Can there be huge tornadoes around Richmond (Roanoke, Charlottesville: spring break, house)

[Debra]

Hi Dullnboring!
Actually, you are so right--we have been a bit spoiled here in NJ although we too have had our moments. We recently lost power with the recent storms and some parts of NJ did have severe flooding . We're 20 minutes out of Manhatten so we don't have to deal with some of the problems that the central and southern parts of the state have. Actually last week WE had a tornado alert. I guess I'm focusing on areas in the country that could get the really huge ones--the F3, F4 kind that we really don't want to be dealing with !
But your input was a help--all of this does calm me down a lot! Like htlong said up above--it's not Kansas!!

I'll try to calm down.

[PlantAKiss]

Hi

I live in Richmond and I think its a great place to live. As far as any kind of natural disasters, they are few and far between. Tornadoes aren't common and if there is one, they are small and short-lived. Most of them take place out in areas more rural and west of metro Richmond. While you can't say they NEVER happen here and, of course, even the small ones can cause damage, I would never think of Richmond as a "tornado area." They are more of an anomaly than the norm.

Hurricanes...also rare. Like some have mentioned if we feel any effects at all its usually heavy rain and strong gusts. Most hurricanes lose their punch this far inland. Hurricane Isabel was bad...but again, I've never seen anything like THAT in the 20+ years I've lived here. Flooding is not normally a worry unless you live by the James river or other bodies of water which MIGHT flood in instances of really heavy rain or downtown in area that are very low.

We don't have wild fires or earthquakes (a small tremor is extremely rare).

What about the GOOD features of Richmond? There is lots to do here...theatres, parks, tons of restaurants, all kinds of festivals all throughout the year (Pumpkin Festival, Tomato Festival, Watermelon Festival, Arts in the Park, Chili Cookoff, the Greek Festival, etc.), the Coliseum, the baseball Diamond, River Dogs hockey team, numerous colleges with activities, lots of museums (Science Museum, Children's Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, etc.) historic sites (house where Edgar Allen Poe was born and the Church where Patrick Henry gave his "Give me Liberty" speech), Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens...I could go on and on.

You would be about an hours drive to the Blue Ridge mountains...and a little over an hour to Virginia Beach. So you get mountains and beach in the same state. In between there is beautiful rolling countryside with fields and forests. You would be only two hours from the Nation's capital with museums galore, shopping, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria. And you're only 3 hours from the wonderful Outer Banks of North Carolina for great beach areas. And of course there is Kings Dominion Theme Park and Busch Gardens. Oh and you're close to Williamsburg and Jamestown!

Richmond is like a big small town. Its not tooooo big...rush hour is nothing compared to large cities. But its big enough to offer entertainment and close to larger cities if you really crave more excitement.

I am biased and recommend living North of the River which is where most of the cultural stuff is. South of the river is mostly subdivisions and strip malls. And there are tolls to cross the river except in a few locations.

Hope that gives you some more information.

[Debra]

Wow Plantakiss! The watermelon festival alone sold me!!!
No, really thank you--this helped a lot and especially your recommendation on the area to live! I'm getting less and less worried as I'm reading all of these posts to tell oyu the truth. I love the idea of being close to the mountains as well as the water too.Also love that we'd be close to the capitol as well as Williamsburg! I really do appreciate you taking the time to describe Richmond so beautifully!!!!

While I have you....is there a realtor that you can recommend? Would love to get an idea of the prices for a single family home.

Thanks again!!!!!

[ringgold]

I lived in Virginia for 8 years. That is 8 years too long. In that time we had 4 tornados pass through our neighboorhood. One of those hit our house with a little damage. The state in general I think I saw has a 16% greater average than other states to have tornados. There are hurricanes and they do cause damage. The summers are very hot, trust me I worked outdoors everyday. One year the daily high did not fall below 90 until November 1st. Someone said there are not a lot of wildfires but they are commom, especailly early this year. Taxes are through the roof. Income is fairly high in the area though. Richmond has an extremely high crime rate. It is a very dangerous town to walk around. The safer towns are places around the beach and mountains. Traffic is mess along I-95.

