what does "Topping for " mean?

Topping means it brings it back up to the top 50.
I don't live in Hampton Park area, but there is a lot of traffic on Hull St. these days. There are lots of new stores and a great big movie theater there. I have seen Hampton Park, but I have never seen River's Bend.
Other neighborhoods that you may want to check out in that area is Woodlake, (schools are good there), Walton Park/Walton Lake. I have a friend there and she likes the community and the schools are good. Newer neighborhoods are the Grove, Charter Colony. These are also attached to some good school systems. I live more in the northern end of Midlothian and it seems that you are looking more south. It is a great area and growing like weeds!!! We are enjoying raising our family here. You may not see a ton of kids out when it is very hot and humid. (We found this). I would try and find a community that has a pool. This will be a great place for your kids to meet other kids in the neighborhood. I think Hampton Park has one of those. What is the school district for the Hampton Park development? Go to Chesterfield county schools and you can find out tons of info on the schools.

Thanx Girlonthego! I have done lots of homework on the schools, as far as, test scores go. I keep hearing about Midlothian. Where is that near exactly? Im getting familar with the southern suburbs, but not with Midlothian. Is that near the University of Richmond? The schools for Hampton Park are Spring Run, Swift Creek and Clover Hill. I'll have to look into Walton Park/lake. We looked at The Grove and that was one of the areas that I was not impressed with. Im sure people who live there like it, but it wasn't for me. I also see that lots of moms home school. Is that really popular there? Back to Midlothian. Are there lots of shopping areas there? That definetly is a draw for me since I don't want to have to drive forever to stores and Malls. I know the Hampton area offers much more of it than the River's Bend area. My husband works about 10 minutes from there, but is willing to drive a bit. Just read one of your previous postings and will check out the 23313 area on the real estate listings. Thanks for the info.

23113 is the zip! There are many nice neighborhoods,some new some old by me. New ones are Founders Bridge, Tarrington, and Rosemont. These are all pretty high priced. The homes are large. The homes in the Salisbury/Roxshire area are older,but very nice and have larger lots than the newer homes. These homes are about 25 years old. The majority of the children go to public school in my area. That is why the schools are very good. There are private schools around and we have several home-school families in my area. It is popular in VA if you are interested in that. But, the public schools have a great support system with many of the nicest neighborhoods, all sending the kids to public school. Mine go to public school. I can't remember what I wrote back awhile ago. I know I posted to you several months ago. So some of this I may be repeating myself. About the Hampton Park schools, I don't know the elementary very well. The middle school is good, and the high school has the Math and science center located in it. (Big draw for the school). The schools are very crowded all over the county with Clover hill High being one of the most crowded high schools. They just passed a bond referendum for 250 million dollars going towards schools, parks and roads, with the majority of it being spent on schools.)This will supposedly not raise taxes. I don't know how old your children are. If they are young, than you will get some of the benefits. If you move to the Hull St area, (Hampton Park area)than you will see more relief in the crowding. I believe that area is slated for a new highschool by 2010-12. The northern end of the county(where I live) will not see as much relief. By the time all of these things get built, my kids will be going off to college! So, the schools are crowded, but there is a high level of expectation from the students. The SOL or standards of learning tests are virginia state tests. They rank the schools. If you go the website for chesterfield county, you can get the scores for the different schools. Chesterfield has pretty good public schools. This area of Midlothian is located just south of the James River. North of the James and West of the city is called the West End. The near west end (closer to the city and the University of Richmond area)is very Richmond. You would be an outsider there. It is very old Richmond. The far west end has newer neighborhoods with more transferees. It is also more crowded and congested.
The Midlothian area has many transferees also and has stores and malls all within a few minutes drive. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask away. Hopefully I can help.

Sorry, I have just read back over my old posts and it seems that I have repeated myself numerous times. There are many nice areas. Look up all of the neighborhood names that I have given you. The schools that I have listed are probably on the top end. The neighborhood of Walton park (23114)has a variety of price ranges and a local pool. I hated the Grove also. I wasn't sure if you were just looking for new. There isn't a tree left in that neighborhood! Yuck. Anyway ask as many questions as you can, and hopefully I have heard of the place.

