Visiting and seeing with your own eyes will be a huge help. It's quite difficult to visualize and a realtor is going to throw options at you that you're absolutely opposed to.

Ah let's talk about church hill.

I've rented in the general area of 25th and O for 3 years now (same address) and can give You the following about my personal experience with church hill.

There have been 4 1st degree murders within 100 yards of my house in 2 years. People attempt to break into my vehicles on or off the street multiple times a week. This year has been extra special, 4 people have knocked of my door to ask for money since the new year.

I'm ready to get the hell out here. Tons of money is moving to church hill, but the crime isn't going anywhere and is subjectively getting more frequent, and more daring.

There are needles, trash, and chicken bones everywhere.

My rent is 1800/month for a 2br/2ba

Personally, I did enjoy the city. However, moving into the Lakeside and then the suburbs you get a lot more room for lower pricing.

If y'all are going to have a car, I'd recommend seeing where the fellowship location is and then drive to and from there to the areas you listed to see if the drive is tolerable for you. You might find out that driving from Midlothian isn't as bad.

And welcome! Fuck the gatekeeping assholes!

Where are you coming from? I think that’s a huge factor in how things are going to feel to you. Coming from NYC, Short Pump makes my teeth itch. Sooooo many cars and all the housing is so strangely new. Just a matter of preference, of course. Obviously some prefer new builds and car infrastructure.

We moved to Northside, which is technically “the city,” but again as someone from NYC, it feels like the suburbs, in a good way. Lawns, backyards, cute houses, safe to walk and run. Not a ton to walk to, but you are a few minutes’ drive from anywhere. I’m genuinely not sure what the negatives are that people are referring to… which again comes back to how what you are used to will affect how you feel in different parts of Richmond.

If I were you, I’d look at real estate listings for houses that meet your criteria and then just drive to them and check out the neighborhoods on your own. That will give you a better idea of what you want to tell your realtor.

My wife is currently in medical school at VCU and we live out in Midlothian. It's like a 25-30 minute drive to the hospital for her and we have a large dog and backyard. The neighborhood we live in is safe and I walk my dog and ride my bike here near daily.

DM me and I can give you an idea of the neighborhood we are in. The houses around here are between 250-325k for buying.

Edit: Spelling

We recently moved to Richmond. Renting for a few months before buying is a great way to get to know the area before buying. We opted to live in the city. For us, the pros outweigh the cons: easy access to cultural amenities (museums, restaurants, live music), walkability, and proximity to the river. Taxes are a definite con. We had expected the real estate taxes, but were surprised by the personal property tax on the cars.

Crime is going to vary greatly depending on the neighborhood in the city. We have never felt unsafe in Richmond, but take the same precautions that we would take in any city.

Work with your real estate agent to find the right balance of affordability, location and safety. If you're not getting what you need from the agent, switch agents.

After a year and a half here, we love Richmond and continue to be happy living in the city.

The wealthy white people of the state used the Dillon rule, the outlawing of annexation, and independent city law unique to Virginia to keep all of the cities needs within city limits but it’s benefits accesable to anyone who can drive in and out.

It has a lot of the needs of larger metros but not the resources to fix them.

There are tons of poor people in town but because the rich people fled across imaginary borders and into the suburbs the money to address these issues is kept out of reach.

So the schools generally suck, utilities don’t work, and our government is populated by openly corrupt locals, resume builders, and naive disinterested weirdos.

Wow people actually read all the other moving post and news flash it makes us look like a-holes haha. Honestly Richmond is great! $350k in the city itself is going to be in a interesting area haha. Don’t move to any area around an area with COURT spelled out. But honestly living on either side of the city in the suburbs will give more bang for you buck and most area are less than 30 minute drive in. You can definitely live without a car in the city, but you will enjoy your life more if you have one.

1. Ignore the Debbie and Daniel Downers. RVA is a pleasant, friendly, and chill area. Welcome!

2. Where you live and what type of neighborhood you’re comfortable living in are personal choices. For our decision, I made a map using felt.com of all the amenities that were important to me and how far they are in different neighborhoods. Here is the map I made of murders in Richmond in 2022.

3. That being said, all the areas you’ve listed are quite fine. Most property crimes are because an opportunity presents itself. Don’t leave your Gucci handbag on the hood of your car and you’ll be fine.

