Unlike the rest who have posted here I lived in Richmond Park in my first year so I have a different insight into hall life there.
For a start Richmond was definitely not a 'completely uneventful hall', at least in my year. There were plenty of socials, people do go out together regularly and it is very easy to socialize in big or small groups with the vast majority of people in Richmond. People are more relaxed in Richmond so there is less pressure to impress people or go along with the crowd. This promotes a healthier atmosphere than in other halls. The bar is under-used and this is probably the biggest problem with the hall. However people get around this by socializing in flats or, in summer, out on the grass in the middle of eash court which is in a lot of ways nicer.
Richmond is definitely quieter but for a lot of people this is a good thing. Especially in Owens Park and to some extent in Oak House, getting any work done/sleeping/generally relaxing for 5 minutes is very difficult. There are regular fire alarms night and day, its really noisy and people don't worry about studying so much because they think first year is irrelevant. In Richmond this is not the case. It is much easier to achieve a good balance between work and play. If working hard is important to you then definitely think of Richmond Park ahead of the others.
From what I have seen in owens park and oak house relationships seem to be based around large groups of people often dominated by a few individuals. This isn't so much the case in Richmond in the sense that u don't have to know everyone or get on with everyone and relationships can therefore be a lot closer than in other halls.
So basically what I'm saying is Owens Park and Oak House work for some people. They both have good bars and even if the standard of accomodation is low, the noise is fairly constant and the atmosphere is sometimes too crazy, I know a lot of people who have lived there very happily in their first year. But in Richmond, the accomodation is so much nicer, the atmosphere is much more laid back and the opportunity to actually achieve something exists. That said Lauren makes a fair point. If your aim is to get out of your comfort zone and basically focus only on the social side of first year and not worry about comfort or work then Richmond Park may not be the hall for you. read more