AN OVERVIEW OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

The Richmond area is an artful mix of tradition and promise as it sits on the intersections of time, geography and interests. The region beautifully weaves its historical significance with its contemporary relevance, which is why nearly one million people call it home. 

A Premier Location 

Within two hours of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, Richmond also is just 100 miles south of Washington, D.C. Richmond is rich in early American history dating back to the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The region is the middle point between Boston and Atlanta, and more than 50 percent of the country’s population is within a 750-mile radius. 

A Metropolitan Area 

The Greater Richmond Region is comprised of the City of Richmond and three surrounding counties with the following approximate populations: 

· City of Richmond 192,000
· Chesterfield 281,000
· Hanover 95,000
· Henrico 280,000
· Other Outlying Counties 304,300 

This compares with a statewide population of approximately 7.5 million people. 

Plenty to Do and See 

With a premier location, residents can travel easily, but most people find everything they enjoy close to home. Richmond features fine dining and cultural options: major concerts, theatre productions, professional and college sports, and trendy shopping venues. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, one of the area’s 20 museums and galleries, hosts the largest collection of Faberge objects outside of Russia. 

Along Monument Avenue 

On legendary Monument Avenue, the only U.S. street to earn a National Historic Landmark designation, beautiful old homes and churches flank the six famous statues situated along the street’s wide median. Each monument reflects the individual’s specific contribution to the city’s history, including Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson and tennis great Arthur Ashe. Monument Avenue’s Easter on Parade each Easter Sunday is an event not to be missed.  

Riverfront Development & World Class Shopping 

As the city strives to preserve its past, the 1995 completion of a floodwall spawned the development of the riverfront area that offers modern amenities for business, leisure and residential pursuits. In 2003, two new upscale, open-air shopping malls welcomed customers. Unique neighborhoods such as quaint shopping in Carytown and nightlife in Shockoe Slip give Richmond its own unique flair. 

An Award-Winning City 

With all these attributes, the Richmond region has earned numerous distinctions such as: 

A City with Four Seasons 

The five million annual visitors to Richmond have found that any season is a good season to visit. Summer temperatures average around 88 degrees, and winter temperatures dip mostly to 28 degrees with usually only three days of snowfall totaling less than 14 inches.  

The colorful display of fall leaves especially can be enjoyed along the rolling hills of neighboring plantations and battlegrounds. The fragrant smells of spring blossoms envelope the grounds of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. 

Culture – The Fabric of Richmond’s Soul 

Just as the seasons note the passing of years, Richmonders also can mark their calendars by expecting the area’s many annual festivals. To honor its increasingly diverse population, events are held to celebrate Greek, Asian-American, and gay and lesbian cultures. A Hispanic Chamber of Commerce formed in 2000 and the Jewish community is highlighted by the Virginia Holocaust Museum. 

Transportation in the City 

A city with such exceptional benefits should not also be so affordable and easy to navigate, but Richmond is. With an average commute time of 24 minutes and well-polished transportation systems, residents and visitors alike can easily travel into and across all the crossroads that this monumental city offers. 

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QUALITY OF LIFE IN RICHMOND

Ask anyone who lives here and you’ll hear it for yourself – Richmond really is “easy to love.” 

Locals will tell you it’s an almost magical combination of top-notch schools, a strong economy, affordable housing, a great climate and lots of things to do. But there’s also something intangible here – a warm and welcoming sense of community where people focus on family and pursue the good life. 

Whatever matters most to you, you’ll find it in the Richmond region. We’re a mid-sized city with big city amenities and small town charm. 

Climate 

There’s a saying in Richmond: “If you don’t like the weather, don’t worry because it’s about to change.” We enjoy four equal seasons here, so this old saying often rings true. 

Regional Temperatures: 

· Normal daily maximum in July 87.5 degrees
· Normal daily minimum in January 27.6 degrees
· Record high (set in July 1977) 105 degrees
· Record low (set in January 1940) -12 degrees
· Normal annual rainfall 44 inches
· Normal number of annual snow days 3.5 days 

Housing
 

Housing options and styles are an unfolding mix of surprises in the Richmond region. Here, you’ll find everything from some of America’s oldest homes to virtually unlimited choices in new construction. Our city, suburban and rural locations offer something for everyone. 

There are more than 300 residential developments across the region, ranging in price from about $90,000 to well over a million dollars.  

A predominant architectural style for home in Richmond is the Colonial – built from either brick or siding. Every imaginable style can be found here, however, and a number of custom builders are working today to continue the architectural tradition set by our city nearly 200 years ago.

