Rural Options West of Richmond (Charlottesville, Chester: apartment complexes, crime, townhomes)

[whatiscp]

My family will be moving to the Richmond area this year and looking for a home in a country/rural setting. We have visited the area several times and like the counties West/Northwest of the city for access to conveniences plus affordability of homes + land. So far we like Powhatan, Goochland and parts of Hanover county near Rockville/Montpelier.

Each place has it own appeal so I am looking for some help in finding out things you can't learn from quick visits. Like are these places safe and are the people friendly? Any random refugee camps or odd developments? Is the traffic unreasonably bad certain times of day or all the time? Do any of these locations lack adequate police/fire service?

I see the schools are rated in the middle of the pack yet far behind the Short Pump/Midloathian areas. While schools are important enough that they shouldn't be the worst in the state I am not willing to sacrifice quality of life IMO to live in suburbia. The question here is, anything we should know about in the schools for these areas that would scare us away.

Thanks in advance for any help.

p.s- moving from ruckersville near charlottesville if that helps with frame of reference.

[Pruzhany]

Powhatan and Goochland are both safe. I can't comment on schools, as kids are already grown up. You can probably get more acreage for the dollar in Powhatan. As I have property in Charlottesville and two in Powhatan. I can give you information about Powhatan. Let's see I've covered two. Powhatan has very few subdivision neighborhoods and from I've seen the ones on 711 have a lot of turnover. So the best thing is to look for property that has at least 5 acres and is zoned as A-1. The sweet spot is East of 522 and North of 60. Crime here is the Walmart and speeders. Home break ins are rare and have usually been near the Chesterfield line South of 60. People wise, they are not unfriendly, but don't consider them too friendly for more than acquaintances that you wave to and that's about it. The main thing for this county is it's extremely conservative and privacy is considered important As to refugee camps or odd developments I'm guessing you mean apartment complexes; AFAIK there are none and each time it's come up in front of the board it's been denied.

As for a comparison, I rarely drive past the airport on 29. I'd probably use Barracks Rd (Garth) for a comparison. The shopping center at 29/250 states what shopping is like in the country (most people in Powhatan shop 15 minutes away on 60 in Midlothian). Once one drives past Barracks West Townhomes on 29, consider that in line with Powhatan. As on that road you'll see a $400k home sitting sometimes next to a Million dollar home, the same is in Powhatan.

So basically, if you want a area where safety is of high importance ( large Sheriff department and numerous fire stations) than Powhatan is the direction to go on. But keep in mind that it leans Right. If shopping is in your short list, then Goochland is the way to go as you would have closer access to the Far West End on route 250 in Henrico and gives you as bad traffic as on 29.

[whatiscp]

Thank you for the context and info. We did like the area you mentioned in Powhatan and happy to hear that both Goochland and Powhatan are safe.

[BuiltforSin]

Originally Posted by Pruzhany

Powhatan and Goochland are both safe. I can't comment on schools, as kids are already grown up. You can probably get more acreage for the dollar in Powhatan. As I have property in Charlottesville and two in Powhatan. I can give you information about Powhatan. Let's see I've covered two. Powhatan has very few subdivision neighborhoods and from I've seen the ones on 711 have a lot of turnover. So the best thing is to look for property that has at least 5 acres and is zoned as A-1. The sweet spot is East of 522 and North of 60. Crime here is the Walmart and speeders. Home break ins are rare and have usually been near the Chesterfield line South of 60. People wise, they are not unfriendly, but don't consider them too friendly for more than acquaintances that you wave to and that's about it. The main thing for this county is it's extremely conservative and privacy is considered important As to refugee camps or odd developments I'm guessing you mean apartment complexes; AFAIK there are none and each time it's come up in front of the board it's been denied.

As for a comparison, I rarely drive past the airport on 29. I'd probably use Barracks Rd (Garth) for a comparison. The shopping center at 29/250 states what shopping is like in the country (most people in Powhatan shop 15 minutes away on 60 in Midlothian). Once one drives past Barracks West Townhomes on 29, consider that in line with Powhatan. As on that road you'll see a $400k home sitting sometimes next to a Million dollar home, the same is in Powhatan.

So basically, if you want a area where safety is of high importance ( large Sheriff department and numerous fire stations) than Powhatan is the direction to go on. But keep in mind that it leans Right. If shopping is in your short list, then Goochland is the way to go as you would have closer access to the Far West End on route 250 in Henrico and gives you as bad traffic as on 29.

I'm trying to figure out how the bolded is exactly a bad thing, and why it's even being brought up. Why do they need to keep that in mind? If you know anything about Virginia or really any state then you know most rural areas are conservative outside of the Liberal city bubbles.

[Shabba Snacks]

Amelia (Courthouse), you can't get much more rural than that.

[whatiscp]

I think that they are indicating that cell phones aren't free. Everyone will have to pay for their own.