To add, if you come downtown, just lock your doors religiously, try to stay in well-lit areas and, at the least, remain alert. Listen to your instincts and follow them. I see a lot of young professionals and medical students down here and they have no problems walking around at all hours. They also save on a lot of time and gas money by not having to commute!! Compared to big cities, this place is nothing to worry about. New lofts in the city have a lot of high tech security measures, too, like motion sensors, automatic lights, and 24/7 cameras. While citizens often seem afraid, believe me, Richmond is not the least bit comparable to an E. St. Louis, Cleveland, or Chicago. There you might really get in trouble. I believe that the official crime rate declined by as much as 40% last year.
Katrice | Richmond, VA | Report Abuse

There's a fair amount of snobbiness about living too close to the city and the blacks(said in a whisper!). To be fair, many cities have this notion built in outside the south, too. I have been living down here and it's just developing and they are really cleaning up their act. There has been a huge decline in the crime rate in Richmond proper. I don't know what accounts for this. I do know that I never have been threatened or had anything stolen here and it's been about 2 years. I did come across one wino and he just seemed pitiful and helpless. By contrast, I saw drunken homeless in D.C. who got very aggressive and harassed people on the Metro. That was scary! I'd say the dangers in bad parts of D.C. or larger cities is far worse. Richmond does not seem to have a drug culture yet or major gangs to speak of. The vagrants down in the city are typically just some poor, unfortunate folks, rather than jaded or organized professional criminals. You just have to be savvy. It might be better to start out in the West End suburbs if you're new and white until you get a feel for the place.
Katrice | Richmond, VA | Report Abuse

Hi! I'm just wondering how well you're adapting to your move to Richmond. I currently live in Tucson and I'm trying to research which cities are the best to live in Va. Is it safe, what's the traffic like, is there plenty of things to do? Any info will be helpful. Thanks, Julia
ja | Tucson, AZ | Report Abuse

Generally speaking I would not rate downtown/churchhill as a very safe area. Pretty sketchy, I never felt safe there. I would recommend the Fan area west of downtown and the neighborhoods west of the Boulevard. I lived in Richmond for 3 years and truthfully you should never walk alone, but being a guy might be a little different...being a woman I avoided it as much as possible. Not to scare you, but Richmond has a very high crime rate and I can think of multiple crimes that happened in my neighborhood and to people I know. Be street smart and use your common sense...or you might get mugged/shot.
Jack | Verona, VA | Report Abuse

Generally speaking I would not rate downtown/churchhill as a very safe area. Pretty sketchy, I never felt safe there. I would recommend the Fan area west of downtown and the neighborhoods west of the Boulevard. I lived in Richmond for 3 years and truthfully you should never walk alone, but being a guy might be a little different...being a woman I avoided it as much as possible. Not to scare you, but Richmond has a very high crime rate and I can think of multiple crimes that happened in my neighborhood and to people I know. Be street smart and use your common sense...or you might get mugged/shot.
Jack | Verona, VA | Report Abuse