Well, we are officially moving to Richmond on February 4! We've decided to take it easy in our home search, and live in an apartment until the end of the school year. We'll be enrolling our daughter at Clover Hill Elementary. We can't wait to start our new life!

Saholy, Welcome and I hope like living here.
You are probably doing the right thing. We lucked out by moving into a great area with great schools. Good luck in your search!

saholy--good luck with your move. Hope you love Richmond like I do. It's a great place to raise a family.

Don't miss out on all the city has to offer. My husband and I realized the other day we hadn't been to a new restaurant in 5 months! So we hit Ribs, Rolls and Cheesecake on Broad Street near downtown. It was fabulous. Not the most beautiful place, but the food was fantastic.

There's also Carytown to explore, the Fan, the Museum District--the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is excellent (and stroller friendly), and I already mentioned the Children's Museum on Broad Street in an earlier post. Marymount Park is a great place to hang out with kids--lots of grounds to walk or play on, a Children's Farm, and a nature center.

I think I drove by Clover Hill Elementary today on my way to my daughter's preschool, so you're only about 20 minutes from the city.

What a great thread! I'm thinking of moving to Richmond, too, but my situation is different -- no kids, for one thing, which simplifies things. I'd be working at VCU (near Monroe Park) and would like to rent someplace for a year or so to get the lay of the land. Any ideas for affordable apartments or houses not far from that campus? The Fan looks nice -- I love to walk, enjoy nice little diners, shops, etc. -- but I wonder if it might be too noisy, or dicey at night. And by the way, how easy is it to get high-speed Internet access in Richmond? Many thanks for any help.

Cuttle

Hi Cuttle,
I am not single and so I do not know what areas are good and safe for singles. I do know the Fan is popular and has some cute restaurants. I can say they have had problems with cars being broken into. I am not sure about the safety of living alone there.

Yes we do have high speed internet access and most areas are served by Comcast. At least Chesterfield county is. I am sure the rest of the area is also. I believe DSL through Verizon is another option available in the area.

Hopefully, by me topping this thread, you will get more responses regarding the VCU area and the Fan.

Cuttle--We have broadband through the cable company, and we're about to go wireless with them. Verizon also has DSL, as I think someone else said.

Can't really help you with the Fan. With a relatively new baby, we haven't really spent much time there at night. Sorry.

But a friend rented a small house down the street from us (his house would be roughly 1.5 miles west of Carytown), 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, big yard, for $850 a month. I would assume that the Fan's more expensive.

What a great post for anyone moving to the Richmond area. It certainly has put my mind at ease. We are contemplating a move from Massachusetts to the Richmond area (husband’s job), but are wary because we enjoy Massachusetts so much. I’ve read through all the posts and it sounds like the Midlothian school district would be our top choice since we have children in elementary school. I’d like to get more information on the different neighborhoods in the Midlothian school district (Weaver elem., Midlothian middle and high). I know eventually a realtor would be answering our questions, but I’d like to get input from people who aren’t getting a commission
Our ideal neighborhood would be: “dog-loving, outdoor-enthusiast (cycling, tennis, walking, hiking), older homes with character, lots of trees, good community feel, good age mix of neighbors (grandma/grandpa types mixed in with families and young singles). A neighborhood where you don’t frequently rely on a car to get places would be great, but that may not be possible. The community or neighborhood is more important to us than the physical structure of a house. We have lived all over the US prior to having school-age children, and that makes this move a much more difficult decision. Our children are also fairly shy, so I’m very nervous about pulling them out of their comfort zone. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Kathysa:
Welcome to Richmond. I think you would be very happy moving to Salisbury. It is a large development in the school district you want.(Weaver Midlo, Midlo). It has mostly older homes and some new ones. It has a vast majority of ages. It has a country club if you are interested. It has trees and some rolling hills. Most lots are about an acre in size. Prices vary starting in the 300's to a million. You can't walk to stores although they are building a small shopping area in the middle. This is a very family friendly area. If you need a realtor, my best friend is one So, I will pass her name along if you want it. We moved here from NJ about 8 years ago. My oldest started Kindergarten and my youngest was in preschool. We have really liked it here. You won't get that much snow here. More ice. But when we get snow, be prepared for total shutdown! It is funny. A couple of inches closes all the schools. IT is fun for the kids though and everything generally melts quickly. Summers are humid. That was a big adjustment for me. It gets hot. Fall is the best season here because it lasts the longest. We have fall till Christmas and then it gets cold. Spring is pretty and there are many garden clubs if you like that. This area is steeped in history. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks. I've been checking out homes on realtor.com to get an idea of what's around, so I'll look at the Salisbury area. I'd be glad to have your friend's name since at some point, if we decide to proceed, we'll need a good realtor. I am nervous about moving the kids. Thanks for the advice and help.

