oppinions on West Point, and other small towns near Richmond (Norfolk: homes, transferring to) - Hampton Roads area - Virginia (VA) -Chesapeake - Hampton - Newport News - Norfolk - Portsmouth - Suffolk - Virginia Beach - City-Data Forum

meskito · 02-07-2008, 06:04 PM

My husband may be transferring to Richmond, but I want to maintain our small town lifestyle. I am curious about small quaint "main street" type of towns in Virginia, near Richmond. I found a website which had photos of West Point, and it looks quaint.

I have searched this forum for any info on the town. I just want to know some basics. Is it a safe place to raise children? How is the commute to/from Richmond? Is it considered friendly, fun (maybe some local nightlife), does it have some little shops?

We are in our early 30's and have one small child. We are musicians, and though we don't get out a whole lot we do appreciate going to see live music on occasion, or being a part of that action.

Any suggestions? OH - and the transfer could possibly be to Norfolk (though Richmond seems to be the more definite place).

Thanks in advance!

Mr Williamsburg · 02-08-2008, 08:10 AM

West Point is a sleepy little town about 30 minutes from Richmond. There is a very large paper factory there. Have you ever been around one ? The locals say you don't smell it after you have lived there awhile.... Not a whole lot do do there. A few little shops on Main Street. You would need to travel to Richmond or Williamsburg for "ANY NIGHTLIFE" The local public school is one of the top rated in the state. You may want to consider Williamsburg although it's a 45-60 minute drive to Richmond. There aren't really any other small town in between Richmond and Williamsburg. There are a smattering of crossroads i.e. Providence Forge, New Kent Courthouse, Quinton but there isn't any type of main street section of these.

meskito · 02-08-2008, 11:32 AM

hmmm... that's a shame. We currently live in Staunton, and I really like the feel of this area. There are several little towns around here, and I don't really want to live in an area that is too spread out. Norfolk is always a possibility, but I hear that it does not have that small town feel. Is Williamsburg considered a small town? I have been there a few times and it always seemed pretty spread out.
Thanks for the feedback!

Jwbagz21 · 02-08-2008, 06:11 PM

I've only been through West point a few times just to get gas off the interstate on my way from Richmond to Hampton Roads, but the smell was sickening (paper factory) . It may be so like a previous post said and you may get used to the smell, but I thought that alone would drive anyone away. Best of luck on your search.

htlong · 02-09-2008, 05:24 AM

the smell of west point hits you when you cross the river and you think how can people live here? but before you leave the town you have adjusted to the smell and you really don't notice it ...honest! I would suggest the new Kent /east Henrico counties you can get the rural life style and be 20 min to richmond...personaly I would avoid Norfolk, and your commute would involve crossing one of the bridge tunnels which is a bad experience in itself

Mr Williamsburg · 02-09-2008, 08:15 AM

Meskito,
How do you define a small town ? I think Staunton has 23,000 population. The city of Williamsburg population is around 12,000 but the surrounding area including James City and upper York Counties have a combined population of about 75,000 if you add them all together. The land area is about 170 square miles combined. I think Staunton is about 20 square miles. We have no shopping mall ( although we do have Prime Outlets), one movie theater, four high schools ( one in York County) New Kent maybe your best bet if you want to live in a smaller area. The area is growing. There are a few different commercial and residential projects in the works which will increase the population ( currently 16,000 + ) to at least the size Staunton and beyond. I'm sure they will eventually have some nightlife after these projects are completed.

Mr Williamsburg · 02-09-2008, 08:17 AM

Meskito,
I would post your question in the Richmond forum to get response from locals there as well.

meskito · 02-09-2008, 10:40 AM

I actually grew up in Richmond and I don't want to go back! I am hoping that we can stay in this area. I would actually love to move to an even smaller, more rural area than Staunton. I guess Staunton seems small because it has a "village" type of feel. There is one main street through downtown, and there are little neighborhoods. Mountain towns just have that homey feel. I don't miss Richmond one bit. I found it to be a very spread out - unfriendly place.
Williamsburg seems to be a very nice place, it just feels bigger than Staunton to me because it's more spread out, and there is just more there. Staunton has one dinky mall - and it only has like 15 stores, and not much else is here. It's got a few specialty shops downtown, but if you want to really go shopping you have to drive a ways.

