Nervous about Richmond move (Chester: for sale, rentals, home)

[richmondpics]

Originally Posted by terrick

As for whether "snobby" people are living more on this side or that side of the city, having moved around all over the place, I don't give those "labels" much attention as I have come to realize that people like that exist everywhere, and you just have to know who you are, what you want in life, and seek out the people who hold the same values that you do.

That's a great attitude.

Richmond has a very diverse, strong job market/economy as well as a huge base of major corporate headquarters. Recently, Forbes named Richmond the 7th best city for doing business and careers.

Here's a recent article discussing it:

Richmond area scores high marks in business - Low costs, educated work force place region 7th on Forbes list

Good luck!

[erinmike]

Having lived in Southside, the West End, Northside, and the Fan district - what you are looking for describes the West End (not to be confused with Short Pump). Henrico County schools are wonderful (Tuckahoe, Freeman, Godwin, etc.). The Short Pump area is very expensive, has heavy traffic, and is still growing. While it is a great place to shop and dine, I would not recommend moving there. Henrico is very well-balanced and is the calm center of everything. There are areas where you have to "have a fat wallet" or drive a nice car but that is definitely not the case everywhere you go. Living in Chesterfield (Midlothian) was nice but it was not as convenient or safe in my opinion. There are neighborhoods like Woodlake and Brandermill that are wonderful but I am not impressed with much outside of that particular area. I am currently living near where your huband is located. Have him look into neighborhoods near U of R. They are nice, safe, and reasonable. Hope this helps!

[onevthoki]

terrick and moving - We recently moved to Chesterfield County down from Spotsylvania County, so I hope I can give you my personal experience. I was always familiar with the Richmond area, having grown up a couple counties southwest of here, and even worked in Woodlake and Colonial Heights after graduating from Tech. But then the Army took us (of all places - how ironic!) near Pittsburgh and other duty stations. Anyway, I digress... my husband recently transferred with the government to Ft. Lee, and I knew I wanted to live in Chesterfield County because of the great schools and proximity to Ft. Lee (since he commuted north from Fredericksburg, why jump from the frying pan into the fire with another commute?!). So far we have not been disappointed! We picked a great neighborhood (River's Bend) and were welcomed with wine glasses, a coffee cake, a spring flower basket, a bottle of wine, brownies and wonderful neighbors - we never received that in Spotsylvania. The kids have settled in well to their school and we have found a church that I think will be a good fit for our family. Anyway, definitely do not rule out Chesterfield and let me know if you have any other questions. I am still going through boxes (after three months-UGH!) and trying to figure out paint colors, but love to help others with my newcomers view!

[meskito]

Snobbery does exist in Richmond, but like a previous poster said - you have to know who you are. It was hard for me as a teenager growing up in Richmond as a middle class kid and having the girls tell me that I needed designer jeans (!!!). Even after college I moved back most of my peers talked only of things concerning money/cars/status. Sounds like you had a similar experience at U of R.

I do think that this attitude is everywhere, so you can't really avoid it. Richmond and the surrounding areas are growing rapidly and the influx of people should help with finding friends who are more your style. I have found that once you meet up with a couple of great people, they introduce you to their friends who are pretty cool, and so on. It's diversified these days, so hopefully you won't have the same experience this time around. Good Luck!

[SpringOakFarm]

The advice you received is a bit over simplified. I've been here 16 years now from the D.C. area and people are fine everywhere, wioth some snobs sprinkled in -everywhere.

A decade ago, there were more new upscale homes in the west end and far west end (With DC capital gains $ that's what people did) and so there were many more "transplants" from elsewhere, coupled with the fact that 3-4 of the largest employers in Richmond are located in the far west end. The schools in the far west end are plentiful and newer and the county school system has a great rep.

That being said Chesterfield county is experiencing a similar growth spurt that the far west end had 10 years ago, so schools are being built, more upscale homes and shopping, etc. are available.

Back when I moved in the housing prices were up to 20% less on the "south side", but I think that gap has closed. I still chose to move to the far west end to be close (2 miles) to work- the reason? Why commute at all (Even 20-30 minutes) if you don't have to? I enjoyed a decade of being able to coach baseball and football 2-4 evenings a week and not tick off my employer- it was a mere 10 minutes from work. I haven't missed more than a handful of kid's sports, dance recitals, school events due to not being able to get from work to an event- something living on one side of town and working on the other may not have afforded me.

From my (Actually my wife's) name on this board you can see I've moved more rural- west a bit more- to Hanover County (Almost in Goochland) to a small (11 acre) horse farm to fulfill my wife and daughter's dreams. Still less than 20 minutes from work and I took all those west end capital gains 2 years ago (Doubled my $) and was able to pretty much go mortgage free now. Imagine a rural area (Not even stores or many places to eat) a mere 10-15 miles from the busiest area of a metropolitan area!

We like it fine but schools are not up to par with Henrico (In my humble opinion), but I'm afraid all public schools aren't able to do the same job mine did 30 years ago (Seems like all kids get A's and B's these days so I suspect an easier more homogenized grading system exists) which as a teacher you might argue the point.

I still enjoy visiting the west end more than Chesterfield, and although traffic is getting bad (Not by D.C. standards) I would recommend the west end over the south side and still gotta give the recommendation for you to live in the far west end- as still being closer to downtown Richmond and 30 minutes closer to D.C. (If you plan on visiting a lot) and points north. On the south side you could live in a really nice area, and have a really questionable and almost scary area within a half mile. I'm sure I'll get blasted from all sides here! Overall, if you are like me, I spent 30+ years as a DC proponent (Even commuting here for 6 years so as not to give up the DC life) but I LOVE this town and would NEVER move back. Most of my DC/ NJ/NY friends here agree, this area is a wonderful place to raise a family, much better than the big cities to the north. Relax, you will love it here.

