richmond dating sucks for young single professionals (fit in, to buy)

[RichmondGuy]

In one word: "Plentiful." There are so many night spots and such a huge array and variety of places from Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington to Eighteenth St. Lounge that meeting people isn't even an issue. DC area bars are the only places where I've been approached by (hot) single girls who want me to meet their friend, etc. This does not happen in Richmond. You go into bars and clubs and generally it's couples: Girls there with their boyfriends, or just 1 seated at a table of 5 guys.

Other people have conveyed similar experiences with meeting girls in DC too. There seems to be a really high ratio of young professional women to their male counterparts, and the girls are way more approachable and nicer to, from what I've seen. Every area has its extremes on either end of course, but overall I'd say the DC dating scene is way easier to "get up and going" and the people (girls, for my purposes) are just more willing to talk to strangers in random gatherings than from what I've seen in Richmond.

How I'd love to be back there. I've visited NYC and it's just so hard-core I think it might be too much. It's just always ON, not to mention its fake plasticky club scene where it's all about who you're with if you expect to get into any decent place. LA is cool, but that traffic is something else. If I moved out there, I'd have to live near where I work.

[ric75]

Originally Posted by dukie46

Wow... This thread is a downer for a single 34 year old female moving to Richmond this weekend!

That's because it's mostly "downer" folks posting in here Not going to say it's a piece of cake meeting folks ... by nature Richmond is more established and less transient than a place like DC and as such you will find many folks already have established groups of friends and aren't going out of their way to make new ones but if you are willing to put forth the effort, you'll find most people here pretty laid back and friendly. Bars and restaurants in the Fan are probably the most guilty of the "locals" feel. My recommendation as someone who was at one time new to Richmond is to get involved with clubs that interest you, meet people through work, try meetup.com. Bars in any City probably aren't the best places to go friend or date hunting anyway. Good luck!

[Anders15]

Here we go. Now every person who says something bad is a "downer."

Just type in "Richmond VA review" into Google and read the comments since apparently we're bias.

[RichmondGuy]

sometimes being realistic can come off as negative.

[rvasonicbloom]

RichmondGuy, thanks for posting. Glad someone else is in the same boat as me. Progress I've made since posting this thread: Accepted into part-time grad school, starting in just 2 weeks!, starting to get out more in the fan, going to see live music more often, connected with a few people's friends via facebook, going to make an effort to actually plan something, rather than just saying "let's hang out sometime". I've realized my new job is actually making me a little bored and dull, and as a result, I've been getting more into music, playing just about everyday after work.

In DC I just felt people had more guts to talk to strangers. I'm a decent looking guy and I often WAS approached by girls in clubs and bars. I also felt more confident approaching women in DC. Here it does seem hard to break that inner circle. I swear, I went out this past weekend, and everywhere I looked, it was groups of people who knew each other really well, went to the same college, groups of 4-5 guys together, and girls with boyfriends. Everywhere I looked, I couldnt find a group of single women out trying to meet new people. (Starlight, 3 Monkeys, Deluxe...) One area that reminds me more of DC is the Shockoe Bottom area. I donno why, maybe because it's further into downtown or something. I had a great time a few weeks ago at Lucky Buddha. Beautiful women, some of the most attractive I've seen in Richmond.

[RichmondGuy]

Well congrats on the grad school thing. God knows in this economy you need it. Back in Summer 08 when I was starting my MBA, I thought of it like you: use it as a way to meet people AND get the higher degree that would open more doors for me career-wise. Supposedly they say the economy was "Great" back then, but that's not quite the way I remember it. It was just something it was clear I was gonna have to do.

I will say though, I'm sure which school/program you're in, but I was extremely disappointed from the social connections offered at the VCU MBA program, not to be a downer (again, lol) but I was there for the 2 years and saw it.

Of course it's crazy to pay all that money and go into a grad program just to try to use it as a dating platform; that'd be nuts.

But there was not ONE dateable, single girl in any of my classes, for the entire two years.

Most of my classmates were in their twenties, even early 20's. The guys were all married; many had kids and weren't really interested in new people to grab a few beers with. Every girl that was even what you'd call REMOTELY attractive/dateable was married or in an LTR. Again, there were few classmates who were actually over 30.

One girl in one of my project teams had married her college sweetheart, right out of college, and actually went so far as to say, "The way I see it, if you're not already established in a relationship by the time you get out of college, it's done..forget it. There's no chance."

My final night of my final MBA class, friday a week ago, also a project-oriented class where we made a class presentation; it was about 12 of us who presented and no one even wanted to run to the Chilli's across the street after to grab a beer and celebrate (we finished up at like 7:00pm!) I mean in the past, I've had classes like that where people were more willing to do that. You'd think....I was the only one who had finished my MBA, but I mean jeez, this *was* a 3 month class that all of us worked really hard on.

I walked out of that building for the last time that night, as an MBA grad. I just shook my head while looking down and said, "Thanks a f***in' lot Richmond, and thanks alot VCU.

[rvasonicbloom]

Damnit. Well that sucks to hear. Yeah, I imagine VCU would be a lot like GMU with it being a big commuter school. Go to class, then get the hell out of there as soon as possible. My plan is to go to VCU for a semester or 2, but then transfer to Richmond. The campus there is beautiful. I figure it's got more of a community feel to it, but still it's a part-time program, It just won't be like a full-time program. My company is footing the bill, so I don't have to worry about the costs, I just gotta make sure my collars have enough starch in them so they pop up easily. Either way, I'm doing it mostly for the resume, and so I can have the opportunity to meet some other professionals. VCU seems like it might have a younger age range for grad school than Richmond though. Then maybe after I get my masters and I can look at moving to another area...oh god I probably won't be considered "young" by then...

Well I'm going to keep on hitting up Shockoe, seems like my odds are the best there. Also looking at joining a gym, getting tired of inhailing gas fumes while running up and down boulevard. Maybe some pretty girlies are hiding in Golds...

[rvasonicbloom]

Richmond Nightclub/Party Scene Stuff:

Welcome
Not sure if they are still operating, website doesn't look like it's been updated for a while. Lucky Buddha on a Wed? Hmm...

RichmondNightOut - Nightlife Restaurants Bars Entertainment Bands Hotels
Nightlife, Restaurants, Entertainment...

http://rvamag.com/articles/full/8442...d-social-scene
another...interesting...article, heh

[RichmondGuy]

It's called Glow Wednesdays. Facebook Nikolai Hanov, he helps run and promote a lot of that; and a buddy of mine. They do something similar at Infizion on sat. nights. It can get pretty hot, although not downtown. But yeah that event's legit and still going ahead, I get the invites every week. The second one I've never seen. i could look into that one...

[richmondpics]

Originally Posted by rvasonicbloom

Well I'm going to keep on hitting up Shockoe, seems like my odds are the best there. Also looking at joining a gym, getting tired of inhailing gas fumes while running up and down boulevard. Maybe some pretty girlies are hiding in Golds...

Based on the pretty girlies factor, try Gold's Willow Lawn over The Fan location... or switch it up and go to both!

Haven't checked out RVAlution at the Hat Factory cause it isn't really my scene, but anyone checked that out yet? Lots of attractive girls at BlackFinn, but I just can't stand that place for some reason. I wouldn't bother with Sine if I were you guys - it's like a high school reunion when I go there.