New2VA · 06-25-2008, 09:57 AM

We live in Quinton. Sandston is another "small town" near us. Both are very nice in terms of the people being friendly and there being a good community feel to the area. New Kent schools are good - with a brand new high school opening this fall and one of the two elementary schools having been remodeled recently, too. The teachers are committed to their students and the Parks & Rec Department is constantly working to add new programming as the community grows and demographics change. We've been very pleased with the balance between rural and city living. We enjoy being close to everything (just 12 minutes to Ukrop's, 2 minutes to Food Lion and by this fall we can walk to the new Bloom on Hwy 60), we enjoy the weekly Farmer's Market in Richmond and lots of other downtown fun & nightlife (all about 15 minutes away). There is also Mechanicsville for shopping until the new Target and White Oak Mall are completed in the fall. Williamsburg is about 30-40 minutes away depending on exactly where you need to go. The beaches are 2 hours South, DC 2 hours North, Charlottesville is 1 1/2 hours, NC also easy to access from here. We really enjoy the central location to all the things we love to do. Even Baltimore is an easy 3 hours from us.

Quinton Community Park is new and very nice, too. There are tons of kids here. Our neighborhood has lakes, bike paths, and soon a clubhouse with bocce ball, mini golf and other activities. The yards are nice for playing, but there is also a small playground and another one planned for the future.

We have a post office, Subway, VA ABC store, Movie Gallery, dry cleaners, florist, pizza places, chinese restaurant, several gas stations, McDonald's and a couple of local hardware stores all within 2 minutes' drive. Of course, the larger stores are a bit further, but still not a bad drive.

Five Lakes & Patriot's Landing are the two larger neighborhoods near us, but there are lots of smaller communities and homes on more land all around, depending on what you're looking for.

12buttons · 07-30-2008, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by New2VA

We live in Quinton. Sandston is another "small town" near us. Both are very nice in terms of the people being friendly and there being a good community feel to the area. New Kent schools are good - with a brand new high school opening this fall and one of the two elementary schools having been remodeled recently, too. The teachers are committed to their students and the Parks & Rec Department is constantly working to add new programming as the community grows and demographics change. We've been very pleased with the balance between rural and city living. We enjoy being close to everything (just 12 minutes to Ukrop's, 2 minutes to Food Lion and by this fall we can walk to the new Bloom on Hwy 60), we enjoy the weekly Farmer's Market in Richmond and lots of other downtown fun & nightlife (all about 15 minutes away). There is also Mechanicsville for shopping until the new Target and White Oak Mall are completed in the fall. Williamsburg is about 30-40 minutes away depending on exactly where you need to go. The beaches are 2 hours South, DC 2 hours North, Charlottesville is 1 1/2 hours, NC also easy to access from here. We really enjoy the central location to all the things we love to do. Even Baltimore is an easy 3 hours from us.

Quinton Community Park is new and very nice, too. There are tons of kids here. Our neighborhood has lakes, bike paths, and soon a clubhouse with bocce ball, mini golf and other activities. The yards are nice for playing, but there is also a small playground and another one planned for the future.

We have a post office, Subway, VA ABC store, Movie Gallery, dry cleaners, florist, pizza places, chinese restaurant, several gas stations, McDonald's and a couple of local hardware stores all within 2 minutes' drive. Of course, the larger stores are a bit further, but still not a bad drive.

Five Lakes & Patriot's Landing are the two larger neighborhoods near us, but there are lots of smaller communities and homes on more land all around, depending on what you're looking for.

Maybe you can help - looking to semi-retire in a smaller city town with a lower tax base yet close to large grocers, etc.
which town is the most upscale? more spas, nice restaurants, book stores, old money, big treed lots older established versus newer subdivision/kid/schools/ box stores off highways geared toward worker bees?