richmond..not on my mind (home, employment, to live)

[Carolina Blue]

Originally Posted by metro.m

...The only reason Charlotte appears to be growing so fast is the fact, they have grossly lenient annexation laws. 60 sq miles have been annexed in the past 8 years! That's equal to the entire city of Richmond! Charlotte is 300 square miles!...

Mecklenburg County's population in 1990 was approximatley 500,000 people. Today (2007 #'s) it is just over 800,000. My point being, people try to harp on the issue of the lax annexation laws. But the fact is, the city/county/metro/whatever, is growing extrememly fast; especially compared with most areas of the country. But to your point about Atlanta vs. Charlotte, I'd agree with you totally. The two places cannot be compared in any aspect, in my opinion.

Sorry to hijack, back to the Richmond conversation...oh yeah...nice town, love the baseball stadium...oh and that new outdoor mall, ha!!!

[hokiehigh]

i couldn't get out of charlotte fast enough. it has no soul. it has no fan or urban core. it has no history. it has loads of strip malls and subdivisions. it is basically a huge office park full of conservative people. i don't think it is somewhere i would brag about moving to. it's not horrible but not necessarily better than richmond.

[Carolina Blue]

Originally Posted by hokiehigh

i couldn't get out of charlotte fast enough. it has no soul. it has no fan or urban core. it has no history. it has loads of strip malls and subdivisions. it is basically a huge office park full of conservative people. i don't think it is somewhere i would brag about moving to. it's not horrible but not necessarily better than richmond.

Too bad “soul” can’t help Richmond with a struggle…

'The Young & The Restless' in Economic Development | Richmond.com / Richmond Virginia / Richmond VA - The Official Online City Portal (http://www.richmond.com/economic-development/5767 - broken link)

…that Charlotte doesn’t seem to have…

SMALL-CITY FEEL WITH THE BENEFITS OF BIG-CITY LIFE « Charlotte Realtor
...

[Paul Hammond]

Originally Posted by Patsfan20

This will be my final post here in the Richmond forum, and I wish you all well here.

Ah, another final post threat.

Well, enjoy Charlotte. I'm sure they will benefit from your positive frame of mind. Life is what you make of it and cities are what you make of them. I plan on making Richmond a better place along with thousands of my fellow citizens.

Bon Voyage!

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by Paul Hammond

Ah, another final post threat.

Well, enjoy Charlotte. I'm sure they will benefit from your positive frame of mind. Life is what you make of it and cities are what you make of them. I plan on making Richmond a better place along with thousands of my fellow citizens.

Bon Voyage!

With a little luck I should find out in the next 30 days if I will be coming back to assist in making Richmond a better place too !!!

[mrstewart]

I love reading all of the positive posts about Richmond and the desire to make it the best it can be. Life is what you make it...not the city! Thank you!!!

[cityhopper]

Georgia, I agree with you as well. Richmond is not terrible but definitely the draw would be for growing/established families over younger/single people.

I also should add in some clarifications. The city shuts down earlier, this was also a complaint I had about certain areas of the Atlanta metro, and for someone who works the type of hours I do. I cannot make evening activities that may start at 6:30. So, there are activities that run all year long here, I find them very time restrictive and more suitable who get off at 5:00p.m.

I would tend to agree that the Charlotte/Richmond would not be a fair comparison.

I find that of my travels, I have a preference for the Glen Allen area and Hanover/Mechanicsville. However, when comparing say a Richmond to a Raleigh, I would give the edge to Raleigh because of Cary, salary/jobs, and cost of living about the same, . Mind you, I am not very fond of NC.

[bmd69]

Originally Posted by vasinger

Charlotte? Are you serious? That place has no soul. No character and no charm.

I wouldn't trade Richmond for Charlotte for anything !

I agree, Charlotte is boring banking town.

[bmd69]

Originally Posted by hokiehigh

i couldn't get out of charlotte fast enough. it has no soul. it has no fan or urban core. it has no history. it has loads of strip malls and subdivisions. it is basically a huge office park full of conservative people. i don't think it is somewhere i would brag about moving to. it's not horrible but not necessarily better than richmond.

This is true been here two years and this place is boring and F-up with no infrastructure.

[meskito]

I grew up in Richmond, and I could not wait to move away. It's not for everyone. The downtown has a few cool pockets, but lots of crime. There are some very beautiful and historic areas, but to live in these you pay a fortune! I lived in the fan (with roommates of course) - paid $1200 a month for a small 3 bedroom, which looked nice but had an infestation of roaches and mice. The draw was the area but after living there I could hardly afford to hang out at the restaurants which were in walking distance (the reason I moved there). Even if I could have afforded the nightlife, the bar staff are young hipsters who don't know how to be polite. Not everyone feels this way, but I value friendliness and kindness - neither of these did I find in downtown Richmond. Because I grew up there, I do still have many friends there, and they love it. This was the only saving grace - an established circle of friends.
If you move to the burbs, it's also expensive, and the areas are so spread out that you feel no sense of community - which is what downtown offers.
I really don't mean to bash the city, it has it's good points too, I am just speaking my mind.