What's bad about Richmond? (Norfolk, Charlottesville: 2009, rent, violent crime)

[QuarlesLT]

If you don't mind being around 45 min. from downtown Richmond, 25 min. from Short Pump and 20 min. from Charlottesville, and love country living, Louisa County is the place for you! It is right off I-64, almost equally between Richmond, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg. Homes are in the 150-250k range for the most part.

There has never been much shopping in the county, but that is changing very soon. In the Zion Crossroads area (also right off I-64), Lowe's is almost completed and is opening in May, and a new Walmart (supposedly the most attractive-looking Walmart on the East Coast, uses their newest design), outlet mall, shopping centers, and restaurants are hopefully going to be open by the end of the year!

Growing up in the county, I never appreciated it much because there wasn't much to do, but now I appreciate how beautiful and peaceful it is, since I'm living at VCU now. They are also building a new park in the town of Louisa, and Lake Anna is a beautiful lake on the border of Louisa and Spotsylvania Counties that has a state park. I believe Louisa's population is around 31,000 right now, and is expected to hit 45,000 around 2020. I think people are finally realizing how nice it is to live there and are trying to get out of the burbs like NoVa.

So if you don't mind driving not too far at all to the amenities of Charlottesville, Richmond, and Fredericksburg, while having the amenities and lower cost of living of the country, give Louisa a try. It's up and coming!

[Phebe]

Check out Powhatan County for the best school system and low crime. Just don't move into a neighborhood right off of Rt. 60. The traffic is ok now, but Powhatan is growing very quickly. You are less than 20 mins. from Walmart, and 25 mins. from about 3 malls; soon to be 4. Really wonderful area, but if you are a gardener, bring your own soil! Clay and rocks is all I've found!

[anothertequilasunrise]

Nothing of the sort. Certainly not up and coming. One crummy edge of the town building a Walmart and you say "up and coming". That's a trip. The other end Lake Anna seeks and wins hiking and spiking the land taxes to all with raise each year so they get to look big and good and get the most profit. A truly pathetic system they're all running.

Originally Posted by QuarlesLT

If you don't mind being around 45 min. from downtown Richmond, 25 min. from Short Pump and 20 min. from Charlottesville, and love country living, Louisa County is the place for you! It is right off I-64, almost equally between Richmond, Charlottesville, and Fredericksburg. Homes are in the 150-250k range for the most part.

There has never been much shopping in the county, but that is changing very soon. In the Zion Crossroads area (also right off I-64), Lowe's is almost completed and is opening in May, and a new Walmart (supposedly the most attractive-looking Walmart on the East Coast, uses their newest design), outlet mall, shopping centers, and restaurants are hopefully going to be open by the end of the year!

Growing up in the county, I never appreciated it much because there wasn't much to do, but now I appreciate how beautiful and peaceful it is, since I'm living at VCU now. They are also building a new park in the town of Louisa, and Lake Anna is a beautiful lake on the border of Louisa and Spotsylvania Counties that has a state park. I believe Louisa's population is around 31,000 right now, and is expected to hit 45,000 around 2020. I think people are finally realizing how nice it is to live there and are trying to get out of the burbs like NoVa.

So if you don't mind driving not too far at all to the amenities of Charlottesville, Richmond, and Fredericksburg, while having the amenities and lower cost of living of the country, give Louisa a try. It's up and coming!

[anothertequilasunrise]

Like Louisa's trying to win some sort of a sellout award.

[anothertequilasunrise]

And my freaking point. Exactly. They don't fix anything. That which could be nicer won't be fixed. They think they can build on top of stuff quickly to maintain growth but this will be dangerously unsafe. Fearsome how neglectful they are.
The place has the appearance of a bowel.

Originally Posted by treena

Richmond is about as charming as a rattlesnake and there are too many broken down areas for me to stomach. I have lived in other major cities in my life but this one is a dump in too many parts.

This one's ripe.

Originally Posted by vasinger

Its a misconception that the downtown area has gangs. It doesn't. The place where all the crime is is along Jeff Davis HWY, Northeast Richmond, and some areas of east Henrico. Downtown Richmond is probably the safest area of the city!

I don't think you do. The wealthy only have a select few restaurants at "the fan". The rest theaters or something correct. unsafe to hang around however outside for even a few minutes.

Originally Posted by vasinger

You're joking right?

