Will shutting down Have a Nice Day Café stop the violence in Shockoe Bottom? We look at the data.

There is no "other way to solve the problem [of crime in Shockoe Bottom] than for the [club] to be gone."

Think that quote is about Have a Nice Day Café?

Think again. It was said by a Richmond councilman about The Flood Zone in 1998.

There was a shooting and somebody died on the corner of 19th and Main streets, a block away from the music venue and only a few weeks after somebody else was stabbed to death in Shockoe Bottom.

Richmond wanted answers. They wanted someone accountable. The July 1998 shooting happened just after 2 a.m. near The Flood Zone, a nightclub, politicians stated, that hosted all-ages shows and brought under-21 teens to the Bottom who then loitered until all hours. One of whom was the shooting victim.

A few months later, The Flood Zone was closed. The next summer, Have a Nice Day Café opened and was touted in local press as "retro-fun" – and exclusively for the 21-and-older crowd.