moving from Austin to Richmond...

[heartmygingertwins]

...and need some advice!! We have been researching and speaking to some friends about neighborhoods to reside in! Any advice? We are interested in Church Hill/Union Hill becayse of the low rent, old architecture etc.. but have been told some parts aren't entirely safe.I don't need a well manicured suburb but clearly won't stand for outright danger where my family would be in harms way. Any advice is so so appreciated!!!!

[kellyzoo]

How old are your kids? You absolutely do not want to send them to Richmond public schools. If you lived in Churchill you would need to be able to afford private school IMO.

[heartmygingertwins]

@kellyzoo they are 10mo. Are Richmond schools bad??? I was under the impression that schools in VA are very good, is it just schools in the city that are sub-par??

[kellyzoo]

Yes the county schools are awesome, but the city schools are not good. I would never send my kids to Richmond public.schools. we are in chesterfield county which is great, as are Henrico county schools which all border richmond.

[heartmygingertwins]

I read that Henrico schools are good! We are going to rent for awhile so right now the schools aren't much of a concern since my boys are so young. Thank you for the insight!

[shan1212]

You should check out RichmondMommies.com for all your questions.

FWIW, I live in the city, and the school situation is not that dire. All of the school are "open enrollment," which means you can apply to attend any school in the city. In recent years I haven't heard about anyone not getting one of their top choices, and once you hit middle school you can reevaluate if you don't get into a specialty program. I taught in Henrico County for 8 years and while some of the schools are very good, I wouldn't say that all of them are superior to the city schools, nor would I choose to live outside of the city just for the schools.

Hope your move goes/went well! If you are still looking for a neighborhood I can be more specific, but I see that your post is almost two months old so I figure you may have found somewhere already.

[blastomom]

Have you mad the move yet? If so, where did you end up?