I may be moving there for a job. How is it for someone just out of college to live? Things to do, housing market, crime, traffic?

[Edited on April 16, 2008 at 4:58 PM. Reason : ]

4/16/2008 4:45:52 PM

you'll probably want to look towards the suburbs bc of Crime. downtown richmond is really, really bad.

Chesterfield might work, it's a pretty little town just south of the city.

There's plenty to do though. Just keep tabs on the local radio and they tell you a couple of decent places to hit up (102.1)

Housing market is awful, but that's to be expected the further north you go from NC

4/16/2008 4:55:00 PM

go see avail

4/16/2008 4:57:53 PM

^what is that

4/16/2008 4:59:01 PM

yeah chesterfield and midlothian areas are allright
but richmond is rather ghetto

4/16/2008 6:02:57 PM

one day richmond is gonna finally get sucked into the super city that is the nova/dc/baltimore area

4/16/2008 6:10:04 PM

as a thread semi-hijack

im moving to Crozet next month what what

4/16/2008 6:11:45 PM

pretty area

4/16/2008 6:17:17 PM

My friend lives there, in Downtown actually, and has told me the crime is what is the biggest detterent (sp?). If you can look past it - probably by living out of the immediate area then there is a great amount of nightlife (he actually works for one of our company's other concepts - Blackfinn) and plenty of job opportunity and other stuff to do that keeps him there.

4/16/2008 6:39:39 PM

hmm...westend is nice but too expensive right out of college, unless you make an assload of $$. downtown, as in the bottom, well...stay away. southside is nice...i lived in chesterfield my entire life. it's the suburbs, but it's safe and only about a 10-20min drive to downtown if you are looking for some night life.

stuff to do..depends on what your into to.

any questions, feel free to pm.

4/16/2008 6:46:05 PM

theres some really nice houses somewhere. I saw them once.

4/17/2008 9:14:19 AM

Quote :

"go see avail"

Quote :

"^what is that"

a punk band from the area, unless he is referring to something else.

4/17/2008 9:24:59 AM

Quote :

"yeah chesterfield and midlothian areas are allright"

I have family in Midlothian (Brandermill area), it's a pretty nice suburb. Fairly short drive into downtown, maybe 20 min.?

4/17/2008 9:33:36 AM

Live in Midlothian or West End, not in the East. Where are you working?

4/19/2008 1:14:37 PM

lots of the houses have lost 1/3 to 1/2 of their value....and they cant be given away....what was $600+ 4 years ago is going for 250-300 (almost all foreclosed or the homeowner walked away) The neighborhood I live in, just talking about a couple streets, and there are 8 or 9 houses empty.

4/19/2008 9:13:10 PM

my girlfriend goes to school in richmond. She lives in "The Fan" and loves it. There's a bunch to do and Carytown is not far away. That area has some of the best restaraunts all in like a 1 mile stretch.

4/19/2008 9:16:52 PM

I moved to Midlothian after I graduated from high school..it's about 15 minutes from downtown and is pretty safe with plenty to do. I would avoid living in the city at all costs because of crime, but there are definitely a lot of bars, clubs, and nice restaurants downtown and in the Carytown area. I avoid living in the north side of the city at all costs, but you'd be straight living in the West End or the Southside (i.e., Chesterfield or Midlothian).

As for traffic, it sucks. But I mean, would you expect anything less from a decent sized city?

Don't really know much about how the housing market is doing up there since I live in Raleigh 9 months out of the year..but I'm gonna assume it's on the same track with the rest of the country, which is a pretty crappy one.

4/19/2008 9:39:31 PM

i'm also moving there in less than a month...There seem to be lots of students downtown, is it really that unsafe? I've looked at some of the newer loft buildings. They have security systems on the building as well as the individual apartments....hopefully those would suffice. Know anything about any of those?

[Edited on April 19, 2008 at 10:00 PM. Reason : sss]

4/19/2008 9:58:06 PM

So richmond got hit pretty badly today by tornadoes...injured 200 people or so

4/28/2008 11:12:49 PM

The majority of the damage was done in Suffolk. Not Richmond.

4/28/2008 11:29:37 PM

yeah Suffolk is pretty far away from Richmond so I think you are safe

4/28/2008 11:43:45 PM

are any of the areas to the north or northwest side of richmond good places to live with reasonable nightlife? Midlothian is going to be about at 25-30 minute drive to where i will be working...zip 23233

5/5/2008 12:23:14 AM

I lived in northern richmond right off of 95 and I don't remember there being anything worth mentioning up there. The area seemed decent enough.

