starting
out
and
by
the
way
Maggie
Walker
Community,
Land
Trust
will
work
with
individuals
who
live
there
on
on
how
to
save
money
and.
A
A
A
B
A
Right
and
then
and
two
to
to
your
point
about
it,
you
know
that
it's
affordable
housing,
the
correct
term,
really
is
housing
that
is
Affordable
it
it
it's
good
for
not
just
the
people
who
live
in
those
houses
but
for
the
community
at
large.
Because
to
your
point,
it's
not
just
this
specific
group
that
can
access
it.
It's
it's
a
wide
range
of
folks,
and
certainly
in
in
terms
of
the
Great
brain
of
the
population
and
you're
you
we,
we
know
that
we
have
a
significant
Boomer
population
that
is
going
to
at
some
point.
A
A
But
one
of
the
pieces
of
the
puzzle
that
I,
don't
think,
gets
enough
attention
is
the
idea
of
Housing
and
of
revitalization
and
using
something
that
was
there
to
put
something
new
there,
as
opposed
to
you
know
just
flat,
cutting
down
a
bunch
of
trees
and
putting
up
something,
you
know
quote
unquote
brand
new
and
I'm
just
curious
to
get
your
point
of
view
on
how
Community
enhancement
plays
a
role
in
the
larger
sort
of
Economic
Development
portion
of
the
of
of
the
plan
of
the
of
the
county.
So.
A
B
B
So
in
some
respects-
and
you
know
if
you
talk
to
organizations
like
the
Richmond
Association
of
Realtors-
they'll-
say
that
the
Natural
Evolution
of
our
housing
stock
has
stalled
a
little
bit
where
seniors
actually
do
downsize,
move
someplace
else
and
things
like
that
and
that
housing
becomes
available
for
other
folks
right.
Well,
one!
That's
we're
living
longer.
There
are
places
that
are
affordable
to.
A
A
B
B
It's
even
hard
for
the
next
generation
of
people
to
actually
afford
to
buy
that
house
right,
so
we're
sort
of
stalled
in
that
in
that
market
space.
You
know
as
a
matter
of
fact,
which
doesn't
help
the
situation
right.
You
know
at
all
to
your
other
point
about
housing
kind
of
as
an
economic
development
tool.
I
think
we
also
see
housing
as
an
individual
choice.
Right
you
get
your
own
mortgage.
You
pay
your
own
rent
right.
A
B
They
can't
afford
the
the
house,
you
know
or
the
or
the
apartment
right
in
the
location
where
they
where
they
happen
to
live
right,
and
so
that
that's
that's
something
that
certainly,
you
know,
occurs
and
occurs
in
a
lot
of
places,
and
so
you
know
you
know
I
I,
think
building
housing
for
all
types
of
people.
Stabilizes
your
neighborhood
provides
a
wide
range
of
of
of
of
income
and
as
a
diversity
of
of
population.
That
I
think
is
very
healthy.
B
B
Because
I'm
doing
well
on
the
rental
side
or
something
like
that
right,
and
so
you
really
want
a
mix
of
income
groups
and
a
mix
of
individuals.
You
know
to
make
to
make
sense
of
that
for
sure
I
also
don't
think
we
see
necessarily
as
housing
as
if,
if
I'm
housing,
people
of
all
types
and
they're
living
here,
they're
also
spending
the
disposable
income
here
right.
B
A
A
Yeah
and
what's
interesting
too,
because
we,
you
know,
we
talk
a
lot
about
sports
tourism
and
the
idea
of
you
know
bringing
people
in
and
having
them
sort
of,
spend
their
money
here
and
then
necessarily
those
folks
then
leave
and
there's
the
benefit
of
not
having
to
sort
of
afford
those
folks,
the
same
services
that
you
might
a
resident
right.
You
don't
have
to
people
who
visit
for
for
hockey
tournaments.
You
don't
have
to
worry
about
if
their
house
burns
down,
you
don't
have
to
worry
about.
A
If
they
need
police
they,
if
they
don't,
they
need
to
have
their
kids
in
schools
right,
but
at
the
same
token,
the
folks
who
are
here
to
make
the
opportunities
you
know
to
make
their
lives
to
make
that
the
the
services
they
receive
all
of
it.
It
makes
a
lot
of
sense
to
me
the
this
idea
of
the
the
social
benefit
versus
the
individual
and
I
also
think
in
in
terms
of
the
the
role,
the
role
that
your
department
plays
in
the
bigger
picture.
A
I'm
just
curious
to
get
your
thoughts
and
obviously
Ettrick
Landing
is
a
is
a
is
a
huge
deal.
I'm.
Just
curious
are
there
what's
the
what's
the
way
that
that
thing
once
it's
now,
it's
you
know
in
the
process.
It's
it's
it's
coming
online
when
it
when
you
start
to
see
the
impact
of
that
is
that
do
you
see
that
impact,
because
you
see
more
projects
like
that
or
is
it
through
just
sort
of
the
natural
way
of
making
things
like
that
possible
for
people?
Well,.
A
B
A
B
There's
an
additional
project
going
on
actually
two
of
them.
