Help!!...Need info on Richmond, VA area ... may be reelocating !!

[DVCindy]

Hi -

Anyone in the Richmond, VA area ? We may be relocating there from NJ and I know absolutely nothing about the area!!! I am anxious for you to share any info about the area with me that you can - we have 2 school aged children - 6 and 9 .

What areas should we look at for a home... how are the schools ... taxes ...commute to downtown Richmond, etc. Help!!!

Any and all info greatly appreciated - thanks in advance !!!

Cindy

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Lived here most of my 31 years! I can help!

Schools: you want to stay away from Richmond City schools. There are some really great places to live in the city BUT you would want your children to go to private schools.

The west end of Henrico county has good schools. As does Chesterfield county.

Where to live depends on many things. What size home are you looking for? Are you looking for a newer neighborhood or a more established neighborhood? What price range are you looking at as well?

Communting to downtown shouldn't be more than 30 minutes from most places. Coming from the southside (also Chesterfield county) you would have to pay tolls to get downtown.

Let me see if I can find you some websites that can be more helpful.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Visitors guide
http://www.richmondva.org/

http://www.relocatetorichmond.com/

Chesterfield County info
http://www.co.chesterfield.va.us/

Richmond info
http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/index.asp

Henrico County
http://www.co.henrico.va.us/

 

[annemariec]

Here are a few more websites:

http://www.vipnet.org/cmsportal/

http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/index.asp

http://www.hanover.k12.va.us/

http://www.homesinrichmond.com/?source=overture

I agree with Pooh Girl 71. I would add that Hanover county is known for good schools as well.

Annemarie

 

[BWVDenise]

I know there is a DVC family who moved from NJ to Richmond (we ran into them in Hilton Head in June). Hopefully they will see your post!

 

[DVCindy]

Thank you all so much - I will check out the websites right now. We are overwhelmed, to say the least, as we did not expect this. Any info will be greatly appreciated!!!!

Cindy

 

[DVCindy]

Pooh Girl 71 and annmariec -

I looked through all the websites and have bookmarked them all -lots and lots of good info there for us to weed through - thanks so much again !

Would any particular area or areas come to mind if we were looking for a new or fairly new home, 4/5 bedrooms, in the $350's range in a community within the areas mentioned that have good schools ? There seems to be lots and lots of new construction in the area - are there any particular builders that have a good reputation (or those to be avoided) ?

Another school question - my dd's are currently attending a Catholic school. If we chose that route again, would you happen to know anything about any of them in the area?

Hope I'm not burdening you with all these questions !!
If you can help at all, I'd be most grateful !!

BWVDenise - I think I'll post on the DVC board and see if I can find them - thanks for the tip !

Cindy

 

[annemariec]

Hi DVC Cindy,

I'm glad the websites were helpful.

The Hanover and the Short Pump area has a lot of new growth and new home construction in your price range. They are hot markets. Short Pump is getting a new high-end mall (Saks, Bloomingdales, and others...) that should be opening by summer I think. There is also another high-end mall under construction in the West End. (I think that will be ready about the same time.)

There are really many areas to choose from. It's pretty subjective as to what you like and the feel you are looking for...Southside has Brandermill --- it was considered a high end community (and another community I can't think of the name of it....) --- but they had "issues" with shrink swell soil. I'm not sure how much of the community was effected, but I remember reading a number of people were trying to sell. (This was a few years back...) I don't know how that was resolved. You may want to steer clear of that area.

I don't know about builder's in the area, but there may be a website that details recognition & complaints in the area. (They have those kinds of sites for everything else!) If I have time later, I'll look into it.

Catholic school, check out this site:

http://www.st.catherines.org/index.asp

St. Catherines has a great reputation.

Hope you find this helpful.
Annemarie

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Cindy

DW MeanLaureen and I live in Richmond - Chesterfield County.
I've lived in both Henrico and Chesterfield and personally I prefer Chesterfield.

