Lawrenceville VA information (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Richmond: houses, purchasing, theatre)

[sheena12]

Hello!

A friend of mine is interested in purchasing a large home in Lawrenceville. It's a pretty older home and its very reasonable.

Can anyone tell me anything about this area? She has children in elementary school and high school. Is it very remote?

How far is shopping? Is there a mall? Restaurants? Things to do?

She is convinced that this is the perfect home but since the price is under 100K I am a bit suspicious. Any haunted houses down there?

Also are the people receptive to new comers? \

Thanks in advance!

[Spazkat9696]

Never heard of it.

[9times]

Lawrenceville has many elegant old homes. I don't know of any that are haunted but it is possible! It's is truly small town living. Think Mayberry. I love the local library. Sadly downtown holds little but it, several antique shops, a pizzeria, Mexican restaurant, Chinese and perhaps one or two others, and a grocery store.

There is St. Paul's College, an arguably fledging HBCU, and a community college as well. My nephews attend the elementary school in town and they are super bright boys with attentive and inspiring teachers. The high school is good and is famed for it's basketball program. In fact this year the boys were state champions. I admire the coach, a former student athlete, emphasis on "student", himself. I actually graduated from the local high school many moooooons ago!

Mall shopping, Walmart, Target and all of your big box stores and the like are in Petersburg. A closer Walmart is in South Hill, as are the usual restaurant chains and fast foods, and a couple of strip malls, a movie theatre... There are some good independent restaurants as well.

I would say that it is a place where new people are met with friendly curiosity, as is the case in small towns. If she's not used to people waving when passing, smiling, and simply being friendly then she may be in for a shock! Hope this helps. Please ask if any further questions come to mind.

[LilyLady]

Originally Posted by 9times

Lawrenceville has many elegant old homes. I don't know of any that are haunted but it is possible! It's is truly small town living. Think Mayberry. I love the local library. Sadly downtown holds little but it, several antique shops, a pizzeria, Mexican restaurant, Chinese and perhaps one or two others, and a grocery store.

There is St. Paul's College, an arguably fledging HBCU, and a community college as well. My nephews attend the elementary school in town and they are super bright boys with attentive and inspiring teachers. The high school is good and is famed for it's basketball program. In fact this year the boys were state champions. I admire the coach, a former student athlete, emphasis on "student", himself. I actually graduated from the local high school many moooooons ago!

Mall shopping, Walmart, Target and all of your big box stores and the like are in Petersburg. A closer Walmart is in South Hill, as are the usual restaurant chains and fast foods, and a couple of strip malls, a movie theatre... There are some good independent restaurants as well.

I would say that it is a place where new people are met with friendly curiosity, as is the case in small towns. If she's not used to people waving when passing, smiling, and simply being friendly then she may be in for a shock! Hope this helps. Please ask if any further questions come to mind.

Even though this isn't in Hampton Roads, from your description it sounds very nice. Might be worth taking a drive up that way.

[gregir]

Lawrenceville is very nice and friendly. I used to go to small manufacturers there regularly. People are great. Sadly the little bit of industry that was there has mostly closed down so there is not much beyond an agricultural base. If somone moved there and craved an urban or suburban 'busy' lifestyle they would likely be dissatisfied. I love teh area and it was on my list of places to move before I found my place in Nelson County.

[veganwriter]

Curious ... how long would it take to drive to Durham, N.C.? I'd want to go once a week?

And what about a larger city in Virginia ... maybe Richmond? How long would it take to drive there... maybe an hour?

[tvpirate05]

I didn't realize Lawrenceville is as close to Hampton Roads as it is. It's right outside Emporia, and your nearest big city would be Norfolk, maybe an hour and a half east, and maybe about 2 hours from Durham, if even that?

There's also Virginia Beach, which is right next to Norfolk.

[CrazyTed]

Y'all realize this post is from 2011....

[tvpirate05]

True, but veganwriter asked a question today, so the response to her is still valid.