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Richmond and its metro areas are predominately white. The black population is concentrated to the inner city, mostly central and east. Not my opinion but a fact.
I never thought Richmond was a poor city, but I was still amazed after moving here how much old, old Southern money there was living here. Of course a person passing through driving down I-95 would never know that.
"It" is? As in the whole city? Because I think you mean to say "some parts that are highly concentrated to the central and east side." If a person who has never been to Richmond came and visited Carytown, the Fan, Maymont, Bon Air, Windsor Farms, the University of Richmond area and basically any place west of 95, especially 295 all around the river.......they'd think you fell down and smacked your little head based on your description.
I was just in the Fan recently picking up a find on Craigslist and I was reminded once again how much it looks like Greenwich Village in NYC.
Funny in Greenwich Village those exact same type homes in the exact neighborhoods would go for millions.
Can I see some sources on that? Because from what I've read, you have to go back to the 80's to find Richmond in the top 10 murder capitals. The last statistics I read before moving back to VA had Richmond ranked below cities like Tampa,FL and Charlotte, NC for crime.
I will agree that the surrounding counties are the draw of this metro area. But that is the case with most small/medium sized cities. People who want big city life generally will move to DC, NYC, Boston, even Baltimore or Philly.
Once again, I am NOT talking about the metropolitan area of Richmond. I'm talking about URBAN CITY LIMITS. Of COURSE more whites live in the surrounding counties than blacks, this is the case with nearly every suburb of the U.S.! In the 50s middle class whites largely migrated from most cities, resulting in gentrification.
Yes, it is not the cleanest city established. The James has trash dumped in it, some parts of the city reek, and there is graffiti, etc. Carytown is cleaner, one of the cleanest and nicest areas of the "inner" city as you call it, and I wouldn't call the Fan "clean" by any stretch...... The University of Richmond is a secluded private college campus, in the west end as well, of course it has money running through it. The Fan looks like Greenwich village? That may be the case for two parallel streets here!
Industrial, dirty - The smoke stacks, urban gritty feel, graffiti, and torn and ripped up portion of the interstate when entering from the North.
That just shows how statistics can be skewed. 2005 was the year after we moved and I was paying close attention to statistics and Richmond wasn't in the top 25. But I know they look for different things when ranking cities, so whatever, it's not 2005 anymore.
The past few years I know for sure Richmond wasn't in the top 25 cities. It has come a long way.
I'm not a person to act like nothing is wrong with the city. I think there is always room for improvement. My issue is that there are people searching City Data looking to move. They need facts from the people who live here. Specific facts, not sweeping generalizations, not old data.
Most people looking to move to Richmond will end up in the suburbs somewhere. That's just how it is. The growth to the Richmond metro area has been within the burbs. Many times people say they are moving to X city, but they really mean they are moving to that city's suburbs. So when a person says "Richmond is full of crime" a person reading could interpret that as the entire metro area. That's why they need specifics.
The city limits of Richmond? I'd say it's better than 50/50. IMO, less than half of the city limits are areas to avoid. The bad is really bad, but the good is really good. To dismiss the west end as "having money running through it" is being short sighted. The West End is STILL Richmond. It's just not the ghetto of Richmond but it is every bit of Richmond as Church Hill is.
So yes, while the east side of Richmond is a hole in many places (let's face it, it is), the west side is pretty darn nice if a person can afford it. The Church Hill area recently ranked in the top 25 worst neighborhoods in the United States (even if this data is skewed in some way, it's still NOT a good part of town. We all know that). This area is what brings Richmond's crime rankings way up.
Sorry to say but if we could exclude the Church Hill area we'd see a huge drop in Richmond's overall crime numbers. That's why neighborhood rankings are always more valuable than city rankings. Because the question is not what city do you live in but rather, but neighborhood do you live? With cities, it's all about the neighborhood. RIchmond has some damn beautiful neighborhoods. No two ways about that.
In addition to the city of Richmond there is the Richmond metro area that is full of suburbs in every price range. Whether you are middle class or a millionaire, there is a suburb for you. I'm in Powhatan which is a good 45 minutes to an hour away from the city depending on the time of day and traffic. I'm still a part of the Richmond metro area. City folk seem to forget that there are suburbs and when you are bashing "Richmond" you are including the metro area in that whether you intend to or not. So yes you are going to anger people.
We all know the whole Richmond area is not ghetto. So if you want to call something "ghetto" why not target the actual ghettos and leave the other areas alone? Why the utter need to bash the entire city and its suburbs?
Last edited by Yankeerose00; 01-13-2012 at 11:42 AM..
Because the question is not what city do you live in but rather, but neighborhood do you live? With cities, it's all about the neighborhood. RIchmond has some damn beautiful neighborhoods. No two ways about that.
...City folk seem to forget that there are suburbs and when you are bashing "Richmond" you are including the metro area in that whether you intend to or not. So yes you are going to anger people.
