2021 ordering of Urban Virginia, in the eyes of Virginians (Richmond: living in, shop)

[mpier015]

Originally Posted by NOVA_guy

Yep. NGL, I do cringe at some of the stuff people on here say in regards to Richmond. It's a cool city and it has some nice suburbs (Midlothian, Short Pump) but some folks sound delusional when they're talking about it. Even when you dig into the data, it's not really analogous to the Bostons and Chicagos of the world.

Bro, your dislike for Richmond is causing you to high five our biggest far right troll. No one on here has ever said that Richmond was Boston or Chicago and you know that. What we have said is exactly what Richmond is. One of the most classically urban southern cities. He wants to play a semantics game that the counties aren't urban but most suburbs in the US aren't urban including most of NOVA. Also, everyone pretty much named NOVA as the #1 area in the state so there's no need for you boys to assert yourselves here lmao.

[Ebck120]

Originally Posted by Jupiter1162

The urban qualities of Richmond are vastly overstated. Only a small part of the downtown and the immediate parts that flank it can be considered urban. The majority of the Richmond metro population live out in the suburbs or country. It is not a big city by any stretch of the imagination. It's 3-4 times smaller than Washington D.C. and Baltimore as well. Some of you guys are delusional and want Richmond to be something different so badly. It is not anything like Boston or Chicago.

Richmond is best thought of along the lines of a bigger Petersburg or Fredericksburg. The "art scene" is just a bunch of pink-haired college students duct-tapping bananas to walls and boasting about their contributions to art. It is not a worldly art scene by any metric.

That said, Richmond is THE city for much of Southside Virginia. And also the Capital of Adventure in Virginia.

said noone ever...

[NOVA_guy]

Originally Posted by mpier015

Bro, your dislike for Richmond is causing you to high five our biggest far right troll. No one on here has ever said that Richmond was Boston or Chicago and you know that. What we have said is exactly what Richmond is. One of the most classically urban southern cities. He wants to play a semantics game that the counties aren't urban but most suburbs in the US aren't urban including most of NOVA. Also, everyone pretty much named NOVA as the #1 area in the state so there's no need for you boys to assert yourselves here lmao.

Lol dude I’m hardly ever on here these days so I don’t keep track of specific users, it’s not that serious to me. However, I agree with what that user said for the most part.

[Jupiter1162]

I own two properties on the outskirts of Richmond. The one that is actually located within Richmond city limits has 3.5 acres and is south of the James. Yeah, I know...it was annexed from Chesterfield. Point is it is there now.

The urban blocks of Richmond are so few that they would, when condensed, form just a single neighborhood in Eastern Queens, New York.

Richmond is not urban, it is a small city with most of the metro region living in the suburbs or country. It is akin to Fredericskburg or Williamsburg with some skyscrapers and more extensive suburbs. NoVa is infinitely more urban than Richmond is.

There is a reason I live in Richmond. I like really small cities.

[spencer114]

Northern Virginia
Tidewater
Richmond

Richmond is the most culturally significant metro of the state but the other metros are bigger, have bigger economic output (but per capita GDP Richmond leads) and more tourism.

It’s cool that the state’s assets are divided between several metros. I personally love each of them. I’m from Tidewater and lived in Northern Virginia before Richmond.
It’s so easy to entertain guests in Tidewater (False Cape is my favorite place outside of Richmond) and I love day trips to NOVA for Korean food and Spa World. Throw in Roanoke and Charlottesville and you’ve got pretty a dynamic state.

[in_newengland]

You've got a great state but I am only familiar with Tidewater. It's not a very desirable place to live. Mile after mile after mile of big box stores and fast food places and if you think you will run out of them, there are more and then even more. The beach is lined with hotels for tourists. The area is divided up into sub divisions. Traffic is terrible but they don't want public transportation. The place is somewhat backwards thinking. Due to the military presence, rentals and probably home prices are relatively high. They've tried to make a town center and it looks okay but isn't that functional. Maybe things will get better but first the residents would need to care. Mostly they don't or else they just move elsewhere when they can.

[spencer114]

The tourist part of the beach is lined with hotels, the dozens of miles of other beaches are lined with sand dunes.

