Learn Me: Petersburg/Colonial Heights VA

So, I did a dumb thing and spent some time looking at help wanted job postings.  I really enjoy my current job and don't have to supervise anybody which is a big plus in my book.  I know it pays a bit below average, but for me it is a great fit with my skill set and what I enjoy doing.  I also do not find it to be overly stressful and it allows me a lot of autonomy.  I also don't work very much overtime.

I found two openings for a job that I am highly qualified for (essentially the same as the last 2 jobs I had for over 10 years) and the salary range goes up to 35% more than my current job.  I know somebody who works there and talked with him.  Based on the job description, my past experience doing a similar job, and talking to my buddy, the job will be more stressful than my current job, with more OT, and less autonomy along with supervising 4-5 people.  I think I'm going to apply and put my minimum desired salary at 30% over what I'm currently making.  If I price myself out of the market so be it...I like my current job and don't absolutely need the money, but it would be nice to make 30% more for my last 10 years and pad the retirement fund a bit more.

I currently live about 20 miles from downtown and have about a 30 minute commute (22 in the mornings because I'm on the road early and 38 in the evening because I'm in rush hour traffic).   I currently live in a nice area with low crime and have no safety concerns.  Housing is affordable (paid for actually) and everything I need is relatively close by and easy to access.

So, now the question at hand.  The job would require relocation from the Columbia, SC area to the northern Petersburg/Colonial Heights VA area.  I know nothing about this area except I've driven by on I-95 a few times.  Cost of living looks to be a wash.  But what is this area like as far as housing, commuting, and general living?  Any decent areas within a 30 minute or so drive where a few acres and decent house are affordable? 

I understand that south of Richmond and west of Norfolk is not crazy Virginia like the DC Metroplex but in my uneducated observation,  I question your assertion that cost of living will be similar to Columbia. 

In reply to John Welsh :

I looked at 2 different COL tools online, including the MIT living wage calculator and they both indicated that the COL in both areas is very similar. These tools are probably not keeping up with the housing boom very well, so the actual number may be off a good bit, but they appear to be comparable.

Edit: It is also possible that my lack of familiarity with the VA location has me comparing a middle class neighborhood to an area of urban blight.

The average person applying for this job would likely reside in Metro Richmond, VA.  Since Richmond is a large city, I would do your comparisons via Richmond vs Columbia.  Again, I have no personal experience with either area but VA never seems cheap to my experiences which are relatives in  DC Metro and Norfolk/Virginia Beach.  

Yeah, I'm up in Richmond and you'd have a comparable commute coming from there. Tons urban options in the city, of suburb options in Chesterfield VA or rural the further you get from Richmond. The area itself has gone through some transitions lately and struggled in some areas but as stated above you don't particularly have to live in that area proper.

As a Richmond area resident since 1985, I would not even begin to compare Central Virginia to NoVa.  They are two different worlds.  And of course, the Va. Beach area being a resort town, well, very different also.

I honestly haven't spent a lot of time in the subject areas, having lived and worked for the most part in the mildly upscale suburbs in western Henrico County.  Colonial Heights is home to the historic Swift Creek Mill Theater, which has existed as a theater as long as I've been here, which is to say, quite a while.  Very enjoyable time.  Historic Old Town Petersburg has seen a good bit of investment and is home to some neat shops and microbreweries.

As with any place, there are nice areas and not so nice areas, but I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable on that subject. 

With a metro area population of something just over a million, and just over 200,000 in the City proper, I would never refer to Richmond as a "large" city.  It's the perfect size to afford a little of everything for everybody.  The job market in the Richmond area has been strong as long as I've been here.  I would expect housing costs to be at least slightly higher than in SC, but that might just be a notion I have about SC being one of the absolutely most inexpensive places to live in the US.  I would think that if you chose to locate outside of the urban area, that you would find housing to be quite inexpensive, and if you were the adventurous sort, you could find some absolute steals in the sketchy areas within the City of Petersburg.  Not that I'm recommending that--Petersburg gets a D-minus on overall crime according to at least one website, while Colonial Heights gets a C-plus, the same as Richmond.

