Anonymous wrote:Philly has CHOP.

Yeah, Philly has some of the best health care facilities in the country.

Philly has CHOP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are actually some nice, more suburban-like neighborhoods in the city of Richmond itself. My sister lives in Westover Hills right across the river from downtown / Carytown. They can easily walk/bike to tons of stuff, but their neighborhood is mostly SFHs (it actually has a similar to feel to some upper NW neighborhoods).

But the public schools are terrible.

I’m a Richmond Public School parent of an 8th grader and step kids who are post college but also went to RPS. I’m also a major advocate for the schools (I speak at every school board meeting and I’m on other advisory boards/councils). If you want to go by only Great Schools ratings that’s fine - the schools are terrible. If you aren’t scared of sending your kids to school with *black kids* then I’d be happy to tell you about schools that have intimate and incredibly supportive environments.

Oh pleeeze.

Just moved to RVA from DC a year ago. In doing so, we went from the city to suburbs. We have been so happy here. We’re in the 23233 area. Houses aren’t too bad expense wise. Schools are excellent. Pool plus an amazingly maintained park with walking trails nearby. A great community vibe all around. It never takes more than 15 to get downtown to museums or the amazingly kid friendly botanical garden. We love doing hikes along the James, taking trips to the mountains and beach. This city is awesome. I’ve been blown away with all the vegan restaurant and local coffee shop options. It’s a city that makes you want to explore and be curious. Great resources: RVA Reddit thread, there are a few Richmond mom websites with excellent ideas for things to do, check out Instagrams for Richmond moms too.

I'm in Short Pump (RVA suburb). RVA area has around 1.1 million people, the schools are great. We have 2 kids with SN and I was able to get excellent care under the BCBS insurance, including specialists and behavioral therapists. The Children's Hospital has almost no waiting lists. The city is gorgeous and super easy to get to from Henrico. It's solidly blue. On the negative side, it's suburbia and the houses are cookie cutter and HOAs abund. There is no housing stock and the prices have gone insane. Taxes are low. If you want to live in a neighborhood with great schools and a pool, be prepared to pay close to a million.

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in Philly suburbs and would move back in a hot minute. Main line public schools are excellent. Districts are small. Try Aardmore near Suburban Square. I believe it’s zoned for Lower Merion, which is an excellent school district. There are other walkable areas in Narberth and Radnor. Septa stations nearby to get you into town.

Lawyer Merion.
Philly suburbs every time, OP. The best. Would move in a minute. Good luck.

I just moved to the Main Line a year ago. I also used to live in Bethesda, so I'm venturing to weigh in here. If you opt for the Philly suburbs, you'll probably want to check out the Mainline (Bala Cynwyd, Narberth, Ardmore, Haverford--unless you want to go much farther out: Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Villanova). I also really, really loved Swarthmore. The whole community is walkable with a great pool, cute grocery store, great schools. Media is also great but it's harder to get a house near the very-cute and walkable downtown. I'll check back here tomorrow in case you have more questions. I would be very careful to check out your commute, but traffic in Philly, especially on 76, is awful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are actually some nice, more suburban-like neighborhoods in the city of Richmond itself. My sister lives in Westover Hills right across the river from downtown / Carytown. They can easily walk/bike to tons of stuff, but their neighborhood is mostly SFHs (it actually has a similar to feel to some upper NW neighborhoods).

But the public schools are terrible.

I’m a Richmond Public School parent of an 8th grader and step kids who are post college but also went to RPS. I’m also a major advocate for the schools (I speak at every school board meeting and I’m on other advisory boards/councils). If you want to go by only Great Schools ratings that’s fine - the schools are terrible. If you aren’t scared of sending your kids to school with *black kids* then I’d be happy to tell you about schools that have intimate and incredibly supportive environments.

OK. What are options for RPS that you would recommend for OP?

If you sent your kids to Maggie Walker, Richmond Community, Open, or Franklin Military Academy, it is an entirely different thing than the general enrollment high schools (Jefferson, Marshall, Wythe, Armstrong, and Huguenot.)

Unless you’re quite well off to the point where this doesn’t matter, Pa state university options (the good ones at least) are almost $40,000/year.

Good friends of ours moved from the DMV to the Main Line area because of the elementary public school supports for their special needs child and have been very happy with their decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are actually some nice, more suburban-like neighborhoods in the city of Richmond itself. My sister lives in Westover Hills right across the river from downtown / Carytown. They can easily walk/bike to tons of stuff, but their neighborhood is mostly SFHs (it actually has a similar to feel to some upper NW neighborhoods).

But the public schools are terrible.

I’m a Richmond Public School parent of an 8th grader and step kids who are post college but also went to RPS. I’m also a major advocate for the schools (I speak at every school board meeting and I’m on other advisory boards/councils). If you want to go by only Great Schools ratings that’s fine - the schools are terrible. If you aren’t scared of sending your kids to school with *black kids* then I’d be happy to tell you about schools that have intimate and incredibly supportive environments.

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is barely a city, Philadelphia is twice the size of dc. If you like sleepy and bang for the buck, Richmond. If you value a bigger city and quick access to international airport, Philly. It’s hard to beat the Main Line.

it's funny bc while Richmond is small, it is probably one of the few Southern cities that still maintains that pre-20th Century core (to me it always seemed like B'more or Philly's little cousin in terms of city design/layout). It feels much more like a city than much larger cities like Charlotte or Raleigh IMO.

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in Philly suburbs and would move back in a hot minute. Main line public schools are excellent. Districts are small. Try Aardmore near Suburban Square. I believe it’s zoned for Lower Merion, which is an excellent school district. There are other walkable areas in Narberth and Radnor. Septa stations nearby to get you into town.

Yes by excellent you mean rich and zero diversity. Meanwhile Chester, Coatesville and Philly public schools languish.

-Main line native

Grew up in Philly suburbs and would move back in a hot minute. Main line public schools are excellent. Districts are small. Try Aardmore near Suburban Square. I believe it’s zoned for Lower Merion, which is an excellent school district. There are other walkable areas in Narberth and Radnor. Septa stations nearby to get you into town.

Richmond is barely a city, Philadelphia is twice the size of dc. If you like sleepy and bang for the buck, Richmond. If you value a bigger city and quick access to international airport, Philly. It’s hard to beat the Main Line.