What are the best areas to live around Richmond, Virginia?|137416

My son might transfer to Richmond and we no nothing about the area.
Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

The Richmond Metro area is primarily comprised of the City of Richmond and the surrounding counties of Henrico and Chesterfield.

If he is interested in living in the City of Richmond itself, I can suggest living in the Business District, the Fan, or the Carytown area. There are very few places to live in the Business District, but what is there is very nice! Honestly, there are only about 4 major apartment buildings in the area. Two are brand spanking new. The benefit of living in the Business District is that it is located on top of the Shockoe Slip/Shockoe Bottom areas which offer a lot of restaurants and night life. The Fan is located west of Virginia Commonwealth University, and is a mix of students and young families. The only issue in this area is parking as very few of the apartments have parking lots. Carytown is further west of _The Fan_ and has less students. Again, both of these areas are close to theaters, restaurants, eclectic stores, and night life. Pretty much everyone who grew up in the Richmond Area or went to VCU has lived in those two areas.

If your son is looking at moving _south of the river,_ within the city limits then he should look at the Forest Hill Ave. area or besides the Stoney Point mall.

The main area of Henrico County is the west end, called Short Pump. This area is served by I-64 and has a lot of shopping centers, malls, etc. Lots of stuff here, but the night life is not as eclectic as Richmonds. If he wants to move into the eastern portion of Henrico (Varinan, Sandston, Highland Springs) it is a bit cheaper but he will have _a drive_ to get to everything other than a grocery store. (OK, they just opened up a new shopping center off of I-64 on that end, so he has a Target and a Best Buy that he can go to without going to the west end of Henrico.)

Chesterfield is wide and varied. Most of the areas that a young professional would be interested are located off of route 60 (Hull Street) and route 360 (Midlothian Turnpike). This area is a lot like the west end of Henrico County: Lots of malls, lots of restaurants. Not a bad area at all.

I hope that this helps. Good luck!

Glen Allen which is basically ten minutes from downtown richmond is where I live and i love it. I live in the suburbs which if thats what ur looking for makes glen allen a great place to live. short pump town center. innsbrook is the local area for a bunch of companies and stuff. everything u would wanna do is in close proximity to richmond and its a lovely area. west end pride woohoo

What are the most interesting sights between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park?|140273

Also, what are the nest places to inside Yosemite itself? As a first time visitor to the region I don_t want to miss anything exciting!
Thanks everyone

Between San Francisco and Yosemite, I think the most interesting thing to do (if you enjoy history and old buildings) is to explore the gold rush towns. A few of these towns lie a short distance off the main highway. If you don_t get off the highway, you_ll never know they_re there.

There are different routes to Yosemite, and each passes near different gold-rush-era towns:

highway 120:
- Knights Ferry (off highway; old buildings, covered bridge open to pedestrians but not cars)
- Jamestown (railroad museum), Sonora (perhaps the largest of the old gold-rush towns). These towns are a small detour from the direct driving route to Yosemite.
- Chinese Camp (off highway)
- Big Oak Flat
- Groveland

highway 132 (not the usual route to Yosemite)
- Coulterville

highway 140
- Mariposa

There_s a nice museum just a couple of miles south of Mariposa on highway 49 -- the California State Mining and Mineral Museum.

When are you going to Yosemite? If you go in the next few weeks, the waterfalls will be great, but the roads through the high country and to Glacier Point won_t yet be open. If you go late in the summer, the high country will be open but the falls will have lower volume (and Yosemite Falls will dry up completely).

Highlights of the park from now until fall are:

- Yosemite Valley. This is the most famous part of the park, and one of the most spectacular sights anywhere. There are flat trails along the valley floor. If you_re a good walker, the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall or Nevada Fall is fantastic. If you_re a really good walker, there_s a great trail to the top of Yosemite Falls -- well-maintained but strenuous. There are other trails also -- talk to the rangers or buy a map/guidebook.

