Can anyone tell me anything about the Hampton Gardens neighborhood in the city? Greenway Lane specifically.

topping for me

Hi, Ann - I hadn't looked at the US site for a while (busy planning for Europe this summer!) so just found your post.
I know I've several times heard really complementary words about Greenway, but I want to pull my Richmond map book to find it precisely. I'll come back on soon if it's in my car, this evening if it's at home, but I think it must be in a really desirable area (a realtor I knew marginally used to live on it - a vote in it's favor). "desirable" = lovely old close in neighborhood, if memory is serving.
I remain a huge fan of living in the city, and will certainly check this.
(If you want - e-mail me directly at [email protected] so we don't wear out the group.)
Jo Ann

Check out St. Mary's-- I loved it. 9 years!
I attended Collegiate for high school; I'm still thankful that my parents jumped through so many hoops for me to go there. Financial aid is available.
I'm not sure how I could have been better prepared for college and life in general.
I grew up in Goochland county but I have to say that I would consider the Grove Avenue area down towards Carytown. I just always was jealous of all my friends who lived down there. The houses have such character!

Hi, hope you don't mind me jumping in here as well. Has anyone relocated to Richmond from the Dallas area? My husband and I are considering it. He has an offer for a transfer that we've been mulling over.

My biggest concern has been the public school ratings. My children are in a wonderful elementary school now (exemplary according to Texas state rankings, for those familiar).

We live in a newer suburb now which has its advantages but I'm really looking forward to owning an older home with hardwood floors and lots of character. My husband and I are both originally from Pennsylvania but have lived in Texas for 8 years. We want to get back east to be closer to our families but not as far north to avoid the harsh winters.

Also, I plan to quit my full-time job to completely devote to growing my business when we move, so we will be losing almost half our income initially...good home prices would be nice!

Any recommendations for someone looking for A. Good schools, B. Low crime rate, C. Older homes, and D. Good home prices? I'm not expecting too much, am I? :)

Thanks in advance for your input!

Alison

Avaclaire:
The best public school systems are Chesterfield County and Henrico county schools. I would not consider Richmond public schools at all. The Hanover county schools are still pretty country as is Powhatan schools. These schools are improving however as people are moving farther away from the city. You can go to the county schools website and look up SOL scores which are tests unique to Virginia. These scores rank the schools. Although test scores don't mean everything, they generally point you in the right direction. When we moved here from NJ, I told the realtor that I only wanted to see houses in the Weaver Elementary, Midlothian Middle, and Midlothian High district. There are other districts that are close in scores, I just picked the top at the time. They are still excellent schools, I am sure they rank as one of the highest. Coming from out of town, I wanted good public schools, so that I would always have the choice. My girls have loved their schools (public). The homes in my area range from about 35 years old to brand new. Our home is about 25 years old and we have an acre of land. Our neighbors all have about an acre of land. So, we live in a neighborhood, but we are not all on top of one another. For a truly older charming type home, you would need to look in the near West End. This is in the city limits and therefore, you would be looking at private schools. There is also an area called Bon Air. Check the schools, but I believe that the elementary would be Robious, middle-Robious and High would be James River. These are all excellent schools. James River High is only about 10 years old. This are would have a lot of the old Victorian homes. Just be careful because it borders city limits. Buy in Chesterfield, not Richmond City. If you read all of the previous posts, you will get an idea of what I have to say about my area.
On the issue of private schools, St. Mary's is a catholic school, so I am guessing it is not terribly expensive. Collegiate is expensive, but I have heard an excellent education. The public schools in our area are so good, we are saving our money for college.

Sorry, Bon Air goes to Bon Air elementary. This is a small public elementary that has a good reputation.

Ann41
I moved to richmond 20 years ago from DC. I have never found that people don't like non Richmonders. I have lived in Hanover, Goochland, The Fan and now close-in Henrico. I attended Collegiate and plan to send my kids to private school even though I know the Henrico publics are good. The Mary Munford area is great with lots of kids but it is true that most families in that area go private. There are many choices for private school, not as expensive as the privates in NOVA.

We are another Minnesotans moving to Richmond. West End, University of Richmond area, Carytown all sound really great. "Pedestrian-friendly" is what we looking for. And safe. And family-friendly. If possible... We are researching catholic schools for our kids right now. Any advice on St.Mary, St.Bridgit, St.Benedict, St.Edward or Our Lady of Lourdes?
Thanks to all!