Please DM if you have other questions

I rented in the city for 15 years, but when it came time to buy, I moved out to Henrico. Lower taxes, more house/yard for your dollar. Someone mentioned the lack of sidewalks, but there are parts getting better (I'm in 23233 and there are finally connecting sidewalks on some main roads). I'm not far off of an exit for 64, so it's about 20 minutes to downtown.

Don't listen to the grumps - I miss the convenience of living in the city, and I feel like the complaints people have are along the lines of most cities (although our public transportation really does suck, that is a real complaint). I never intended to move here permanently, but I'm still here almost 20 years later! Welcome, and congrats to your husband on the dream fellowship!

For what you describe, I'd look at the city neighborhoods along the south side of the river. Westover Hills, Stratford Hills, Oxford, Woodland Heights/Park, Southampton, etc.

I think if you guys don’t have kids, the city is perfect. I have been a city dweller for 15 years, primarily Fan, Museum District, and Northside. I have not lived in the areas you mentioned. There are SO many pros to living in the city. Here are some cons as a homeowner.

-My house is very old. We do a lot of work ourselves. But if we have to hire out, there is always some speciality product because it’s old, so. 💰

-Having kids, we want to use the amenities, but they kinda suck. We go over the county line for Parks and Rec and the library. They just aren’t as welcoming and the programming isn’t as expansive.

-There are a pocket of well-funded and supported schools, but many leave after elementary, and even then, people send their kid to 6 different schools, so the community feels fractured and distant.

In your position, I’d definitely live in the city, but I’d rent for a year and then buy.

In my experience desirable locations in the city are equally as expensive as Henrico, more expensive than Chesterfield and Mechanicsville.

Moved into Bellevue 2 years ago and absolutely love the neighborhood. Although at this point 300k gets you a 1100sf 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house. 400k for 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1400sf. Great yards for dogs too. You can go a little north to lakeside and find better deals.

Good questions!

As a couple (who are also runners) we spent all of 2022 house hunting and it was about what you'd expect. The closer in to the city you get, it's less space, more money, and more people which (generally) means more crime. That's just any city. And yes, the taxes are higher than Henrico. https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/va/richmond/crime and https://spotcrime.com/VA/Richmond give good representations of that, but just like any city, you can feel super safe on one street and super sketch 3 streets over. Take those maps with a grain of salt. It says University of Richmond has a higher crime rate than Church Hill, but at U of R you're more likely to get run over by a 60 year old retiree in an audi than get mugged. In most of the city, just keep your car locked and don't leave valuables sitting out and you'll be fine.

The runner and dog bit is way harder. The farther you go out from the city, the larger yard you'll have, but the less safe the roads are going to be as a runner, so it's a balance. Are you light runners? Or are you talking about 5, 10, 15 miles, marathon training, etc? If you want "I can run a half mile loop around my suburban neighborhood" then there's a lot of options all over the area. If you want "I have almost an infinite number of places where I can run" and easy access to other running groups, then in our experience this year there's basically a box of good options, south of I-64, east of Parham Rd, north of the river, and west of Montrose. If you don't have strava premium, here's the heatmap for richmond: https://imgur.com/a/5OauHDA (south of the river it's really only runnable east of Westover Hills Blvd and north of Forest Hill Ave).

There are tons of neighborhoods to run in, as you can see, but a lot of them are either not safe because of traffic or because of crime. The #1 recommendation I would give is if you can, visit for a weekend and drive around some of these neighborhoods. Feel free to send a DM as my wife and I just spent way too long in this process and am glad to share more details.

(edit: obvi there's some neighborhoods outside of my recommendations but I was trying to give a general idea)

Hillside Court is a Section 8 housing project. Reading your post, I really don’t think you have done enough research. Everything just seems way off base

I'm a big fan of living in Oregon Hill. I can walk to the bars and the river in 10 minutes. There are some houses with enough back yard to let dogs run and a central park that is used for dog exercise too. The 2 houses that were for sale are now pending but it's worth keeping an eye out for listings here. Owner occupied is increasing and families are moving in.

Whoa, two of the areas you mentioned are extremely block by block (Church Hill 21st to 29th street) and Manchester/Hillside Court. I wouldn't recommend those areas for out-of-town people completely unfamiliar with the area. You might be ok safety wise, or you may end up being in a section where it's barely safe to be inside your house. Those are more advanced choices for people who already live nearby and can sus things out. Honestly, I would aim for a suburb further out - there's a reason the areas you're touring are more affordable, and it is safety reasons. Again, there will some blocks that will be ok in Church Hill or the Manchester area, but it can be hard to figure that out from afar.