5/5/2008 12:41:57 AM

You shouldn't have a problem finding decent places to stay on the west side (Henrico County). You'll hit a bit of traffic at rush hour, though.

5/5/2008 2:12:19 AM

I've lived in Richmond since 2005. IMHO the Fan is the place to live. Either that, or the part of Richmond just west of the fan. Most people I know who live in the West End or South Side like their places, but hate that they always have to drive to the Fan or Downtown to go out. Pretty much everyone I know who lives in the Fan is happy. Crime really isn't bad in this part of town. The only people who I know have been robbed were dumb enough to leave their apartments unlocked.

Also, we have a small but growing alumni group for game watches. You can sign up on the game watch mailing list at richmondwolfpack.com or by emailing richmondwolfpack@comcast.net

5/6/2008 8:34:22 AM

bump

12/21/2011 10:29:35 AM

So, my wife got a job offer in Richmond as well. The practice is a lot better than the one in Charlotte. Similar pay, better hours, not owned by a national corporation, partnership track.


buuuuut, we don't know shit about Richmond. we've only really driven through on our way to DC. She went up for an interview, but didn't really have time to see the city.

So who's living there now? Convince me that it's awesome or shitty.

12/21/2011 10:31:57 AM

i lived there for an internship.

thought it'd be awesome for a young family, but kinda sucked for a college kid.

i lived out in midlothian for a spell then chesterfield though, and it was a pain to go out downtown.

really pretty though. suburbs are nice. pretty easy to get around. i'd go back.

12/21/2011 10:38:09 AM

[Edited on December 21, 2011 at 10:54 AM. Reason : Bobby just called me slow ]

12/21/2011 10:53:08 AM

^^ that sounds pretty good. we fit the whole "young family" demographic.

12/21/2011 10:54:15 AM

I recently had a chance to spend a little time up there as my girlfriend has applied to a graduate program at VCU. On recommendation of my aunt/cousins (who have lived in Midlothian for 20 years) we checked out the Fan and Cary Towne areas and really liked them. Close to downtown, close to campus (the main campus borders on the Fan and the medical campus is probably a 10 minute drive). I know crime can be an issue but it just seems to be a "don't be a dumbass, lock your doors, don't flash your rolex while walking alone at night" kind of thing. Think that's probably where we'll end up living if she gets accepted and enrolls there.

For more of the young family demographic, I think Midlothian could be a good choice. I'm most familiar with the Brandermill and Woodlake areas, but the houses there are pretty nice, the neighborhoods have walking trails, pools, etc. and you're very close to any sort of shopping you might want off of Hull Street Rd. Downtown is a fairly easy 20-25 minute drive for more interesting dining/nightlife options when you want a break.

Traffic can be a bitch at rush hour, but many cities have that issue. Also what you have to consider is the strange layout of the area--Richmond proper has only something like 200k people, but the city limits pretty much only encompass downtown and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods. Many of the close suburbs would be part of the city proper in most other urban areas, but are self-sufficient municipalities. Also, thorough a quirk of Virginia law, the city of Richmond is not part of Chesterfield or Henrico Counties despite being geographically surrounded by them, but is considered an Independent City not part of any county.

[/words]

12/21/2011 11:12:08 AM

its no doubt better than Hickory, NC

12/21/2011 11:26:54 AM

I too lived there for co-op rotations. I lived in Midlothian, and that's pretty much where all the young professional families live.

12/21/2011 11:42:32 AM

^^spot on.

I moved to Richmond from Raleigh around a year and a half ago. Downtown Richmond has it's scary parts, but it's no different than any other city. I live in the Shockoe Bottom area and I love it. I'm close to lots of nightlife and great food. The area has been transitioning over the last few years and I've not felt uncomfortable during the day or at night. I limit the amount of time I walk around at night by myself, but even then I haven't been scared.

From what I've read, the Cheif of Police has really done a lot to deter so much violent crime. My coworkers told me that Richmond city use to be way worse than what it is now, which is why it still has such a bad rap.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd probably try to look for something in the Fan or Carytown. That's just more my scene, I think. The houses are old and beautiful and there are great restaurants.

Midlothian, Chesterfield, and Glen Allen (West End area) are the suburbs you would probably want to look into if you were going to go that route. You can get a lot of square footage for cheap in the Midlothian/Chesterfield area. Glen Allen tends to be pricier but with a lot of new development.