Once again thanks Girlonthego for the info. A few more questions if you don't mind. You mentioned about the math/science program at one of the high school. Do all high schools offer a specialty? Do you need to apply to go there? Do many kids take advantage of these programs, or do they mostly attend their neighborhood schools? If they choose to go out of their boundaries do they get to take a bus? I have two who will be in 8th grade next year, so HS is just around the corner. Also, regarding Salisbury, do you know if the development has a pool or golf course? If you have info that would be great! Im sure I'll think of more questions, but for now ..........that's all! Again, Thanks!

First, Salisbury has a country club that you can join with golf, tennis and pool. It is a very nice social club. We do not belong, but I have been to events there. This is a very nice community with most homes having an acre lot. The homes range in prices all over, but there is a probably a minimum of about 300,000. Don't trust me on that I am not a realtor!
All the high schools offer specialty centers. You can apply to go to any of them in the county. The programs are selective and there is a bus that will pick you up at a certain place for transportation. You may have to drive a mile or two for a central bus stop. The clover hill high has math and science. The midlothian high(which serves Salisbury) has the international baccalaurate(spell?)I hear this is a tough course. James River High has the leadership program. And Monocan High has a humanities program. There are other high schools, but these are the ones that I know. You can live anywhere in the county and apply, interview and take a test. These schools also offer the basic college prep for the rest of the community. There is a tech center high school somewhere in the county for the kids who probably know they won't go to college. There is also a Governors School which is for the gifted. You can take the test to get in. It serves all of Richmond area and is very selective taking so many from each county to fill the few seats. There may or may not be bussing for this.This school is located downtown. If any of your children are gifted, there is a school based gifted and a center based gifted for elementary and middle school ages. There is bussing for this closer to home. Salisbury and it's surrounding communities are very nice. There is no community pool in this neighborhood. This for the most part a neighborhood that was built in the 70's and 80's. The homes are mostly colonials and are very nice. The people are from all over and are pretty friendly. Ilive in the area so I can recommend it.
any more questions??

Thanks for the great info. I finally figured out exactly where Midlotian and Salsibury are today. Im thinking they are probably too far out from where my husband works, but will still check it out. Thank you so much for the school info. I appreciate your time and will let you know if I have anymore questions.

Your welcome. Your husband can get anywhere in Richmond in a few minutes. There is a new highway 288 that runs from the bottom of chesterfield county around the western part to the top and you cross the bridge and you are on the west end of town! If you live in Midlothian and he works the southern end that is really not that far.Good luck in your search and please post back as to where you pick!! I am dying to know!

We're now seriously considering living in the city. The thought of being marooned in the suburbs scares me to death. Most of the houses we're considering are in the Munford school area, which people now seem to think is good, after telling us that all of the Richmond city schools are horrific. Any thoughts? And even if there aren't any good city public schools, the private schools in Richmond don't seem to be that expensive.

Hi Ann and welcome to Richmond also! The Mary Mumford Elementary has a decent reputation, but I understand most than send their kids to private middle/high school. You are looking in the Windsor farms area near Carytown? The homes are older and very charming there. My daughter had her 6th grade cotillion in that neighborhood at the Tuckahoe Womans Club. Most of the people that locate there are from the Richmond area. Carytown is a cute area with some neat restaurants. Private schools are priced at all levels. Nearby is St. Catherine's an all girls private school. This is not a cheap one. There is also St. Christophers for boys. Collegiate has a great reputation. There is St. Bridget's catholic school till 8th grade.(That would be a cheaper private school). There are a bunch of private schools some are cheaper than others.Many are located near the area you are looking to move into. It is hard to jump in from the public schools at the 6th grade level. They only have a few slots for kids. You may want to jump in earlier. Like I said before, many of the people that live there are native Richmonders. They are not fond of outsiders especially new yorkers. There I said it! I have been struggling as to how to say it, but I think it is best to be blunt. There is a superficial friendliness that they will show you because southerners are always gracious, BUT they will most likely not be your friends. (This is just my observed opinion)Most out of towners move to the far west end or to the south side (midlothian). These are the places where everyone is from someplace else!

We to have just moved to the Richmond area as well and are building a house in Chesdin Landing (one of the developments you mention). This place is very nice and the people could not be nicer. My wife and I have not run into any false "niceness" that we know of but as they stated Chesdin is on the southside. St.Edwards is a great scholl and Bendectine (from my research) looks excellent.

