Blessings to you and yours…

My sister just moved to Richmond from hillside country in Texas where tarantulas cling to the screen door, scorpions are common, rattle snakes nest around the water heater, and a coral snake pops it’s head up between bales of hay lining the garden. And she’s scared here in Richmond –talking about protection, dogs, guns, and mace and I, on the other hand, wouldn’t have lasted a second in her Texas yard.

Schooling is a huge issue in the east end like in most areas of Richmond. If you’re not wealthy enough to afford good private schooling (tuition starting around $10,000 a year), you’ll be scrambling for a spot in one of Richmond’s few good public schools every few years. And if the space is filled, your choice will be to pack up and move or send him to a poor school that might operate like a fiefdom where the voices of a few concerned parents and bullied teachers are squashed because of a dictator principal overseeing a complacent majority. No sitting back and relaxing like my friends and relatives living in parts of West Henrico where the elementary through high school education is excellent and where democracy exists.

@Dan…to be on the real; Church Hill is not a bad place to live; but most of your experience will depend upon on who you are; your ability or inability to afford a really good security alarm system; whether or not you can afford to put your children in private school; and if you are black or white.

As an African American raising a young male teen in the Church Hill area who attends public school–and trying desperately to keep him on the right path–it’s the most frightening and challenging experience I’ve yet to experience. . . although I was born and raised here, in Church Hill.

My opinion is based upon black-on-black crime; thus, if you’re white. . . go for it!

Peace, Light and Love for ’09 . . C.

I had the same concerns when my nephew was looking at VCU as a possible college. Being a protective aunt I came here to check things out. That’s how I found this site too. Richmond had become a far nicer place than I remembered from 10 years ago. I looked all over the city for a property to restore and settled on Church Hill for many reasons. The Hill had a special charm to it and the people define the word friendly. I’ve found Church Hill as an area in transition, and as John said, some places worse than others. It’s all changing for the good. I’d vote for you taking a leap and looking at making this place home.

It all depends on where you are in the area.

When my wife and moved into our house just off of Fairmount Avenue five years ago, we heard shots every ten days or so. Except for maybe once or twice in the past year, the shooting is holidays-only. It has been a nice change. There are areas that haven’t made the switch yet, though.

I’m not sure if folks on Grace Street or Franklin Street even hear the holiday shooting.

But when I read about guns, I start to think, maybe this isn’t the neighborhood for me. Not that I’m a wide-eyed suburbanite; I live one block from a New York City low-income housing project. I know you develop strategies to deal with petty crime and stuff like that. But gunshots in the night? Only twice I can remember in the last 30 years.

What’s the story? Am I overreacting to some holiday hijinks, or what? Your comments much appreciated.

Wishful thinking, Tiny & Paul. Would that it were so …..

And, what kind of sense does it make to say:
“…maybe they used up all their bullets…”

I just want to understand.

I guess that does seem kind of crazy, if you are not used to it.

the mp3 does sound like a sountrack from the streets of Beruit in the 80’s

That was Fairmount last year, and this year wasn’t much different except that it started later. I actually saw someone shooting off their gun this year, down the street in profile.

Happy New Year all!

Happy New Year regardless!

So far, nobody’s been abducted downtown this week,