Relocating for job in Richmond-Where should we live? (Mechanicsville, Ashland: houses, theater)

[mrspjc]

Moving from Connecticut to Virginia for a job in Richmond. Looking for 3 bedroom house under 250K. Very unfamiliar with the area, any help much appreciated!!

[williamsburgfan]

more details, please, we can give you much better info.

job location, time willing to commute-and time of day you be commuting (or whoever is commuting). kids, schools needed, recreation desired, type of community, interests, etc.

richmond is big - will you be in the actual city of richmond or outside? you could go anywhere from mechanicsville to henrico to chesterfield and be in what is commonly referred to as "richmond"

[mrspjc]

The office is near Mechanicsville and would like a commute under 30 minutes. We have no children but would prefer good schools for resale value. My husband and I enjoy restaurants, theaters and parks. Is Mechanicsville a nice city to live in?
Thanks!

[htlong]

yes mechanicsville is a great place to live it has most of the major stores with more comming its not a town per say ,but an area nice houses schools are pretty good and a lot of new housing going up, traffic is starting to get conjested. its in hanover county, I-295 and RT 360.
if you want the upscale "yuppie" (is that still a term?) area would be the west end, every store and more , lots of traffic, 2 malls. to much for me to handle ive been out there once in the last ten years and .......no more farms!!!!

[jensen beach gal]

Is anyone familiar with the Goochland area? How are the schools? Pretty area but have only been through there once or twice, considering moving there with my son.thanks for any info.

[novanwbie]

Goochland is fairly exclusive. Also, the schools are not as good as Henrico County. I'd recommend western Henrico --better for kids, and you'll have a better range of housing.

MRSPJC -- The Atlee and Ashland area (around 295) is really growing, and is technically considered Mechanicsville. You'd have a pretty easy commute on 295 and pretty good schools. You do need to be careful in that area, some of Mechanicsville is much older and run down. But the northern part of Hanover County, by Atlee, is really booming, and I don't think you'd lose any value there. The one caution I'd give you is that it is suburbia, if you want restaurants, theatre, etc. you'll be driving into Richmond. That being said, it's still not very long to get to downtown.