tell me about farmville (Richmond, Lynchburg: houses, school, university)

[jeffw]

whats near it how is housing and crime. how far to the beach, what is the best area to live

thanks jeff

[richmondpics]

Longwood University and Hampden Sydney College have a big presence in Farmville.

[ashbrn4]

And, I know they have a Wal Mart because of friends kids who went/go to school there at Longwood. Otherwise,not a huge amount of amenities. It's still several hours to the beach since it's west of I-95.

[jb124]

I went to school at Longwood College (in Farmville) back in the early 90's and it was a culture shock for me, coming from northern VA. NoVA is very ethnicly diverse while Farmville (the people who actually live there) are all white with black being the main minority. Another thing is that it was my first encounter with people who took their time, as opposed to NoVA, where everyone is always in a rush. For example, to go to the DMV in NoVA, you'll be in a room with 100 other people, get a number and wait 30 or so mins for your turn, then once your number is called, you're done in 5 mins. At the DMV in Farmville, there were like 5 people there, I waited 5 mins for my turn, but it took 30 mins to get taken care of.

But once I got over the culture differences, I found I liked Farmville a lot. The people were very friendly (I, being from NoVa, was skeptical/suspicious at first with all of the niceness, heh) and the town is pretty safe. The architectural styling of Longwood's campus is nice, and some of the older buildings in town have been maintained for historic value. It's always been a passive goal of mine to get my PhD and teach at Longwood once I'm done with the Rat Race.

They have a couple of shopping centers (with a Wal-Mart like ashbrn4 mentioned), a couple of semi-decent restaurants (the kind you would have a graduation dinner at, for example), and plenty of fast food and mom & pop restaurants. There are (or were anyway) a few bars located just off the Longwood campus in town.

I'd guess it's about 3 or 4 hours to the beach from Farmville. It's in the center of the state and about an hour away from 3 major cities/towns (Richmond, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg). I'm not sure about places to live since I spent most of my time on campus. I know that at least some of the professors lived in a housing development that I think was located about halfway between the campus and the shopping center with the Wal-Mart. It's been 13 years since I've been there though so a lot may have changed (like Longwood is now considered a University).

[roanoker 4]

Farmville has a nice downtown especially suited for the college community.
Its in the middle of a rural area between Lynchburg and Richmond. Its quiet
and peaceful and generally flat with little mountain views so its not very scenic like the western part of the state. The students there come from generally higher income areas of VA. A nice place to get away from the big city life for a while.

[onevthoki]

Are you kidding??? No one has mentioned Greenfront!!! Oh, the shopping!!

Jeff, you didn't mention your age or what you are looking for as far as amenities. I grew up about 45 minutes from there and my folks are there often. In all seriousness, Greenfront is a furniture store that took over about 7 of the old tobacco warehouses and they have fabulous furniture offerings. Small town life is for certain there.

[crocker62]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

Farmville has a nice downtown especially suited for the college community.
Its in the middle of a rural area between Lynchburg and Richmond. Its quiet
and peaceful and generally flat with little mountain views so its not very scenic like the western part of the state. The students there come from generally higher income areas of VA. A nice place to get away from the big city life for a while.

Thanks for info. I'm planning a move to Farmville,and aside from internet, it's hard to find out the simple things.

[crocker62]

Hello, I am planning a move to Farmville and have done research on the internet,it's hard to get a idea of the feel of the town. any info from those that have been there would be greatly appreciated. Thank you