Worst Cities/Areas of VA (Richmond, Newport News: 2015, to buy, pharmacists)

[AllEars85]

Thats three metros all over 1mill in one state which is about average lol

[nc919va757sc803]

Richmond Norfolk Portsmouth Petersburg and Danville are rough through good portions of the cities. Hampton, Newport News, Roanoke and Hopewell have really rough spots too Downtown Newport news downtow
n hampton and northwest roanoke are horrible but a good majority of these cities are pretty nice. Chesapeake, Va beach, and Suffolk have a couple bad spots but they are nice. The smaller rural towns close to nc get rough but not dangerous. The rest of virginia is very safe.

[nc919va757sc803]

Richmond Norfolk Portsmouth Petersburg and Danville are rough through good portions of the cities. Hampton, Newport News, Roanoke and Hopewell have really rough spots too Downtown Newport news downtow
n hampton and northwest roanoke are horrible but a good majority of these cities are pretty nice. Chesapeake, Va beach, and Suffolk have a couple bad spots but they are nice. The smaller rural towns close to nc get rough but not dangerous. The rest of virginia is very safe.

[tc1980]

The worst area of Virginia to live in? Oh, that's easy. Mecklenburg County, especially Chase City, Boydton, and even South Hill. Clarksville is saved by Buggs Island Lake for fishing purposes. This entire county is pathetic. It's a place where you go to die, not live! The "bowling alley" in South Hill consists of 2 lanes! Two whole lanes for a bowling alley. Its the smallest one I've ever seen in my life! The "movie theatre," when it's actually open (which is rare, since it keeps going under), plays a grand total of 2 movies at a time. Can we say extremely boring? The only thing to do in Mecklenburg is hunt or fish, and even that's boring out here. Crime? I wish there were enough people here to commit a crime to add some excitement!

[thekingsguard]

I'd second that. I live in Richmond, and like all big cities, it has its rough patches, but its a good city by and large, and much improved from its old days during the 80s-90s Crack epidemic.

It's the small towns that more often than not you have to be wary of. Take one I lived in for a time, Ashland. Before the recession, it was tolerable, if painfully dull. Once the local economy went in the toilet though, now its an overgrown truck stop dependent on the drug trade and speeding tickets.

[loveautumn]

Personal experience, I visited Richmond a few years ago. Going from the airport to Glen Allen, I got off on a wrong exit into a really bad area, I was terrified, so confused on how to get the heck out of there, I don't know exactly to this day how I made it to GA. I was checking out Richmond for a possible move there, but this incident really kind of ruined my whole visit. Short Pump, Glen Allen was really nice...but if I can't go into the city for fear then I would be religated to the burbs for all activities (which wouldn't be many). I thought, there's no way I would bring my friends into the city of Richmond. Admittedly, I'm not an urban creature, and I'm older, but I'd like to get a city fix once in awhile. My point being, no matter how much everybody tells me the city is changing, I can't get convinced. My point being all it takes is one bad experience. People visiting there shouldn't have any bad experiences, seeing that they are there for such a short time. I read where they had a very recognized bicycle race there a few weeks ago, and later that evening a cyclist was shot outside a restaurant in what was suppose to be a popular "safe" area.

I appreciate threads such as these where people give their honest opinions about the areas to avoid, it helps people like me make decisions when we can't visit every single city in the state. So many times the PR machines for these cities (this happens in every state) just sanitize everything and make places sound way better than they are (Richmond Magazine for one).

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

Personal experience, I visited Richmond a few years ago. Going from the airport to Glen Allen, I got off on a wrong exit into a really bad area, I was terrified, so confused on how to get the heck out of there, I don't know exactly to this day how I made it to GA. I was checking out Richmond for a possible move there, but this incident really kind of ruined my whole visit. Short Pump, Glen Allen was really nice...but if I can't go into the city for fear then I would be religated to the burbs for all activities (which wouldn't be many). I thought, there's no way I would bring my friends into the city of Richmond. Admittedly, I'm not an urban creature, and I'm older, but I'd like to get a city fix once in awhile. My point being, no matter how much everybody tells me the city is changing, I can't get convinced. My point being all it takes is one bad experience. People visiting there shouldn't have any bad experiences, seeing that they are there for such a short time. I read where they had a very recognized bicycle race there a few weeks ago, and later that evening a cyclist was shot outside a restaurant in what was suppose to be a popular "safe" area.

I appreciate threads such as these where people give their honest opinions about the areas to avoid, it helps people like me make decisions when we can't visit every single city in the state. So many times the PR machines for these cities (this happens in every state) just sanitize everything and make places sound way better than they are (Richmond Magazine for one).

That's too bad you didn't give it more of a chance. Richmond has many good areas to visit.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

Personal experience, I visited Richmond a few years ago. Going from the airport to Glen Allen, I got off on a wrong exit into a really bad area, I was terrified, so confused on how to get the heck out of there, I don't know exactly to this day how I made it to GA. I was checking out Richmond for a possible move there, but this incident really kind of ruined my whole visit. Short Pump, Glen Allen was really nice...but if I can't go into the city for fear then I would be religated to the burbs for all activities (which wouldn't be many). I thought, there's no way I would bring my friends into the city of Richmond. Admittedly, I'm not an urban creature, and I'm older, but I'd like to get a city fix once in awhile. My point being, no matter how much everybody tells me the city is changing, I can't get convinced. My point being all it takes is one bad experience. People visiting there shouldn't have any bad experiences, seeing that they are there for such a short time. I read where they had a very recognized bicycle race there a few weeks ago, and later that evening a cyclist was shot outside a restaurant in what was suppose to be a popular "safe" area.

I appreciate threads such as these where people give their honest opinions about the areas to avoid, it helps people like me make decisions when we can't visit every single city in the state. So many times the PR machines for these cities (this happens in every state) just sanitize everything and make places sound way better than they are (Richmond Magazine for one).

What city have you found that doesn't have an area that is less than desirable?

[Babe_Ruth]

I wanna preface this by saying I love the Commonwealth of Virginia..

That said, worst city.. Petersburg. (Portsmouth get's an honorable mention).

[loveautumn]

I really like VA, it's my first choice to live in retirement and I'm trying my darndest to find an affordable place. A single woman moving has a lot more challenges in moving than a couple does. I can't just go off to live in small mountain town by myself. Of course, there are bad areas in every city/town...but it's a matter of degrees and how it would effect your enjoyment of living there. The whole Richmond area seems to be broken into safe side (west) and unsafe (east and south). As one ages, or when one starts a family, safety becomes more of a factor than it probably is for young single people who are pretty much fearless (I sure was). Where I live, which is probably one of the safest large cities, people who research on CD all want safe, safe, safe...seems to be the top priority they inquire about. So this is a common concern...maybe we're all becoming terrified in the US.