We to have just moved to the Richmond area and are in the process of building a house in Chesdin Landing (one of the developments you mention). This place is very nicefor the money and the people could not be nicer. My wife and I have not run into any false "niceness" that we know of but as they stated Chesdin is on the southside. St.Edwards is a great scholl and Bendectine (from my research) looks excellent.

Thanks for the comments! It is so great to hear of all these "transferites" who are finding all the changes in their lives positive. This website has given me so much info (even though it's suppose to be for travel). My family has been through moves to other cities before, but we never had the chance to hear from people like this. Computers are a wonderful thing!

Thanks, girlonthego. The whole cotillion thing is freaking me out a bit. Do they hate people from Washington, DC, too?? Not just New Yorkers? :).

No Ann they do not hate Washington DC-ites! Nor do they hate Yankees, but there is a definite North/South thing with the true Richmonders. My daughter wasn't crazy about cotillion, but it is actually a very nice thing. I did this growing up in NJ on a much smaller scale! It is just ballroom dancing with some manners thrown in for good measure. The difference between doing it in NJ and here is the size of the group. My sixth grader had about 200 kids in her cotillion group. It is just assumed that they all do it in sixth grade. Most parents sign up the kids and thats that. My daughter loved going out afterwards for french fries and ice cream with all the girls. That being said, you will like Richmond. It is a small town and you can still get a nice house for your money. I would recommend the west end or southside for the best public schools. (I am partial to southside because that is where we are located!) If you don't mind paying for private, I think Collegiate has an excellent reputation and it goes till 12th grade. I believe they seperate the boys and girls in middle school too. (A good idea if you ask me!)
Have fun looking around and if you have any more questions, please post!

I moved down from the D.C. area 22 years ago, a job opportunity that I accepted reluctantly since I loved my hometown so.
To anyone: Do make the move - it's a great place to be. Great history (more often revolutionary than civil war), great restaurants, 2 hours to beach, mountains, or d.c. My husband likes to tell people it's D.C. of 25 or 30 years ago. So much to do, terrific seasons, far fewer hassles and lovely house values compared to bigger cities. WE live within the city limits altho south of the river, and we can be anywhere within about 22 minutes. Wonderful! My (small) firm hired 2 fellows 2 years ago, one couple from Minneapolis & Boston, one from Maryland. Both sets (one with children, one without) love it here, and have never felt "avoided" by old line Richmonders. If you look at the growth patterns of Chesterfield & Henrico and other counties, count up the number of large firms, you start to realize just how much the "from elsewhere" population is growing! I would say anyone'd only feel excluded if they tried to join one particular country club, or possibly by neighbors in just a few small neighborhoods.

I'd give a plug: don't avoid at least looking at homes in the various areas of the city, versus the counties. We love it here on several acres within Richmond, although we do use private school for our daughter (Collegiate has been a happy choice for us, but the possibilities for private schools are decently large and growing.) Also, while in Richmond the private school prices seem high, it's like housing: homes and private schools are so much higher elsewhere, transplants can feel they're getting a real break. Our daughter did Cotillion 6th grade thru 8th - dont' be put off by the name, it's just a great socializing kind of thing, a little bit of dancing, then off to a restaurant with (same sex) friends. it's been going on for decades, so just a lovely soft tradition.

I would say that I would personally go berserk living out as far as Woodlake (even Brandermill) and both have huge traffic issues. And Wyndham (please don't take offense) is just too cookie cutter, small yard, garage doors facing front to make me happy. Okay, that's offensive....but too true to erase. I think housing prices in the city are a bit penalized by the lack of good public schools all the way through, so if you can consider private schools, from our experience you save money on the house and really gain in proximity to all the wonderful spots in the center of town, while getting that "neighbors from everywhere" benefit.

my message would be: use a realtor who's willing to take the time to really explore multiple areas of this wonderfully historic city. (can you ask a realtor to tell you the percentage of homes they or their partners have sold in different areas???)

I moved from ND to the Norfolk area about 4 years ago. You will love the weather. But be warned, two snowflakes will shut down most of the city. It is actually pretty amusing. Good luck with your move.

Thanks to the previous posters! I keep checking to see if any new info has been posted. This whole relocation thing is taking so long. I am looking forward to bringing my kids out in a couple of weeks, and will definetly be putting all of your advice to use. Thanks again!

Jo Ann-thanks for all of the great info. We're really leaning toward living in the city, so your comments made me feel much better about that. If only all of the city houses had garages...