Nice places to live in VA?

[Anonymous]

I second the Richmond area.
The good: The schools are much much better than those in FFX, it's easier to get into UVA/VATech/W&M from here, the schools are not over capacity, there is NO traffic. We are an outdoorsy family and there are tons of places to hike and bike within 30 minutes, including a huge state park. The city is beautiful, both architecturally and because of the river. Lots of great restaurants and year-round farmers markets, even in the suburbs. We have kids with special needs and the medical care here is top notch because of VCU med school. We got appointments with Children's Hospital in 2 weeks, we see really good behavioral psychologists covered by insurance and all our dentists and the kids orthodontist are in network providers with big insurances. The RVA area is big enough (2MM people). Shopping is great.
The bad: the Henrico suburb are exploding in price and a decent house is now around 750K, with over 1MM in the good developments. There are HOAs everywhere and I personally hate them. It's pretty much impossible to buy into Deep Run HS outside an HOA without spending several millions. The houses are cookie cutter but better quality than in the DC area; for example, with 1.5 MM you get all brick, good quality wood windows, real wood floors etc. I love old houses so these are still meh to me.

The city is gorgeous and safe. We couldn't afford a house in the Fan and private school, although private is not that bad; my DC2 did private K and it was $750/month. The city has public magnet schools but they are lottery based. Not only Maggie Walker (like TJ for admission), but also Open High School and Richmond Community.

Housing in RVA:

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Richmond/2217-Monument-Ave-23220/home/55441474

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Richmond/102-Berkshire-Rd-23221/home/55452222

[Anonymous]

$2m for Richmond? trolololol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$2m for Richmond? trolololol

That’s what happens when a good portion of the DC metro area thinks they’ve discovered a gem and a bargain. The more people that move there, the less it feels like the charming city that made it desirable in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Williamsburg is very nice, but on the fringe of your time window. There are also some nice developments between Williamsburg and Richmond, but will need to drive to towns.

Richmond has nice areas as does Charlottesville. I'd also suggest looking at Lexington, Staunton, and Harrisonburg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2m for Richmond? trolololol

That’s what happens when a good portion of the DC metro area thinks they’ve discovered a gem and a bargain. The more people that move there, the less it feels like the charming city that made it desirable in the first place.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-the-most-competitive-housing-market-in-the-country-based-on-bidding-wars-hint-its-not-in-california-or-texas-11639760680

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I second the Richmond area.
The good: The schools are much much better than those in FFX, it's easier to get into UVA/VATech/W&M from here, the schools are not over capacity, there is NO traffic. We are an outdoorsy family and there are tons of places to hike and bike within 30 minutes, including a huge state park. The city is beautiful, both architecturally and because of the river. Lots of great restaurants and year-round farmers markets, even in the suburbs. We have kids with special needs and the medical care here is top notch because of VCU med school. We got appointments with Children's Hospital in 2 weeks, we see really good behavioral psychologists covered by insurance and all our dentists and the kids orthodontist are in network providers with big insurances. The RVA area is big enough (2MM people). Shopping is great.
The bad: the Henrico suburb are exploding in price and a decent house is now around 750K, with over 1MM in the good developments. There are HOAs everywhere and I personally hate them. It's pretty much impossible to buy into Deep Run HS outside an HOA without spending several millions. The houses are cookie cutter but better quality than in the DC area; for example, with 1.5 MM you get all brick, good quality wood windows, real wood floors etc. I love old houses so these are still meh to me.

The city is gorgeous and safe. We couldn't afford a house in the Fan and private school, although private is not that bad; my DC2 did private K and it was $750/month. The city has public magnet schools but they are lottery based. Not only Maggie Walker (like TJ for admission), but also Open High School and Richmond Community.

Housing in RVA:

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Richmond/2217-Monument-Ave-23220/home/55441474

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Richmond/102-Berkshire-Rd-23221/home/55452222

Adding that my H is from THE TOWN OF Chevy Chase (my MIL would correct you, super important ) and he loves Richmond. My MIL too, they have Saks and lots of borderline anorexic boomer ladies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for these suggestions. I would love to live in a college town, but I don't think Harrisonburg is the vibe I'm looking for. I have definitely thought about Charlottesville. Not sure I can get my Hokie husband on board.

