Why I am leaving Roanoke (Richmond, Cave Spring: sales, 2010, for rent)

[ChristieC]

I can't post on everyone's thread who is thinking of coming to Roanoke, VA, so here is my own!

I grew up in Roanoke, went to Cave Spring (considered the "rich kid" high school by locals) and then left at 19 to go to college. I decided that I did not want to continue living in Roanoke after high school because of the conservative nature of the town. At that point there were 4 rich old fuddy duddies who sat on all the money and swayed how Roanoke laws, economic development, etc. were going to go. There was nothing for young people to do for entertainment.

I decided to move back May 2006 because me and my husband are thinking about starting a family and I want to be closer to my family. Thinking it has changed because of the recent building and new "keep the young people here" campaigns I moved on down and looked for a job.

After retaining a sales job, I hit the ground running and was deeply engrossed in economic development, networking, and government events. I spoke with the mayor, was on the news, and involved in every young professional organization there was. To be honest me and my husband are exactly what Roanoke is trying to retain. One problem...my husband cannot get a job. I am not talking an upper management job, he cannot get an entry level IT job. I will not go into too much detail as to his extended list of accomplishments, impressive resume, and awesome personality; just know that anyone would love to have him work for them. He has applied at hundreds of places, sometimes twice, and keeps contact to check if they have openings and if they have viewed his resume. The usual response is a curt "you don't have what we need." He had one amazing interview with a company who brought him in for a 3 hour second interview and then told him that they loved him but the the other guy had more experience. He has also been working with a employment agency, who also cannot find him a job. My theory, hiring discrimination. We have a very italian last name, that no one can pronounce and everyone looks at us funny when we say it. I had been saying this was the case, and everyone says, "no can't be, that's illegal!" then the employment agent says, oh my gosh that happened the other day. They went into a place with my husbands resume, the employers looked at his name and says, "what race is he". Wow. I cannot express how frustrating this is. This is the town I came from. We bought a house in November that we now cannot afford,so we are putting it up for rent (see forum "Property Management in Roanoke") and leaving. Our potential, our money, and our decisions to improve Roanoke are going with us. This happens every day! It is not just us.

There are two classes of young professionals in Roanoke; the actuals and the settlers. The settlers are fine sitting at a $25,000 job and think that helping the young professionals of Rke is building a Cheesecake Factory. The actuals want change and growth, and want to make a good living with growth potential. The actual young professional are leaving.

Sorry for the ranting, this has been a really frustrating time in our lives. I really, really wanted this to work out. I want to be close to my family but I feel like we have backtracked in our professional lives and we need to swiftly correct our mistake and get out.

My advice to everyone thinking of moving to Roanoke. Have a steady job you know you enjoy first. Do not make our mistake and pick the area before the career. No matter how much people say it has changed, deep down, it really has not. If you stray at all from a straight white American who is a Christian be prepared for some form of Racism. **I know I am going to receive some retaliation on that one, but if you are not from Roanoke, you need to know.

[williamsburgfan]

I am truly sorry for your situation and hope you find 'the place"

you said:
"My advice to everyone thinking of moving to Roanoke. Have a steady job you know you enjoy first. Do not make our mistake and pick the area before the career"

That should be the case before anyone who needs to work moves anywhere. Too many people pick the area - by reading a few posts it seems perfect - until they visit. You knew the area and have family, good reasons to choose a location.

Jobs come first!

[roanoker 4]

I am sorry you must leave Roanoke. I agree with your statements that Roanoke is not a good place for a young professional to start a life. Despite other threads I have read to the contrary, Roanoke is not a good place if one is just starting out. I also feel the American dream may be a distant memory for many young people these days. The U.S. economy seems to be moving against the "middle class"(if that still exists), in favor of the wealthy. Like a lot of other recent graduates here, may I suggest looking at Charlotte? I know of people who lived in Roanoke like yourself and moved there and they are very happy and doing very well. For myself at middle age, I find Roanoke a perfect fit. I think it is a "diamond in the rough" with the quality of living at the top of the list. I think Roanoke is now attracting upper income "empty nesters" who are tired of the rate race of Charlotte, DC, Florida, etc. Good Luck and maybe one day you can return to this beautiful place!

