Bro that shyt started trickling in the mid-00s, in the whole Richmond area. There wasn't no Bloods and Crips in the area, everything I know and have heard. In '04 this Crip dude from Detroit moved to Prince George, followed by a Crip from Little Rock in the same school year...
We used to have functions and sports events with Burg cats obviously, Bloods and Crips weren't a thing, most people I knew had never heard of either. Then in '05 and '06 there was this explosion of NY Blood gangs in Hopewell and Petersburg...
I don't know how long you been gone but they been there around 15 years now. Myself, I left in '05 and besides a handful of visits didn't come back to the area until '15, and even then spent most of my time in Richmond. Went to VB in '17 and haven't been back to Tri-Cities since, but there's been Bloods and Crips in the area since around '05...
I went home during the holidays and was surprised it's bloods and crips in the Burg.
That's crazy to me..it was more sets than anything growing up 740, 3rd ward, etc...not even on that gang shyt just hoods.


I'd agree that alota Virginians don't have a deep southern accent. Its southern, but not deep. But again I'm a Virginian, I can hear the Virginia South accent in everybody from VA that most people can't hear---->Wanda Sykes, Iverson, Vick, Zo Mourning, etc...
Virginia is unique like that, wide range of dialects but there is a specific "Virginia sound" that if you're just used to hearing thousands of Virginians talk, you can pick it up. Chad Hugo and Constance Wu may be the only famous Virginians I can't hear it in and that's probably because they Asian lmao...
Negged
It’s a majority black town with an HBCU but outside of that - there’s nothing there. Surrounding areas might as well be sundown towns
It also doesn’t help that Salisbury University (PWI) 20+ mins up the street from UMES has periodically been vandalized with racist statements: 
I’m from Richmond city, wbu?Cleveland is a large city and I still wouldnt say it's a particularly relevant place. I've been there by the way, and thoroughly enjoyed myself, it has charm...
Richmond is a more enthralling and captivating city with a much longer historical record of relevance than Cleveland. Hard sell on Cleveland being more relevant than Rich, let alone the state of Virginia as a whole, which played as much a part of shaping this nation as anywhere you can name...
People in NoVa have southern accents too, Virginia southern. The difference is the entirety of NoVa is pretty much one vast suburb, suburbs across the country tend to have more monotonous accents a la TV anchors, I've found this to be true on my experiences coast to coast...
Baltimore accent is a sub variant of the Chesapeake Bay, better known as "Tidewater" accent. That's the same family of dialects and you can hear it in certain words, and it makes sense because Maryland and Virginia are bound with history spanning not just Euro colonialism but the Natives that were on those "states" beforehand...
When you throw in the fact that DC us a created place, not a natural city, created with agreement from Maryland and Virginia, and DC is in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, it makes even more sense why people from all three sound the same. Outsiders may not be able to tell, but, for the most part and with only exception to certain words or unique local slang, people from the eastern halves of Va and Md, including DC (so basically I-95 and everything East of it) are one large, similar culture...
Dead at your analysis of Petersburg though, you ain't wrong lol...
Petersburg is surrounded by The Whites and Chesterfield County to the north (Crackervilles), Dinwiddie Co to the west (Crackerville), Prince George Co and Hopewell to the east and south (Crackervilles). What part of VA you from, g?
Petersburg has alota black businesses but is an underserved and highly impoverished black city. The politics there are a mess and while I think it's a good visit if somebody is in the Richmond area, it's not somewhere that has a hell of alota redeeming qualities...
They all about equal if you swerve thru the streets, if you into street life Virginia has some of the most authentic places in America. Richmond is one of the most dangerous cities in US history, but has gotten progressively better since the late 00s. It's the OG city for street life in VA...
I never felt Bad Newz was that bad, Hampton was another story. Likewise Portsmouth never felt that bad but Norfolk felt worse. None of these places felt worse than Richmond hoods, but they all had a similar degree of drama...
Petersburg is just a smaller version of Richmond, over half the city is a ghetto....and for reference I've sold drugs and/or had issues with cats in Petersburg and Norfolk, very familiar with those places...
You virginia is one of the most 'lockem up and throw away the key" state's in America. A of New Yorkers of to Virginia to do whatever.I’m from Richmond city, wbu?
Sounds damn near like UMES/Princess Anne except Princess Anne is more of a mixture of local white trash, white ex-Baltimoreans, and country ghetto Black folks. And yes, the town does have a pretty racist history, especially in relation to UMES (HBCU). It’s not really bad like that anymore but you could drive around there and think it was a sundown town. There did used to be lynchings including a hanging in the middle of campus tooIt also doesn’t help that Salisbury University (PWI) 20+ mins up the street from UMES has periodically been vandalized with racist statements:
That happened 3 weeks ago during the heart of Black History Month. Also, the message said “It’s Hang A N***** Month”. Real live tho, if the Eastern Shore still wanna secede from the rest of the state, I’m all for it. It’s literally the most trash part of Maryland![]()
If I could, I would move back.The history made me interested lol