[Debra]

Hi Ringold,
Thank you for giving me your honest opinions on Virginia.
I don't know--there is a lot to think about. I hadn't realized it stayed hot that long for one thing. Nor did I realize the taxes were through the roof!
How high are we talking here?

[Debra]

Does anyone know anything about New Kent?

[htlong]

Richmond had a ungodly property tax increase this year but i dont know if it was repealed or not. the weather isn't that bad yes July and Aug. do have many days in the 90s some years a few ,, and some alot.
new Kent is a rural county which has housing developments springing up all over , its a easy commute to Richmond and wmburg.very little in the way way of stores ,food lion movie rental and gas stations/convenience stores, farther out in new Kent is providence forge it has a food lion, and convenience stores so if you are looking for retail strip malls they aren't in new Kent ...yet, and i think thats a good thing!

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by Debra

Hi Ringold,
Thank you for giving me your honest opinions on Virginia.
I don't know--there is a lot to think about. I hadn't realized it stayed hot that long for one thing. Nor did I realize the taxes were through the roof!
How high are we talking here?

It generally doesn't stay hot for that long. To be honest, no offense to ringgold, but 90s all the way through November sounds like a bit of an exaggeration. It is rarely ever in the 90s past October 1st, let alone every single day up until November 1st. I've spent lived in Virginia for all but four years of my life, and during those four years I was there for the summers at least, and I can say that while it can get ungodly hot and humid especially in the dog days of August, long stretches of 90+ heat aren't the norm. In fact, they said recently on the news here that the last time we had 14 days in a row of 90+ heat was 1999, and those days were all in August. Truth be told, the weather here isn't all that different from the weather up in New Jersey, just around five degrees warmer and more humid. October is generally our most pleasant month, usually in the 70s, with a handful of freak hot and cold days.

As far as wildfires, well, maybe it depends more on the part of the state you live in. I certainly rarely ever hear about wildfires on the news here. There were a handful, but generally small with minimal damage, nothing like the catastrophic city-threatening wildfires common elsewhere (chiefly out West). While I'm not doubting that a tornado can hit a neighborhood four times in a period of eight years, I think that is EXTREMELY rare, even for a place in Tornado Alley. That's just bad luck at it's worst. I just don't believe that Virginia has more tornados than most states. On the City Data main city pages, if you scroll down, they actually give you tornado data for individual cities, reporting it's tornado activity which will give you a better indication as to how common they are in a particular area. I think on average, maybe one tornado per year makes landfall here in Northern Virginia, all weak (these are like F1s, not the massive F5 Oklahoma twisters), have caused relatively minimal damage and I've never heard of loss of life.

As far as taxes go, again, it depends on the jurisdiction. Virginia is generally thought of by many people to have low taxes. Here in the DC area, some people relocate from the Maryland suburbs to the Virginia suburbs citing the lower taxes (among other reasons). I can also say that most likely coming from New Jersey, taxes here will seem like nothing to you. I just read a Yahoo news story about New Jersey having the highest (and increasing rapidly) property tax rates in the nation. No surprise there really, but at least it preps you for a move someplace else; where pretty much anywhere you move will be cheaper.

[Debra]

Hi htlong,
Thanks for the scoop on New Kent. Right now in North eastern NJ we live with nothing but convience stores and strip malls and we're sick to death of them! But we didn't want to go too rural....I guess we're going to have to come out and see the lay of the land for ourselves and see where everything is. I looked up New Kent in the meantime and did see what you've just mentioned--a lot of new communities springing up with pretty good looking price tags I must admit.
Gonna go and check out Providence Forge now.....

Thanks for your very helpful input !

[Debra]

Hi dullandboring
Just saw your post here! Sorry!!
I was hoping to hear just what you've just said! I know it'll be a bit more humid than here but that's ok as long as we have the AC on because I have asthma and I'm very sensitve to extreme hot and cold weather.

I know it's difficult to pinpoint property taxes and a lot depends on the area and the property....we have some people in the town next to us paying a ridiculous $12,000.00!!!!:eek:

Pleas just tell me a single 3 bedroom home would not be anywhere near that--please???!!!!