Moving to richmond (Expat) (Mechanicsville, Chester: real estate, apartment, rental)

[rascalli]

Hi,

For work I am moving to Richmond from The Netherlands
I am looking for info on the following

* child friendly neighborhood( boy 11years)
* Good schooling
* dog friendly neighborhood
* good place to rent house
* what is price for gas/water/electro
* any extra cost for owning a car
* any other tis are also welkom

Hope you can all help me settle in. Tx

[cbl1]

rural? more urban? cost?


Maybe Mechanicsville if more rural. Lots of rental options in Midlothian and west end Richmond a little less rural. Would think urban would be less kid friendly. Maybe Chester.

[rascalli]

Don't know where, depends on schooling.
Cost, have seen some nice things between 1500-1750 a month

[cbl1]

Pretty good budget. I would stick to West End Henrico County / Short Pump or Midlothian as those areas have very well respected schools.

[Charlesaf3]

Are you dutch? If so, you will find you prefer living in the Fan/Museum, but only the elementary school is reliably good for schools - the rest requires navigation that will be challenging if you are european. The Fan/Museum has the most Europeans in the city, still, though.

[1lostman]

How big is the dog? Richmond is not very dog-friendly. They don't have "Breed Specific Legislation" but they have a lot of communities that don't allow large dogs. Like cbl1 mentioned, Mechanicsville has a lot of land and more freedom but there is nothing for families in the farmland and the nearest shopping is the eastern half of Richmond, which is a very ugly place to live.

[rascalli]

Dogs are shelties, so not too big.
How about Chesterfield? Is that nice? Good schools and housing ?

[ny_guy]

Originally Posted by rascalli

Dogs are shelties, so not too big.
How about Chesterfield? Is that nice? Good schools and housing ?

Ignore this person. They’re our new troll. Richmond is dog friendly - lots of people around me (fan/museum district/near west end) put water bowls out on their front lawns for people walking their dogs, lots of restaurants have patios where dogs are welcome, there are dog parks and people always out walking their dogs on the sidewalks, etc.

You can get some land in chesterfield and people do like the schools. It is definitely suburbia so you’ll be in your car all the time. You might consider goochland if you want a lot of land too. It is close to the shoppping in short pump (if you’re in the right part of goochland), you can get some land, and it is pretty. Schools are more of a question - someone was on this thread a while back writing love letters about their schools, so some people obviously like them, but they’re not as discussed as the Henrico and chesterfield schools.

[cbl1]

Yes Richmond is dog friendly. Heck even one high end shopping center (StoneyPoint) actually encourages people to bring their dogs shopping and stores off water/treats.

Especially with the River it is nothing to see scores of dogs out by the river on a summer afternoon. I have never heard of these communities not allowing large dogs. 1lostman, who seems to be trolling the Richmond forum, says he lived in some bad apartment he rented in Richmond and moved away - we aren't sure exactly what happened with him.

[mpier015]

Originally Posted by cbl1

Yes Richmond is dog friendly. Heck even one high end shopping center (StoneyPoint) actually encourages people to bring their dogs shopping and stores off water/treats.

Especially with the River it is nothing to see scores of dogs out by the river on a summer afternoon. I have never heard of these communities not allowing large dogs. 1lostman, who seems to be trolling the Richmond forum, says he lived in some bad apartment he rented in Richmond and moved away - we aren't sure exactly what happened with him.

I was just about to mention Stony Point being an entire DOG FRIENDLY MALL. You can even bring your dog into the stores.

He also posted some random google maps view of a home that he said he lived in near short pump lol. In a different thread he said that he lived in Richmond from Jan 2017 to Nov 2017. So in 9 months he became an expert. He really doesn't know anything about Richmond and is probably some other poster with a new account, I wont say any names lol. He has said Richmond, of all places, doesn't have any history and that all the shoppers in Mechanicsville have to come to eastern Richmond for shopping. There is literally not one shopping district in the eastend of the city, not one, none. It's almost as bad as when Shakeesha said that the fan, near VCU, was rundown and scary. Honestly, these trolls give themselves away by talking too much. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. If they kept it generic then we wouldn't be able to definitively say that they aren't familiar with the city...but here he is, mentioning shopping areas that don't exist. At least Shakeesha has learned to keep her posts to one sentence, Donald Trump-esque statements that lack any real detail that would give her away. "Richmond, bad city. Bad on crime, really rough crime. I wouldn't feel safe there." HAHA

Here is where he "lived" near Short Pump...I'm not sure where he "rented" at. https://www.google.com/maps/place/14...2!4d-77.598605
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...12262827_zpid/
So in 9 months, he bought and sold a home, rented a apartment that hated dogs, became a Richmond real estate expert, his own personal financial advisor, and a historian. That's a hell of a 9 months. All while saying: [quote=1lostman;50329463]Truth be told, I didn't get out as much as I wanted to due to having children.

Funny story, when I first moved to Richmond I visited the Dicks Sporting Goods at Stony Point and I noticed a woman looking at cleats with a dog that would be taller than me on his hind legs. I made a comment to a friend of mine(that had been living in Richmond longer) and asked if we should tell the manager. I was quickly put in my place and informed that the dog had just as much right to be in the store as I did lol.