CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Richmond-area community leaders did more than pick up a deeper appreciation for jalape?o cheese grits, fried green tomatoes and other Lowcountry fare after three days in the Palmetto State last week.

On this year's InterCity Visit, 110 business, government and other civic leaders got a sense of how Charleston has been able to thrive using its history and architecture, arts and culture, and strong, consistent leadership from Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.

They also concluded that wisteria is no sweeter in Charleston than it is in Richmond.

"There are a lot of smart people here, and the capacity to solve a lot of Richmond's problems is right in this room," Oliver R. Singleton, president of the Metropolitan Business League, said Friday as the group finished breakfast at the historic Francis Marion Hotel.

"And more than that is the willingness."

The Wednesday-through-Friday trip was the 16th InterCity Visit organized by the Greater Richmond Chamber.

In Charleston, chamber officials said they will announce this month a new entity to help the region address core issues, such as transportation, tourism and education, that were highlighted in a recent report by consultant James Crupi.

Chamber Chairman Theodore L. Chandler Jr. declined to give specifics but said the idea is to focus on an area beyond Richmond and Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties.

To Chandler, the Charleston trip underscored that Richmond is making progress on some issues but has challenges remaining on others.

"It is comforting to understand that the ingredients to Richmond's success are before us, and we can achieve it," he said.

Michelle H. Gluck, chief legal officer of LandAmerica Financial Group, said she was struck that Richmond has as many, and possibly more, historic sites and museums than Charleston. She said Charleston does a better job linking its sites with attractive, seamless sidewalks and public transportation that includes trolleys and bicycle-rickshaws.

"They've just done a lot of planning and attention to detail, and they've connected them," Gluck said. "Richmond has a lot of assets. We just haven't connected them."

Riley described how he once instructed city workers to roughen the edges of new bluestone pavers after they had been placed because the crisp corners didn't look right in a city of worn bricks. He said downtown development must be perfect. "It's the democratic space."

In a rapid-fire closing session, the Richmond group was asked to share ideas that could be brought back home.

City Council President William J. Pantele revived the concept of mass transit for tourists between the Boulevard and Main Street Station. "What did Mayor Riley tell us? 'We take them where we want them to go.'"

Other ideas include encouraging Richmonders to be tourists in their own community, an ad campaign that takes Charleston's approach of emphasizing fun more than history, a visitors center that is better situated for tourists, and an economic-development strategy that includes the arts and tourism.

Charleston's annual Spoleto Festival of the arts stretches over 17 days and has an estimated $55 million regional impact.

Looking ahead to 2011 and the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, participants said Richmond must be prepared for tourists as well as the raw emotions that come with discussions of the war and slavery.

"I don't think we're comfortable in our own skin about this issue," said Robert E. Comet Jr., president of BCWH Architects. "I think we've got to have to deal with it over the next several years. That's not a lot of time."

Nicole G. Hood, interim executive director of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, agreed. "We have to take the risk of being willing to engage each other in honest, open dialogue about our past," she said. "We've all got to risk being offended."

The conversation also turned to leadership.

"The question is, does Richmond have a Joe Riley?" asked Charles F. Bryan, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Historical Society.

During the trip, some participants spent spare moments speculating whether Mayor L. Douglas Wilder will seek re-election this year and who else might enter the race. Wilder, whose first term as a strong mayor has rattled some on the trip, did not travel to Charleston.

Bryan said Richmond's version of Riley doesn't need to be the mayor or necessarily one person from government, business or the philanthropic community.

"If there's some person with a clear mandate that could build a consensus, I think that would serve us well," he said.

Katherine E. Busser, chairwoman-elect of the Greater Richmond Chamber, said she believes the region -- which includes cities and counties that are independent of one another -- is better off having different leaders at different times.

"Our quilt's a bit more patchwork, but it holds together much better."
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.