<p>We visited UR recently and loved the environment. Friendly, happy student body and beautiful campus. We did not have time to do an official info session/tour so we didn't get a complete picture. My daughter is concerned that she would be trapped on campus for 4 years. Can someone address how weekends are spent at UR? Do students eat/shop off campus, and if so, which neighborhood? Is a car required?</p>
<p>This used to be a bigger issue than it is today. Even then, since freshmen were allowed to have cars (something that’s more and more rare around the country) someone was always willing to lend you theirs if you needed to get off campus to do something. As you said, it’s a pretty friendly student body.</p>
<p>Students spend a lot of hours off campus volunteering in the community.</p>
<p>As far as eating and shopping off-campus, it doesn’t happen as much as maybe it should, but there are a couple of popular parts of town for students. First is Carytown, an eclectic mix of locally owned restaurants and shops. Second, the Bottom, downtown, is a popular bar destination. </p>
<p>There are ample opportunities to get off campus without having a car. I didn’t have one and managed to survive. Now there are shuttles that take students to popular shopping areas, a free shuttle that takes you downtown and back (passing through Carytown), and ZipCars, cars that can be reserved and used by students using a subscription service.</p>
<p>[Transportation</a> - University of Richmond](<a href=“Parking & Transportation Services - University of Richmond”>http://transportation.richmond.edu/)</p>
<p>Thank you Spiders for the info. Very helpful. Are zipcars limited to those at least 21 years old?</p>
<p>I didn’t see anything on UR’s site or ZipCar’s site to lead me to believe that it was limited to those that are 21 or older. </p>
<p>I would imagine all you need to have is a valid license.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Richmond – Zipcar](<a href=“http://www.zipcar.com/richmond/]University”>University of Richmond | Zipcar)</p>
<p>This link might help you regarding the University of Richmond’s zip cars. I punched in “university of Richmond” in the “find cars” and it said there were 2 zip cars available.</p>
<p>Thank you Spider and NYSmile.</p>