Old Town Hampton is filled with beautiful homes. Old Town Portsmouth is like Savanna or Charleston, the housing in Ghent is about as nice as it gets on the east coast. Smithfield is a gem. Downtown Suffolk is filled with Federal architecture. Yorktown is very quaint. The bays, rivers, creeks and marshes make for awesome kayaking. William and Mary is one of the top schools in the country, colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens are tourist Meccas.
If box stores is what you saw, that’s on you. Tidewater compares well with every metro it’s size in the country. With regards to natural beauty, its near the top of that heap. But yes, the traffic is horrendous.

[spencer114]

For those of you that don’t know, False Cape State Park in Virginia Beach is the best beach between SC and ME
Spending the day there is like being shipwrecked. You have to hike, kayak or bike 8 miles to get into it. The miles that you travel before even entering the park are through a national wildlife refuge. It’s as pristine as it gets.

https://youtu.be/phhmHE3tZKQ

[aquest1]

Originally Posted by Jupiter1162

I own two properties on the outskirts of Richmond. The one that is actually located within Richmond city limits has 3.5 acres and is south of the James. Yeah, I know...it was annexed from Chesterfield. Point is it is there now.

The urban blocks of Richmond are so few that they would, when condensed, form just a single neighborhood in Eastern Queens, New York.

Richmond is not urban, it is a small city with most of the metro region living in the suburbs or country. It is akin to Fredericskburg or Williamsburg with some skyscrapers and more extensive suburbs. NoVa is infinitely more urban than Richmond is.

There is a reason I live in Richmond. I like really small cities.

That's a bit of a stretch. By your own admission, you don't live in the city of Richmond, but in Southside, which is indeed the most suburban to rural and least urban portion of the area. I do think you are trying very hard to deny Richmond's legitimate urban character. For a southern city, its downtown and immediate environs are on par or more significantly urbane and structurally dense than others in its league like Raleigh, Durham, Jacksonville, Louisville, SLC, Birmingham, Buffalo, etc. I wouldn't call any of these small cities. They're midsize and so is Richmond. And as far as arts and culture is concerned, Richmond has many things to be proud of, including a university with a top-ranked arts program, one of the largest art museums on the east coast, and plenty of institutions that are outsized for our msa. Just because you don't appreciate the city's liberalism doesn't mean it's worthy of denigration.

For the Commonwealth, in terms of branding and perception:
1) NOVA
2) Richmond
3) Hampton Roads

In terms of economic impact:

1) NOVA
2) Hampton Roads
3) Richmond

[Jupiter1162]

Originally Posted by aquest1

That's a bit of a stretch. By your own admission, you don't live in the city of Richmond, but in Southside, which is indeed the most suburban to rural and least urban portion of the area. I do think you are trying very hard to deny Richmond's legitimate urban character. For a southern city, its downtown and immediate environs are on par or more significantly urbane and structurally dense than others in its league like Raleigh, Durham, Jacksonville, Louisville, SLC, Birmingham, Buffalo, etc. I wouldn't call any of these small cities. They're midsize and so is Richmond. And as far as arts and culture is concerned, Richmond has many things to be proud of, including a university with a top-ranked arts program, one of the largest art museums on the east coast, and plenty of institutions that are outsized for our msa. Just because you don't appreciate the city's liberalism doesn't mean it's worthy of denigration.

Only thing I denigrated was "art students" whose "art" I don't hold in high regards.

Richmond should not be compared to midsized or major cities. The best comparison is to fellow Virginia cities. Again, what I'm saying is that the urban blocks of Richmond are so few that they can be condensed into just a single neighborhood. It's like a big main street and then you hit the suburbs and country.

My property lot in Powhatan is just a tad bigger than the property I own in the old Stony Point neighborhood just west of the Chippenham Bridge. That area is now considered Richmond City, even though it is historical Bon Air. It is very suburban and somewhat country feeling there -- I saw more Trump signs there than in all of Richmond.

If you want Richmond to be urban again, then support the resolutions to give up the annexed parts of Bon Air. You lose your urbanity cred with much of the area south of the James being within city-limits. Though the population of Richmond would then decline again probably sub 150k.