What's bad about Richmond? (Roanoke, Chester: high crime, schools, gated)

[treena]

Originally Posted by mf12283

I agree, I went whitewater rafting through the city and it doesn't look like a nice place. You always hear about Richmond being charming and stuff, and I guess that part exists, but I've never seen it.

Richmond is about as charming as a rattlesnake and there are too many broken down areas for me to stomach. I have lived in other major cities in my life but this one is a dump in too many parts.

[treena]

Originally Posted by lucky123

I'm from Richmond, the east end. I went to Varina High.
Like any city there are good and bad points.
Most people don't live in the inner city (crime)but on the outskirts. The east end to me is the best but I'm biased too.
Sandston & bottoms bridge and Mechanicsville area are great too.
When I was growing up the West end was where all the rich people lived and had alot more traffic than the east end.

But you have to remember that while Richmond is an old southern city with it's share of crime it's nothing compared to the drama of bigger southern cities like Atlanta. I'm a history buff too so I love all the historic sites in Richmond (and all over Va). and like the other poster said living in Richmond depends on your financial situation too.
Me I can't wait to get back home!! (shake shop here I come )

I lived on the South Side of Richmond near Bellemeade and Jeff Davis. It was slightly inward and one of the most dramatically criminally infected areas I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. I have lived many places and that was so filled with druggies, thugs and hate and shootings and murders for one small area I had to start making a diary of what I was seeing on a daily basis.
It always amazed me when I told local Richmonders at work some of the things I was going through by living in that area - that they couldn't believe it. I started cutting and pasting all the shootings out of the Richmond Times Dispatch right within my zipcode and precinct. I have pages and pages of people being shot and killed. Richmond is a very dangerous city. It didn't make the 5th most dangerous city last year for nothing. I saw it with my own eyes every day.

[htlong]

treena,
you were in the heart of the crime area, of course it is going to be bad there, but if you stay away from the projects in the inner city, richmond is a great place to live.

[florali]

I just recently visited Richmond to try to figure out if I could relocate there.
I was looking in West End and Glen Allen area,but briefly got a ride to downtown.Well,very dissapointed there.....it looks dirty ,old,trashy....kind of like Detroit....and it did scare me off.......
I am not planing to live in ciry of Richmond,but if I want to go for some concert or some cultural event...how bad it is?
Again.....I just got a short ride.....I didnt see much.......
My opinion is bazed on what I have seen.....

I liked west end.....
but another question......do all the builders build in Colonial style?
Is there any contemporary choice anywhere too?????
I have seen only colonial townhoumes and I am not a big fan of that style.....
Does anyone know???
(price range 250 - 300 K)

Thanks for info

[Ahma]

Originally Posted by Cindy

Hi Jennifer,

King William County is the place for you. We are past Mechanicsville about 35 minutes from the city, 15 from Mechanicsville, We have a local major grocery store, 4 schools, you would be about 30 minutes from the Virginia Center Commons Mall in Glen Allen (suburb of Richmond)

Rmd city is HORRIBLE and very dirty, alot of crime, really bad stuff!

Our little communty is a piece of heaven.

If I can help you let me know.

Oh this might interest you:
http://www.co.king-william.va.us/ (broken link)


Good Luck!

Cindy

Hi Cindy,

My husband's job is taking us to Richmond. We do not want to live in the city and prefer to live 25 to 30 miles away from it but yet have easy access to the interstate for my husband's commute to Richmond.

After reading your posting, your town sounds ideal. Are you southwest of Richmond? And, is the name of your town King William County? Are the homes real expensive there?

Any information you can provide will be so helpful. I am so thankful I have stumbled upon this forum. It has already provided me with information on where not to live.

[EricD]

King William is north-east of Richmond, as she said... past Mechanicsville. If you're willing to do a 30-40 minute drive, you might want to consider Caroline County... I live in Ladysmith Village which is about 1 mile off of the exit 110 off of I-95. It makes for an easy commute, just hop on the highway and head south. The community is right off of Rt. 1, which works as a great alternate from I-95 during the busy times.

