Need info on a state I admire Virginia! (Richmond, Chester: high crime, houses)

[Lil Sweetie]

I have to write about a state I admire in my high school class and set a story in it. I've always wanted to visit Virginia and want my story to be set there. I really like everything i here about it. Anyway my character is an African american girl who lives in an older neighboorhood perhaps or in a less fortunate area. She has an African american friend who lives in a more affluent neighboorhood. My story has to be about conflicting living situations so that is why i have 2 characters in 2 different settings. can anyone help me out?

[jmarkd]

Richmond. The hood is very close to the wealthy part. It is the former capital of the Confederacy and home to many African Americnas, so there is a lot of history that would make a good setting for your story. Do some Google research on Richmond, maybe Wikipedia as well. Post it here when it's done. Good luck!

[petehh]

The most famous street is Monument Avenue which has statues of a number of Confederate generals plus Lieutenant Arthur Ashe. Ashe great black pro tennis player, tragically died of AIDS from a blood transfusion. Ashe thought black kids shouldn't go into sports since only a few actually make the big time. Monument is a beautiful boulevard with fine old houses and trees on either side. Richmond is pretty flat in the middle - easy to walk around. Google for pix. Richmond has very high crime rate. VCU in Richmond has good art school. Richmond near to Colonial Williamsburg (restored colonial capital) and Yorktown. Williamsburg is worth visiting if you ever get out that way. They keep it immaculate, or they used to. Good luck! - Peter

[Jason0711]

Richmond is strange in that some streets are for the super wealthy and others, a few blocks away are considered ghetto. Just to give you some ideas for your story, perhaps your rich friend could live on Monument Ave and go to a private school, while you live on Leigh Street and go to a public school. The rest of the story can be left to your creativity.

Also, to petehh, VCU is the #1 public art school. VCU also has several other programs in which it is nationally ranked, such as Public Health, Psychology, Social service, and not to mention MCV...

If you ever go to visit RVA lil sweetie, make sure you use common sense and stay out of areas that look like they might be "ghetto". Also, VCU territory is marked by a yellow ram in the middle of the road. (VCU territory is probably the safest in richmond). Enjoy your visit!

[citycrawler]

Richmond is kind of a hybrid city like Jason said, a couple streets over could be a wealthy area. I don't really consider any part of Richmond dangerous during the daytime, although there are some places I wouldn't frequent at night. Some areas of Chesterfield are much worse.

Seeing as it is a made up story, just make it up.

[richmondpics]

She probably isn't working on this paper anymore since the original post was almost 2 years ago