One
of
them
is
called
Bermuda
states,
which
is
a
manufactured
housing
community
on
Route
One
and
you
you
know
that
actually,
that
actually
for
me,
was
one
of
the
one
of
the
most
important
things
that
I've
probably
ever
done,
because
it
really
did
marry
code
enforcement.
You
know
with
with
with
with
anti-displacement
keeping
the
folks
who
actually
who
were
there
to
stay
in
those
places
as.
B
And,
even
in
and
over
time,
all
those
units
are
going
to
get
replaced.
The
folks
who
live
there
are
going
to
get
brand
new
manufactured
housing
units.
So
it's
stabilized
an
area
as
a
matter
of
fact,
and
provided
additional
housing
right
and
there's
an
additional
project
a
little
bit
further
down
the
road.
Also
on
Route
One
there's
an
historic
African-American
Hotel
called
the
Culp
Brook.
It
actually
was
in
the
green
book.
It's
where
African-Americans
stayed
during
segregation
as
a
matter
of
fact,
and
unfortunately,
the
motel
you
know
fell
apart.
B
Of
fact,
and
by
using
Code
Enforcement
narrow
tools
under
you
know
the
under
violations
and
working
with
a
wonderful
County
attorney.
You
know,
by
the
way,
also
we
were
able
to
actually
convince
the
the
owner
of
the
property
to
sell
the
property
and
I
was
able
to
convince
you
know
a
non-profit
housing
Corporation
to
actually
purchase
the
property
and
help
the
range
that
transaction.
You.
A
B
A
as
a
department
to
sort
of
broker
the
the
deal
and
then
we
added
some
some
federal
dollars
to
the
project,
and
hopefully
that
will
come
out
of
the
ground
sometime
in
calendar
year,
2023.,
so
I
think
I
I,
look
at
things
like
Ettrick
landing
and
Colebrook
and
Bermuda
States
as
opportunities.
Okay,
I
mean
that's,
that's
really
what
they
are
and
taking
advantage
of
the
of
the
situation
that
presented
itself.
B
A
B
The
type
quite
frankly
that
has
that
has
really
not
aged
well
over
the
course
of
60
years
right
to
be
honest
with
you,
and
so
that's
in
part
what
the
as
I
see
the
goal
on
the
on
on
the
housing
side.
You
know
we're
hoping
for
some
other
opportunities
where
there
might
be
some
other
properties
that
the
county
already
owns.
You
know
schools
or
actually
other
other,
perhaps
industrial
land
that
might
not
accommodate
the
kinds
of
businesses
that
we're
looking
to
attract
as
as
a
sweetener
to
try
and
help
some
of
those.
A
A
Is
you
go
in
where
they're,
where
a
problem
might
exist
and
you
figure
out
a
way
to
not
just
make
it
right
for
the
county
or
for
the
neighborhood,
but
also
for
the
person
The
Entity,
whoever
that
owns
that
piece
of
property?
How
would
you
sort
of
describe
it?
Does
that
sort
of
Drive
in
your
head,
with
the
way
that.
B
You
live
it
on
a
daily
basis.
Oh
that
that's
the
very
kind
thing
that
you
said:
I
I
think
that
we
see
ourselves
as
as
as
problem,
solvers
and
and,
quite
frankly,
I'm
opportunistic.
You
know
we're
we're.
We
could
take
advantage
of
the
situation
for
the
for
the
public.
Good
is
where
you
know,
I
I
think
we
all
like
to
play,
and
it's
really
not
just
me.
It
really
is
the
ethos
that
is
in
our
department
whether
or
not
it's
it's
license:
inspection
or
code
enforcement
or
or
keep
Chesterfield
beautiful.
A
A
All
right
now
make
sure
you
check
us
out
on
social
media
on
Twitter
it's
at
chesterfieldva
on
Instagram,
it's
Chesterfield
Virginia,
all
one
word,
and
on
Facebook
check
out
our
podcast
page,
just
search
Chesterfield
on
the
mic,
make
sure
to
like
that
page.
So
you
can
kill
both
as
we
go
forward
now.
Let
me
tell
you
about
all
the
ways
you
can
check
us
out.
You
can
watch
us
on
our
YouTube
channel
as
well
as
on
our
website
at
chesterfield.gov,
podcast
and
audio.
A
Only
version
of
the
show
is
available
there,
as
well
as
an
apple
podcast,
Spotify,
Google,
podcasts,
overcast
and
a
whole
host
of
other
services.
You
can
also
watch
the
show
on
wcct
Thursday
through
Sunday,
at
7,
on
the
weekends
at
noon.
That's
Comcast,
channel,
98
and
Horizon
Channel
28
and,
lastly,
you
can
check
out
chestro.gov
connect
with
us
for
more
ways
for
you
to
get
in
touch
with
us
and
for
us
to
get
in
touch
with
you.
A
My
thanks
to
my
director,
Martin
stiff
our
executive
producer,
Teresa
Boniface
and
all
the
crew
here
in
Communications
media
for
making
this
possible.
Thank
you
much
for
all
that.
You
do
and
from
all
of
us
here
in
Chesterfield.
Thank
you
very
much
for
making
this
part
of
your
day.
We'll
see
you
again
real
soon
take
good
care,
foreign.