Heavens

DH is considering moving there in a year for a career change opportunity. I visited there once about ten years ago, but never considered living there. Can you tell me anything about it? Is it a nice place to live? Where would we want to live? What is avg income, price of home, etc.

Thanks all for your time and knowledge...

Tandoori_Girl

I know so little about the city but have friends there so I've visited a few times. Each time I was surprised by what was there, and how livable this city is. It IS very Southern, this from someone who's lived in the South since I was 10. You will see clothes that only Southerners wear (men in brown/beige saddle oxfords and seersucker suits) and there are restaurants that feature really interesting southern cuisine, at reasonable prices. There is a revival of sorts going on in the downtown where there are some distinctive buildings but it is sparsely renovated. The downtown seems to lack the inner core of people living in it that would give it hustle and bustle, most likely due to growth in the suburbs. What I really liked about the city were the numerous parks throughout that are somehow worked into the city grid, much as the traffic circles are in DC (I believe L'enfant also designed Richmonds layout). There also seems to be a grid of commercial areas throughout the older parts of town, which I'm sure was because Richmond was the very first city in the US to have electric trolley cars. I would assume these little metro areas were the original trolley stops. Alas, the city no longer has the trolleys.

There is a wonderful historic old hotel -- the Jefferson maybe? I would love to retire there and live happily ever after in its Southern decadence, possibly as a reinvented character from a Tennessee Williams play.

greenfieldhunter

Very southern old tobacco city. Few colleges ,lots of things to do I am told by friends who went college there.
Houses are a hell of alot cheaper there than where I live in northern Va.
Unique feature- you can whitewater raft through the center of the city.
I actually got married in a seersucker suit- sharp but very southern

GoTravel

I spent a summer there living with a boyfriend and his Aunt while I was in college.

It was wonderful. She had a big old house on Monument Boulevard. It was so much fun to hang out in the Shockoe Slip. Richmond is beautiful. If it wasn't so far from the ocean, I'd live there again in a skinny minute.

Heavens

I should have mentioned perhaps that we now live and have lived for the last 25 years in So Cal, a few hours east of San Diego. We have the beautiful city of SD, maybe my favorite city in the world, and we are near mountains, lakes, rivers, urban centers, ocean.

I really believe the Richmond area has a lot to offer. We told the kids, two teens, one college bound next year and the other starting high school next year. As you can imagine, they were not supportive.

So any positive aspects of the Richmond area would be very helpful. Thanks again...

E

Richmond is a fine city, and Virginia has some excellent natural resources, but it can't hold a candle to where you live now. Sorry--I just had to say it. Sure, Richmond has a lot to offer--just not as much. Of course, that's just my opinion--you may well love it there, but--and I'm sure you're planning to do this already--you simply must spend some time there ASAP. Good luck!

MikeT

Richmond is not going to compare to Southern California. The nearby Atlantic is not the same, the mountains are not for skiing, and the weather is going to be a lot less attractive.

The advantage, of course, is you will now be in the mid-Atlantic and on the East Coast. You are close to the beaches in N.C., Va., Md., and Delaware. You will be closer to grand cities like Washington, D.C., which makes any S.D. pale in comparison culturally. You will be in the heart of the old and new South. They will learn a lot about the Confederacy.

It was also likely be cheaper to live.

Loki

If you're kids might go to public colleges, just consider the legal/residency ramifications of leaving California and getting into the Virginia system. I know North Carolina has some wacky rules governing geographic admission quotas to UNC not sure how UVA is if that's even a consideration. Overall, it's gonna be a tough sell to the kids.

SharonNRayMc

Loki makes a very good point. I have a brother-in-law who attended UVA. Even though he had moved to Charlottesville, bought a house and lived there for several years he was still not given Virginia resident tuition rates - during his entire Masters/PHD program! That's many, many years of out of state tuition!

I will say that the Richmond airport is easy to get in and out of. (That's the extent of my knowledge.)

Definitely consider the implication to college choices and payment and weigh the impact a move will have on your teens.

- Sharon

MikeT

OTOH, Virginia public universities--like the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary--rival the Univ. of California system and far surpass the California State system.

bob_brown

Ukops, a local grocery chain, is a high end first class grocery store. Best one I have found in my travels and visits.

Richmond has some nice residential areas.

GoTravel

I had good friends that went to UVA and can tell you that in state SAT scores had a much lower requirement than out of state SAT scores.

MikeT

"I had good friends that went to UVA and can tell you that in state SAT scores had a much lower requirement than out of state SAT scores."

That's typical of almost any state schoo.

NYJets

The key to qualify in-state at UVA (or other virginia school) is to do it BEFORE you start classes.

http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/status.html

All it takes is 1-year residency. Otherwise you're pretty much stuck with out of state status.

BTW, my future in-laws moved to VA and for a long time commuted to Boston just to take advantage of UVA and William & Mary.

E

I thought Wm and Mary was a private college--no?

MikeT

The College of William & Mary is public.

GoTravel

William & Mary is probably one of the best public colleges in the nation.

People often think W&M is private and Duke is public because of the size of the school.

Heavens

Thanks all. You have given us much to think about. We live in a very small town in the desert, about 30,000 people, AG town, so I am sure Richmond will have more than our small town does. We don't have much here, but will be getting a Walmart, uh, a Super Walmart, so I guess we rate on someone's list.

Thanks again for your help. The college teen will probably stay in CA and go to Santa Barbara. That is the plan, and will visit us on big holidays. None of this is for certain, but my H felt it necessary to include the kids on the decision, which is probably wise.

I personally think I would love the culteral and historical significance of the area. Everything in CA is so NEW, except for the missions...

Heavens

any other info about the area???

Help.

greenfieldhunter

Read Even Cowgirls Get The Blues by Tom Robbins- has an interesting take on southern living but the storyline is not southern -
Whenever I travel west I notice the lack of history by the lack of old architecture. A building does not start getting called old around here until at least 100 years have passed. Even then a 100 year old house is not considered that old!!
Richmond is an easy day trip to DC as well as Williamsburg.
Check out the South Carolina board for a thread on living in the south. I just read it and found it quite amusing.