Her name is Linda Moody and she is with Napier Realtors. Her number is office:804-794-4531 or cell 804 937-5558.
If you are looking in realtor.com look for zip code 23113. You can subscribe to Homes and Land. In the magzine, look for area 64. Good luck and feel free to ask questions.

Thanks for the info. Is Homes and Land a local magazine? I was thinking of ordering a local paper for a few weeks to get a feel for the area. I think the paper I saw online is the Richmond Times, but am not sure.

Hi Kathy,
First Linda's email is [email protected], she also has a website www.lindmoodyhomes.com
If you want, you can post your email and I can give it to her or you can email her and give her your info and she can send you stuff on the area.
Richmond Times is a local paper. Homes and Land is something I think you can order for areas all over the country. If you contact Linda and give her your price range and school district, she can send you all that's for sale so you can get an idea what's out there. Richmond is a small city with a lot of history, but it is small. You can't compare it with Boston. It is not even close. The suburb of Midlothian is very nice. It is still a small town area but growing rapidly. The schools are big and overcrowded, but the area just took out a huge bond to build new schools. My kids went to Bettie Weaver school. It is big, but it never felt that way. They both did very well there and liked school. It is a high achieving public school and ranked in the top 5 in the state when we were there.
Good luck!

Thanks for all the information. I've written everything down, but it may be another 2 months before we make a decision. We definitely like the small-town feel, but like the proximity to a larger city (DC). Midlothian sounds very much like the town we're in, and again, it's the schools I'm most nervous about. You've put my mind at ease. I also found the homes and land website, which is helpful.
Thanks.

We bought our house! Yeah! After looking for a few months, I started getting worried that I wouldn't find the house/neighborhood of my dreams. We looked on the West End, but I didn't like the fact that most new neighborhoods don't have trees. I think that if you want to live in Richmond, you have to have trees. They are beautiful, and now that it is spring, they are blossoming and it is gorgeous. Finally, we went to Riverton, which is in the Bettie Weaver Elementary School district (in Salisbury), and fell in love with it. The area is gorgeous, there is a great park at walking distance, it is extremely family oriented, and there are beautiful trees! Thank you girlonthego for all your insightful messages, you are the one who pushed me to look in that area. Kathysa, I also recently moved from San Diego with my family (I have 2 young daughters), and the move went really well. The children have the capacity to adapt pretty quickly to their new environment. My neighbor was telling me that Richmond is a wonderful city to raise children, and I definitely agree. Good luck with everything.

Hey Riverton is great!! We went to Bettie Weaver and I am sure your kids love it! It is a big school, but it never felt that way.
Congrats! and welcome to the area!

saholy, welcome to Richmond, as I'm moving away! It is a great place for kids.

Although I've lived here for almost a year, I haven't heard of Riverton. Maybe it's near here, as we actually have far too many trees in our neighborhood (too many pine needles and falling branches during storms).

We are moving to the West End/Short Pump area in mid-July. I'd really appreciate any preschool recommendations that anyone has. Thanks so much!

Dear gprice,

All Saints Episcopal Preschool is a very nice one. It's located on River Rd/Parham Rd. Google them for more info.


Dear Kathysa,

Just to let you know, at least in my opinion, you will not find a "good community feel" in Chesterfield County neighborhoods. Having lived here for a year now, this area is more of a bedroom community. Big houses, trees, yes. But people actually walking around and doing something as a community, it'd be very hard to find. People seem here to be working long hours and not having time for anything else. Or if they do they must be watching tv or spending time at the mall, or I don't know what, but the neighborhood community feeling does not really exist.

I've been told that the West End is a little better. Somehow, when you talk to a West Ender about the South Side (Chesterfield), they will just nod and say "Well, you know how it is..."

generic:
Did you buy a house yet? Some communities are keep to themselves type of areas. You must join something to get to know people. Especially with high school age kids. I am sorry you feel the area unfriendly. I guess it depends where you land. My neighborhood is keep to themselves. It is quiet and has been since we moved in. But, when we moved here our kids were preschool and kindergarten. I met lots of moms that way. My friends are scattered around in nearby neighborhoods and we don't live in the same subdivisions.The schools are large and so your kids friends will live some miles away. I have found that now that we are in middle school. I have always found that the near west end is for the Richmonders. Not as true today as when we moved in. The far west end is just like Chesterfield only busier. There are more stores and neighborhoods have less land per home.
I hope you find your community feel.

Dear girlonthego,

Your experience seems similar to mine. Kathysa mentioned "the community feel" as something that was important to her in making her location decision. All I wanted was to share with her that this is going to be hard to find around here. We moved here from MN and there is something different about how people interact here and there. I talked to a fellow from Alabama not long ago and he said that this was not "a Southern thing." According to him, the down South is very open and friendly. It is only the upper South (VA, NC, especially Northern VA) that is like that. I guess in MN the harsh winters unite. Once you've been through a few April blizzards, you are a Minnesotan. Here, to become a Virginian, you have to grow up here. Just sharing some thoughts...