Farms in C'ville Area (Richmond, Charlottesville: real estate, custom home, employment)

[bambu23]

My wife, 3 year old daughter and I are interested in relocating to the Charlottesville area from the New Orleans area. Wife trains horses/ teaches lessons for a living, and I am in the custom home electronics/automation industry. We would like to find 8-10 acres, small house, barn etc. in between Charlottesville and Richmond. My employment opportunities in C'ville seem somewhat limited, so I would like to be able to commute to Richmond if need be. Any suggested areas to consider, and what are realistic commute times from say Louisa, Mineral, Gum Spring, etc. to C'ville and Richmond? I don't mind a 40 minute commute, but my wife would prefer to be as close to C'ville (as we can afford) to find clients. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[TN Lily]

I can get from the Zion Crossroads area to Regency Square in Richmond in an hour. I am in the western portion of Louisa County around mile marker 136. My exit in Richmond is mile marker 80. BUT I am not traveling during rush hour.

Regency Square is not downtown Richmond it's to the west. I would think that commuting to the east side of Richmond would add considerably to the commute.

Albemarle County is going to be more expensive than many of the counties to the east. If you are looking at working in Richmond, you may want to consider living in eastern Louisa County or Goochland County.

My gut feeling is that your wife may find more clients by being closer to Richmond than Charlottesville. She may want to check out virginiaequestrian.com.

My limited experience with Albemarle County and Charlottesville is that their governments are not the easiest to work with as a taxpaying landowner. Plus you will pay a lot more for land & real estate taxes there. Horse ready properties tend to be expensive.

Good luck!

[emsman]

Consider Orange county, about 20-30 minutes to the NE of Charlottesville. It's steadily growing and has lots of land and many commuters to Charlottesville, Fredricksburg(40 min.) , and DC. Albermarle county is one of the most expensive areas, look at the following county areas; Nelson, Fluvanna, Goochland. The first two area within 20 min. of C'ville, Goochland is closer to Richmond. Richmond commuting is not bad, traffic dosen't back up long anywhere. Charlottesville to Downtown Richmond is right at an hour.