Portland, Or to Richmond, Va (Charlottesville, Floyd: gated, for sale, hotel)

[richmondpics]

Have a nice trip! Feel free to ask about any last minute things like places to eat etc..

[webster]

Check out Church Hill, Monument Ave, the Fan, the Museum District, the Byrd Park area, the Boulevard, Windsor Farms. It actually is a pretty city, especially this time of year. In the burbs, Richmond is like the rest of America, the City itself is unique. You can walk for miles, Church Hill to the West End, feel safe and see some beautiful things.

[vasinger]

The allergies are bad here, but Richmond is such a beautiful city and so charming, it seems to make up for all of that.

Also people keep talking about the crime. My family has been here for generations, and I have lived in the Fan for almost 10 years- I have never once been robbed or murdered !


Most of the crime is on Jeff Davis Highway and happens late at night.
But you could say that about any city really.

So don't listen to people who say its all dangerous- because its really not that bad.

[EricD]

Originally Posted by vasinger

I have never once been ... murdered !

Are you sure?

[richmondpics]

Yuck... looks like you won't have the best weather while in town, but hopefully it will clear up somewhat.

[goldfishcam]

The draw is history. It has lots of it, it is very visible, and very accessible. If you are not interested in that, Richmond will offer little against Portland. But in that one department, Richmond along with Charlottesville, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, the Civil War battlefields and of course DC have no rival in sheer concentration of it, and the draw is huge.

Otherwise, all the complaints about Richmond seem right. But from my experience, they equally apply to: Atlanta, Dallas, Washington, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Birmingham, Savannah, Montgomery, New Orleans, Memphis, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Chicago, LA, Detroit, Cleveland, Tucson, Albuquerque, Phoenix, etc. *save for the climate in some cases. Geographically, everything east of Denver is dull after a week, so in all, Richmond suffers in the same way everything does back east.

From that perspective, the emphasis might be on the career effects. If its a great job, then you can always spend your free time elsewhere (assuming you don't like Richmond: DC (90 minutes away), NYC (6 hours) Annapolis, 3 hours, Blue Ridge Mnts 2 hours or the Hatteras Sea shore.

If I had an promising promotion, that did not involve a life time commitment to Virginia, I'd go. You'll miss Portland, especially if history is not your thing. But in that case, just remember the Oregon Trail head is in Independence, MO.

[vasinger]

In Richmond you can ask for sweet tea in a restaurant and you won't get a funny look.

[lme1123]

Richmond's the state capital, and a great place to live! (See Richmond.com)Am a native New Yorker. Moved down 3 years ago to Chesterfield County, SW of Richmond's downtown area. There are several beautiful counties within Richmond metro. They're convenient to DC (2+ hrs), with VA/NC beaches to the east and mountains to the west. Richmond's home to many Fortune 500 companies, surrounding burbs have top public & private schools (see greatschools.net) with lots of sing-fam new constr or resales fr $200's to several mil. Has a good mix of restaurants & culture, shopping, college sporting events, AAA baseball. Has a descent int'l airport, top hospitals, exc colleges/univ, many great churches. Looking for urban, suburban or farm/rural living - it's here.

RE Annual lists: Richmond's among Kiplinger's, Forbes' top pix to live/work/retire. Chest'd County SD's the only Richmond-metro SD with several high schools making Newsweek's annual Top 1000 list. It was also ranked a Best County in the U.S., and among the '05 Top-100 Best Communities for Young People. Midlothian in Chest'd Cty was on Money Magazine's '05 list of Best Places to Live.

Definately worth a look. Best of luck.

[Jmier7]

Ok, just got back from the company's whirlwind tour. 3 more interviews in Hartford, Ct left me fairly empty, last was with the vp over the entire division.
They flew me down to Richmond on Wed night.
Someone forgot to tell me to bring a SACKFULL OF QUARTERS!!! Dang, coming from the airport to the hotel I had to reach in my pocket and fork over 3x. Sorry, I just didn't expect it- expecially at 60mph- and exact change at night.
Had Thurs morning to look around by myself. I located areas that all of you suggested to see/live on this forum. Quite interesting. Most of the suburban area appears much like what is across the country. Actually you could probably swap houses in many states and wouldn't know it.
As for the city, that is different. First thing I noticed was that it wasn't crowded. The architechure is very interesting. I found the museums, downtown/financial area, and the capitol.
In the afternoon I met with the Richmond office personnel outside the city off of Midlothian tpk. Very nice people. I was whisked away by one of the directors, who informed me that it was her job to 'sell Richmond' to me. She actually drove 5 hrs from Penn to meet me at 4:00pm to do this, she is a native and lives in a Suburb to the west.
Well off in the VW convertable. She first drove through Byrd Park, then onto downtown/financial dist. Next was 'less fortunate' areas, because she believed it's best to see the whole picture, I thanked her that and being honest. Then onto the Fan/Carey st. This area was densly populated, but it had a there there. I liked it. We stopped and I walked around the Fan a while.
She showed me 'the Slip', 'the Bottom', clubs around that area, thewest side, south of the river areas etc. then back to the office.
All in all, I think I got a very good, but quick snapshot of the city.
Richmond is not Portland by any means. For me, Portland was love at first sight. However, I think I like Richmond. There is not much here which would be a definate turn off. The VP at the office was so cool, he really likes Richmond, org he's from Philly.
I like the Fan area as well. You all were right. Careytown is where it is happening. I ate at Amichi's, had a great meal. They knew how to make my favorite before dinner drink Negroni, that's a big plus.
I saw a place for sale on Floyd st, remodeled, I was told by the next door neighbor that it was on the market for a long time because it was overpriced at 367k. I have also seen other remodeled houses in the area in the 290-325 range, that seems to be the norm.
Well, I have to have the director make the offer on Monday, I've been waffling to help drive the wage upward. They know I love Portland, and they'll have to make it worth moving.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by EricD

Well, here's a few things that might help you with your move to Richmond...

1. Check out the home listings... $300k - $400k will get you a VERY nice home in Richmond.

2. You mentioned wilderness... well, in Richmond, the mountains are an hour and a half drive to the west on I-64, and the beach is an hour and a half east...

3. As far as entertainment, there are 2 major theme parks (King's Dominion, and Bucsh Gardens), and also Washington DC only 2 hours away, with all of it's free museums and parks.

4. The summers get hot, but you have to think of it this way... Here, when we think of portland, we think of all the rain you get there. But does it rain there every day? I doubt it. It's the same with the heat here. Sure, on some days it can be 105 degrees and 90% humidity... but on other's it's really nice and in the 80's. Besides, this heat helps in the winter... Richmond usually only gets around 2 or 3 snow storms each year, and those generally melt within a few days.

Hope this helps some.

Steve from portland here, Yup your first thought was right, it does rain just about every day here. 60 days of sunshine a year, you do the math. But hey, the coffee is damn good here.