John Welsh said:

The average person applying for this job would likely reside in Metro Richmond, VA.  Since Richmond is a large city, I would do your comparisons via Richmond vs Columbia.  Again, I have no personal experience with either area but VA never seems cheap to my experiences which are relatives in  DC Metro and Norfolk/Virginia Beach.  

I don't plan to live in Richmond if this pans out. I'm thinking west or southwest of Petersburg in a more rural setting where I can get a few acres to live on. But, as I'm unfamiliar with the area that's why I'm asking for input from folks here that might have helpful info (not saying your input isn't helpful, it is as it gets me thinking and expressing more). 

So clarifying, I'd like to live in a more rural setting where I can be on a few acres (what is the minimum to get an agricultural classing for taxes in this area? It's 5 acres here in SC) and still be in a 30-40 minute drive without spending all the gold in Ft Knox if that's possible.

1988RedT2 said:

As a Richmond area resident since 1985, I would not even begin to compare Central Virginia to NoVa.  They are two different worlds.  And of course, the Va. Beach area being a resort town, well, very different also.

...edited out some stuff...

With a metro area population of something just over a million, and just over 200,000 in the City proper, I would never refer to Richmond as a "large" city.  It's the perfect size to afford a little of everything for everybody.  The job market in the Richmond area has been strong as long as I've been here.  I would expect housing costs to be at least slightly higher than in SC, but that might just be a notion I have about SC being one of the absolutely most inexpensive places to live in the US.  I would think that if you chose to locate outside of the urban area, that you would find housing to be quite inexpensive, and if you were the adventurous sort, you could find some absolute steals in the sketchy areas within the City of Petersburg.  Not that I'm recommending that--Petersburg gets a D-minus on overall crime according to at least one website, while Colonial Heights gets a C-plus, the same as Richmond.

I grew up many years ago in Prince William Co. So NOVA has become a bad word in my vocabulary. It was great when I was a kid, but I left before the real explosion. Been in much less populated areas since with Columbia being the biggest since then. Richmond & surrounding metro area is approximately 2-3 times the size of Columbia, & it's metro area so I'd rather stay away & go more rural.  My main concern with schools, shopping, etc. would be resale of home 10 or more years in the future. No kids, wife passed away 2.5 years ago, so just me & I'm not that social. Being left alone in peace & quiet is fine with me...

As far as housing costs, I currently live in one of the least expensive areas in the most expensive zip code around Columbia. Typical subdivision, HOA, postage stamp 1/4 acre lot. But that is in flux. I own a smaller second home that is almost move in ready with 4 acres on the other side of town. Both have approximately the same value ($200k or there abouts). One more complicating factor in all this...

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

Chesterfield County has seen explosive growth during the last couple of decades.  Schools are generally good, but lots of residential development has brought lots of traffic.  The counties generally south of Petersburg (Dinwiddie, Prince George) will be more rural, and with that will come a mixed bag of schools and access to nearby shopping.  I know of a few folks that have made their homes around Disputanta, VA, and I've not heard anything too terrible about it.

Just a sampling of what you might find around that area and what it might cost:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/Disputanta,-VA_rb/

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

Wow! Asking prices for housing are unreal.  The cost of living calculators I was looking at were showing housing at about 8-10% more in this part of VA than here in SC. This was largely offset by lower prices in VA on other things so the overall difference was about +2% in this part of VA.  Housing here has gotten stupid expensive, but it seems to be more dumber there...probably would be a good idea to rent for a while if this pan out.  Both to learn the area and to see if the housing market cools off.

My daughter lived in the Richmond areas years ago and housing was ridiculously expensive.  She and her husband moved south of Richmond to Chesterfield.  Petersburg was a rat hole at that time.  I like your idea of moving southwest of Pete.  Sounds like a decent area, but I have no idea of the cost of housing.  With the cray cray prices around here I would think it could be just as bad there.  Petersburg is rich in history with lots of old buildings downtown, stuff I really like.  

