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Maryland and Virginia have the 15th & 16th largest Amish populations and its insignificant.
PA - 84,000
OH - 80,000
IN - 61,000
WI - 23,000
NY - 22,000
.........
VA - 1,700
MD - 1,600
The states with higher Amish populations are actually the states that seem most similar to Pennsylvania. I think Ohio is very similar to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania actually feels very different from Virginia to me.
I live in RVA but Pittsburgh downtown looks nice, actual downtown RVA is kinda sad, it doesn't seem like they know what to do with it.
Downtown Richmond is perfectly fine. It's a traditional, highly functional downtown that works for most people and isn't trying to go the boutique and posh route. I actually find that to be quite refreshing these days.
Tell me you've never been to the Shenandoah Valley without telling me you've never been to the Shenandoah Valley.
Born in NC, 4 years living in DC. What are the odds I haven’t been to Shenandoah Valley? I think Shenandoah seems like the NC mountains. Isn’t it part of the Blueridge Parkway??
That said, clearly this poll is lopsided. So I guess I’m not too far off in my thinking.
This is the first I've ever heard the Shenandoah Valley likened to Pennsylvania. I don't see it either. It's more like West Virginia and Tennessee, in culture and appearances.
Richmond's downtown is nothing to write home about it. It is dead during the week and dead on the weekends. Very little pedestrian foot traffic -- all cars and massive parking garages. It's not the city's strength, so I agree with Marino there.
The walkable parts of the city with things to see and do are the individual neighborhoods, which usually have a historic and/or colonial feel to them with a modern twist. But the city is uneven and very car-centric overall. This forum does the city a disservice by elevating it's walkability to outsiders, who, when they come here, are disappointed to see most streets quiet. There have been numerous threads like that in the Richmond forums. It just doesn't have the pedestrian foot traffic or walkable cohesion that some are saying. This from someone who lives here.
Last edited by rural & red; 09-19-2021 at 05:26 AM..
As for people visiting Richmond….a few months ago a friend visited me from Raleigh for the first time. Of my location on Broad Street right downtown he said “why move to Brooklyn when you can move to Richmond and have a city right at your doorstep”?
I guess you see what you want to. My friend is a hipster type (for lack of a better word) so he noticed the shops and restaurants that appeal to him, a suburbanite may not even notice them because those places don’t resonate with everyone. There is a lot of pedestrian activity downtown, especially on weekends. I wouldn’t call it touristy at all but thousands of people live in or around the central business district and the businesses that cater to those people (barbershops, markets, restaurants and clothing stores) are very well attended.
And the Shenandoah Valley is nothing like the mountainous region of NC. They don’t look alike, they don’t sound alike. North of I 64 the barns are adorned with Pennsylvania Dutch medallions. The Blue Ridge Parkway is south of 64. PA is closer to Virginia than NC along this section that some people say is similar to PA.
I personally voted NC but that state is only slightly less of a stretch. VA is most like MD.
As for people visiting Richmond….a few months ago a friend visited me from Raleigh for the first time. Of my location on Broad Street right downtown he said “why move to Brooklyn when you can move to Richmond and have a city right at your doorstep”?
I guess you see what you want to. My friend is a hipster type (for lack of a better word) so he noticed the shops and restaurants that appeal to him, a suburbanite may not even notice them because those places don’t resonate with everyone. There is a lot of pedestrian activity downtown, especially on weekends. I wouldn’t call it touristy at all but thousands of people live in or around the central business district and the businesses that cater to those people (barbershops, markets, restaurants and clothing stores) are very well attended.
And the Shenandoah Valley is nothing like the mountainous region of NC. They don’t look alike, they don’t sound alike. North of I 64 the barns are adorned with Pennsylvania Dutch medallions. The Blue Ridge Parkway is south of 64. PA is closer to Virginia than NC along this section that some people say is similar to PA.
I personally voted NC but that state is only slightly less of a stretch. VA is most like MD.
Interestingly enough, I have a friend in Richmond who lives on Broad Street also. We've walked to a few places in and around downtown and although I'm no hipster, I also appreciated the locally-owned retailers and various restaurants, as well as the historic commercial storefronts in which they are located, between Broad and Main. And the pedestrian activity has typically been solid most times I've visited. Although the surrounding neighborhoods and commercial districts are more popular places for folks to hang out, downtown itself has enough on its own. At the same time, downtown could become more of a destination with the development of two or three surface lots along Broad as well as doing something about the Coliseum site which isn't a good look at the moment.
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