Man, now you guys are making me want to move to Richmond! Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and insight.
After poking around yesterday, it looks like the best plan would be to try to find something relatively near Baltimore, Wilmington, DE, or Philly. All of these would give easy access to the Acela to NY (hubby often goes up first thing in the morning for a day of meetings and tries to be home by bedtime) and either PHL or BWI. As hybrid mentioned above, it does seem like it will end up being a 'builder's triangle' situation where we could have exactly what we want but pay through the nose, or compromise with longer commutes, more crime, less walkability, etc. I guess there's a reason expensive neighborhoods are expensive, right?
Is anyone familiar with the Wilmington area? COL seems a little lower especially from a tax standpoint in Delaware. (Although at this point, my idea of what a house costs is so skewed due to DC prices, everywhere else looks relatively affordable). I'd be interested to know any specific neighborhoods you love in Philly or Baltimore, too.
