Goochland? (Richmond, Louisa, Short Pump: real estate, apartments, to rent)

[amyfw]

I am from Indiana looking for teaching positions and found a school site; Goochland. Can anyone give me feedback on this area? How is the cost of living there? I really want to get out of Indiana and find an area of nice people and better schools.

[WillV]

Goochland is essentially an "exurb" of the greater Richmond area; The County has experieced lots of growth say over the past 20 years, but compared to other Counties in the region it's still very rural. Still, if you want to live in a more cosmopolitian area, then the west end of Richmond is within easy communting distance from most Goochland destinations. but I'd imagine the price of real estate in the greater Richmond area is more expensive than Indiana; but there is still some affordable pockets out there, so look hard...

[fjennell]

Originally Posted by amyfw

I am from Indiana looking for teaching positions and found a school site; Goochland. Can anyone give me feedback on this area? How is the cost of living there? I really want to get out of Indiana and find an area of nice people and better schools.

I used to live in Henrico County, considered West end of Richmond. I had many friends that lived in Goochland and my dad even lived there for a few years and my step mom taught in Louisa county which borders Goochland. It is COUNTRY. not a bad thing, if you like that but most people that live there drive to Richmond to work. If you will be teaching there, not an issue however even to get to a Walmart you will have to drive 30 minutes depending on how deep in Goochland you live. There is a food lion (grocery store) there and some fast food places. There are some nice people and I am sure it's still the same as when I hung out there, low crime but you are in the boonies. If this doesn't appeal to you, you could always live in the west end of richmond and drive 30 minutes to work in Goochland. The west end is a little pricey but you have wonderful malls with high end stores (nordstroms, macys, etc.) tons of stuff to do all around richmond. The west end is the only area of richmond i would suggest... Short Pump area. Goochland should still relatively reasonable as far as housing, etc. It is not a place that has apartments or anything like that to my knowledge so if looking to buy you could get something nice with land but if looking to rent consider Henrico county. You could also consider Powhatan which has some housing communities/ neighborhoods and still convenient to west end richmond and Goochland. If you have a spouse that would be looking for employment, that may factor in and also if you have kids the schools in the west end are some of the top in the state. Hope this helps!

[whynot?]

I live in Goochland. The eastern part of the county can acuratly be called an exurb of Richmond. The farther west you go, the more rural the county. I would call the county schools adequate, but I don't have children in them so I don't know specifics. I do know that the county is very earnest about spending money on school facilities, though. The schools appear to be more "rural" than "suburban" in reputation. That is just my perception, though. (I grew up in a much more rural area of the state, attended public school there, and graduated from a highly-ranked university, so I do not mean to sound negative about rural schools. I just don't know what it's like where you are in Indiana, or what you might define as "better.")

Goochland certainly has nice people. Drivers tend to wave when they pass, and you run into people that you know at the post office or the gas station. Neighbors chat. And help each other out. The cost of living in the metro-Richmond area seems quite reasonable to me after years of living in the D.C. area, but I'm sure you can find people who would say it's expensive here.

Virginia's state taxes are usually considered to be quite low while the state maintains a reasonably good reputation for services. The Richmond area is quite southern in its attitudes. That implies both positives and negatives, and depends upon your preferences. It is much more so than Northern Virginia, and in some ways even more so than my native area that's farther out in the sticks.

[anothertequilasunrise]

Since when are Nordstrom's and Macy's high end? They sell junky trashy stuff.

[anothertequilasunrise]

Goochland's a dead end. Where the old come to drop dead. They are so snotty and attempt to cater to millionaires alone now albeit they do not succeed.. A shame since they have a rural beauty that does not match their character. Same goes for Louisa and Fluvanna. They are messed up and trying to be overly fancy now and aren't having balanced land packages nor being family friendly or equal housing seems. Nobody needs urban sprawl like those counties are getting either. Or like Spotsylvania's getting. Such poor planning. And then expanding Henrico like that. They are flooding and there needs to be some border patrol there or something.

Originally Posted by whynot?

I live in Goochland. The eastern part of the county can acuratly be called an exurb of Richmond. The farther west you go, the more rural the county. I would call the county schools adequate, but I don't have children in them so I don't know specifics. I do know that the county is very earnest about spending money on school facilities, though. The schools appear to be more "rural" than "suburban" in reputation. That is just my perception, though. (I grew up in a much more rural area of the state, attended public school there, and graduated from a highly-ranked university, so I do not mean to sound negative about rural schools. I just don't know what it's like where you are in Indiana, or what you might define as "better.")

Goochland certainly has nice people. Drivers tend to wave when they pass, and you run into people that you know at the post office or the gas station. Neighbors chat. And help each other out. The cost of living in the metro-Richmond area seems quite reasonable to me after years of living in the D.C. area, but I'm sure you can find people who would say it's expensive here.

Virginia's state taxes are usually considered to be quite low while the state maintains a reasonably good reputation for services. The Richmond area is quite southern in its attitudes. That implies both positives and negatives, and depends upon your preferences. It is much more so than Northern Virginia, and in some ways even more so than my native area that's farther out in the sticks.

[anothertequilasunrise]

That state has no better services than anywhere else. Few business have moderately priced service. The few that do quite stand out as superb. But seriously that state seeks to enslave more than produce fit service settings.

Originally Posted by whynot?

I live in Goochland. The eastern part of the county can acuratly be called an exurb of Richmond. The farther west you go, the more rural the county. I would call the county schools adequate, but I don't have children in them so I don't know specifics. I do know that the county is very earnest about spending money on school facilities, though. The schools appear to be more "rural" than "suburban" in reputation. That is just my perception, though. (I grew up in a much more rural area of the state, attended public school there, and graduated from a highly-ranked university, so I do not mean to sound negative about rural schools. I just don't know what it's like where you are in Indiana, or what you might define as "better.")

Goochland certainly has nice people. Drivers tend to wave when they pass, and you run into people that you know at the post office or the gas station. Neighbors chat. And help each other out. The cost of living in the metro-Richmond area seems quite reasonable to me after years of living in the D.C. area, but I'm sure you can find people who would say it's expensive here.

Virginia's state taxes are usually considered to be quite low while the state maintains a reasonably good reputation for services. The Richmond area is quite southern in its attitudes. That implies both positives and negatives, and depends upon your preferences. It is much more so than Northern Virginia, and in some ways even more so than my native area that's farther out in the sticks.