I would highly recommend renting for a year, especially with this crazy market you may actually get a house for lower price AND lower interest in the next year.

Imho, I would live in city and not the burbs. Churchill is NOT the burbs, it is city....maybe it was the burbs version of the 1800s HA!

I love churchill and would recommend it...we almost bought there. Rent first and see before biting bullet blind. Forest hill is great too, just less "RVA city walkable" type but it has many positives.

I love RVA and know a lot about the different areas (in my humble opinion) and I love talking and showing people around when I have time. Feel free to message me with any questions or whatever. I've been here for most of my life, lived in city city for over a decade and owned property in a few different neighborhoods + am actively involved in many things city. I'm really really cool.

​

Edit: i am NOT a realtor trying to befriend you to get client lol... i make no money off you except for the soft touch encouraging words to donate to the doggos at RACC :)

Would you share what hospital you have to be 20-25 minutes from? Regardless of which one it is, a half hour drive from any of our hospitals still opens up a big portion of the city to you, though if it's a Southside hospital, you'd want to live in the Southside. If it's at Retreat or Bon Secours, you might be lucky and get to have a 20 minute walk to work, but not for $290k.

Short commute is what made me want to buy in the city.

I grew up in Mechanicsville and live there now, but spent 7 years in my young adult years in the city, mostly Bellevue.

I loved my house in Bellevue and the neighborhood, but I don’t miss the various old house issues I encountered. I think Bellevue and nearby Lakeside would fit the bill from what you described. City wise, the public utilities are super annoying to deal with if you ever have any issues, and many people end up with some sort of issue at some point. Gas and water are more expensive in the city than in the counties as well (though I think Henrico uses Richmond gas also).

I consider housing to be much more affordable for quality in the counties, but you may end up sacrificing some of the other amenities (walkability mainly). Mechanicsville is a good option for accessibility to downtown, though many here will badmouth for political reasons. I have never had trouble up here as a liberal minded person with established friendships, but if you are looking to make likeminded friends from scratch it might be more tricky. Unless of course you are more conservative leaning, then you will fit in fairly easily.

Richmond is great. People are telling you not to move here not because they don't like it, but because they do and feel that people moving here are pushing them out.

And you won't here any of this offline.

That said, there are better and worse areas. Hillside court is public housing, and strongly in the "worse" category

I live in Henrico County - in the part called the West End. My part is zip code 23229. Taxes lower here and services are great. Relatively low crime rate here. I can drive pretty much anywhere in RVA area in 20-30 minutes. Don’t know what hospital you need to drive to, but find an address in listings through realtor and punch it into google maps to get drive time. Downside in Henrico is lack of sidewalks. But if you stay off main roads there are lots of wide/low traffic roads to run or walk on. My husband runs from our house over to U of R and through other side streets. I walk the dog all over here with no problem. If you’re looking anywhere near me, feel free to DM me. Welcome to Richmond! Don’t know where you’re coming from but think you’ll like it here. So much to do and friendly people (besides the ones grousing about newcomers…lol).

If you're looking at the Church Hill area, make sure to visit first. I have a house a 10 - 15 minute walk from the medical center across the Leigh St. Bridge in Church Hill.

The proximity to the hospital is great, but the area abuts a huge swath of section 8 housing (Mosby Court), and many people tell me they feel unsafe around my house after dark. I hear gunshots occasionally, see porch pirates regularly, and fireworks are late into the night *every night* from ~Memorial Day to ~4th of July.

If you walk 2-3 blocks north or east it gets a even worse, and 2-3 blocks south it's very cozy and much safer, so if you're going to be east of the hospital in the city please visit and get a feel for the block and surrounding area first.

Negatives about a city are highly specific to one’s taste, in my opinion.

Each block out here seems to be different. You’re going to have to drive around to different areas and see what they look like, and then when you find one you like, inspect the block that you want to move to.

Congrats on matching!! Also moved here with my partner for residency. We love Richmond! I don’t have a lot of input on the neighborhoods you listed, but hope you find what you’re looking for!! ❤️

Welcome to Richmond! There are lots of great neighborhoods to be in for runners. Out of curiosity, I fired up Zillow and here are some promising prospects:

• 501 W 24th St, Richmond, VA 23225 | MLS #2300817 | Zillow - right on 24th and Semmes, easy bike ride to VCU Health campus, blocks from the James River Park System
• 4720 Radford Ave, Richmond, VA 23230 | MLS #2230356 | Zillow - this is a little further out close to Henrico County, but you'll be close to a GRTC Pulse station for a quick bus ride downtown
• Looks like there are plenty of options in Northside around Brookland Park Boulevard - there's a bike trail down Richmond-Henrico Turnpike that will get you nearly all the way to the VCU Health campus
• In Lakeside, you'd be close to Bryan Park for running 2329 Clarke St, Henrico, VA 23228 | MLS #2300583 | Zillow

The fact that you are asking here and your agent hasn’t answered all your questions is reason enough to drop them and find a new agent.

