Richmond or Norfolk (apartment, purchase, public schools)

[carefreelivin70]

Hi Everybody,

I've been living in the sunshine state for the past 4 years, orignally from NY. I have had enough of the hurricane/tornando threats. I am thinking of moving to VA, it's closer to home, but also far enough away. Because i am so use to living in a busy city, I would like to be someplace where there is movement and a tad bit of excitment, just a lil something to remind me of home.

For the moment I will be moving into an apartment until I decide that the location is where I want to purchase a home. I'm looking to live in area where the public schools are reputiable and public transportation is easily accessable from my residence to the downtown area and for my teenage children to get to and from their perspective workplaces. ANY SUGGESTIONS

[whynot?]

I don't know much about Norfolk, but Richmond doesn't seem like a very good candidate for several of your criteria: it's a fairly small city where status quo tends to be celebrated over "movement" and/or "excitement;" public transportation is poor; and you probably would not want your teenage children working "in the downtown area" even if they could get there.

If you moved to the suburbs, where the public schools are quite good, you would be moving away from whatever urban "movement" and "excitement" there is. While your children could probably get jobs in the suburbs, the public transportation there is nearly non-existent, so based solely on your priorities Richmond doesn't sound like a great match.

That said, the Richmond area is a fine place to live with reasonable cost-of-living, decent housing stock at good values, very good public schools in the outlying counties, and -- for its size -- a pretty broad spectrum of arts, sports, and other activities downtown and in the counties. It is not a terribly urban area in its sensibilities, but manages to be fairly urbane despite its suburban inclinations.

[NJRAMAL]

Originally Posted by whynot?

It is not a terribly urban area in its sensibilities, but manages to be fairly urbane despite its suburban inclinations.

Wow! You need an editorial in the RTD!

[sinkfloridasink]

i like richmond a lot more.

you won't find good public transportation in either city. in richmond the buses don't even go to the west end. richmond has way less traffic than norfolk though, and if you live anywhere close to downtown it doesn't really matter. norfolk/hampton roads NEEDS public transportation badly, the traffic is horrendous (for what little it offers...obviously it's nothing compared to DC or NYC) where richmond doesn't need it as bad, everyone just rides bikes.

norfolk has a better public school system, not the greatest, but fairly respectable considering it's a decent sized city. the va beach school system is thought of highly and coming from fairly affluent omaha suburbs, i was bored as hell in school...didn't really learn much. but depending on what norfolk school you go to, a decent education will probably be provided. from what i hear, richmond public schools aren't good at all.

norfolk is boring compared to richmond. they are both fairly small (roughly 200,000) but richmond offers a lot of excitement, and norfolk doesn't really offer any besides being within driving distance to the beach. it definitely isn't TERRIBLE, but it's pretty slow paced and blue collar, kinda reminds me of growing up in the midwest. richmond has an extremely diverse population (especially for its size) so that keeps things interesting.

so i guess it depends on where your priorities are - each city obviously has some good and some bad. as i said, i prefer richmond but i am also a college student who is very involved in local music scenes, so richmond appeals to me more.