Hi generic---
Hope you do move down to Richmond-- you'll still enjoy some snow but it will be truly warm in the spring and summer (hot!).
Like I posted earlier, I went to St. Mary's and loved it. It has really grown since I was there in the nineties--- from what I hear, it has a big waiting list for the kindergarten. The class sizes are small-- when I attended there was only one class per grade. I think now there's probably at least two for each. It's located in the west end. It's relatively conveinent to the areas you've mentioned (carytown, etc) but St. Bridget's is closer. St. Edwards is across the river, on the southside. My best friend went to St. Bridget's and liked it too. (I know that is incredibly vague). It would be worthwhile to take tours of each to really get a feel for the schools.
Unfortunately, there aren't many choices for catholic high schools. All of the schools end in 8th grade and students head to either public school, other private schools, or Benedictine (boys) or St. Gertrude's (girls). At least when I was there, St. Mary's and the other Catholic middle schools had its students visit Benedictine and St. Gertrude's on a specific day for a tour. I wanted to go to a co-ed high school so I didn't attend St. Gertrude's. I think they're fine schools, but I'd be sure to really ask a lot of questions, especially in regards to Benedictine. Thinking of all my friends from St. Mary's that went there, some did not thrive (though some did) within the military school setting. Just something to think about. Here are some websites for three of the schools:
http://www.saintmary.org/
http://www.stbridgets.org/school2.htm
http://www.oll-school.org/

Thanks, Fraggle
we are moving this summer and we will NOT miss the winters here...
St.Mary has a waiting list (a Blue Ribbon school), must be good. I was wondering if there is such a thing as private (catholic) school ranking?
And back to city living - are there families with (young) children (we got few) living in Richmond or are they all hiding in the suburbs?
The one thing I'm starting to be concern about is the "native Richmonder" thing. So, how bad it is to be a newcomer in Richmond? How about an international? A person of colour?...
Thanks.

I wouldn't worry too much about the native richmonder thing. I mentioned it earlier and probably shouldn't have. I find they are not particularly fond of the New York attitude. In the last 8 years I have lived here, more and more people from everywhere have moved in. It seems Richmond is no longer just a small southern town. It has a melting pot of transferees as well.
I went on a home and garden tour in the Windsor farms area last week. It is a very pretty neighborhood in the city limits near Cary street. It is very Richmond. It has sidewalks and is the tree lined street.
Catholic schools...I have friends whose children attend St. Edwards and they like it. I hear St. Bridgets is very good (closer to the areas you are looking at). I have several neighbors whose daughters attend St. Gertrude's girls catholic high school in the city and they have been extremely happy with the school. Another alternative to the catholic school, but still fairly reasonable is St. Micheals Episcopal school. No uniforms, but I believe there is a dress code. It is on the border of Chesterfield Co and Richmond City limits. It wouldn't be too far from where you are looking.
Good luck and welcome from a transferee from NJ.

Thanks,girlonthego
We applied to few of the schools. Most of them are pretty full and have waiting list. Will see...
We'll be coming down south pretty soon to visit all those neighborhoods and get a "Richmond feeling". Any suggestions on places and neighborhoods we can't miss out on, would be very much appriciated.
Thanks.

Richmond, the city is not very large. It has some bad areas mostly to the east and south of the city. The city limits extend to some nice areas. I am not an expert on these neighborhoods, as we are stuck in the suburbs. I rather like that though. All the areas around the University of Richmond, is called the near West End. That is a city/suburb feel. The far West End is the suburbs with the yucky traffic and the tons of shopping. We live in the suburbs, just south of the James river. We live in Chesterfield county for the good public schools. We are a little less crowded, but that is changing rapidly. If you like the city areas, than the area I mentioned above, Windsor Farms was very nice. It is off of River Road and near Carytown. I hope some of the city experts will respond!!

Just a quick report for the others moving here: we've just been here a week, staying in a hotel, house shopping, etc., and so far love it. Traffic is SO much better than the DC area. So much easier to get things done. Found a great house in the city on a beautiful street. Weather is great. So far, so good.

It's very encouraging to hear that you like it there! We'll be going house-hunting down there pretty soon too. Any details or advices would be much appreciated.
How close to the city is to close for a family with kids?
Any neighborhoods/streets you've found specially nice?
Thanks and good luck!

Anne41, I had to smile when you said the weather has been great- you are going to love Richmond because my mom and I were just talking about how cruddy the weather has been. Usually we have much NICER weather than of late! :) If you have some time this weekend and aren't too busy house-shopping, stop by Arts in the Park this weekend at Byrd Park. It is a Richmond tradition and is a lot of fun. Tons of unique artwork and a nice atmosphere. Welcome to Richmond!

Ann! Glad to hear you found a house - was it the one on Greenway? Welcome to Richmond!
Jo Ann

Welcome to Richmond!! I too am glad you have found your home!!!
The best weather by far is our fall season...it lasts till almost Christmas.

Generic--we found that Area 20 (it comes up on the real estate search sites) is a great area. Seems to be a lot of families, lovely leafy streets with yards, nice houses. And you can definitely walk to things. We're about 1/2-mile to the Libbie and Grove area. We have a 2-month old, and we loved the established neighborhood feel of that section of town, while still being in the city and able to stay out of the car whenever possible. Our realtor is Allen Price at Prudential Slater James River. He set us up with an MLS listing for that area that updated daily. You really start to get a good idea of the area and the streets after awhile.

Jo Ann--we did get the Greenway Lane house. We close on Thursday, and I can't wait to get in. I'll e-mail you soon. Things have been crazed.