I have some friends with a young child who just moved there. The DW is from there, though. They were living in Kingman Park in DC and I think got sick of the crime. I've wondered if something happened, because they kind of just up-and-moved suddenly.

But they just bought a house after living with her parents for awhile and seem to love it.

Yes, that is part of our consideration. We need to move our kids from public to private anyway and the privates in Richmond are so much more affordable. We could send both kids for the price of one here.

The slower pace and lower cost of living seems very appealing. But, grass is always greener…

Public schools are terrible in Richmond. Will need to send your kids to private school.

What is the crime really like? Any time we have visited it seems fine but I know the crime rate is generally high. Would RVA suburbs be similar to Bethesda/Potomsc crime rate or higher?

PP - For established neighborhoods with families, I’d look at Bon Air, the West End, and Three Chopt. Forest Hill and Westover Hills might work as well. Bellevue is a cute neighborhood with lots of kids, but the houses tend to be smaller (think Takoma Park) and it’s near some run down areas.

Thank you for this! Would welcome any additional experiences!

We do have children so schools are a consideration although we would very likely go private. We do want an established neighborhood feel with young families. Any neighborhood recs are welcome!

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this chain back up to see if anyone has updated info or experiences on moving from DC to Richmond?

Its something we’re considering due to cost of living and more affordable private school options.

My partner and I moved to Richmond last year from DC.

Overall it's been a good experience. We live in the Fan/Museum District and there's tons to do - seems like there's always a street festival, music festival, or sports event going on. Richmond bats above its weight for culture, partly because of VCU providing a steady stream of artists and musicians. The Symphony is pretty good, and both VCU and U Richmond host classical and jazz concerts, as well as speakers. Physically the older parts of the city (east and west of downtown) are beautiful, with lots of trees and late-19th/early-20th century homes.

That said, I'd only be happy living in the city. The surrounding suburbs are really dull, and very politically conservative. I suppose the schools are better but since we don't have kids we don't have to worry about that.

Compared to DC, traffic is a non-issue. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get from downtown to Short Pump, and maybe 10 minutes to get "across town" from the West End to Church Hill. There's also a new Bus Rapid Transit system along Broad Street that's free and runs every 10 minutes.

Although by the numbers Richmond's crime rate is high (comparable or higher to DC's), the crime is extremely concentrated. Richmond still has the "old" model of public housing, with 5-6 large low income complexes more or less isolated within particular neighborhoods. One could argue that this approach disadvantages the residents economically and socially, but it also means crime is generally isolated to those housing complexes. Unlike DC, it hasn't spread to the wealthier areas of the city.

The main cons are the city government and housing costs. Richmond's city government is even more dysfunctional than DC's. As one example, the Public Works office will simply not answer the phone. Ever. To get something fixed you need to visit City Hall in person to put in a request. There's also rampant corruption, nepotism, etc., and some businesses are fleeing to the surrounding counties. Maybe a new mayor will help but it's not at all certain. Housing has also gotten extremely expensive, mostly due to old farts like me moving from NOVA and DC and buying up the limited supply of desirable downtown properties. Row houses in the Fan that might have gone for $400K pre-pandemic are now at least $1M. As a result the population of some areas is shifting - fewer students and artists; more wealthy retirees. That probably doesn't speak well for the future vibrancy of the city.

Can't speak to schools or where you'd find the best private schools. The Near West End (around Patterson and Libbie) is popular for families and is sort of a classic near-in-suburb. Other people find more affordable options out toward Short Pump.

Bumping this chain back up to see if anyone has updated info or experiences on moving from DC to Richmond?

Its something we’re considering due to cost of living and more affordable private school options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmonder here! The PP who posting several links to houses is totally correct! It’s a great place to live - your housing budget is generous!

Check out some of the voting stats for the areas you want to move to instead of going by some of the PPs who clearly aren’t current as to what is going on in Richmond. For reference I live in the city in The Fan.

There is a ton of stuff to do for kids and adults and we have a great restaurant scene!

Thanks! We are gonna take a day trip to s ope it out. What do you recommend? We have an 8 yr old.

Science museum in the morning it will be empty! Then drive down Arthur Ashe Boulevard to Cary St. Grab lunch in Carytown and walk around going to the local stores. World of Mirth, BCBG, Mongrel, Chop Suey (make sure to spot the bookstore cat Wonton!), ice cream cone at Bevs. Then drive around the Libbie/Grove area to check out some of the houses and the Near West End Neighborhood that I think would be perfect for you.

