Can we make it in Richmond? (Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg: apartments, rent, home)

[Emerald Forest]

Hello Richmond forum!

My husband and I are from Corpus Christi, TX and would like to settle somewhere else in the U.S. At this time, I am a stay at home mom, and my husband is an English teacher- middle school and high school. We have two small children.

My husband recently became certified but has not found an opportunity to teach yet. He has been substituting in combination with working a part time job. So if we left this place and my husband substituted and found a part time job in Richmond, we would pretty much be in the same boat as here. We would however have one year's rent payed up front wherever we move.

I have lived and we also have family members in TX's larger metro areas, and have thought about living elsewhere in the state, but we want to do something different. Texas is too hot for most of the year, and we really would be just as happy living some other place. We aren't fans of Texas' huge, sprawling metroplexes.

Virginia's economy seems relatively strong. The state has a lot of natural beauty and more to enjoy from the individual seasons compared to Texas, in my opinion.

We have never made such a large move and would like to know, short of having a teaching job in hand (which I think would be unlikely to obtain before moving there), if we duplicate our current means in VA and look for a teaching job in Richmond or even somewhere else in Virginia, that we can get our feet in the door and start making a life for our family.

Thank you in advance. We look forward to hearing your replies.

[traveling_in_the_sun]

Unfortunately I think something like that is so hard to predict. If you work hard enough, you can make it anywhere, but it all comes down to how hard you want to work and what type of job you are willing to take.

Can you make it work? Yes, I'm sure you can. I really wouldn't recommend moving somewhere without a job lined up but sometimes a risk can be a good thing. I would just say he needs to be prepared to work anywhere that is available until he can find a teaching job. Moving can be expensive so you also want to take into account the quality of living you expect once you move.

Good luck! It doesn't hurt to try and get a job lined up before moving anywhere. Start making contacts, see what is out there, and determine if there is enough job opportunity in the area he is looking.

[high_plains_drifter]

Originally Posted by traveling_in_the_sun

Unfortunately I think something like that is so hard to predict. If you work hard enough, you can make it anywhere, but it all comes down to how hard you want to work and what type of job you are willing to take.
.

Depends if you have a good paying job and stable work, often you can work our fingers to the bone and still live paycheck to paycheck. Hard work only pays off if your empowered by your superiors and given opportunity. Reason I am looking to move out of Florida and investigating my worth elsewhere. If you work for yourself and are your won Boss and have a good business then that will change things.

[snatale1]

Richmond is only slightly more expensive than CC,TX. But still very cheap. If your sick of the heat it's a great place. Still more or less has 4 seasons no "real" winter to speak of and the economy here is good.

[novanwbie]

Richmond and its suburbs are a great place to live, and great for families. Lots to do here, very kid-oriented, close to DC, close to the beach, close to the mountains. I hope never to have to leave Virginia, and I'm not a native. That being said, moving without a job is very risky. Northern VA schools hire pretty heavily each year, but I doubt you could live there on one teacher's income. Prime reason we're leaving and going back to RIC. After 6 years, we still hate it and live almost paycheck to paycheck b/c it's so expensive here.

In the Richmond area, have him check out Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover and city of Richmond. He's most likely to get a job in the city, coming from afar, but those schools can be brutal -- some are very inner city. The three counties are considered some of the best schools in the state and are very hard to get into as a new teacher, even if you're here in the state. If you live in one of these counties and he doesn't mind driving, he expand into the surrounding counties, like Goochland or Powhatan. You might also look at Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania County. Here in VA we have a new teacher evaluation process that includes test scores from the previous year, so our big hiring cycle has been pushed back to July/August. This is a new process and systems are still working through it. He should put his resume on teachers-teachers.com, and watch the job fairs. If he wants a job in this area, he needs to be out here for spring job fairs -- this is a big screening time for most of our systems.

Good luck!!

[Emerald Forest]

Thanks for answering you all, with realistic and encouraging replies. Richmond seems to have, in our opinion, a whole lot to offer. We hope it works out for us.

[steven r.]

Yeah I like Richmond alot myself and would choose that area over Northern Virginia. Nothing wrong with Northern Virginia except the extremely high cost of living.

[Alicia64]

Originally Posted by Emerald Forest

Thanks for answering you all, with realistic and encouraging replies. Richmond seems to have, in our opinion, a whole lot to offer. We hope it works out for us.

We moved from CA two years ago and absolutely love it. There are calculators online that compare your town's cost to Richmond's and you might want to look into that.

From a fun point of view: DC is two hours away (which still blows me away), Virginia Beach is two hours away, Monticello is one hour away, Colonial Williamsburg is one hour away.

Great for little kids: Richmond Children's Museum, Science Center, Maymont's nature center. There's more, I'm sure, but my kids are 9 so a bit older than your's.

Area's to look in: Glen Allen (great), Short Pump (pricey), Mechnicsville (seems great to me; I think it's improved over the years), Midlothian (great).

We lived in apartments for two years before settling on a home -- we move this week. I highly recommend you do something similar. I've loved our apts: Reflections of West Creek in Short Pump. You're near all of the easy shopping so you won't be searching in a new town for stuff you need. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Walmart, everything is here. We're also by a very upscale mall which is very pricey, but beautiful -- and your kids will love running around and looking at the fountains etc.

Apt. living has been fun -- no yard work, great pool, a simple email to the staff and the pest guy comes every Wed. You can even rent small garages. Keep in mind that you'll hear thumps overhead which we learned to laugh at and the apt. staff themselves are in business to make money so you have to watch them carefully -- pay on time or early, give 60 days notice etc. In other words, follow the rules.

If you do move to Reflections, get an apt. near the sandbox/volleyball court. Lots of kids congregate and play in the sand on nice days and it means instant friends.

Good luck!

Alley

[hgnmx]

I wouldn't try to sell Richmond as being a difficult place to "make it", the metro area has one of the lowest unemployment rates of any city in the country, at just 6.5%. However I also wouldn't make the move without having a job lined up first, but that shouldn't be difficult.

[applesanshanana]

As a teacher who picked up and moved (jobless) to Richmond from the Detroit area in 2008, I can tell you that you can make it. However, let me give you a bit of advice first .

You mentioned that your husband is certified, but is he certified in Texas or Virginia? I was a certified Michigan teacher with two years of experience when my husband and I arrived in Richmond in late August, but didn't have my Virginia teaching certificate. In an overly saturated area like your husband's, it took me until late October to find a school almost an hour away that would be willing to hire me on a provisional. I had experience teaching in Detroit and have no doubt that I would have been hired in Richmond in a heartbeat if I had my Virginia certificate lined up before we moved. I'd highly suggest he look into taking the PRAXIS II test in English before or right after you move so he can market himself with a Virginia certificate.

Good luck!