..... So if you want to call something "ghetto" why not target the actual ghettos and leave the other areas alone? Why the utter need to bash the entire city and its suburbs?
the sane answer, rather than the "book right" but common-sense challenged answer some attempt to use is, when people refer to "Richmond" they are usually referring to at least Richmond plus henrico plus northern chesterfield. At LEAST.
In reality it probably also includes parts of Hanover, Goochland, and southern chesterfield.
That just shows how statistics can be skewed. 2005 was the year after we moved and I was paying close attention to statistics and Richmond wasn't in the top 25. But I know they look for different things when ranking cities, so whatever, it's not 2005 anymore.
The past few years I know for sure Richmond wasn't in the top 25 cities. It has come a long way.
I'm not a person to act like nothing is wrong with the city. I think there is always room for improvement. My issue is that there are people searching City Data looking to move. They need facts from the people who live here. Specific facts, not sweeping generalizations, not old data.
Most people looking to move to Richmond will end up in the suburbs somewhere. That's just how it is. The growth to the Richmond metro area has been within the burbs. Many times people say they are moving to X city, but they really mean they are moving to that city's suburbs. So when a person says "Richmond is full of crime" a person reading could interpret that as the entire metro area. That's why they need specifics.
The city limits of Richmond? I'd say it's better than 50/50. IMO, less than half of the city limits are areas to avoid. The bad is really bad, but the good is really good. To dismiss the west end as "having money running through it" is being short sighted. The West End is STILL Richmond. It's just not the ghetto of Richmond but it is every bit of Richmond as Church Hill is.
So yes, while the east side of Richmond is a hole in many places (let's face it, it is), the west side is pretty darn nice if a person can afford it. The Church Hill area recently ranked in the top 25 worst neighborhoods in the United States (even if this data is skewed in some way, it's still NOT a good part of town. We all know that). This area is what brings Richmond's crime rankings way up.
Sorry to say but if we could exclude the Church Hill area we'd see a huge drop in Richmond's overall crime numbers. That's why neighborhood rankings are always more valuable than city rankings. Because the question is not what city do you live in but rather, but neighborhood do you live? With cities, it's all about the neighborhood. RIchmond has some damn beautiful neighborhoods. No two ways about that.
In addition to the city of Richmond there is the Richmond metro area that is full of suburbs in every price range. Whether you are middle class or a millionaire, there is a suburb for you. I'm in Powhatan which is a good 45 minutes to an hour away from the city depending on the time of day and traffic. I'm still a part of the Richmond metro area. City folk seem to forget that there are suburbs and when you are bashing "Richmond" you are including the metro area in that whether you intend to or not. So yes you are going to anger people.
We all know the whole Richmond area is not ghetto. So if you want to call something "ghetto" why not target the actual ghettos and leave the other areas alone? Why the utter need to bash the entire city and its suburbs?
I agree that the city has made drastic improvements in crime since being so murderous in 2005.
Yes, people are searching for answers from people who live within the city. This is just my view of the city, as a resident myself. I don't believe that the people who live in the surrounding areas see the city the same way we do. You haven't experienced it until you live it.
The reason the growth in the Richmond area has been in the suburbs is because the city limits simply ran out of space. This is how suburbs are formed in the first place. The surrounding counties are far, far more rural. The city limits are nearing their maximum capacity and have been for some time.
I don't disagree that less than half are to avoid, but at night time this isn't really the case at all.
Quote:
That's why neighborhood rankings are always more valuable than city rankings. Because the question is not what city do you live in but rather, but neighborhood do you live? With cities, it's all about the neighborhood. RIchmond has some damn beautiful neighborhoods. No two ways about that.
This is the case with most other cities, but not Richmond. The North side, the East side, the South side, they're all dangerous. I've witnessed a drive-by shooting before in the south.
Whenever I point out the negatives I am talking specifically about the city limits. Because the surrounding areas do not have these problems. They're worlds away. I never "bashed" the suburbs, ever. These areas do not share a Richmond address. I said nothing about Powhatan, that's ridiculous. Powhatan is a whole other area in itself and is in no way attached to the city of Richmond except for, in reasonable terms, by limited proximity.
Every "side" of the Richmond-metro area is subject to crime. The best thing you can is protect yourself and your family. Until city leaders are ready to tackle the problems in certain areas, the city will never change.
Been doing some research on Richmond. So crime is about 5000 more crimes a year then the cities where I live now. The city I live in has about 4000 to 5000 crimes a year. The population is half the size of Richmond 110 000. The biggest city in my State is about 130 000 or 140 000 with about the same amount of violent crime a year as Richmond and 40 square miles smaller then Richmond.
For me Richmond seems like a safe and large city to live in.
Is there neighborhoods to stay away from? For us the North End where I live gets a bad rep and some streets won't drive through. However, on the outskirts of town some beautiful areas.
ancient thread, but the majority of the city is safe, some sketchy areas in northeast and southeast near public housing projects. If you do a search its been covered here a lot.
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