What's bad about Richmond? (neighborhoods, living, move)

[Yankeerose00]

I just realized that you said you are going to move there. I thought you meant you were thinking of moving there. If you have plans in motion, give it a shot. Just definitely rent before buying! In this market if you buy and you don't like it, you can very well be stuck there. Good luck.

[pswanson]

[SIZE=3]I’ve lived in Richmond all of my life (Henrico county’s West End). It has grown very fast in diversity, yet remains a friendly and quaint city. It’s EXCELENT for families because most of the counties have great schools. I’d recommend, but I’m partial, West End Henrico or Midlothian/Chesterfield. Goochland is the fastest growing county (beautiful rolling hills) and popular with people who work at home (basically an extension of the West End of Henrico). It all depends on your taste! Richmond has so much to offer in personal style, shopping, etc. Each area really is different… and there are bad areas within each-not just the city… Moderator cut: real estate advertising is not allowed[/SIZE]

[Yankeerose00]

exactly pswanson. While the city limits of Richmond can be dicey in a lot of places, the suburbs of Richmond and the surrounding countryside is gorgeous.
I have the type of personality that doesn't like to settle down. I'm always itching to try some place new. I've spent a lot of time on Realtor.com looking at the cost of homes and their property tax rates. Virginia, specifically Richmond, always comes out smelling like a rose. We really are lucky to live in a city with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation (despite those poor Circuit City people) as well as one of the lowest rates of home appreciation. My husband has received many offers to take a job either in Charlottesville or NOVA and it amazes me how going 1 1/2 hours west or 2 hours north is so expensive!
I can't think of another store that Short Pump could possibly need but yet they are breaking ground for yet another shopping center! While I detest sprawl, I'll take growth considering many other cities across the US are experiencing stores closing left and right. Yikes.

[TY01VET]

Check out Chesterfield County. Still has many rural areas, but close to everything. The Midlothain area near Rt 288/Midlothian Trnpk is growing and has nice subdivisions off the beaten path (Summer Lake, Fox Creek, Fox Fire, Salsibury, Rountry, Waters Edge)

I have 5 kids, and 2 are in school and 2 more will be going into school in the upcoming couple of years. We picked Summer Lake due to the size of the subdivision and location. The schools are ranked very high and we feel good about the area. In the same area are many nice sudivisions and great schools. Good Luck

[holden125]

Originally Posted by 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.

I am a dyed-in-the-wool New Englander, as northern as it gets, and I've never lived in the Richmond area but I really feel I have to respond. I've been all over the world, come from a beautiful town, and have spent all but a total of about a week of my life outside Richmond, but I LOVE RICHMOND.

I was there just last week and also last year and find the city fascinating. I've seen enough of the place to know that there are plenty of rough areas, and I had the chance to see NE Richmond and the south side up close and personal driving through. The place has its problems. But this is a city with some absolutely gorgeous neighborhoods and a lot of charm. Saying that the whole place is a cesspool because you had a lousy McDonald's experience in a lousy part of town makes no sense. The existence of New York Av in Northeast DC, or the worst parts of SE DC, doesn't mean there is no Georgetown, Kalorama Heights, or Lincoln Memorial. The existence of lousy parts of East Baltimore doesn't mean there's no Guilford, Fells Point, Mount Vernon, or Federal Hill.

Monument Av and the Fan are beautiful, Carytown, etc. I'll also put a plug in for the area on the east side near St. John's Church and Libby Hill Park. A great urban neighborhood coming back strong.

A lot of what I'm reading is people who are just not city people, and who have always lived in the suburbs or country and thus have been conditioned to badmouth the city of Richmond automatically. I like rolling hills as much as anyone, and Virginia has some beautiful rural and suburban counties, but if you're a city person there are a lot of interesting places in Richmond itself also. If you're not, maybe you should be up front about that and not assume everyone thinks all cities are scary and dirty and to be avoided at all costs.

I know the OP wanted to live in the suburbs but this degenerated into a big bash Richmond session and it's not wholly justified.

Charlotte? No thanks.

[Anders15]

Originally Posted by 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

wow #5.. we can top this in 2009 guys, Rodney Monroe is gone and everything!

[verguenza]

Apart from how physically unappealing Richmond is, it's the people that really make it a horrible place. Never in my life had I ever imagined there existed such.. well, stupidity, to be blunt. I was born in the US, a total American, without the tiniest hint of an accent, and I was told I speak "very good English" in Richmond. Why? Probably because I'm "ethnic." And this was not a freak random occurrence-- Richmond is culturally retarded. On top of that, people here are just plain unpleasant and mean-- especially on the road. "Southern Hospitality" is such a lie!

Oh, it's also an incredibly lazy city. It takes about 10 times longer than normal to get anything done here, if you are relying on other people. Slow as molasses...

[SnowCrazy]

We live in Western Henrico (a.k.a. the West End) north of the river, about 10 minutes south of Ashland. I can honestly tell you we can get just about anywhere in the city in about 15 minutes. A drive to Chesterfield (a.k.a. South of the River) is about 30 minutes. Our experience with Richmond schools is this: elementary and middle schools are ok (private school might be better for one-on-one attention), but high schools can be very impressive. We are very happy with Hermitage and feel some of the high schools are highly under-rated for what they offer.

When we first moved to Richmond, I was very depressed over this 'gray' city. And the smell when you drive in from the South is disgusting, thanks to the sewage treatment plants! However, over time, I've been able to see some of the charm and appeal, although I am still not overtly fond of living here. My biggest complaint with traffic is way too many people use cell phones while changing lanes (or while driving, period). My two biggest complaints with Richmond in general are the current lack of baseball teams and too many abandoned/condemned houses in the historic areas downtown. So many closed-up buildings don't help the city's image at all, and there's so much that could be done with those places. In general, Richmond is a capital city that seems content to play second fiddle to other big cities like Norfolk and D.C. If we could just get past that need to be a small town (closing stores at 6 pm on Sundays) and actually be a capital city, things would be a lot better, I think.

[Jac_nc]

Henrico has wonderful schools. Tuckahoe school district is one of the best in the state. Living in that school district will not give you 'country living' housing is fairly expensive and the lots are small. Surrounding areas will give you more lot size for your money, but the school district budgets are down in areas.. be sure to check class size and resources. good luck

[Jac_nc]

Downtown Richmond isn't that bad. Parts of it, yes. But Shockoe slip, the bottom.. great for nightlife and wonderful restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants is in Jackson Ward.. do make sure you have a man taking you, but it's worth it. Comfort is amazing. Great food, good drinks, lovely crowd. As long as you stay where the crowds are.. it's safe. You can also check out the Fan District, Carytown and the Museum District. Beautiful old homes, local restaurants and shops, sidewalks everywhere. You will always see people walking their dogs, riding bikes and running.. no matter how cold it gets.