I live in the area you're looking at.  I suggest you stay out of Petersburg.  They've been in a death spiral for decades, although they seem to have stabilized a little in the last few years.  Crime rate is high, government is poorly run, educational system is among the worst in the state, if not absolute rock-bottom.  They do have some interesting shops/restaurants in Old Town, as mentioned.  Colonial Heights would be the much better choice of the two cities to live in.  My wife and I are looking at moving and if we could find what we're looking for in Colonial Heights, would have no qualms about moving there.  Considered in a vacuum, there are some fantastic deals on houses in Petersburg, but the downsides of the city make them undesirable at any price.  Hopewell is in the same area (Petersburg/Hopewell/Colonial Heights are locally referred to as the Tri-Cities area), but I would rank it below Colonial Heights, while still well above Petersburg.

Real estate in Chesterfield County is red-hot and not showing any signs of slowing down.  I think you'll do noticeably better in Prince George or Dinwiddie County in terms of affordability.  If you want a few acres of land, I think you're looking at Dinwiddie first, PG next, based on availability and cost.  Chesterfield is adjacent to Richmond and is much more developed than PG or Dinwiddie.  The trade off with PG/Dinwiddie vs. Chesterfield is that you're much further away from Richmond, although we have no issues with doing our routine shopping/medical visits/etc. in Colonial Heights/PG/Hopewell/Chester.

Disputanta is part of Prince George County and has no formal government outside of the county government.  As an aside, in Virginia, cities and counties are independent of each other.  If you live in a city, you'll pay city taxes, but you are not part of a county, so there are no additional county taxes.  My understanding is that is different from most states.  There are some counties with small towns incorporated within them, such as McKenney in Dinwiddie Co., but they're something of an oddity.

Dinwiddie appears to have been quietly developing/growing over the past 20 years.  If you're looking for rural now and resale in 10 years, it could be a good choice.  Prince George is probably a safer bet, but I think the initial buy-in will be a little higher.  The far southwest areas of Chesterfield might work also.

Another aside, I-295 through Hopewell is fairly notorious for the "high-enforcement" efforts of the Hopewell Sheriff's Dept. (search "Hopewell Million Dollar Mile" for more info).  Once you're aware, it's not really a big deal, but I do like to let people that are new to the area know about it.

In reply to Procyon :

Thanks for the info.  In doing some research I think I may try to rent in Colonial Heights for the first year until I get a better idea of the "lay of the land".  You are right, it looks like PG county or Dinwiddie are the best fits for what I'd want to end up with long-term.  If I found something in the first year that was too good to pass up, I should be able to make something happen.  Yeah, cities that are totally separate from the county is not what I'm used to here in SC.  I have lived in the unincorporated county my entire time here, but have friends that live in Columbia or Lexington city limits and they pay taxes to the county and the city and some services are provided by the county while others are provided by the city.

Of course this is all dependent upon me actually getting a job I haven't applied for  yet...Applications are being accepted for another 9 days, so I'm going to spend a little time trying to get mine in better shape before submitting, but I think I'm a very good candidate as long as we can make the $ work out.

Dragging this back up...got a call today & have an interview in just over a week for this job.  I had assumed that they weren't interested due to the time delay.  Any new info on housing in the area?

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

Nothing other than real estate values have probably inched up a few dollars, along with everything else lately.

This isn't really new info, but one of our managers at work just moved to basically the middle of nowhere, Prince George.  It's a minimum of 20-25 minutes to get to pretty much anywhere from there.  She has gigabit fiber optic internet service at her house.  So far, it works great.  Look at https://ruralband.coop/fiber-availability for coverage areas, although I think your plan to rent in Colonial Heights at first has a lot of merit.

In reply to Procyon :

Thanks for the link!

Yeah, with housing priced like it is right now I don't want to make a quick decision & buy something I'll regret in a year or two.

I'm very risk averse - probably to my own detriment but.. Is there any potential for a pay increase at the current job?

In reply to OHSCrifle :

Not without an offer in hand.  Then it's either "There's the door" or "Will you accept a raise?".