Are People Friendly in Richmond's West End Area?? (Roanoke, Mechanicsville: job market, schools)

[motherlove]

I live in Beaverdam,va.(Hanover Co.) which is very close to the west end of Richmond. I live in a rural area and most people out here are friendly,but we are getting a lot of people moving out here from the west end area to some of the new subdivisions,and from my experience the people who I have met are less than friendly. They act as though everyone out here knows nothing of the world(or even Richmond for that matter,lol).I will not say all are that way,but the ones I have encountered the most part anyway,have been less than pleasant and are so cliquish. There are some good people around though.If you could move to Hanover Co. it would be really good,especially if you have children. The schools here are wonderful,look it up and see! We have blue ribbon schools here!Good luck!

[DKVA]

Yep-plenty of us darn Yankees/LIers here in Short Pump.That was such a great thing for our young teenager being able to adjust easier. Not just Yankees but relo's from all over the country. Now 3 years later here we go again-St Louis. I wonder if the people there will be as welcoming and friendly. But, that is another forum. Damn, I will surely miss southern hospitality and those great accents!

[pcdr]

As a former Iowan who now lives in Richmond (Mechanicsville, actually), let me give you some examples of what we have experienced here:

I go into the grocery store. No eye contact from anyone. No "thank you" when I pay for the groceries. No smiles. It is like being a leper.

We take our kids to Mcdonald's. The six year old is a friendly child. He goes up to a kid we don't know and starts talking. The mother makes no eye contact with me or my child, and soon she stands up and tells her child it's time to go.

We have been going to the same church for five years. We dress appropriately, behave appropriately, the church is appropriate (Baptist, a must here). We smile, for the most part no one smiles back. conversations are strained. my husband thought he recognized someone there from work once, went to talk to the guy and shake his hand after church, realized he didn't know the guy after he'd already stuck his hand out and smiled, the guy rather than shake my husband's hand takes a step backward and looks horrified...in five years we have gotten to know exactly two other couples.

There is a distinct unhealthy lack of personal warmth here. It is easy for me to see how the ancestors of such people could have chained humans to trees and whipped them mercilessly 200 years ago. I moved here with such an open mind, believing all Americans to be essentially warm, nice people. I was wrong. I have grown to hate this place.

You know how midwesterners embrace humility? Southerners embrace the opposite, pretentiousness. Would you believe that women in the South wear cocktail dresses to football games? And bring china and crystal to tailgates, where they eat finger sandwiches? I s*** you not. Check out the Time magazine article on tailgating from two or three weeks ago. I also love how everybody pours tons of money into filling their tiny west end craphouse with antiques and original artwork. Come on, who are you people trying to kid? That is a $90K, 1300 sq foot house from the 60's, I don't care how much you foolishly paid for it.

One of the greatest ironies here is the ostentatious Christianity. Bumper stickers and personal license plates proclaiming the Lord and his Word. Yes, by comparison midwesterners are quiet about their religion. But I have yet to meet a single example of a Richmonder who follows the example of Christ and even smiles at a stranger, much less shows real kindness to a stranger. Oh and by the way, was Christ pretentious? It's fake Christianity, folks.

[DKVA]

Wow-I must be living on another planet.

[richmondpics]

I'm on another planet as well apparently...

It sounds to me like you're not buying your groceries at Ukrop's or even Kroger. If you're expecting any level of customer service at Food Lion or somewhere comparable, then you're just getting your hopes up for nothing.

As far as churches, being baptist IS NOT a must in the Richmond area (perhaps a stereotype about the south?)... and if you've had a bad experience at one church, why stick with it? I'm not a consistent churchgoer and any church I've been to, it seems that the members are almost too friendly.

Your comment regarding slavery is completely uncalled for.

And who the hell really cares what women wear to a football game? Does it really matter? That said, I must say I don't think I've ever seen what you've apparently witnessed? in our area and highly doubt it is representative at all.

It really does sound like an alternative universe or something... that said, I do hope your situation improves!

[DKVA]

Amen-well said richmondpics

[jhrichmond]

So I guess I'm on that planet too. I moved here 10 years ago (from the deep south, actually) and I love it here. Maybe there's something pcdr isn't telling us.

[DKVA]

Seems like pcdr isn't a happy camper. Be happy where you're planted and look for the good in your surroundings-make lemonade out of your lemons and stop being miserable. If you want to be miserable don't try to bring others into it. I didn't move here by choice but job relocation. Lived in NY/LI 47 years-I quickly came to love the area and the people.

[WanderVA]

"It is easy for me to see how the ancestors of such people could have chained humans to trees and whipped them mercilessly 200 years ago."

It's funny how we can reveal things about ourselves through the things we say.

[dizliz0925]

Wow...I did a lot of research and this forum was very helpful in our decision to move here in Sept. I've been meaning to post my overall thoughts on the city for a while, but have just been so busy with the job and all...

But too keep it related to this thread...our impression of the people in this area couldn't be more pleasant. Everyone in this town is so helpful and genuine in welcoming us. We are just amazed at the little things...the lack of honking once a red light turns green. The fact that almost no one 'runs' yellow lights.

In regards to pcdr's fast food experience, we were at Wendy's in Midlothian last month, and had two trays of food, and the girl behind the counter offered to carry the food to our table for us

Eveyone here has been just wonderful, and we thank you all for it!!