Taxes 

Among all 50 states, Virginia is the eighth lowest for state and local taxes. Our state sales tax is the seventh lowest in the nation at five percent. This low tax trend conveys into our local real estate taxes (all rates are per $100 of assessed value): 

· Chesterfield County $ 1.07
· Hanover County .86
· Hanover County (Ashland only) .93
· Henrico County .92
· Richmond City 1.33 

Faith 

Faith is an essential part of life for many Richmonders. Churches, synagogues and other places of worship can be found representing nearly every segment of the faith community. 

Moreover, many interfaith groups meet regularly in our community. To learn more, visit: 

Medical Services 

Our region is home to more than 1,700 doctors who practice medicine in 17 hospitals. Our newest regional hospital, Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center, opened its doors in 2005. 

Area hospitals serve residents in more than 4,000 patient beds, including Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (or VCUHS, formerly MCV Hospital). VCUHS regularly is ranked among the top hospitals in America, and is home to the area’s only level one trauma center as well as the nation’s oldest transplant program.  

Day Trips 

One of the delightful benefits of living in Richmond is our proximity to other great cities and destinations – many less than three hours away. Consider these distances from Richmond to the following places: 

· Washington, D.C........98 miles
· Williamsburg, VA........53 miles
· Charlottesville, VA......69 miles
· Virginia Beach, VA...109 miles
· Baltimore, MD..........153 miles
· Philadelphia, PA......252 miles
· New York, NY...........341 miles
· Raleigh, NC.............173 miles
· Charlotte, NC...........295 miles
· Myrtle Beach, SC.....341 miles
. Charleston, SC........427 miles 

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RICHMOND'S HISTORY

Since its founding in 1607 along the James River, Richmond, Virginia, boasts a historical legacy that few cities in the United States can match. Named after Richmond, England, the city is well known for furthering the original establishment of Virginia’s first settlers. 

A Rich History 

Tobacco, which continues to play a significant role in the city’s economics, was first cultivated there in 1612. Patrick Henry delivered his landmark speech, “Give me liberty or give me death,” from St. John’s Church in 1775.  

Considering it safer than Williamsburg, officials moved the capital to Richmond in 1780 to protect it from the coast. Not long after, the city was burned and looted during the throes of the Revolutionary War. With reconstruction completed in the late 1700s, the Richmond Capitol remains the second-oldest working capitol building in the nation. Major renovations are currently underway.  

A Key Role in the Civil War – Capital of the Confederacy 

The city had not seen the last of war, though, as the Civil War raged in the 1860s and Richmond was again at the forefront of that movement – this time as the Capital of the Confederacy. After the war’s resolution, Richmond began to experience a renewal that continues today. 

In 1800 the city’s population was less than 200, but by 1880, there were about 60,000 residents in the Richmond area. (Today, there are more than one million residents in the metro area.)  

During this prolific century, Richmond became home to the Bank of Virginia, a public library, telephone service, and electric street lamps and street cars. These improvements offered the city unique bragging rights to Richmond Union Passenger Railway, the country’s first street car system, and to the first telephone numbers in the South. 

Hollywood Cemetery is the final resting place for Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler along with several key Civil War figures.  

“Richmond was admittedly the centre of a society unsurpassed in all America for wealth, refinement, and culture,” said statesman John S. Wise in the 1800s. 

Home to Pioneers & Innovators 

The city has given birth to and cultivated pioneers in politics, entertainment and business, notably Maggie L. Walker, the daughter of a former slave. In 1903, she chartered St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank in Richmond’s Jackson Ward (also known as the “Harlem of the South”). She was the first woman in the United States to found a bank. 

Even with Walker’s accomplishment, the racial divide of the 1900s left the area segregated for most of the century. A crowning achievement that showcased a new chapter in history happened in 1990 when Richmond became home to the country’s first African-American governor, L. Douglas Wilder, the grandson of slaves. Today, he serves as the mayor of Richmond.  

Cultural & Economic Development 

Also in the 20th century, Richmond exploded with cultural and economic development that further enhanced its role as the premier city in Virginia. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts opened, along with the inauguration of the South’s first television station. Corporations such as Philip Morris USA, Capital One and Alcoa brought their businesses to the city and created an economic boom that still thrives. 

A City on the James River 

The same waters that carried Richmond’s first settlers earned the city a unique distinction by being channeled into the country’s first canal system. With a history steeped in innovation and perseverance, the James River flows through a city that proudly claims its heritage while charting a new course for the future. 

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