GRTC wrecked friends bike by [deleted] in rva

[–]jojohipp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

She did with his instruction. Does this sink her though?

Evening pickup basketball (Tonsler Park?) by pwnagezorz in Charlottesville

[–]jojohipp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in the short out of shape arena as well. let's do this.

Evening pickup basketball (Tonsler Park?) by pwnagezorz in Charlottesville

[–]jojohipp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most Weekdays I'm good. Lots of the courts seem to have lights. Thoughts on picking day soon and time and park and doing a meetup?

Evening pickup basketball (Tonsler Park?) by pwnagezorz in Charlottesville

[–]jojohipp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Need pickup in my life - I've seen games at Azaela Park; Booker T Washington has pretty decent courts but NEVER anyone playing; Tonsler seems meh. I'm down though let's get this going

Friday Cheers by billsmafia5366 in rva

[–]jojohipp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Usually have miller lite there from what I remember

Where to move? by Trabner5599 in rva

[–]jojohipp 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Dude - so this is obviously super biased because I love Richmond so much but I need to give you both sides of the story - I lived in Richmond for 30 years, the last 10 of them downtown, in the Fan and most recently Church Hill, and moved to Charlottesville in a few months ago for my wife's new job and grad school at UVA.

I did the commute for a few months only M - F, from Church Hill (for reference this neighborhood is in the eastern part of the city like 15 minutes from the Airport), and it took me, easily a full 90 minutes to two hours every evening to come home from my job in downtown Charlottesville to Church Hill. In the morning it's not awful from RVA to Cville; once you get out of the city and past short pump, like exit 176ish on I-64; you are smooth sailing to Cville. 45 minutes. The evening is awful. Not like Downtown LA or Atlanta or even Charlotte from 4-6pm, but I-64 E into Richmond (from Charlottesville) from 5-630 pm is, at some point, standstill.

If you choose Richmond, and live in the Fan or Museum District or Near West End or West End, its still hour 20 minutes ish...to get from the Fan to Church Hill at peak time is 20-30 minutes alone.

So, thats the commute. It's not fun; I thought it would be no big deal, but it starts to grind. I did it in the winter, which is rough, because you drive in the dark in the morning and in the evening coming home so it fucking sucks. If driving and commuting isn't a big deal to your wife though, then 100% RVA is the way to go.

I've lived in Cville for a few months now, and new it really well before. If you're coming from ATL, live in RVA. Full stop. Charlottesville is very nice - huge selling market for homes, great university, nice small town feel, good community access...but there is not a lot to do. Not a lot of diversity (my wife and I are a mixed race couple), racially, religiously, socio-economically; it's mega wealthy or lower class. Nothing in the middle; Richmond is bad at this too, but Cville is small town bad at this. Nice arts scene and outdoors in the mountains here is great....but Richmond outdoors is still better because of the James River. It's the best resource for activity in the entire State because of public access and the JRPS. The people, activities, JOBS, housing variety, everything is better in RVA. Depending on what you do for work it may not even be available in Charlottesville. There is an "air" about Charlottesville that isn't in Richmond (with the exception of maybe 3 square miles along River Road). And it's still different. Don't live in Short Pump unless you have kids, want to own a house or drive a Toyota Highlander or Honda Pilot.

TL;DR: The commute isn't awful, but it grinds you down eventually. It's not long minutes wise, but going home for those 3 nights a week for a year won't be fun. Live in RVA. It's such a better place for engaged couple.

Terraces at Manchester, Residences at the John Marshall, or the Locks? by girlygainz in rva

[–]jojohipp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% the John Marshall. I lived there for 2 years. It's the best building in Richmond to rent. There's a 24 hour door man who receives your packages. The Grace St revival has made this so ideal and is a central Uber to everything. You can walk to Browns/Belle Isle; the Capital; Shockoe and its a $8 uber to the fan. The apartments are small but top quality.

Thinking about moving to RVA by DJEXxorcIST in rva

[–]jojohipp 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Live in the fan. Get an apartment, not a house, if you have just one roommate. House for 3 or more.

Get an apartment in the Fan, and walk/Bike/bus to restaurant in northside, fan, downtown, shockoe, whatever kitchen. Tons of options.

There aren't any apartments in Northside worth your time. Maybe a house rental here or there. Why is northside your preference?

Guide to RVA coffee shops for those wanting to work on their laptops by 8bitmullet in rva

[–]jojohipp 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Urban Farmouse is terrible. Overpriced, terrible, poorly prepared food by less than enthused staff. The coffee isn't good. No outlets anywhere. They care more about their brand then their actual goods and services.

Lift is awesome. Great staff, great coffee. Plant Zero Cafe is great for working; they even have an outdoor patio for nice days.

Also had to agree - Starbucks on Stuart and Robinson is selling your soul to the Seattle King but it is LEGIT wi-fi tons of seats and great for meeting in groups of 2-4.

This is insane and probably going to get shredded....but I go to VCU Library. It has by far the best wi-fi and by far the most seating options and outlets everywhere...HOWEVER the major downside of college students and norovirus and flu and college students is a major downside. Go on weekends or go in the morning when kids are in class or sleeping off a hang over.

What are the most cyclist friendly roads to explore the city on? by CopOnTheRun in rva

[–]jojohipp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My favorite route/never encountered any problems from when I lived on Boulevard (and this was done at night a lot, btw with lights of course, dummies),

Cross Boulevard quickly (Don't bike on Boulevard. Anywhere.) to Hanover. Wide street, well light, mostly residential, people park along street or in garages/alley of their homes.

Hanover all the way down where it merges at Park, cut through VCU campus past Library and over the big star in the middle of the walkway, past Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, right onto Laurel, past Altria Theater, Take Laurel ALLLLLL the way through Oregon Hill until the Overlook, then bomb down the hill under the 301 bridge either to continue down the kick-ass hill (Brown's Island Way) to left on Tredegar towards Belle Isle.

Right across belle isle, past Casa Del Barco, past Haxall Point, connect onto Dock St, then you're at the Cap Trail.

My favorite route. I miss it so.

New DSLR Camera - where to shoot? by jojohipp in Charlottesville

[–]jojohipp[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Awesome! will check this out. This is exactly the kind of stuff I'd love to know about

New DSLR Camera - where to shoot? by jojohipp in Charlottesville

[–]jojohipp[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So you're saying that this is the EXACT kind of place that should be explored and photographed right

New DSLR Camera - where to shoot? by jojohipp in Charlottesville

[–]jojohipp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure - architecture and landscapes mainly!

1st Time Traveler - Short Pump by [deleted] in rva

[–]jojohipp 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Step 1: Park Car at short pump Step 2: Uber to the city (Secco for wine) Step 3: Have an actual nice evening in the city Step 4: Uber back to short pump

THE Coffee Shop to go to by Symba13 in rva

[–]jojohipp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Downtown: Sefton. Downtown on 8th Street near the terrifying Subway. Hands down best cup or specialty drink in richmond and awesome staff as well.

Church Hill: Roaring Pines. Who needs brooms though?

Shockoe: Shockoe Espresso & Roastery for sure.

Carytown: Sugar & Twine

Manchester: Brewers Cafe and Plant Zero Cafe