Living in Richmond while attending school; a few questions. (Winchester: lease, amusement park)

[Heart&Mind]

I was recently accepted into a Masters of Divinity program at Earlham School of Religion and am making my up to Richmond later in August to begin my studies. I looked up a bit about places to live in Richmond and noticed that, unless one goes to the east side or far north side of town, most areas are hit and miss.

Primarily because it was close to the school, and because it was the only place I can realistically afford at this time, I got a studio on NW 1st street. Which, again, while not a great area, doesn't seem like it's the absolute worst.

With that being said:

1.) What is the NW part of town generally like? Again, I hear pretty mixed things about most of the city as a whole. I generally keep to my self and don't really flash anything fancy. I go to school, go to work (if I can find a job in this town), come home and stay indoors most of the time. In short, I don't really do anything to attract attention to myself.

If worst comes to worst, I can easily wait for the lease to expire and find a different place to live.

2.) Since it's a midwestern town, what is the job market like? Not great I'm assuming.

3.) What are some things to do in town? I'm not a bar person, so that probably eliminates, like, 90% of things to do.

[indy_317]

I don't know that much about Richmond. I've driven through a few times. There is a downtown area, but some homes appeared run down, others were decent. The job market likely isn't all that great. Richmond has been in the news the last year or so for shootings, most of it related to drugs, specifically heroin. I know many industrial dying cities like Richmond also had issues with meth as well. The job market likely consist of a plenty of minimum wage retail service jobs, but if you can get into management you will likely make a bit more money. My suggestion would be to look at banks. They usually pay $10/hour+, and with the talk of Walmart and them hiking their minimum pay to $10, banks will likely need to go to around $12-$14/hour to keep and retain a higher quality employee.

As far as things to do, I don't know of much. They have a trail/park system in the city if that interest you. My suggestion would be to travel out a bit instead of focusing on stuff in the city. In the area you have the following which could make for some good day trips:

-The highest point in the state of Indiana is not very far north of Richmond. It is nothing more than a small gravel parking area with a very short walk to a forested area. The highest point is just inside the wooded area in a small clearing. There is a very, very short trial, a picnic table, a book to sign, and some free souvenir cards. If you continue further north Winchester there is a popular place called Silver Towne. They sell various coins plus they have their own mint so they have numerous silver (and maybe gold) minted products. It is a neat place that is worth a visit.

-All along US 40 in both Indiana and Dayton are antique shops. They call it antique alley and it really spreads into and past Indy. Basically almost every little town will have at least one antique store.

-Dayton, OH isn't all that far away and they have an air force museum there. I haven't been since I was a kid, but it is still a popular place to go. They might have a yearly air show as well.

-If your into parks I have heard good things about Hueston Woods State Park in OH. It is just SE of Richmond. Northwest of the city is Summit Lake SP, which I never knew existed till recently. It must not be all that popular. Due south is Brookville Lake. There are numerous state parks and recreation areas around the lake, plus they do have a few businesses that rent things like boats and jet skis. There are definitely some good hiking trails in this area.

-A cool tourist trap historic town to visit is Metamora. They have events throughout the year. It is SW of Richmond. Oxford, OH is also close as well. It is home to Miami University of Ohio. I recently visited and they have some shopping and dining options in town. They likely have plays and stuff of that nature as well. The university itself has a park with some trails and such. Dayton also has Univ. of Dayton, which might offer some stuff.

-Also, numerous small and large towns/cities in both Indiana and Ohio have festivals of some sort. Indiana has a festival association that publishes a yearly guide, but they also have a webpage.

-If you are into fried chicken, the SE portion of Indiana south of Richmond and even just SE of Indy is known for fried chicken. Here is a link. Some of these places might be closed, so call ahead or look on-line.

Southeastern Indiana Chicken Tour - 30 Great Places for Fried Chicken | Roadfood.com Discussion Board

The Indiana Fried Chicken Tour: Kopper Kettle | Down the Road

The Indiana Fried Chicken Tour: Wagner’s Village Inn | Down the Road

-Kings Island amusement park is located near Cincinnati. Cincinnati also has an Ikea and a specialty grocery store called Jungle Jims, both of which are pretty near just to check out.

Anymore it seems like bars/clubs, combined with drinking, is what most younger people are into, at least until they get married and/or have kids.