The Fan? Monument Ave? Shockoe Slip? If those are "dumpy areas" then I don't know whats nice anymore.

[Phebe]

Just west of Richmond, on the southside of the James River is Powhatan. It is a rapidly expanding county, with the best public schools that you can find anywhere. Unfortunately, developers are making decisions that are in their best, short term interests. So be careful, if you decide to buy here, that someone isn't trying to rezone your area to commercial, or multi-family. Powhatan is still great, with almost no crime. A recent shooting was very tragic, and unusual for the area. Still a country feel here, with easy access to the rest of the area, via Route 288. As with everywhere, some terrific real estate deals available now, but here, you can still buy a home with acreage and privacy. With sensible, long term urban planning, Powhatan may stay a great place to raise a family. Like I said: you can't beat the county schools.

[01va571]

Ok anybody who doesn't think Richmond is a complete dump is either out of there mind or have never been outside of Richmond.

"Coming from someone who has lived in a terrible area in NE Washington D.C." Richmond is disgusting!!!

When I entered Richmond from Chamberlayne road off of I-95 it was almost as if I had driven right into Martin Luther King Jr drive in Southeast D.C. This progressively got worse as you entered the city. It was actually dirtier than area’s of Baltimore or DC. I got flicked off and yelled at by some thug looking guy for glancing at him for less than a second. Wow. Not even in Baltimore has that happened to me.

Most of the buildings in the city looked eaten away, boarded up, or graphitized. It stunk badly. It was reminiscent of Gary Indiana.
I was hungry. I decided to go to a McDonalds. I sat in the drive threw for about 25 minutes. Even someone had written on the side of the building. "I have been sitting here a long time". Then a reply from someone else under it read: "Me too, Steve!". I also noticed a large amount of crusted spit all over the side of the McDonalds.


The skyline was pitiful. The buildings looked big at first and I was excited. The closer I got into the city I noticed the big skyline wasn’t close together but spread out to make it look big. Everything in between was trashy... I even heard on the radio that there was a part at the “Wal-Mart”. I have never heard something like that broadcasted over the radio in my LIFE!

The most exciting thing I saw was the White house of Confederacy. As well as the museum.

I will probably never go back.

Also, Richmond Virginia in 2007 ranked #5 for violent crimes for cities with populations of 100,000 - 250,000 based on Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports.

sources:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/data...ts/07tbl08.xls[/FONT
Crime in the United States 2007[/font][/SIZE]
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate_(100,000_-_250,000"][font=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate_(100,000_-_250,000

[Yankeerose00]

I live about 45 minutes outside Richmond. I was not born in VA so I'm not one of those people who blindly defend their city. That said, here is the deal with Richmond. It's very easy.

East side bad, west side good. You were obviously on the east side. Go west of 95 and you'll see million dollar homes, VERY clean and safe areas. Did you see Cary street or monument ave? THe further west you go on these streets as though you are leaving the city, the nicer it gets.
The suburbs of RIchmond are very nice. Check out the Short Pump area. It's booming. I will agree that the east side leaves a lot to be desired. I often shake my head when I see people on here defending areas like Church Hill saying it's not that bad. Makes me wonder where they grew up.
Like I said, I don't have the Richmond blinders on that some of the "born and bred" people have and even I will admit that the city has a lot going for it and does not deserve the reputation that it gets from areas like NOVA who look down their snooty noses at the rest of the state anyway.

BTW this post is directed to the poster above who is saying Richmond is worse than Baltimore. Please.

[sereta1]

I am moving from philadelphia,pa to roanoke,va very soon with my 6yr old son how is it there?

[Yankeerose00]

Sereta, you may get positive responses, but I personally would NEVER live in Roanoke. I think some places are just better suited to people who are from the area. You are from Philly. Many places in the south do not take kindly to northerners. I am from Jersey, not far from Philly and I've had to deal with a lot of sh*t from people just for being from north of the mason-dixon line.
Roanoke has SOME people there from up north, but not that many. If I were you, I'd stick to areas like Richmond and the surrounding areas. Charlottesville and NOVA are pretty pricey.
I felt welcome in Richmond. I do NOT feel comfortable around Roanoke and worse....Lynchburg. Ugh. Whoever described southwestern VA as having a 100,000 people and 5 last names hit the nail on the head.
Sorry to offend anyone from Roanoke, but I don't think someone from Philly is going to like it there.