Budget-- we currently have a ~2200 sf SFH (not including finished basemement) worth about $600k (I think) in MoCo. Would definitely like 5 BR with 3000+ sf that's either updated or something that we can afford to update.

We would consider homeschooling or private school if we found the right community, so public schools are not a deal breaker.

I see no point in Vienna. The idea is to get way outside the Beltway but be able to come back for meetings as needed. We have family in southern VA that we would like to be able to see more often, but we would not fit in in southern VA.

Agree that Richmond and Cville are great options, but if you haven't been to Harrisonburg in the past couple of years, you might want to give it a second look. It's changed a lot!

[Anonymous]

Vienna, VA. Best town in Northern VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vienna, VA. Best town in Northern VA.

Already suggested; already ridiculed; and already rejected by OP. So just stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d skip the Fredericksburg area. The right wing fringe has seized the school board in Spotsylvania. I’d go with the Henrico suburbs of Richmond. Or maybe even Western Loudoun.

The new school board is trying to stop, completely, the 1619 Project from being taught in schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d skip the Fredericksburg area. The right wing fringe has seized the school board in Spotsylvania. I’d go with the Henrico suburbs of Richmond. Or maybe even Western Loudoun.

The new school board is trying to stop, completely, the 1619 Project from being taught in schools.

Excellent. It’s agit-prop, not history. Maybe you missed NHJ admitting recently that she’s no scholar (so she’d never substitute her judgment for decisions made by educators as to what should be taught in schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2m for Richmond? trolololol

That’s what happens when a good portion of the DC metro area thinks they’ve discovered a gem and a bargain. The more people that move there, the less it feels like the charming city that made it desirable in the first place.

Richmond has always had pockets of expensive homes, mostly clustered around Cary Street Road and University of Richmond. Richmond is home for 6 (7?) Fortune 500 companies and three bigly firms. That combined with the old money set (which is more visible in Richmond than in DC, FWIW). It's a place you have to see for yourself but I've always found it very attractive for a number of reasons. Also, outside a few $1.5MM+ homes, the city is very affordable considering the job opportunities that exist there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2m for Richmond? trolololol

That’s what happens when a good portion of the DC metro area thinks they’ve discovered a gem and a bargain. The more people that move there, the less it feels like the charming city that made it desirable in the first place.

Richmond has always had pockets of expensive homes, mostly clustered around Cary Street Road and University of Richmond. Richmond is home for 6 (7?) Fortune 500 companies and three bigly firms. That combined with the old money set (which is more visible in Richmond than in DC, FWIW). It's a place you have to see for yourself but I've always found it very attractive for a number of reasons. Also, outside a few $1.5MM+ homes, the city is very affordable considering the job opportunities that exist there.

*biglaw not bigly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Houses are very affordable in Chesterfield, outside of Richmond. You can get a 5BR new or almost new home for about $500K. Harpers Mill is a new subdivision, Brandermill is more established. Downside is it’s suburban sprawl and traffic along the one main drag is not great. Midlothian is a bit closer in to the city and very nice. I also like Colonial Heights.

Said no one ever who has any experience with the greater Richmond area. It’s called Colonial Whites, because the KKK literally is still active there.

Chesterfield has pretty good public schools, so does western Henrico. Also Richmond has a much larger variety of size, kind and price points of private schools than the DMV for much lower price. I wouldn’t go south of Midlothian and I would never consider Colonial Heights/Hopewell/Petersburg.

Richmonder and frequent poster here. She’s spot on colonial heights is a huge no. As is Petersburg. Don’t let someone tell you Petersburg is up and coming they’ve been saying that for 30 years. Chesterfield/midlothian feeding in to Midlothian high school or Western Henrico Deep Run/ Glen Allen feeders are where you want to be 100%

[Anonymous]

Moved to Richmond during the pandemic from DC. So glad we chose this city. We bought in Short Pump. So far the schools are amazing, the river, the parks and plethora of outdoor activities nearby. My children are absolutely thriving. West end schools have amazing resources, the teachers are great! I’ll admit though, I can’t keep up with how on top of everything these suburb moms are. I can’t use traffic as my excuse for being late to anything anymore…