[carcie]

Originally Posted by moving101

Forgive the lengthy background info:

My husband and I are moving to Richmond (he is heading up an office expansion effort for his Northern VA-based commercial contractor)-- he's actually currently living in corporate housing in the West End near his office location (office park between Forest Ave and Glenside Dr.). I am a public high school teacher in Fairfax County and intend to finish out the school year up here until our move in June. We have no children yet but will start our family in the next year...and intend to move into the home we'd like to raise our children in. We've been looking at housing since DECEMBER and are excited about how much more we will get for our money, but can't narrrow our search!

I actually am familiar with Richmond to some extent. I am a small-town, Upstate NY native who went to U of R (graduated in 2001). My parents were upper- middle class but the University was the first place I encountered girls my age that wore expensive designer clothing, had summer homes, and were educated in elite private schools. I don't entirely resent that because I think it helped me understand how to relate to people from different backgrounds than my own. For my part, I was at UR on partial academic scholarship and I babysat for several families in the area so I could pay for the "fun" stuff in college, and some of my friends got that and others weren't as understanding at times. Bottom line: I got a great education and fell in love with area restaurants and neighborhoods, I AM excited about my return there. My husband grew up in VA Beach and went to VA Tech. We share a passion for hard work and take pride in being highly accomplished, self-made individuals. We want to model that same work ethic for our children.
My dilemma: contrary to what others may think/say of No VA, having lived now in both areas I can honestly say I am MORE worried about snobbishness/notion of "Keeping up with the Joneses" in Richmond than I am up here in Fairfax-- maybe because it's a bigger area, it's less compartmentalized.
I fear that in Richmond, you are pretty much pegged into one social circle based on where you live. In the city, we'd feel obligated to send our kids to private schools (St. Catherine's, St. Christopher's, Collegiate, etc.). I recall my experiences from babysitting children that attended these schools and I am more inclined to have my children go to school with kids from a wider socioeconomic background. I'd just prefer that they have that experience. So we're looking at Henrico and Chesterfield, but the number of adults who have shared with me that "folks north of the James don't mix with folks south of the James" baffles me. It seems like I want the down-to-earth values + quality schools offered by Chesterfield, rather than this purported sense of entitlement in Henrico (ex: a Richmond resident said that if we live in the River Road corridor we'll meet our neighbors at CCV where we'll "need a fat wallet and 3 sponsors to get in") and while we golf we are sooooooooo not country club folk. At the same time, I fondly recall being able to take advantage of pedestrian areas near campus like Libbie/Grove and Carytown and worry that my husband's commute (while it surely must be better than the 30 minute one he has now) will be annoying and that we'll never take 288 to the "other side" because people "just don't do that unless they need to go to Short Pump mall".
Basically, I want a great neighborhood (of which there are many!), good schools, down-to-earth neighbors, and access to all that Richmond has to offer. Is it possible? Do folks over-simplify when they talk about the feel of each area?

We are upstate NY people as well--have lived in Chesterfield Co. for almost 7 years now--near enough for easy commutation to Richmond. We live in Woodlake (Midlothian)--and find that living here, most are "transplants" like we are. Best schools in the area, from what I understand with kids in same. Nice suburban feel. Newer developments look stark and unfinished to me, but here, beautiful old trees, lots of flowers, etc., and an association that tries hard to please. Would be happy to answer any questions we can. No "snooty" here--we are country people back in NY, old and grey and friendly.

[fjennell]

I moved from Henrico / west end (Godwin High School) area to NoVA and the west end is SOOO much nicer IMO. I think you will really like.

[creepsinc]

I grew up in Richmond. You may as well give it up, you'll always be a "come here" as opposed to a "from here". Hunker down and hang out with transplants. Also, people from NoVA probably get the worst of it. Just kidding, sort of. People who move there usually seem to love it. If you couldn't tell, I have mixed feelings about my hometown.

[movnsoon]

I would strongly encourage you to look at Patriot's Landing in Quinton (New Kent County). It's about 10 minutes East of the Richmond Airport, VERY easily accessible to Richmond. In fact, the "slogan" is "Live more, commute less" and we've certainly found that to be the case here. The neighbors are PHENOMENAL. All ages - married, single, with kids, without, some retired, some families, professionals and lots of diversity. You really can't ask for a better community. Top notch ammeneties - pool, clubhouse (soon) w/bocce ball, mini golf, etc. Lakes, bike paths. New Bloom grocery store coming this fall that we can walk to. Ukrops just 12 minutes away. Food Lion, Subway, post office, doctors, and lots more just 2 minutes across 64. Quinton Community Park nearby. A huge new mall (the likes of Short Pump) called White Oak going in soon, too. And Target will be in that same area - about 15 minutes away. Still, no traffic, easy commuting, friendly living. Very social community and awesome homes/value.

Patriots Landing will get you there.

Basically, I want a great neighborhood (of which there are many!), good schools, down-to-earth neighbors, and access to all that Richmond has to offer. Is it possible? Do folks over-simplify when they talk about the feel of each area? [/quote]

[inshortpump]

I moved here from Fairfax County (originally from upstate NY too). We could afford a much bigger house here in Richmond than the one we had in no va but I regret moving into it. People assume you are a snob if you live in my area; you read it all the time on this forum. We picked our neighborhood based on good schools but had no idea that we would encounter so much class/status consciousness here. I feel like I have to be constantly on my guard when I meet new people. I never felt this way in Fairfax or in upstate NY where I found that people were more accepting regardless of your status
in life. I could care less what side of the river somebody lives on or what kind of car they drive. It all seems so artificial to me and I feel like there are all these rules of Richmond life that I will never understand. Based on my experience, I would have to say that your fears are somewhat justified.