Richmond Virginia: not great for tourism, but I think it is a great place to live

I would be willing to bet that most people, when thinking of places to visit whilst touring the USA don't really think a great deal about Richmond, Virginia and that would be fair enough. I have encountered a few people that have done so and mostly they were just here because it is on the main Interstate highway that traverses the entire East Coast. Richmond is a fine city, but really doesn't offer a great deal as far as tourism is concerned.

Richmond is the capitol of Virginia, and has a reasonably huge population. However, one fantastic thing about this city is that the people in charge of it seem to have preempted the growth in population and unlike many other places on the planet there are actually enough roads to accommodate all the traffic, even at peak hours. A friggin massive high-five to you Richmond for pulling that off. Amazing.

Before I get too off topic let's just say that RIchmond tried to be a hub of tourism and there are plenty of restaurants, museums, and features mainly focusing on civil war events and the architecture that existed in early to mid 1800's and while that is interesting, well, i don't think it is enough to justify coming here. Maybe if you are a history buff.

Therefore, i want to focus on Richmond as a place to life. Richmond is big enough to offer lots of big city opportunities, but small enough that it isn't annoyingly crowded. As I said before, the roads are fine, traffic actually moves. The city has also done quite a lot to ensure that the nature-oriented areas, particularly along the river, even in the CBD, remain intact and offer plenty of relaxing and exercise-oriented areas - which is fantastic and traverses a great deal of the downtown area.

There are many multinational companies that operate out of Richmond including Marlboro, who has their international headquarters located here. Therefore, getting a job isn't really that difficult here. Housing is kept reasonably affordable and the full spectrum of condos, apartments, and suburban houses are available at less of a price than more well-known areas like nearly Washington D.C.

Richmond has a reasonably busy international airport that flies pretty much everywhere, so getting out for a vacation is easy as can be. It is also situated just a few hours from the beach but to be fair so is everything else in Virginia.

There are all four seasons here and none of them are too extreme, at least, not for too long anyway and this again, is true for all of Virginia. As someone who has spent the last 10 years living somewhere where it is always brutally hot, I know that I personally welcome being a bit chilly from time-to-time.

If I ever had to move back to the U.S. I would really seriously consider this city as it is a winner. There is plenty going on, plenty to do, and it is close enough to other larger areas so you will never be bored.