There is a really really nice subdivision that is almost finished near us with houses that look like they will be in that price range. Practically across the street from them is St. Edwards Catholic school.

$350K in Richmond will buy you quite a nice house. There are many other subdivisions along the James River area in Chesterfield in that price range. Most of that area is located in area 64 on the real estate maps.

I haven't heard anything bad about any builders. The only thing I can recommend to you is to stay away from the Brandermill area. It was once named the best community in the country but was later found to have been built on shrink swell soil so the property values there plummeted.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

LOL AnneMarie - looks like we were both posting about Brandermill at the same time!

 

[annemariec]

That is funny, Obi!

Brandermill. What a nightmare for the people that lived there! I felt so sorry for them. They had problems with cracks in their foundations and their chimneys seperating from their houses and found out that the developers knew they were building on shrink swell soil! Am I remembering that right? It seems so long ago. The developers knew about a lot of things and pressed forward. Lawsuits and accusations. I do remember that! Then the community board threatened to sell the pools, but I think there was a group of residents that bought them out. What a mess.

Anyway, $350K will buy a very nice house in Richmond.

I didn't even think of the James River area! Lovely homes. Glad you told her about that.

Annemarie

 

[DVCindy]

Many, many thanks to you for your posts !!!

Obi-Wan Pinobi - Do you happen to know the name of that subdivision that is close to you and St. Edwards ?

I appreciate your help !! Cindy

 

[Dream]

Looks like you have some great advice here! If you would like the name of a a great real estate agent I can pm you her name and number...her husband is also a contractor and could fill you in on builders! They are great people that you can trust!
Neighborhoods around St. Edward's in the price range you are looking at (very nice homes in that range in Richmond!) are Salisbury, James River West, Roxshire to name a few. The public schools that service these neighborhoods are top notch...unless you really want Catholic schools, you might want to check out Bettie Weaver Elementary, Midlothian Middle and James River High School...academically better than any Catholic school in Richmond. I went thru Richmond Catholic schools 1st thru High School so if you have specific questions please pm me! This is a great area!! Good luck!

 

[honeywolf7]

I was going to mention Hanover/Short Pump as well. As far as Catholic schools, you might want to look at St. Bridget's and St. Edward's. There are also two Catholic High Schools in the area (Benedictine which is a Catholic military school for boys and St. Gertrude which is an all girls school and my alma mater.) If you have any more questions about Catholic schools, I feel pretty confident in answering those so you can feel free to PM me. Dream, which Catholic schools did you go to??

 

[Dream]

Honeywolf....Sacred heart elementary and we share a high school alma mater!!! Go Gerties!!! What year did you graduate?

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I called Lauri at work and asked her if she remembered the name of the new subdivision. She didn't but she'll look on her way home (she passes there every day).

I agree with Dream -- Salisbury, James River West, pretty much anything out route 711/Robious Road is good. Good schools, quiet area, although they are doing road work widening Robious to be a major artery feeding into the Route 288 extension. Also, it's a short drive to the Chesterfield Towne Center mall shopping area and not much farther to the new Stony Point mall that's being built (with a Sax Fifth Avenue).

AnneMarie, I think the Brandermill problem was around the time I first moved here in 1998. There was also a problem with the foundation at the Home Depot off Midlothian Turnpike -- they had to tear the building down and redo it from scratch! -- and that happened after I'd been here about a month.

DVCindy, one word to remember when you move here ... Ukrops!

 

[Dream]

Hee hee...Ukrop's...aint THAT the truth!!!!

 

[honeywolf7]

Dream, I graduated in 1994....What about you? DVCCindy, I'm glad you started this thread....it's cool to find a fellow alumna of my high school since it's a pretty small school.

 

[annemariec]

Oh yes, you are really Richmond if...... Ukrop's is the place!

Annemarie

 

[Dream]

Honeywolf...ahem...juuuust a little bit before you! We were the "Spirit of 76!"