- short trails in Yosemite Valley to Lower Yosemite Fall and Bridalveil Fall

- Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. This has beautiful giant sequoias in a grove near the southern entrance to the park. You can make a short trip to see some of the largest trees, or you can spend an entire day hiking through the grove. There are much smaller groves (Merced and Tuolumne) in other parts of the park.

- Tunnel View, at the lower end of the tunnel on the road from the Valley toward Wawona

If you_re there in the summer, additional highlights are:

- Glacier Point (on the south edge of Yosemite Valley)

- Tuolumne Meadows and the entire drive across the park on highway 120 to Tioga Pass (and continuing east to Lee Vining on highway 395). Lots of hiking trails take off from this road, particularly around Tuolumne Meadows. There_s also an incredible turnout (with a large parking lot) at Olmsted View.

Yosemite National Park is a big place, but you really shouldn_t miss the places listed above.

The other answer mentions Mono Lake, which is a good suggestion (provided you go after highway 120 is opened -- typically around Memorial Day). I could go on for more paragraphs about interesting things east of the Sierra, but that_s a whole different topic. There_s also more to see in the Sierra foothills (western Sierra) such as several caves open to the public, but they_re well out of the way of a drive to Yosemite.

---

one more tip:

If you belong to AAA, you should stop in an AAA office in San Francisco or the Bay Area before you leave, and pick up maps of Yosemite and the Gold Country. (They also have a map called _Mother Lode Guide Map_ that highlights points of interest in the gold country.) If you don_t belong to AAA, you might stop at a convenience store in the Sierra foothills and try to get a detailed local map. The typical statewide map of California that many tourists bring doesn_t have enough detail for real exploration.

If you have lots of extra time and a good map, almost any minor road through the Sierra foothills will take you through beautiful uncrowded country. (Not all are paved, however, and most have lots of curves.) They_re particularly nice in the spring, when everything is green. (examples: The roads through Merced Falls and Hornitos, or Ben Hur Road south of Mariposa.) The main highways to Yosemite have lots of traffic, and detouring onto the backroads gives you an entirely different way to experience the beauty of California.

many people drive str8 to yosemite for 4 hrs, you may stop by route 120/49 junction and check some gold rush towns around, and explore underground. jamestown for rail trip and lake don pedro.

in east yosemite, there is mono lake, very erotic style.

What are some good prom locations in the Los Angeles/Orange County area?|115263

Im in the sophomore council of my school and we plan the prom of the class ahead of us. Our school has a contract with a prom planning company but their help has been terrible. I need help finding good prom location in the Los Angeles/Orange County area ASAP. Please no hotels.
*It doesn_t have to be a low budget venue.

Try some local Country Clubs and Yacht Clubs. (Wilshire Country Club, La Canada Country Club, etc). They have very nice facilities.

Last year, someone wrote a question about Santa Anita in Arcadia; I checked them out, and they are very good, too.

Sinc you mentioned OC, I HAVE to mention the Anaheim Convention Center, and the Downtown Disney Resort (Not just the hotel there, but many of the restaurants there have large private banquet areas, like Naples and Ralph Brennan_s Jazz Kitchen.

Good luck!

THe queen mary is overrated. i mean,...its nice but i have something about low ceilings when the place is suppose to be grand. my senior class had our prom at the Long Beach Aquarium, and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! theres a life size blue whale above the dance floor with 3 to 5 story aquariums for walls. seriosly, try to get that venue. you will be praised

The Queen Mary is always cool and hosts events like this all the time. There are several Yacht clubs in the area that will support proms as well and this is kind of cool because a nautical theme always works. Depending on your class size you could also charter a large boat. many are available and this keeps everyone together and helps with saftey etc.
Hope that helps a little.

How long does it take to send somethig from the Uk to the US?|124520

Someone will be sending me something in the mail and i want to know how long it would take for me to get it.

Around a week, depending on what mail and class you put it under.

Are there any parts of New Orleans that is very dangerous that should be avoided?|124415

Are there any parts of New Orleans that is very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs? If so, please let me know what these areas are, so I know to stay away when visiting this spring. Thank you very much for any info you can provide.

