Moving to the area: How's Chester and Mechanicsville? (Richmond, Colonial Heights: movie theater, good schools)

[Mamoozzz]

I'm moving to Chester but other than the location, I don't know much. Is there anything to do there, Movies, dining, or shopping? Or is it just residential and you have to go elsewhere for recreation? What's the difference between Chester and Mechanicsville? Both are right next to Richmond which should provide plenty of entertainment. So I envision these are towns to live in but not to play? Not a bad thing! :-)

[Skratch]

I can answer a couple, theres no movie theater in mechanicsville but the closest one to that would be downtown richmond or the ones on the westend, most shopping will be you commuting to the westend or if you like mom and pop stores then downtown richmond, same with dinning, i cant speak on chesterfield but it has some malls and etc

[novanwbie]

Well, the Regal at VA Center is only 10-15 minutes from Mechanicsville, not too bad. And not as far as the West End. If you like things like Whole Foods and Trader Joes, then you'll be going to the West End. The Short Pump Town Center is a very upscale mall but with a good mix of stores -- that's in Short Pump, where 295 meets 64. Most of the offerings in Mechanicsville will either be small, local shops or chain stores and restaurants, it's not a high end audience. I don't know much about Chester, but I think it's pretty residential, with some local shopping centers, and the closest mall is probably Chesterfield Towne Center? There are some Chester folks on here who will hopefully respond. Is there are reason you're focusing on Chester and Mechanicsville?

[Kh23]

Chester has a small town feel, but is close enough to anything you need. Has its own Target, Kohls, Walmart, etc. nearest mall is chesterfield town ctr. Plenty of restaurants, good schools. Housing is very affordable. We've been here 9 years and it's been a great place to raise a family

[jobber123rd]

As far as I know, there are very few addresses in Chester (and none on the 23836 side) where Chesterfield Towne Center is as close as (or closer than) Southpark Mall in Colonial Heights. There's more stuff in the area around CTC, though.