Do you guys like beer? We have tons of breweries in a neighborhood called Scott’s Addition lots of them have something else to attract people like shuffleboard or something like that. I’m not a beer drinker so I don’t have much to offer there

I would go to Belle Island and walk across the foot bridge and take a short hike and see the James River before dinner. In the summer it is packed around the river and everyone hangs out on the rocks and swims.

Local restaurant for dinner!

Specifically, get the raspberry chocolate chip ice cream at Bevs.

Nothing compares to Proper Pie. Nothing.

https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/proper-pie-co-named-best-pie-place-in-virginia/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks. We are doing private (Catholic) regardless. Planning on living in suburbs.

Dc is pretty dead at night. Lived in the city for 15 years.

Can anyone recommend neighborhoods? Looking to spend less than 800, big lot, walkable would be great

You can probably still do some of Colonies/Foxhall under 800, and you will be close to St. Mary's. But that's Henrico. Walkable in the sense of there are some sidewalks. LOL. Very suburban. Tons of families. Mix in terms of blue/red if that matters....but still leans red. Medium sized lots....maybe .4 acres?

There are lots of parts of west end and far west end of Henrico that would fit that except for "walkable."

To me, that means like you can walk to grocery stores, restaurants, etc....and you aren't really going to find that except if you're near Carytown or the Fan or Church Hill, etc....or maybe over by Libbie, which is near west end...but that doesn't have a TON of stuff to walk to. You didn't say how big you wanted the house to be. If you want a cute little house, you could find that in the near west end or parts of Richmond closer to the fan. But it will hard to find a bigger house on a big lot in that price range.

I am actually kind of shocked how much prices are rising. Our house has gone up like 150,000 in the last year.

Yep, $240K more since 2019 here. We'll probably sell when the high speed train starts operating.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/09/27/amtrak-trains-virginia-richmond/

I didn't know about this train. If visiting, how easily could you get around without a car from this station?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmonder here! The PP who posting several links to houses is totally correct! It’s a great place to live - your housing budget is generous!

Check out some of the voting stats for the areas you want to move to instead of going by some of the PPs who clearly aren’t current as to what is going on in Richmond. For reference I live in the city in The Fan.

There is a ton of stuff to do for kids and adults and we have a great restaurant scene!

Thanks! We are gonna take a day trip to s ope it out. What do you recommend? We have an 8 yr old.

Science museum in the morning it will be empty! Then drive down Arthur Ashe Boulevard to Cary St. Grab lunch in Carytown and walk around going to the local stores. World of Mirth, BCBG, Mongrel, Chop Suey (make sure to spot the bookstore cat Wonton!), ice cream cone at Bevs. Then drive around the Libbie/Grove area to check out some of the houses and the Near West End Neighborhood that I think would be perfect for you.

Do you guys like beer? We have tons of breweries in a neighborhood called Scott’s Addition lots of them have something else to attract people like shuffleboard or something like that. I’m not a beer drinker so I don’t have much to offer there

I would go to Belle Island and walk across the foot bridge and take a short hike and see the James River before dinner. In the summer it is packed around the river and everyone hangs out on the rocks and swims.

Local restaurant for dinner!

Specifically, get the raspberry chocolate chip ice cream at Bevs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We relocated to the RVA suburbs so DC can attend a specialized program in the Henrico County. It is very similar to the NoVA suburbs but with less traffic. 99% of the moms are SAH, blonde, thin, and very soft spoken and there are lots of families from old money, so even the houses in the suburbs are nicely decorated with quality furniture. I grew up in McLean, DH in Bethesda, and the RVA suburbs are the same, very meh. They don't hold a candle to Pacific Palisades, Topanga Canyon, Santa Fe, Telluride etc. and other truly beautiful places.
The city is fabulous, with great architecture, restaurants, and farmers markets. It is very artsy and quirky due to VCU, something that DC doesn't have, and you won't meet a lot of paper pushers. It is also much more outdoorsy than DC and, if you are into that, there are lots of outdoor activities right in the city. Our kids took a ton of outdoor camps. The antique shopping is amazing, as good as the one in Hudson.

You'd move to a city for antique shops?

No, but it's a major plus for me. If you read my original post, we moved here for schools.

If you don’t mind what specialized program? (I think we may be considering the same place and wondering if you like it)

One of these below and yes, my DC is in a good med school program. His friend went to the Tucker center, then Brown and he's starting HLS and my neighbors' kid just got into CalTech from the IT Program at Deep Run. We've been very happy with HCPS, they go above and beyond to meet the advanced kids' needs and they routinely bus middle schoolers to high school for math if they need to, without the parents having to pull teeth. However, my neighbor told me that they are very ill prepared to deal with any learning disabilities, so she sent hers to private for dyslexia.

https://henricoschools.us/specialty-centers/

Caltech? I’ll have high hopes, then. The medical school program is very rigorous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks. We are doing private (Catholic) regardless. Planning on living in suburbs.