There is a public housing development close to the French Quarter (the Iberville Public Housing Development) and it has been the crime generator for the city center for decades. I would not recommend wandering through the development, but - in reality - you would almost certainly not have any problems as long as you were not going there to buy drugs or engage in some other illegal activity. The Iberville is now (since Katrina) also mostly empty.

There are no parts of New Orleans that _should be avoided at all costs_. There are no parts of the city that have been taken over by gangs, or where gangs have become like a shadow government. Even now-notorious neighborhoods like the Lower 9th Ward were/are only dangerous for drug characters.

New Orleans made the news because drug characters are killing each other in disputes. However, other crime is at or below the national average for cities. Almost all of the incidents the first answer refers to (people attacked on their front steps, etc.) involve a dispute over illegal drugs, and the rest are domestic crimes. The news media does not (for political correctness reasons) explain the actual motives behind crimes in New Orleans and the result is that average citizens _ visitors are made afraid - when they actually don_t have to worry about it.

All anyone needs do to be safe in New Orleans is use the same basic common sense required in every city in the world. If you leave your backpack unattended on a park bench it probably won_t be there when you return, wander off into the darkness with someone who promises somewhere you can buy _good marijuana_ it may be a bad day for you, and so on.

You certainly do _ not _ have to only travel in groups, stay indoors after dark, stay inside the French Quarter, only take taxis, etc. I don_t know where people get the advice they sometimes offer.

First let me start off by saying there are no particularly _good_ or _bad_ places in this city. Crime can happen anywhere just like anywhere else. The user above me speaks total lies because crime has decreased Alot. But to answer your question some _safer_ areas my include the French quarters in the morning and afternoon as well as uptown areas and also French markets are very enjoyable and _safe_ when visiting this city don_t keep that kind of negativity in mind because you will become biased when visiting. Keep a positive attitude and know that crime can happen anywhere and it is not limited to wat u consider to be _good_ or _bad_ areas. Also remeber the positive attributes of the city and not the negative things that you here because that is a very small part of this city rather you believe it or not. :) need more info email is alwaysheavenlyangel@yahoo.com

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of danger in New Orleans. People sitting on their front porch have been attacked (shot, beaten, robbed, etc.) by gang members and garden variety criminals as well. You should be very careful if you leave the heavily populated French Quarter any time of the day or night. It is sad, but New Orleans is overrun by bad elements and has not recovered since the bad guys surfaced to take advantage of the aftermath of Katrina. There is a lot of news coverage related to senseless violent crimes that are never solved. Just use common sense. Travel with multiple people instead of alone. Be very aware all the time of your surrroundings. It is terrible to have to be so _on guard_, but it seems necessary at this time. I have always enjoyed New Orleans and all it has to offer, but I would no longer feel safe doing the things I used to do on my own. Instead of walking back to my B_B in the early hours and enjoying the jasmine and aromas of early morning strong coffee and bakeries, I would definitely take a cab. Enjoy yourself, but being cautious is a good idea. Have a great time. The food, the music, the history, the art (and all the unique aspects of the New Orleans/quarter life) are wonderful.

There are no really _safe_ or _dangerous_ parts of new orleans. Crime can happen anywhere. If you go somewhere you dont trust then go with a bunch of friends and maybe just stay in the French Quarter a lot but remember crime can happen there to.

Near the Projects. Don_t go by the projects.

Is it best to stay in Yosemite during the high season or stay just outside one of the entrances?|125084

My wife and I are going to Yosemite from August 6-12 and we are looking at rentals in Yosemite and most are pricey and nothing special. We started looking in there because we were told there are really long waits to get inside the gates every morning during that time of the year. First, are the waits that long and second, how long are they. Any help is appreciated.

if you possibly can stay in the park it lets you make the most of you park days. waits to get into the valley can be hours long and day parking is limited. for visits outside of the valley waits are really not that bad.

I would drive 120 west into either Merced or down to Fresno. Yosemite is a zoo in the summer.