We have Carytown, where you can feel the amenities of a place like Georgetown without having to travel as far and its denizens dress as if they are heading to a Broadway show when they're actually just going to Mellow Mushroom. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is only a few blocks down the street from Carytown, and meets the aesthetic of up and coming "photographers" who take pictures of famous paintings just show their friends that they're cultured.
VCU is minutes away with students from all over the country coming here for its art program. But, if you didn't know that, you would think that every student that attends the school is from some county or city in Northern Virginia. I can almost guarantee that if you asked a random passerby around campus where they were, their response would be "Oh, I'm from Woodbridge" or "Yeah, I'm from Alexandria".
The local music scene is bumping with tons of underground music ranging from alternative to rap and hip-hop and everything in between. Local houses tend to be the place for most of these musical showings or at an established music venue like Strange Matter, the Canal Club, and the Camel. There are tons of other interesting things that happen in the River city. Whether it be the serenade of gunshots (or fireworks, still not sure) that you hear all through the night, the sound of police sirens careening down Broad Street, or cops busting some frat party where Brad and his brothers were playing their dubstep music so loud that it woke the neighbors. Richmond is a fun place to eighty nine percent of the time. The other eleven percent is spent dodging homeless people that constantly beg you for your last dollar 15 minutes after you told them no across the street.
Richmond is usually categorized by the direction you're traveling. Northside, Southside, East End, West End. Northside isn't an ideal place to raise a family. News reports are ran daily about breaking and enterings, homicides, drug overdoses, the list goes on. Southside isn't as bad as Northside, but many of the same issues stated before with Northside resonate here. Plenty of shootings, drug busts, murders, you name it. The East End is quieter and borders our neighboring county, Henrico. Church Hill is a place chalk full of history and the viewpoints from the outlooks are breathtaking. The West End is more Henrico than Richmond. You don't hear as many things going on out there than you do with everywhere else. Short Pump is really nice if you haven't been there before, but after a while you realize the only reason you venture such a ways is because of how great Cheescake Factory and Dave & Busters is.
Technically, I am from Bon Air, and depending on which part of Bon Air you could be twenty five minutes or ten minutes to the city on a good day. I live right next to the border between Chesterfield and the city, so it gives me a tiny bit of leverage to tell people that I live in Southside.
Now that I have given a below average synopsis of Richmond, I am going to give my reasons on why I like the city.
Before I really even knew the relative layout of Richmond, the only places I was familiar with were the James and Carytown. I believe that a common misconception that you can find around the metro Richmond area and places that are in close proximity of the city is that those two destinations are all that the city has to offer. If you think that, like I once did, you are sadly mistaken.
I never took the time to appreciate Richmond until I transferred from my school in Arlington, Marymount University, after my freshman year. When I learned that I would be attending VCU the upcoming fall, I was anything but excited. I thought that I would never get immersed into the culture of Richmond and would miss too many of my friends to make any new ones here. Turns out that I was absolutely wrong.
My sophomore year I had an apartment in the middle of VCU's campus, which made it really easy for me to get from place to place by foot. Myself, I hate being trapped indoors. I get antsy. Lots of times I would find myself riding my skateboard around the city just to take in the scenery. Even today when I get free time with the busy schedule that I have I'll take a stroll through an unexplored neighborhood. Venturing through neighborhoods leads you on to find many places, like local thrift shops, coffee shops, eateries, you name it. This leads me into my point that I love the localities that Richmond has to offer. I've been getting really into coffee lately, solely because I fall asleep really quickly and I honestly don't know why. The amount of local coffee shops is grandiose. Each one with its own genuine aura. Coffee shops are great places to read a book, do homework for a class, or to relax while reading a newspaper. The role they play in their communities respectively is another reason why am so fond of them. As a safe haven for some or a place of relaxation and stress relief for others, coffee shops are one attribute of Richmond that I think that I will always appreciate.
Another great thing about Richmond that I like is the diversity. Even though I did make a statement earlier about how almost all the students at VCU are from Northern Virginia, the amount of different linguistics, dialogues, and cultures is breathtaking. Around VCU's campus, you can hear conversations in three different languages in a span of three blocks. It's a great thing to see. The food joints narrowly tucked into small spaces on the strip of West Grace street also succumb to the amount of diversity Richmond has. There is an authentic Mexican food place facing Panda Express, several Indian cuisine eateries, an Insomnia Cookies, an Italian themed pizza place, you name it.
This one is kind of cliche, but I love the murals painted all throughout the city. I think that it gives Richmond character and a welcoming vibe to those who are not familiar with it.
I could go on for hours what I like about this city but I don't think I'd have the attention span to focus enough while listing them all.
Richmond is a great city that has it's downfalls. At one point, we had some of the highest murder rates in the country. But that is in the past. Richmond was just voted one of the best river cities to live in. What article was that in? I don't know personally but I saw it somewhere on the internet and that is good enough for me. I also just peeped the VCU game highlights against Dayton from tonight and we lost so I am going to stop writing so I can sulk for a bit.
Go rams? Go rams.
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