Kids, Car/Bike Commute, and VCU (Richmond, Chester: neighborhoods, magnet school, university)

[Testudines]

Greetings!

I'm coming to town next month to scope out an opportunity at VCU (medical center) and wanted to get the usual "What neighborhood would be good for my kids?" input, with a possible little twist.

The kids are elementary and middle school-aged. We live in Madison, WI and attend private schools but would prefer to go public upon moving.

Although we're not quite downtown currently, we're close in and there are many amenities nearby--a few that are walkable, many that are bikeable. Home, schools, and my work (DW works from home) are all within 3 miles, so we have just one car and I bike (or walk or bus when it snows) to work. Understanding that one can't replicate one's existence elsewhere (otherwise, why move?) we would like to end up in a neighborhood that has some commercial and recreational venues, as opposed to being a purely residential development. DW is half-Chinese and values ethnic diversity as well.

From what I've read here, Richmond seems to be like many cities in that the options include:

• Live downtown and attend the public schools
• Live downtown and hope to secure a slot at a magnet school
• Live downtown and attend private schools
• Live in the suburbs and commute further to work

We're open-minded but focusing more on the first and last options. I'm wondering whether one way to thread the needle would be to seek a community that meets my wife and kids' preferences as above, then drive each day to a park and ride or other appropriate place and bike the last few miles to avoid the worst traffic / parking costs and wait times (and get some exercise).

Any ideas? (We're not oligarchs, but should be able to get into most neighborhoods, especially if attending public schools). Glen Allen came up on my radar perusing the forum earlier, specifically in terms of ethnic diversity. Thanks in advance!

[VA Yankee]

I'll be straight forward, you may find an elementary school that is well reviewed but when it comes to secondary schools most who can afford it go the private route or move to the burbs. There are too many issues that parents don't want to be urban pioneers with their children's education.

I would look west of downtown in the Willow Lawn area or near University of Richmond but be just over the line in Henrico County for the schools so you can still be close to catch a bus downtown. To give you a perspective within a 30 minute drive of VCU you can be as far west as Short Pump for living options but bus routes will be limited.

[Xfisch]

We just moved here from California this past June 2019. We are in Henrico County with an elementary school kid and a middle schooler. We came from private school and went public. We are a 2-mom family; diversity is important to us too. PM me if you have specific questions, but we love it here. The schools are great, our neighborhood is great. We too came from a place where we had one car, one parent working from home, and school and other job were within walking distance. We don’t exactly have that here, but the school bus system is great and we mostly use one car.

[B00stM0bil]

Chesterfield is a solid area, Bon Air is great. Schools around here are pretty good, too. It's a solid 25-30 minutes outside of the city depending on which way you decided to take and your destination in Richmond.

[mpier015]

You would probably do ok in the Fan/Museum District, as far as schools are concerned. Both neighborhoods are in the city with many bus options. Elementary schools in the area are good and I've heard decent things about Binford and Albert Hill middle school. As VA Yankee stated, however, these schools likely won't be as good as the county schools and a lot of parents do choose to find alternatives for their children by middle/high school. If you are going private/magnate then that frees up your city options considerably. Richmond doesn't have much traffic so you can live in most suburbs and still be within a 30 min commute to work. University of Richmond, Willow Lawn, Bon Air, Lakeside, Libbie Mill/Staples Mill...all city/county bordering areas with bus access.

[Testudines]

mpier015's point about bus access is very well-taken. Rather than car-->bike to work, another approach is to live a bit further out if necessary and then bike to, say, the Willow Lawn bus stop or a stop on one of the other high-frequency routes shown in red on the GRTC system map.