Dc is pretty dead at night. Lived in the city for 15 years.

Can anyone recommend neighborhoods? Looking to spend less than 800, big lot, walkable would be great

You can probably still do some of Colonies/Foxhall under 800, and you will be close to St. Mary's. But that's Henrico. Walkable in the sense of there are some sidewalks. LOL. Very suburban. Tons of families. Mix in terms of blue/red if that matters....but still leans red. Medium sized lots....maybe .4 acres?

There are lots of parts of west end and far west end of Henrico that would fit that except for "walkable."

To me, that means like you can walk to grocery stores, restaurants, etc....and you aren't really going to find that except if you're near Carytown or the Fan or Church Hill, etc....or maybe over by Libbie, which is near west end...but that doesn't have a TON of stuff to walk to. You didn't say how big you wanted the house to be. If you want a cute little house, you could find that in the near west end or parts of Richmond closer to the fan. But it will hard to find a bigger house on a big lot in that price range.

I am actually kind of shocked how much prices are rising. Our house has gone up like 150,000 in the last year.

Yep, $240K more since 2019 here. We'll probably sell when the high speed train starts operating.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/09/27/amtrak-trains-virginia-richmond/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We relocated to the RVA suburbs so DC can attend a specialized program in the Henrico County. It is very similar to the NoVA suburbs but with less traffic. 99% of the moms are SAH, blonde, thin, and very soft spoken and there are lots of families from old money, so even the houses in the suburbs are nicely decorated with quality furniture. I grew up in McLean, DH in Bethesda, and the RVA suburbs are the same, very meh. They don't hold a candle to Pacific Palisades, Topanga Canyon, Santa Fe, Telluride etc. and other truly beautiful places.
The city is fabulous, with great architecture, restaurants, and farmers markets. It is very artsy and quirky due to VCU, something that DC doesn't have, and you won't meet a lot of paper pushers. It is also much more outdoorsy than DC and, if you are into that, there are lots of outdoor activities right in the city. Our kids took a ton of outdoor camps. The antique shopping is amazing, as good as the one in Hudson.

You'd move to a city for antique shops?

No, but it's a major plus for me. If you read my original post, we moved here for schools.

If you don’t mind what specialized program? (I think we may be considering the same place and wondering if you like it)

One of these below and yes, my DC is in a good med school program. His friend went to the Tucker center, then Brown and he's starting HLS and my neighbors' kid just got into CalTech from the IT Program at Deep Run. We've been very happy with HCPS, they go above and beyond to meet the advanced kids' needs and they routinely bus middle schoolers to high school for math if they need to, without the parents having to pull teeth. However, my neighbor told me that they are very ill prepared to deal with any learning disabilities, so she sent hers to private for dyslexia.

https://henricoschools.us/specialty-centers/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is underrated. We know several families that have relocated there over the past 5 or so years and I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have a tinge of envy. Most live in the Near West End neighborhood around Libbie Avenue and it’s like some yuppie version of pleasantville. Everyone knows each other, immaculate homes and yards, parents put cones in the streets on the weekends and the kids play basketball with the neighbors etc. Just looks like a fantastic, convenient place to live.

https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/2ca8cd1e

https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/bc39329c

https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/9eecd2a7

https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/9c720ce5

But again, unless you do private you can’t really live there if you have kids and care about education.
I say this as someone FROM Richmond. Totally different than somerset in Bethesda or martins additions which also give that vibe but have some of the best schools in the country.

Privates are far less expensive in RVA. Also, the Munford and Fox districts are fantastic, at least K-5. I also disagree re- “vibe.” Richmond has much more character than the neighborhoods you mentioned, which are suburbs through and through. Those houses pp posted are a 10 minute drive downtown, at most.

Who pulls their kid out of school at 5th? If you think section 5 or others are burbs through and through when they’re a 10 min walk to METRO and Bethesda row and more then you’ve lost it. Enjoy the capital of the confederacy with the good ol boys of Richmond. If you think anyone living at Libby and grove are the same that mix with post college grads in the Dan you’re wrong. Richmond is usually a ghost town. It’s where people that can’t afford the DC metro move- flat out. Enjoy!

People of DCUM, please heed this poster’s words and stop moving to Richmond! It was better before the hordes started coming. Charlottesville, too. You all ruin everything.

Yes! Both places are horrid and should be avoided at all costs.