The community has it's own public library in it, they are building an ampitheiter for events, the prep work is in the process for the new YMCA (25 acres, to open next year), they are halfway done with building the new elementary school (a really good looking school based on the floor plans I've seen), and they are leveling the land now to begin on the community center which will have a beach-entry pool, movie room, and other things to keep people busy. The walking trails are started (about 1/2 a mile now), but eventually there will be miles of them, winding around the South River, which cuts through the center of the comunity. They are using natural dividers to separate the community into 4 parts, each with their own name, within Ladysmith Village. Right now there are two parts. Founder's Park is where most of the development is right now. It has the library, the YMCA will be there, the Ampetheiter is being built there, and the first community center is being built there. There is a playground and walking trails built now. There will also be live/work units built near the library, where people can open their own little shops that people within the community will be able to walk to. There is also the South River section, which will contain the new Elementary school, a county park, slightly wider lots, and have a bulk of the walking trails. Eventually there will be a community center over there too, but for a while they'll have to use the one in Founder's Park. South River only has about 3 houses built over there, because they are just starting, but you can build there if you'd like. Founder's Park is less than 1/2 built, so there's still a lot of room over there.

The community will eventually hold about 3200 homes, most of which being single family homes. There will be some town houses near the commercial areas, and some zero-maintenance villa's as well, but there aren't exact plans for those yet. The whole community has sidewalks on all roads, street lights, and alleyways, with rear-load garages. This makes the street frontage look extremely nice... also the streets are all lined with trees. There are some streets which have grass and landscaping in the front. There are called mews, and it's like having a park instead of a street. Since you access your garage in the back, you can still drive to your house fine, but enjoy having a small park litterally at your doorstep.

Dues are $55 a month and includes trash pickup 2 times a week, and now recycling once a week. They maintain all common areas, and remove snow in the alleys. (the streets are public once they're finished)

There are currently 7 builders in the community. Two are phasing out, but more will be added to replace them. They use all local builders. Most builders offer to add an apartment over the garage... with it's own small kitchen, bedroom (or bed area), living/dining area, laundry hookups, and everything. They have their own entrence off of the alley.

I know you wanted to be south-west of Richmond, but this wouldn't be too bad of a commute into Richmond, because actually not many people live north of richmond and commute into the city. There is hardly ever back-up.

The website is:
Ladysmith - a Newland Community

Ignore the 'location' page completely... the map of the development is mostly wrong now (they have made some changes... for the better), and the map is wrong too... the star should be north one more exit... just google Ladysmith, and you'll find it

On the website you will notice that we have an intra-net. This is designed to allow people within the community to post in their own forum, classified ads, events, and form your own groups.... it's fun

Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Parschauer

OK - considering a move to the suburbs of Richmond, either the west or south side. Have heard loads of good stuff, and the infastructure looks decent (you have to know, I'm near the sticks in the Alps) and the only bad being mosquitos. Can anyone else tell me what they hate about this city - not downtown, not where gangs are - I know any city can have crime spots and traffic, but in general, is there something I don't know yet? My husband will have a home office, so no commute, and we have 3 young kids in school. So, those things considered. Any shockers?

Its a misconception that the downtown area has gangs. It doesn't. The place where all the crime is is along Jeff Davis HWY, Northeast Richmond, and some areas of east Henrico. Downtown Richmond is probably the safest area of the city!

[vasinger]

Originally Posted by treena

Richmond is about as charming as a rattlesnake and there are too many broken down areas for me to stomach. I have lived in other major cities in my life but this one is a dump in too many parts.

You're joking right?

The Fan? Monument Ave? Shockoe Slip? If those are "dumpy areas" then I don't know whats nice anymore.

[lovelongboatkey]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Parschauer

Thank you again - I'm so glad to hear these details. Honestly, I hate driving (is this a bad thing?!) - or, hate not so much traffic, but poorly planned communities where not only is there a lot of people, but they are in a rush, frantically changing lanes or merging dangerously in and out all to pick up a carton of milk on the way home from work. I'd really prefer to be in a spot where I can take some little country road most of the way, live in a quieter area, but be less than 20 minutes to a half an hour from a Super walmart and a mall. Really only because we have small kids and they inevitably always need something or are growing out of their clothes overnight. But we prefer country living in general. Are you saying Chesterfield county didn't do such a great planning job when they expanded?

We're "yankees" too, so thanks for the tip!

It sounds like you may like Goochland county. We are west of Henrico, the schools here are very good and interstate 64 makes for a very easy commute to either Short Pump or Charlottesville. I am 30 minutes from C'ville and 20 from Short Pump. We have small grocery stores, restaurants, a YMCA and a library. This area is pricey though the market right now is slow and houses are taking longer to sell. Goochland is trying very hard to grow sensibly and stay as rural as possible. Of all the counties in this area it is the least congested but yet has easy access to shopping and ammenities in Henrico and Chestefield. BTW Richmond is no where as bad as some people make it but the counties just offer a better quality of life for me. Feel free to pm me if you need more info.

[VA_Native]

A few years ago I believe it was one of the top 10 most dangerous cities. So that's your negative side right there. On a more positive view, it's turning around.