[seanpecor]

I know plenty of young professionals in Roanoke that are doing quite well and have had no trouble finding a job. In fact I had a friend w/ an I.T. background in Vermont who posted his profile to the Roanoke connect database and was getting offers in the $60K range within days. On the other hand, I know some folks in the Roanoke area that can't seem to land the job they want. It's worth noting that I have friends in San Francisco, Atlanta and Boston who are going through the same thing. There are hiring freezes and many companies continue to interview to keep their HR people busy while they figure out if growth or downsizing is in their companies' future. It's disrespectful towards job candidates in my opinion but that's the free and global market for you. I think your advice is apt not only for those looking into Roanoke but also those looking to relocate anywhere else in the U.S and land an I.T. job.

As for myself, I have experienced no form of discrimination and being a wierd mix of native american, french and dutch, I probably look more Italian than most Italians in Roanoke I'm also an athiest. And I have a pony tail. But since I own my own I.T. ventures and I haven't applied for an I.T. job since 1996, I can only speak of my experiences from a social (fellow parents, friends, social mixers) and business development perspective. I haven't tried to get hired here.

I haven't seen evidence of Christian xenophobia on either side of that ideological line in my two years here. I did notice some when I lived in a predominantly Catholic region. In an area like that, you're either Catholic or you're not. Here in Roanoke there about 4,000 Protestant flavors.... Baptist, Presbyterian, German Baptist, United Methodist, etc etc. It's not really a homogenous religious environment because of that fracturing. Yes most people are Christian but denominations are quite distinct when you get into the details.

Whereever you choose to make your next home I hope it works out for you! On thing to note however. In the I.T. field, don't get too attached to any particular area. I know not many I.T. folks who spend more than 5 years in a position. Too much flux. You'll be moving around some more. A few years here. Five years there. Four years here. That's just what I've witnessed from my vantage point anyway.

Sean

[ChristieC]

Thanks for the good thoughts!

seanpecor said:
As for myself, I have experienced no form of discrimination and being a weird mix of native american, french and dutch, I probably look more Italian than most Italians in Roanoke I'm also an athiest. And I have a pony tail.

You are in Boone's Mill though, aren't you? That area seems a bit more like Floyd, which I love. Every person on our street is a Christian and makes sure we know we can come to their church anytime. My husband is an Atheist as well and I am Agnostic. We have had a hard time adjusting the the fact that everyone assumes we are Christian; and the anti Atheist comments constantly made do not help either (no Atheists in foxhole, oh my, you mean he is a devil worshiper). Oh yea, they went there.

Thank you for the IT advice, my hubby has been in IT before, although it had been more than 2 years. Your Vermont buddy probably had a few years and certifications under his belt. They keep telling my hubby he doesn't have enough experience.

I think it is wonderful that you guys have found your place Roanoke. It is a great place to be older in. Midage through retirement is great here, I have heard. Just no place for me.

[seanpecor]

I get the church invitations too. It's a market share issue Can't blame churches for wanting to increase their membership; after all, they keep the lights on and the ministers' paycheck from bouncing. If it makes you feel any better, the Lutherans think Catholics are going to hell, the Mormons think Baptists are going to hell, and so on and so forth. As for me, I follow the modern definition of Athiest which is closer to the definition of Agnostic. In the "old days", an Athiest was anti-religion. In other words, an Athiest was someone who actively worked to convert people to non-religion. An Agnostic was someone who "denied" God. What that means, I'm not sure. I suppose it meant they refused to acknowledge the existence of God due to contempt or a lack of proof of his existence. But an Agnostic isn't an adversary to the church, unlike the traditional view of an Athiest. It's all very confusing. And anyway, if someone religious asks me in person about my religion, I _avoid_ using the word Athiest and just say "while I have a profound respect for others' spirituality, I myself am not religious". Athiest is a loaded word because lots of old timey Christians hang on to that original Athiestic definition, which they take as an organized group that _opposes_ God and is therefore somehow Satanic. By no coincidence, the word Satan originates from an ancient Hebraic symbol that meant Opponent. Satan is God's opposition, so an Athiest, following the same logic, is in league with Satan. Wheee! rambling thoughts about religion. Must be all the sun I had today

