Anyone from Richmond, Va area???

[Mommie2MadLyn]

Hi, My husband just got accepted into the police academy for Henrico County, so we will be moving to VA the first week of May. I am just wondering if anybody from these boards lives in the area. I'm VERY nervous about the move, because I have lived in the same town on Long Island for my entire life. This is going to be a pretty tough adjustment for me because my family is all here too. Can anybody give me any advice or encouragement about moving so far from all that I know? How have some of you coped with moving from family and frinds? I probably sound like a "Big Baby" myself, but I'm really scared!!! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

[cvharris]

Tracey,

I do not live in VA anymore, but I did go to high school near Richmond, and it is a beautiful area. The weather is gorgeous there and everyone is very friendly.

I moved often as a kid so I am used to adjustment and being away from family and friends. I'm sure it will be hard at first but you will do fine. I would say that the best thing to do is to get out and get involved in some activities/organizations in the area to meet people. And enjoy the time you have with your husband and daughter. NY isn't so far from VA...it is driveable. I'm sure you will be able to visit often!

Best of luck with the move!

Carolee and Ben (6/14/03)

[josephmama]

I live in Williamsburg and DH works in downtown Richmond. We're both from upstate NY but have come to find that a LOT of people are former New Yorker's in VA so you won't be alone. Henrico County is a great area with really good schools (although I think in eastern Henrico it's a bit different). Hanover County is just north and growing fast and very nice. Their schools are good, too. If you want any info on the area let me know. And it is hard to live away from relatives but we've found we see them a LOT because this part of VA is so great to visit. And being in Richmond you can easily take a direct flight or train. Plus after one VA winter you'll wonder why you didn't move here sooner. You can grill outside all winter long! Hardly any snow and cold means 40 degrees. HTH!

[jasabo]

I lived in NoVa most of my life, but have been to Richmond many times and always enjoyed it. It's really pretty there. And like someone else mentioned, it's a quick trip up to NY, so it'll be easy for you to visit family.

As for moving away from family and friends - dh and I moved out here to AZ a few months ago and I didn't know anyone. Dh has friends here from college, but it's not the same for me. I really miss my friends back home, and it's definitely weird living in a place that I don't know like the back of my hand, like I did back home. But it also makes it really exciting. It's kind of all in how you look at it. Sometimes it gets a little depressing. But if you remind yourself that it's a brand new adventure, and that you'll get to experience so many new things, it's kind of fun. I even had fun going grocery shopping in the new grocery stores...but then, I'm easily entertained :)

I know it's scary, but try to focus on the fun stuff. I also think it's a great excuse to play the "I don't know where anything is" card when I want my husband to run an errand for me. Although, it's been 5 months now...can't get away with that much longer ;)

Have fun!!
Lisa - mom to 9 month old twin boys

[Virginia Dad]

I have lived in Henrico County my entire life. Well, the first year of my life we lived in Williamsburg, and for 4 years of college I lived in Charlottesville and three years of law school in the city of Richmond, but am now back in Henrico. As you can see, I have never been more than an hour away at any time. My entire family still lives in the area and most of my friends came back here after college. That should say a lot about the area. It is a beautiful county with so much to offer. There are some areas that are congested due to retail shops and a great new mall, but there are also places that remind you of the country. It is a great mix. 1.5 hours from skiing, 2 hours from the beach, 2 hours from DC. I have a good friend who is a Richmond City police officer and another who I beleive just transferred from Goochland County to Henrico. Both love it. If there is anything else you need or want to ask, please feel free. I am sure it will be tough to leave NY, but I am pretty confident that you will like Henrico just fine.

[josephmama]

So you're a fellow Wahoo? :) I was CLAS 1998

[american_mama]

I am originally from upstate New York, and lived in Richmond from 95-97, plus my husband and I are moving to Charlottesville next year. (Charlottesville is 1 hour west of Richmond.) My sister has lived right next to Henrico county for over 10 yeears, so I visit there several times a year.

There are many things to like about the area - lovely weather and scenery, close to mountains, ocean, Washington DC, colonial and Civil Way history. Driving or flying home is easy because of 95 and cheaper fares from Washington DC airports. The economy in Richmond is diverse, with manufacturing, retail, banking, health care, and higher education. I did like it there. Yet, Richmond can be a very insular city and you might feel very foreign there for a while.

The Southern culture is alive and well, although probably less than 20 or 30 years ago. The classic Richmond accent is lovely, kind of southern and British at the same time, and it's common. You will hear about FFV and wonder what that is (First Families of Virginia), debutante balls (still quite common), lavish wedding pages in the local newspaper, unusual names, and a tolerance for tobacco unheard of in New York. Race issues, especially when they touch on glorious civil war history and modern day crime, are controversial, although I also met many more black professionals in Richmond than I did in upstate New York. When it snows, school will close for a week and everyone will flock to the grovery store to buy bread like it's the Apocalypse. I am not kidding.

There are many New Yorkers there, yet people from Virginia often acted like I was from another planet. I'd get comments like, funny, I don't have a NY accent. (Not everyone does.) I must be used to lots of traffic being from New York City. (I am NOT from New York City, rather from a city that was smaller than Richmond!) I didn't meet a lot of people who had traveled much or lived elsewhere in the country, which increases the sense of difference if you are from someplace else. The people I liked best in Richmond weren't usually from Richmond.

But I think you will adjust. My sister did pretty easily. I moved across the country when I was 7 months pregnant, and found that having a child really helped me meet people through new mom's groups, childbirth class, the playground, even just shopping. It helps to be more extroverted than you might normally, ask people for their phone numbers if you have a nice interchange with them, and then actually call them to follow up. You can even half make up a reason to call people - looking for doctor recommendations, wondering what store sells X - just to start establishing a relationship. It is a little foreign, but it works, and it can be easier to call a stranger for information rather than just to chat.

Joining groups also helps, like church or temple, PTA if your kids are in school, local adult softball league or kid soccer league, etc. If you are working, your job will also help you meet people. If you are not working, there are lots of stay at home moms in the area, too. Go to story hour at libraries, look for listings of playgroups in neighborhood magazines or stores, ask your neighbors and some of those strangers you meet on the playground.

Since you are leaving an area where you have lived for so long, I am sure it will be a tough adjustment for you. It may take years to feel like RIchmond is home, and there may be things you always miss about Long Island. But Richmond has a lot to offer, and you will learn so much from adapting and then being able to thrive in two very different cities. Best of luck!

Karen

[Virginia Dad]

I was CLAS 96. We still make every home football game, and try to get up there for basketball and lacrosse. Although those two sports are letting me down.

[josephmama]

Small world! I only make it to one football game a year usually and by now I'm used to disappointment with UVA sports! I do miss the baseball games so I try to see them when they play W&M.