It was decidedly not love at first sight. Yearning to escape the Midwest, Melissa Longstaff and her husband decided to move to Richmond, Va., after graduating from art school in Kansas City, Mo., 35 years ago. Back then, Virginia’s sleepy capital was still locked in an embrace of its past as the seat of the Confederacy.

“What you saw when you came in was not attractive,” Ms. Longstaff recently recalled. “It was borderline scary,” she said of the city’s downtown and its main artery, Broad Street. “Very rundown. Abandoned buildings.”

Today, Ms. Longstaff and her daughter Sara Jane run Two Rabbits Vintage, a bespoke antique store in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood, a warehouse district now home to breweries, coffee shops and industrial buildings converted to residential lofts. The store’s customers have often just moved in from Washington, D.C., Philadelphia or New York. Richmond’s population, now about 230,000, has grown by about 12 percent between 2010 and 2022, well above the statewide rate in the same period, 8.2 percent.

Location: In the Piedmont region of central Virginia, along the James River, with white water rafting and kayaking right downtown.

Population: 230,000 in the city; 1.3 million in the larger metropolitan area

Area: 63 square miles hug the James River, with the city’s commercial and residential activity focused on the north bank.

Housing: The homeownership rate, 47 percent, has risen steadily since 2017.

The vibe: Richmond has an artsy, even hipster feel, more in line with Philadelphia than Charleston, S.C. Unlike many state capitals, it lacks the claustrophobic feel of a one-industry town.

“Transplants that come here are looking for a really cool city that aligns with their values, has a lot of history, a lot of arts, and is still affordable,” the younger Ms. Longstaff said, praising the city’s neighborhood-focused culture, access to nature and increasingly sophisticated dining scene — from the drum ceviche at Celladora Wines to a Fabergé egg bedazzled with caviar at L’Opossum. There are also more than 30 breweries in and right outside of town, helpfully connected by the Richmond Beer Trail.

Richmond has been transforming itself throughout the last two decades. The Confederate statues along Monument Avenue are gone, toppled mostly in the summer of 2020 (Still, the history here remains complex; Scott’s Addition, for example, is named for Winfield Scott, who forced the Cherokee off their land in what came to be known as the Trail of Tears before later serving as a Union general during the Civil War). And Virginia Commonwealth University, ranked first among the nation’s public research universities for visual and performing arts by the National Science Foundation, has expanded its footprint, giving the city an unexpectedly funky vibe.

“You have many people from big cities up north, but it does have the charm of the South,” said Nicole Best, an agent with River Fox Realty. To her, that old-fashioned charm is best expressed in the porches, a Richmond staple and a must-have for summer’s brutal humidity.

The city’s diverse housing stock gives Ms. Best’s clients several options. “You can buy a 1910 rowhouse, or you can get a new construction, high-end condo,” Ms. Best said. The new build is most likely to be found in a riverfront neighborhood like Manchester or Shockoe Bottom. “Or you can go out into the suburbs and get a sprawling single-family home.”

Richmond is the state capital, but government doesn’t dominate the local economy. “It’s not really a big thing,” the younger Ms. Longstaff said. Access to nature and the arts are more central to how RVA, as the city is known to locals, sees itself today, she added.

A report late last year by the real estate firm CBRE described Richmond as having “a strong biotech and health care focus, with a robust manufacturing presence.” That sector is dominated by the VCU Medical Center, Virginia’s second largest hospital.

Richmond also sits at a nexus of several highways and railroads, and has a marine terminal, making it a key logistics hub for the entire Northeast. According to the city’s economic development office, 45 percent of the country’s population can be reached by truck within a day. Supply chain-related fields employs about 53,000 people in the area.

But what ultimately attracts people, Ms. Best said, is an opportunity to live well without paying exorbitant prices. The median sale price in Richmond is $405,000, significantly less than that of Washington ($682,000) or New York ($800,000), according to real estate websites.

“It’s just really a very livable city,” she said.

Going Out and About

Restaurants: The Greek food at Stella’s, in Malvern Gardens, gets raves. There are two terrific Jewish delis: Perly’s, off East Broad Street, and Susie’s Delicatessen, in the Fan District, where the schnitzel and brisket sandwiches stand out. For pizza, try Zorch in Carytown, a short walk from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. L’Opossum, a French restaurant near Hollywood Cemetery, is considered the epitome of fine dining in Richmond.

Bars: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, close to downtown, has outdoor space and plentiful food options. The Answer Brewpub, in the West End, brings respite from greasy bar grub with Vietnamese fare. If wine is your thing, head to the Fan District’s charming Jardin. For the hard stuff, there’s the Cirrus Vodka tasting room in Scott’s Addition; from there, it’s a short walk to Reservoir Distillery, where you can try whiskey flights and cocktails.

Culture: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is free. The Virginia Holocaust Museum is in the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood, as are several sites related to slavery, including an African burial ground dating back to the 18th century. The Children’s Museum of Richmond and the Science Museum of Virginia, next to each other on West Broad Street, also warrant visits.

Recreation: Shenandoah National Park is an hour and a half northwest by car. Two hours in the other direction is Virginia Beach. At the center of town is Belle Isle and its hiking trails, and jogging and biking trails also run along the James River. The city has spent $30 million on renovating Brown’s Island, a six-acre waterfront park.

Sports: The Flying Squirrels, a minor league baseball team, are opening a new stadium next year as part of a planned mixed-use development. Richmond Raceway hosts NASCAR races as well as conventions. In soccer, there are the Kickers, a pro men’s team, and a pre-professional women’s counterpart, the Ivy. V.C.U. and the University of Richmond field Division I athletic programs.

Groceries/Shopping: Good Foods Grocery, in Stony Point, offers local and organic produce; as do nearly two dozen farmers’ markets. There’s a Whole Foods on the edge of the Fan District, and another in the suburbs, in the Short Pump area.

Getting There, Getting Around

By road: Interstate 95 connects to Washington to the north, and to points south. I-64 heads southeast to Virginia Beach and northwest to Charlottesville.

Bus: Greater Richmond Transit Company buses are free, but most people drive.

Air: Richmond International Airport operates about 150 flights a day.

Neighborhoods

• The Museum District: The residential neighborhood with tree-lined streets of rowhouses is anchored by the grounds of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Virginia Historical Society.

• The Fan District: This roughly triangular section’s 85 blocks comprise “the largest intact Victorian neighborhood in the country,” according to its neighborhood association.

• Jackson Ward: Just north of downtown, this area is rich with African American history. Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and others performed at the Hippodrome Theater, an Art Deco building on Second Street, known as the Deuce, that is now a restaurant and event space with an adjacent restaurant, the Speakeasy Grill.

Housing

Ms. Best, the real estate agent, said that the “seller-heavy” market of the pandemic years had recently regained “some balance,” mirroring national trends. That could benefit people “who’ve been trying really hard to get into ownership,” she said.

• Inventory for sale: 670

• Average rent: $1,595 a month

• Median home value: $358,356

• More: Zillow

Schools

• Public School: The Richmond Public Schools system serves 21,775 students. Open High School and Richmond Community High School are both highly regarded.

• Private school: Standouts include St. Christopher’s School, for boys, as well as the Collegiate School and the Steward School.

• Colleges and universities: V.C.U., which has a considerable downtown presence, is a public university with nearly 30,000 students. The University of Richmond, with about 4,000 students, is west of the city center. It is private.