Short Pump second most boring place in Virginia, real estate site says
It may not have the character and charm of the city proper, but I can think of many more boring places.
It’s anything but a scientific survey, not to mention it’s fairly obvious the author has little knowledge of the area, but real estate brokerage website Movoto.com named Short Pump the second most boring place in Virginia in a recent listicle.
Using the most recent U.S. Census data available, editors ranked “the most mind-numbing places in Virginia,” as author Natalie Grigson put it, based on data points like number of non-fast food restaurants per capita (the more, the less boring), fast food restaurants per capita (the more, the more boring), number of nightlife venues, and average age of residents, among other benchmarks.
Says Grigson of Short Pump:
No offense, but when a shopping mall is your community’s big claim to fame, well, that’s a pretty good indicator of its level of excitement.
No, we’re kidding. Short Pump has all sorts of things besides the Short Pump Town Center! You could go to a bar—though Short Pump does have some of the fewest per person… Or you could hit up some live music—again, good luck finding any. How about some fine arts or delicious dining, with the fifth and sixth fewest per capita in the state…?
Ah, well. At least it has a bowling alley.
Well, here’s my take.
While Short Pump certainly isn’t the first place most Richmond (city proper) dwellers want to take a trip to, and the Far West End’s suburban sprawl may lack the character and charm of neighborhoods like The Fan, I can think of plenty other places far more boring than Short Pump.
That’s coming from someone who grew up there when there really was nothing to do in the immediate area. No mall, no movie theater; we hung out at SkateNation and a few other places that existed back then. West Broad Street was a mere two lane road, and farms and trees dotted the landscape–now mowed over in favor of strip centers and the mall, almost completely unrecognizable.
For the record, another Richmond area suburb, Mechanicsville, came in at number 9 on the list.
See the full list and read more about the ranking criteria on Movoto.
103.7 Play interview
I shared my views on Short Pump’s ranking in an interview with Melissa Chase and Jack Lauterback on ‘Play Mornings with Melissa and Jack’ Friday morning.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
-
Recommend this
on Facebook -
Report an error
-
Subscribe to our
Weekly Digest
Trevor Dickerson
Trevor Dickerson loves all things Richmond and manages RVANews’ West of the Boulevard and West End community sites.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Short Pump is more boring than Mechanicsville? Well, at least Short Pump has a movie theater, ice skating and a book store. More than you can say about Mechanicsville…
All the suburbs of Richmond are boring. Its been like this for many years.
If having the best schools for my kids (short pump) than call me boring. Best move ever
You know why Short Pump is awesome? Because where else can you see a bunch of people who drive “Don’t Tread On Me” plated-cars to government or government-contractor jobs and who think access to healthcare is unconstitutional tyranny but paying thousands to an HOA that restricts the colors they can paint their shutters is a thumbs-up.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go put a downpayment on my cookie-cutter townhouse in a Whole Foods parking lot.