Looking for a charming older neighborhood with old trees etc. Recommendations? (Richmond: crime, houses)

[Alicia64]

My husband and I just discovered a park off 64 at the 183 exit called Cheswick Park.

The homes surrounding it are older, quaint and wonderful.

Up until now we'd only "met" Short Pump and King's Charter. We're much more interested in older, established neighborhoods. Not so into the newly built homes.

What other neighborhoods in Richmond are similar to the one I'm describing? Safe, of course, but neighborhoods that Grandma once lived in.

We think the homes are usually well built and charming if not up-to-date. We can fix that.

Is there a neighborhood called Lakeside? Is it similar? Are there others?

Thanks!

Alley

[johnny500]

What exactly do you mean by safe? If you've lived in a city before, then just exercise the same common sense and you'll be just fine. For instance, I would not walk around any part of Richmond drunk at 3 am, but I would not walk around any city in America at that time and in that state of being. The Fan, Museum District, Carytown, and Colonial Place are full of 100 year old houses that are absolutely beautiful and have a great city neighborhood feel. You can walk to restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops and boutiques, and feel reasonably safe. On the south side of the river, Forest and Westover Hills seem to be quite old (1920's-1930's), are quite spectacularly beautiful, and tend to be a little cheaper and have larger lots.

[mrstewart]

Windsor Farms is great with very little crime, walkable streets with dogs, bikers, etc...great neighborhood feel!

[Alicia64]

Johnny ~ I couldn't disagree w/ you more. I come from Sacramento and lived there for 25 years.

We had a couple of gorgeous old neighborhoods that charmed the socks off people. The problem is that they shouldered true ghetto neighborhoods. Somehow the new-comers (quite intelligent people) never seemed to realize the problemsw until after they'd bought.

People who'd lived in those "nice" neighborhoods for awhile realized that the nickname for the areas is the "stop and rob" because they'd get robbed regularly during the middle of the day.

Even if everything else looks adorable in a neighborhood, sometimes you have to talk to the locals to get the full truth which is what I'm trying to do.

Crime often didn't take place at these cute, but scary neighborhoods at 3 a.m. It regularly took place during regular hours like 10 a.m. on Saturday. Not too long ago an older homeowner was gardening in his front yard and was robbed and gunned down.

Your opinion sounds like common sense, but I still think getting the full scoop from locals and crime stats is the best plan.

So, no, I don't agree with you.

Alley

[VA Yankee]

You might want to look at West End Manor, Traditional Manor, Wedgewood and alot along 3 chopt west of Paraham Rd. These are all 60's neighborhoods with a good mix of younger/older residents. Usually you can have a clothes lines and chain link fence if you choose. It it feels right during the day go back at night when people are home to get a real feel. Short Pumps amenities are only 10-15 minutes away but you don't have to deal with the traffic & attitude every day. DM me if you want.

[MrClose]

Originally Posted by Alicia64

My husband and I just discovered a park off 64 at the 183 exit called Cheswick Park.

The homes surrounding it are older, quaint and wonderful.

Up until now we'd only "met" Short Pump and King's Charter. We're much more interested in older, established neighborhoods. Not so into the newly built homes.

What other neighborhoods in Richmond are similar to the one I'm describing? Safe, of course, but neighborhoods that Grandma once lived in.

We think the homes are usually well built and charming if not up-to-date. We can fix that.

Is there a neighborhood called Lakeside? Is it similar? Are there others?

Thanks!

Alley

Is this enough of a forest?

Very safe neighborhood too!

[Charlesaf3]

what an ugly house though... its like a clown suit of architectural details. THough if its yours I don't mean to be insulting personally, as an architecture type and someone who loves houses I just really hate the mcmansions. Nothing wrong with real mansions, but too many modern houses look like the ugly stepchild of 15 different housing styles on the outside, lousy proportions, lousy materials (drywall, vinyl... ) and no actual trim on the outside. Developers get rich, and the world gets ugly. (I speak as someone who was a developer for years)

I'm moving from Boston. There are a lot of neighborhoods from the fan west to the University of Richmond that look appealing.

[jhrichmond]

^^^ What he said. Tuckahoe is the area around U of R. It's beautiful.

[Alicia64]

Thanks everyone! Tuckahoe IS beautiful!

Alley