Stay away from Crazy Bleach Lady and you should be fine.

No, but seriously, Midlothian is the shit.

Lots of houses fit your criteria in East Highland Park. There are some pretty pockets of the neighborhood. Definitely drive around and vibe check anywhere that hits your budget. It's the only way to get a proper read on various things.

There's a long, Iong, tradition of people "established" in Richmond hating anything that helps Richmond grow or change. It's just always been that way, and granted theres usually nuanced reasons why theyre probably right on some level. That said, there's a recent history of incredible violence that I feel the city has only in the past few years started to move out of the shadow of (third and first per capita for murder and violent crime in the -country- in the 90s) as well as a long "tradition" of hilariously corrupt local government.

Now all that said, welcome! This is the smallest big city ever, and it's pretty great in a lot of ways! As far as "bad" areas, the various Courts around the city are unfortunately pretty impoverished projects that remain violent. You'll see them on the map, places like Gilpin, Creighton, Mosby court are all projects that as you get closer to relative value of your house falls because they're "bad neighborhoods." I currently live in Manchester right across the Mayo Bridge and it's going through pretty hefty gentrification, with all the good and bad that involves, but it's a lovely area that I honestly hope to stay in unless they keep shitting out hideous apartment buildings no one asked for.

As for 21st-29th streets there's a funny thing that happens because both exist in the city just depending on which side of the river you're on (that's because Manchester and south Richmond back in the 18th and 19th centuries used to be their own cities before getting absorbed by Richmond proper). The south side is vibrant burb that like most of Richmond gets "worse" the closer to the courts/midlothian tnpk/Hull Street i.e. the further south you get. Lots of young families, 20-25 minute commute anywhere, potentially shorter if you take the toll roads. In Richmond proper that would be Churchill, which is much the same as forest hill/south side, except the further north you go the "worse" it gets, the nearer to nine mile road it's really block to block. That goes for Northside/lakeside as well.

One thing I'd say is avoid the fan and the museum district. Those areas are "clout" areas and/or inundated with students thus, vastly overpriced. Id also avoid short pump, its everything bad about the burbs, it -will- be a 30 minute commute to the city during rush hours (which seems to be 8-9am and 3:30 to 6pm these days) and is just telatively lifeless compared to the city proper. Henrico is henrico, its fine but huge, the areas it has in it are very very varied. I hope I helped in some way! I'd love to buy house here too, and the neighborhoods you listed are exactly where I'd look as well, especially forest hill/church hill.

Ps: it takes 10 to 15 minutes to get anywhere in the city just by rule of thumb 😂 Source: born and raised here through all the good bad and ugly.

Forest Hill is a great place to live, but probably at the high end of your budget

This post blew up. THANK YOU to each and every one of you. This information is so helpful and we have some great new areas to look in. We are even more excited now to join you all :)

Make sure y’all use the physicians loan when getting financing.

I recommend henrico. I grew up here and it’s safe to walk/ride around as a kid/adult/dog walker.

I still live in Henrico now but on other side of broad (Henrico is pretty big)

Within Henrico the tuckahoe area is good if you can find somewhere that fits your price range.

Or dumbarton possibly

I see other people saying this but I will also say it. Westover hills/Woodland heights area is safe and a PERFECT location for runners. I am a daily runner so I am very familiar with the area. You can run across multiple points on the river (via nickel bridge to fan, Lee bridge to VCU campus, walking bridge to browns island, or Manchester bridge to the Bottom. It is truly the best option if you want a house, yard, and a city type feel - coffee shops and dining within walking distance (crossroads, Blanchard’s, Laura lees, little nickel, etc.) I am a single woman living by myself in this area and I feel comfortable running in the daylight. I would not feel comfortable running at night anywhere in Richmond, in general. Keep in mind, it is STILL Richmond- the closer you get to Midlothian turnpike or Hull st in those areas, I would say the riskier it gets. Things have become much pricier in this area lately, but you may be able to find a fixer upper still in the area and it would be worth the investment. Hope this helps some. I love where I live!!

