I am a Richmond native. This should help you guys out. I posted this a couple years ago:
in the above picture MCV is located right above where the purple line intersects the 2nd O of downtown
Sketch areas that you probably don't want to live in include: oregon hill, Jackson ward, Randolph, or anything with court in it (ie Gilpin court). Also, dont live right across the river from downtown (ie called manchester on the second picture). Finally dont live too far north of broad street in church hill. For those of you that went to the financial aid workshop the director lady told you that Jackson ward is a good area to live in. I pretty much crapped myself when she told you that. Jackson ward is a really sketchy, really dangerous part of Richmond. Don't live there.
Here is a second picture that shows things a bit further east
Here MCV is located right around where it says "court end"
The Fan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_District
Note that while Wikipedia doesnt consider west of boulevard 'the fan' many in Richmond do. Others refer to west of boulevard as "the museum district." Either way it is nice to live near carytown (shopping/eating area). You will be good living pretty much anywhere in the fan area. But the further away (west) from the undergrad campus, the quieter things will be. Generally around the 2000 block (of streets parallel w/ broad st) you should be in good shape. Other considerations are that there are a lot of bars on Robinson. So you might want to live around there (i think about 2500 block). The further west you go, generally the safer things get.
Church Hill:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Hill
Note that you dont want to live very far north of Broad street. If you can, stay SOUTH of broad street (red line going up church hill). Really I cant stress this enough. If you go like 10 blocks north of broad around church hill you will get shot. Only half kidding about this. South of broad street has some very beautiful areas and some very nice apts. North of broad is a great place to buy crack. You see the dark black line going north of church hill, that is where the projects are and is arguably one of the most dangerous area of Richmond. So stay away from it.
Shockoe Bottom:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shockoe_Bottom
Apts are spotted throughout here generally above shops or in converted industrial buildings. The apts generally have a lot of character but, it can get loud if you are near the clubs/bars. Most of my class lives in the bottom so that is a consideration, plus it is nice and close to MCV. Basically on a decent day you can walk from the bottom. Things can get pricey here but if you look you can find a cheap place.
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Here is my update from this past year:
I had been hearing a lot of talk about the new revitalization of the Manchester area. I was curious about how much they could have done and my girlfriend was looking for a place to live so we decided to head across the river. I am not too sure what people consider a 'revitalization' but it didnt look a whole lot different. I'd still recommend not living there (well that is unless you plan to sling crack to pay for school-which i also do not recommend- but Glenda Palmer, the financial aid lady, always encourages us to be creative to save money so she may recommend differently).
Now a bit west from manchester you get to the Westover Hills/Forrest Hill Ave area (still in the southside). It is a bit of a drive but using the Nickel Bridge (which funny enough has a quarter toll) it takes around 10 minutes to get to school. This is a pretty safe area and you can get a pretty nice house to rent or buy for really, really cheap. Of the south-side area, this is probably one of your better options based on price and distance from school. This is right across the river from where the "fan" turns into the "museum district"
The Fan
Stretches of the fan are surrounded by kinda sketchy areas. In some stretches of broad you may feel unsafe. My GF lived on Grace a few years back and the alley behind her building was shared with the shops on broad. While I felt perfectly safe, she often felt uneasy walking alone at night. So if you are a female or would like to feel safer, if you choose to live in the fan, living either on the south side of grace (so you dont share an alley w/ broad) or just living south of grace st would be best.
The West end-
This is where I grew up so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. Unquestionably the safest and nicest area of Richmond. Can be a bit of a hike to class ranging from 15-45 minutes based on what part of the west end you live in. The apt prices vary wildly from obscenely expensive to pretty cheap.
Church Hill
I re-read what I wrote and it basically sounds like church hill is a war zone. It is not. South of broad is very very nice. Some of the nicest apts I have seen in R-Va are in Church hill. The people I know that live there feel safe. That said, stay south of broad because the projects really are about 10-15 blocks north with a nice little transition zone starting about 6 blocks north of broad. Stay south of broad and you will be fine and shouldnt feel unsafe.
I currently live in the fan/museum district. There are pros and cons about each area. My class is spread mainly in Downtown and the fan. There are probably a few dozen who live in the southside or west end. If you have questions feel free to PM me. If you have a specific apt complex in mind I probably wont be able to help you since I have limited exposure to the thousands of apt complexes in Richmond. But if you are worried about an area or want some input, feel free to PM me.
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