Yes, we do live in the Boones Mill zip code but we're tied pretty close to Roanoke and we spend alot of time there. My girls go to North Cross School on 419 so virtually all of our fellow North Cross parents live in Roanoke. I set my mom up at Elm Park Estates across from Tanglewood and we do alot of business in the Valley etc. It's worth mentioning that most all fellow North Cross parents are not originally from Roanoke; they're from all parts of the country so our social and business circles are perhaps a bit more cosmopolitan due to that and not reflective of the Roanoke area as a whole? Who knows. OTOH, all of the Boones Mill natives I converse with regularly are pretty well tolerant.

Sean

[Upstate Dave]

This is a fascinating & informative thread. Thanks to all contributors. My wife & I are set on relocating to Roanoke from Rochester NY in a couple years once we have all our ducks in a row. My current work is in engineering design, and my wife is an IT manager. I am working on my new BA degree, while she is working on getting more certs. Seems that the more education and certifications on the resume may mean getting serious looks rather than having the resume skimmed and filed.

Hopefully, we will fit the model of middle aged newbies that have the skills and experience to be successful in Roanoke.

I too try to be careful with my words regarding religious affiliation. While we label ourselves Christian, we do not participate in weekly celebrations. That isn't an issue here in upstate NY, and I don't plan to highlight that in our new home.

ChristieC, Good luck with your careers.

[rtangs]

I too made the mistake of coming out here blind, though my move was basically one of convenience and I was single and unattached. I had never even been within a hundred miles of the Roanoke area when I moved here last year from Richmond. It could be said that I haven't really given the place a fair chance, and that may be true, but it just doesn't seem different enough from Richmond (and I did not enjoy living there), and at least for me, I never really intended to make this my permanent home anyway.

Also, it may perhaps just be me, but I don't find the locals to be particularly friendly, on the whole. Certainly I've met some truly nice people, and made several good friendships that I'll take with me when I go, but I get the impression that the natives here are not particularly accepting of 'outsiders', especially when our accents betray us. (I'm originally from NE Pennsylvania and it's obvious every time I open my mouth).

I found the place to be more pleasant overall than Richmond. Still, it's not the place for me, either.

[Justme2010]

In the IT field, nowdays, I would think government work is a big one (especially if you were born in this country, but here there're some twists, a) lots of waste, and you may not be able to get lots of things done simply because others don't want to feel left behind... but then if you feel that's ok; b) depending on personality it's quite unlikely to be exciting (opinion from federal contractor perspective).
Second area of opportunites is to be IT project manager, this would work even if an IT project is outsourced to India or some other country, you still need to Define Requirements, manage tasks/milestones/budget etc, ...
Third, move to India, probably you don't want to
Fourth, consider another career ...

[ChristieC]

Originally Posted by Justme2010

In the IT field, nowdays, I would think government work is a big one (especially if you were born in this country, but here there're some twists, a) lots of waste, and you may not be able to get lots of things done simply because others don't want to feel left behind... but then if you feel that's ok; b) depending on personality it's quite unlikely to be exciting (opinion from federal contractor perspective).
Second area of opportunites is to be IT project manager, this would work even if an IT project is outsourced to India or some other country, you still need to Define Requirements, manage tasks/milestones/budget etc, ...
Third, move to India, probably you don't want to
Fourth, consider another career ...

Huh? 1) He has applied for every job including county government
2) He shouldn't have to find another career.

My biggest point to this forum post is that it is tough to be a young white collar professional in Roanoke and people thinking of relocating to this area need to be aware of it. Do IT jobs exist in Roanoke...Sure, just not for someone starting out in IT. We are finding a place in the world that allows both of us to work where we want. And the quest continues...