• Incompetent local government. They messed up my taxes every year. Basic utilities like garbage or gas service are absolute trash.

• Horrible infrastructure.

• Horrible public transport.

• Schools are frequently a problem.

• Excessive gun crime.

I love RVA for its museums, breweries, and parks. The “fun stuff” here is pretty good, but there’s an awful catch: basic daily life functioning is a pain in the ass in this city. VCU is just about the only thing that’s truly thriving in the city.

Also, welcome, we need more doctors/medical staff here, haha.

I'm a city mouse and wanted to live near the heart of everything, but we still ended up renting for a year because some areas are different block by block and it's hard to tell until you've got boots on the ground.

Good luck and welcome!

There a few Northside neighborhoods that I think would fit your criteria well (I would check out Bellevue, Lakeside, and Ginter Park.) Yes, it’s a city - it comes with the usual things that you get living in a city. The biggest downside is if you have kids, the schools are not great. I have lived in Richmond for five years and generally love it here!

As a runner, I loooove church hill! You can run down 21st st to the capital trail, run east along the river, then run back up one of the best (worst) hills ever, hit the stairs at libby and end exhausted with views of the city to limp home. It’s absolutely a favorite - it’s about 5mi to the pool house area at rockets landing and back, but you can go as far as you want - if you make it a 10mi run, it’ll include some forested areas and a nice peaceful feeling like you’re in the country vibe…. It’s one of the absolute best runs… I could do it every day (except for that hill/the stairs 😂). It’s brutal and beautiful and mostly with no cars around.

Lakeside Nieghborhood, its right on the north edge.

Lots of affordable cape cod style houses in your price range. 10-15 minutes from downtown.

Varina…. a short drive to VCU, access to the Capital Trail and more rural while still being so close to the city. You should drive down Main st in Richmond and head down Rt 5 to see the area.

I don’t think you will find a house in the city for $350. If you do, it will be in a high crime area and will still need renovations. Consider northern chesterfield so you will be closer to the city.

Welcome to Richmond! All these people have great recommendations. My two cents is that the housing market is nuts and for your price range, I’d rent for a bit before buying. I have a hard time imagining that you’d be able to get something in that range that would appreciate like you would want in the next few years.

Check out Chestnut Hill just north of Bio Park. It’s a great up and coming neighborhood with mostly family. You can see VCU Health from the neighborhood. My wife works at VCU Health and I work downtown so we just ride the bus together then a short walk to MCV. There are usually other VCU employees on the bus. If you drive and can get a parking at N Deck (Barns and Noble) or 8th street deck (MCV gym) then you can get to work in less than 10 mins and you never have to worry about traffic because that route is fairly light in traffic. On my telework day I will drive and drop my wife off at work and I am usually home within 20 mins.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2103-3rd-Ave-Richmond-VA-23222/12526870_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

Midlo!!!!

Check mechanicsville if you want country living that is literally 10 minute drive into the city lol

Pro tip- Stay away from anything with Court on the end

Hillside Court is nice .. if you like to duck and dive

Make sure no packages get delivered to your home!

I live in the city, Shockoe specifically. I can walk to the hospital from my condo (don't need to though, cuz I don't actually work there). I've got a small yard for my mini dogs, but they still need to be walked to get the real exercise. I've lived in Chesterfield, but I think living in the city is more enjoyable. There's just more to do easily. Plus you get that fun game of where will I find parking today?

I live in the city, The Fan, specifically, and absolutely love it. I’ve been here for a couple of years, have had no crime issues, and though I quit running a few years ago, I do walk the neighborhood frequently. I’m single and normally out walking on my own. Again, no problems at all- but I don’t take unnecessary risks, either. I love being able to walk everywhere I want to go- to dinner, salon, dry cleaners, etc. My neighbors have been wonderful and a nice mix- young and old, singles and couples…all friendly. It may be a stretch to find what you’re looking for here for $350k. Possibly if you’re willing to do some renovations. Welcome! You’ll love it here!

If the crime situation is a consideration, you can browse the crime map, zoom into the area you're interested in, and filter for the classes of offenses you wish.

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Contact Ian Fleck if you need a realtor.
Nevermind I saw you already have one, I like the city, but I prefer the suburbs.

I moved to RVA under similar circumstances in 2019. I moved back to NoVa last year. The city was charming for maybe 1.5-2 years but in the end I didn't think twice about leaving. That should tell you what you need to know.

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