12/21/2011 11:56:39 AM

Check out Henrico too, my old man lives there.

12/21/2011 12:17:01 PM

The idea that Richmond is a crime-infested city is accurate as of 5 or 6 years ago. Most of the really bad stuff has gravitated to Petersburg which is a complete dump.

Mechanicsville is a nice little area, too. It's close enough to everything that you don't really have to "commute", but far enough away that you aren't in the middle of downtown. If you want a more rural environment away from the city-center, Henrico is also a nice little area with not much of a commute.

(EDIT: ^Great minds think alike.)

[Edited on December 21, 2011 at 12:18 PM. Reason : Didn't see ^'s post.]

12/21/2011 12:17:25 PM

Richmond and Petersburg are crime-ridden cesspools, but I like the Chesterfield area. I haven't really been anywhere else in that city for extended periods of time.

12/21/2011 1:01:30 PM

is exit 79 or so still down to one lane during the week nights? i drive through there weekly.

12/21/2011 2:25:23 PM

^It was as of a couple weeks ago. I usually drive from my home->north so I don't hit that section of I-95 much. Traffic was slowed down, but smooth.

12/21/2011 2:28:24 PM

i lived in richmond until middle school and just about all my family lives there. my parents also moved back after i graduated high school so i visit fairly often. to me, richmond is pretty similar to raleigh, but with a more legit downtown, more history, and better restaurants. most of my family lives in the west end / short pump area, but i do have some family that lives in the city as well as just outside richmond in goochland. if i had children that were of school age, i'd probably try to live in henrico county over the city of richmond as the schools are much better (or at least they were when i was growing up). the short pump area has grown an insane amount in the past 10 years and is pretty hardcore suburby. my brother goes to school at vcu, lives in the city, and absolutely loves it.

also, the roads are terribad and i actually broke a rim after hitting a pot hole a few years ago.

if you have any specific questions i can try to answer them or forward them to my family.

12/21/2011 2:31:03 PM

Thanks, y'all. Really helpful responses.

It's looking more and more like we'll be in Richmond rather than Charlotte.

12/22/2011 9:27:41 AM

But Charlotte is so cool!! I used to go to Richmond all the time. It's a great place. Lots of good bars and restaurants. I still prefer Charlotte though. Closer to the mountains and beaches and much cleaner.

12/22/2011 10:00:53 AM

Quote :

"downtown richmond is really, really bad."

I would like to second this. They just added Richmond to my market and I spent 2 days up there last week. I was seriously scared, and I have been to the worst sections of Charlotte and Durham.

12/22/2011 10:19:10 AM

^^

yeah, i think Charlotte overall is a better draw, but the practice she'd work for there has a really bad reputation, and well let's just say it wouldn't be so bad if she were male.

12/22/2011 10:25:10 AM

^^I don't know what some of yall are talking about. I worked in a warehouse over near Sugar Creek and I don't really have a problem with Richmond. It's "different" (older and therefore more places are run-down), but I don't feel any more endangered in RICH than in CTL. I think a lot of people who live and work in Charlotte are just "use to" those bad areas so when they come to Richmond, it's different and they assume it's worse.

The stats are pretty clear: Richmond is a much more violent city; I just don't see how people "drive through Richmond" or visit it a few days and can tell how terrible it is.

12/22/2011 11:43:39 AM

^^pretty bad for you tho, right?

[Edited on December 22, 2011 at 11:58 AM. Reason : unless, of course...No, I won't go there. This is the lounge, after all.]

12/22/2011 11:55:39 AM

Quote :

"I would like to second this. They just added Richmond to my market and I spent 2 days up there last week. I was seriously scared, and I have been to the worst sections of Charlotte and Durham. "

I'm curious to know where they put you.

12/22/2011 2:19:59 PM

^^

eh, i'm not too worried. I ain't afraid of a little uncertainty.

Worst case scenario, i go get an MBA or some shit. UVA's just a short drive away.

12/22/2011 3:11:11 PM

For the record, I was responding to the "let's just say it wouldn't be so bad if she were male" part

12/22/2011 3:26:07 PM

I'm applying to VCU for grad school, and I'd have to seriously consider the quality of Richmond if I'm accepted. I've heard you can definitely live there and enjoy it, but that there's some obviously not so great parts--but that as long as you're smart it shouldn't be an issue (really the advice you'd take for any city).

12/22/2011 8:35:07 PM