Finally visited Richmond, liked Chesterfield... (Jefferson, Hopewell: appointed, foreclosure, houses)

[Amerikrainian]

Hey folks,

We finally made it into Richmond yesterday. We live about three miles outside of Philadelphia right now and want to move within the next few years. Richmond area is one of our top choices (on paper).

We came to look at the area, and had plotted a few houses to check out the neighborhoods. They were all 3 beds, 1.5-2 bath brick homes, at $140k or under.

People here had recommended Henrico, so we went there first. I think we weren't at the top of Henrico, but where we were was not too attractive. I can't remember the road, but it was near the Virginia Aviation Museum. The brick houses were in fair shape, but the neighborhoods looked run down. So we skipped a couple there and moved down to probably a little north of downtown. That was the same deal. We were disappointed, and decided to shoot down to chesterfield area.

On the way down, the view of downtown from the bridge was really nice. It was bigger than I expected from a small city.

We got to chesterfield, and it was almost like night and day. Chesterfield looked clean and well cared for, spread out, and called to me. We stopped by Pocahontas state park-looks like a good place to relax and walk trails or fish.

We came home a found a few homes down there in the range I mentioned, (actually up to 150k) and they look nice and newer. So we will be back in a couple of days.

Mainly, chesterfield looks really quiet, down Iron Bridge Rd, and Beach Rd even more. That's good in one way, but it seems like several miles to anything else. Is that the "downtown" with the courthouse? Or is there some more that I didn't see? A busier part? A few shopping centers (I did pass two on the long way down to Beach Rd.)? A rec center? Something cool I may be missing?

By the way, the thick forest around here reminds me of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The trade off is that you can't see anything past the wall of trees everywhere, but I prefer the fresh forest air.

Thanks.

[jobber123rd]

The most "recommended" areas of Henrico are west of the Richmond City limits, along Broad Street Road (US-250), Patterson Ave (VA-6), etc. If you were near the RIC airport, that's in the eastern part of Henrico, which is at about the opposite end in terms of what people recommend in the metro area.

In central Chesterfield County, a lot of the commerce/retail is going to be along Rt. 10. The courthouse area (officially Chesterfield Court House, but everyone just calls it "Chesterfield", zip 23832) is fairly busy with respect to the Rt. 10 corridor, but it's not really a downtown (there are no incorporated towns in Chesterfield County -- only a few villages that depend on County services like everywhere else in the County). There are busier areas in Chesterfield County along US-60 (Midlothian Turnpike), US-360 (Hull Street Road), and US-1/301 (Jefferson Davis Highway). [However, those areas will have addresses of "Midlothian", "North Chesterfield", "Chester", and the like, rather than "Chesterfield".] If you go a couple miles east of Beach Road on Rt. 10, Ironbridge Rd becomes West Hundred Road, and you enter the village of Chester. It's similar in character in the residential areas, but with more commercial activity in the areas where Rt. 10 intersects Jeff Davis Hwy (US 1/301) and I-95 (exit 61 A/B).

This is an interesting comparison between Henrico and Chesterfield, compared to what's normally seen here. Usually the comparison is western Henrico vs. northwestern Chesterfield, but I'm not sure if either of those areas is in play for you based on your price range.

edit: Added a little more detail. Also, you may want to clarify if you were looking for anything in Chesterfield County, or just the areas near the courthouse ("Chesterfield, VA" zip codes). "Chesterfield" on its own may mean either, depending on the context.

[Amerikrainian]

Thanks for all of the details. I see the areas you are talking about on the map. They do look busier, using Google maps. So you're saying there will be more development near the courthouse area?

Yeah, the comparison probably isn't the usual. That's purely by accident, or rather, probably because of our price range. Up to $140K in henrico/richmond, those areas come up. As for chesterfield, we just put it in the gps on the spur of the moment, and it took us to the courthouse. I didn't know all of the nuances of one part of henrico vs. the other part, or anything like that. Certainly, based on appearance alone, the chesterfield area that I mentioned is much better.

$150k won't get you anything in our area. So the big opportunity here is to be in a nice place like Chesterfield for that price, and it's not a big deal if we have to drive a few miles for some stuff (if that is, in fact, the case).

I know that one of the chesterfield address we plan to visit in along hull st rd. So I guess we will be in that area

Thanks again for the input, and I welcome anybody else to comment as well.

[jobber123rd]

The US Highway corridors are busier than the courthouse area. When I said the courthouse was "busy", that's in relation to the rest of Rt. 10 in Chesterfield County, which is fairly quiet along most of its length west of Chester. If you've been past the intersection of Beach & Ironbridge, then you've likely seen most of what there is to see in the immediate area: a couple of grocery stores anchoring some quaint-looking strip malls/shopping areas (e.g. Chesterfield Meadows), some fast food, restaurants, and drug stores. For the closest big-box retail, you'd have to head east on Rt. 10 to Chester. (First, you'd see Walmart, which is pretty hard to miss, then a few miles down the road there's a lot of stuff blossoming from all corners of the intersection with Jeff Davis Highway. Kohls, K-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, and Target are all in this area.) For a "mall", Midlothian has the closest.

[novanwbie]

If you're trying to stay under $150k, you won't get into a very nice neighborhood in Henrico -- I'd stick with Chesterfield. The nicest areas of Chesterfield County, up by Midlothian, would be a real stretch at that price, but you might find a foreclosure, and there are some decent but modest neighborhoods along Hull St. Rd. that come close to that range. The development along Hull St. is probably more what you're looking for, too. Midlothian turnpike is the other major artery, and there are some less expensive, older neighborhoods along there and off Huguenot Road. That area is much more central than Rt. 10. From Beach Road, you could go up to Hull Street to shop pretty easily. If you've got time to reasearch, just watch the market in Chesterfield, and you'll learn the neighborhoods. And stay away from eastern Henrico, it's awful.

[Amerikrainian]

Thanks for the help. We like the brick ranchers, usually late 60s to 80s. There seem to be plenty in that price range in Chesterfield, though fewer with a Midlothian address, and almost none with a Chester address. Most in Chesterfield have 1/3 to 1/2 acre, which is great. A few even have a walk-out basement.

Tomorrow, we'll try again. We'll check out the Chesterfield addresses I found, and then drive down Midlothian Tpk and through the Chester area, in order to see what the commercial areas have to offer.

[VA Yankee]

There are older neighborhoods in western Henrico that are nice and have the ranchers you are looking for. Contrary to popular opinions there are nice homes outside the usual names tossed around. DM me if you want information.

[Amerikrainian]

How do I dm? Do I need to befriend first?

[novanwbie]

Yes, if you like brick ranchers, the older neighborhoods along Patterson Avenue might be appealing. There are some not-so-good schools mixed in, though. Also, look along Huguenot Road. Those are older, established neighborhoods, great neighborhood schools, very convenient, and good prices.

[onevthoki]

If you look in the Enon portion of Chester, you can sometimes find a brick rancher. 23836. It's down Route 10 heading towards Hopewell.