Where to move outside Richmond? (Tuckahoe, Hopewell: renting, house, neighborhood)

[JulienR]

Hi all,
I am new on the forum, it seems like a great ressource. We moved to Richmond just over a year ago and are currently renting but we are planning to start looking for a house this spring. We have two kids, 3 and 5. We are now in Carillon, between Byrd Park and the City Stadium. We love the location, close to parks and playground for the kids, close to Carytown, easy access to 195...We would love to stay here but our oldest is going to start school next September and unfortunatly schools are not the greatest in Richmond, so we are looking at the suburbs but we don't know anyhting about them.
We are looking for a 4 bedroom house with a decent backyard so kids can play. We are not necessarily looking for the best schools, it seems like all in Henrico or Chesterfield county are OK. I work 5 miles south of Ashland and my wife works in the city. We'd like to live in a progressive, diverse neighborhood. We also love being able to walk to parks, playground, restaurants,...but we realize that might be difficult to find outside the city. So far we are thinking about Bon Air which seems to tick a lot of boxes for us and is still close to the city too.
We did not know anyone here before moving and because of the pandemic we haven't had the oppportunity to make friends so we would greatly appreciate your advice. Thanks.

[JulienR]

Originally Posted by JulienR

We'd like to live in a progressive, diverse neighborhood.

I meant liberal, sorry, english is not my first language.

[Bigfoot424]

If it were a conservative neighborhood would you avoid it?

[JulienR]

It depends how conservative. We have nothing against conservative people per say, we respect different opinions, but we would more likely become good friends with liberal people.

[Bigfoot424]

So I assume you'll interview all the neighbors to see how they vote? Making friends should not be dictated by how the folks lean politically. Not once have I polled my neighbors to see how they vote. While my area is definitely more conservative there are plenty who lean left and we are good friends with several. We just tend to gravitate towards good people. If I learn they vote opposite of me then nothing changes amongst us. But good luck finding that liberal neighborhood.

[Jupiter1162]

Don't go to Bon Air if you're looking for a liberal area, it leans more red. Chesterfield is more conservative than Henrico. I live in Bon Air. Would rather you take your liberal voting habits to north of the river. Thank you

[mpier015]

Sorry that such a simple question turned into all this with zero help even offered. Literally wasted posts that added nothing. OP, take a look at Glen Allen/Short Pump area. Suburbs in general tend to be a little more conservative than the city but Richmond is a pretty live and let live type of place. Depending on your budget, there are parts of Henrico pretty close to City Stadium that could also do the job...Tuckahoe, Three Chopt, River Road area.

[bgthompson123]

Yikes some grouchy people posting... I am also looking for info on Richmond & surrounding areas. It’s a bit confusing as is Henrico a county or town? We also would prefer to be in a more liberal leaning area as I agree with OP that you tend to befriend people with like minded ideals . It’s not always political but liberals tend to be environment conscious which we are & so forth. There are other factors not just “ I don’t want to live beside a Republican” lol . We all know that’s impossible and silly.

And Jupiter1162 you’re already not being neighborly yourself by telling OP to live elsewhere so...
Seems you guys were mad they were saying that tend to want a like minded area but seems you do too...

[bgthompson123]

Also what’s the deal with suburbs like Hopewell? Nice not nice etc

[mpier015]

Originally Posted by bgthompson123

Yikes some grouchy people posting... I am also looking for info on Richmond & surrounding areas. It’s a bit confusing as is Henrico a county or town? We also would prefer to be in a more liberal leaning area as I agree with OP that you tend to befriend people with like minded ideals . It’s not always political but liberals tend to be environment conscious which we are & so forth. There are other factors not just “ I don’t want to live beside a Republican” lol . We all know that’s impossible and silly.

And Jupiter1162 you’re already not being neighborly yourself by telling OP to live elsewhere so...
Seems you guys were mad they were saying that tend to want a like minded area but seems you do too...

Henrico is a county. Virginia can be confusing because our cities are independent and completely separated from our counties. Henrico and Chesterfield are the counties that surround Richmond. Virginia doesn't have a lot of official towns except for places like Ashland. They are more like census designated places.