What do you LOVE/HATE bout your town? (Richmond, Arlington: appointed, movers)

[wendyr]

It is approx. 50 minute commute to Williamsburg. Many people here in Richmond commute. You can rent a safe apartment, condo or house. You can purchase a smaller house in a safe neighborhood. Add up the cost of gas, and wear on the car and add up the cost of living, you are still ahead with the Chesterfield county area. The schools are VERY good in most areas. Midlo is one of the best. Glen Allen/Short Pump is also GREAT. More expensive though.

Best of luck with your situation!

[Lookingforasafehome]

Thanks Wendy... We are looking into other places that are way more affordable...but if we end up staying here, we do have Midlothian in mind, cause for one, it is a nice place to live and its affordable. Williamsburg is sooo overrated. Thanks for your post too,nice to see there are people out there who are nice still...

[Lookingforasafehome]

Alan, I live in the City of Williamsburg, near 143 and the Farm Fresh...I was told this area was ok. Anyhow...lesson learned the hard way I guess here...alot of realtors here these days..boredom maybe? Who knows...but that is where I am in a nutshell here, can't give too much info, for obvious safety issues.

[vasinger]

I love Richmond because its a very genteel city and has lots of good looking people. Not that it matters, but northern virginia and other areas that have many more people from out-of-state have a lot less attractive people.

I also love the abundance of magnolia trees, walking down monument ave, hip areas like Carytown where all the artsy VCU students hang out.

What I dont like are people moving here and trying to change things in the name of "progress". And also, I dont like being so close to the interstate. Thats where all the hooligans come from.

[Lookingforasafehome]

Williamsburg is growing too fast, the schools are cutting back over a million dollars in funds and they are already using trailors at many sites. I hope they find money to build more schools, with all these new subdividisons going up where are they going to put everyone? With the population as retired as it is here, who will be able to afford their homes when they pass on? I have thought bout this alot, and I feel Wbg is growing way too fast...just my three cents, not an expert but I call it as I see it here.

[Lookingforasafehome]

The crime is lower than most areas around it( I do fully agree on that) but I am scared that will change, as it is changing as we speak.. as the city grows, so will its problems. What can be done? I have on clue, not an expert, just pointing out the obvious here.

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by Lookingforasafehome

Williamsburg is growing too fast, the schools are cutting back over a million dollars in funds and they are already using trailors at many sites. I hope they find money to build more schools, with all these new subdividisons going up where are they going to put everyone? With the population as retired as it is here, who will be able to afford their homes when they pass on? I have thought bout this alot, and I feel Wbg is growing way too fast...just my three cents, not an expert but I call it as I see it here.

My sister lives in Williamsburg (has for almost 20 years) and loves it, though. You can get around without a car there , esp if you live in the colonial area. The drawbacks are the tacky tourists. But the pluses, are the gorgeous weather (always tends to be nice even in the winter), and of course the history. Prices though in W-burg are getting as pricey as NOVA these days. My sis worked for CW and thats just a mess because the president doesnt know what he's doing.

W and M college is having that cross issue. Its kind of showing how va is changing from the heart of the Bible Belt to almost a eastern liberal place. But of course this has to do with so many college students from the northeast attending W and M.

[SummerFrog]

Northern Virginia, is for transient, high maintenance snobbs, go south young man...go south!

[JnnfrSr]

Well, I live in Woodbridge - not sure if it is considered NoVa or not, but rest assured that most of us here are not rich snobs! The neighborhood I live in, Stratford Glen, is full of middle class families, where our children play outside every nice day they can, and we know most of our neighbors. On the down side, traffic is becoming horrible, as this area is quickly becoming built up. And housing prices are rising, again.

[Venezuela]

Hi, everyone. I need some information and orientation . My husband and I are in ours late thirties and we are looking forward to relocate out our area. Let me tell you a little about us: we don’t have kids but we have pets (more or less our kids in a way ), we were living in Florida for 14 yrs., but we moved (even we absolutely LOVE the beaches) because the high crime rate, extremely crowded cities and a high cost of living . Two yrs. ago we moved to Billings, Montana, (the biggest city in the state) for us this is a small town (about 100K people) it is nice but is NOTHING for us to do here. We don’t like to camp or go hunting (the two mayor attractions here).
We like hiking, photograph, bicycling, fishing, we like bodies of water (lakes, channels, rivers, the beach), go to a good theater (movie or play), museums, galleries, go to the library or a book store (with a very tasty coffee ), we are part of the new age/tree huggers generation nevertheless we are also respectful of other people’s believes. We both work for a living (we are no wealthy) our main entertainment is buying houses and renovate them, rent it or sale it and start all over again (planning for our retirement ), needless to say we both are pretty handy .
My big questions: is there in VA a place that we can do all and still have the friendly small town feeling? We would not mind to drive few miles to get to a Home Depot or Lowe’s (unless the place have a great hardware store) as well as to go to the theater or restaurants. We are like to see the different seasons (we just love them) but if the winter and the snow don’t last 6 months we’ll be very glad . Any kind of natural disasters that we need to be aware (FL have the hurricanes/tornadoes & MT have blizzards)
Ours choices are the places where my husband can possible gets a job transfer: Williamsburg, Hampton, Newport News, Mechanicsville, Ashland, Fredericksburg, Dumfries and Manassas.
I’ll love if VatoNC or anybody else can tell me more about Lowes Island, this place sound very attractive but I looked on city-data and didn’t found it, I don’t know if it is in VA or NC, we are open to other options (other estates).
We are planning to make a trip this month for 5 days we know is a very short time and because of that we need to know which are the best places for us to go and visits that will have the most of our likes.
We appreciate all your “insight views”, advice and recommendations of each place.
Simcerely, V.