Is the Roanoke area right for us? (Blacksburg, Salem: hotel, health)

[norm]

I am retired and my wife will be retiring in the next few years at which time we plan on moving away from the NYC area. I would like to know if Roanoke is an area that meets our needs or at least most of them.

Although we were both born and raised in New York City we used to own a home in the Catskill Mts. and we loved the area. We were 6 miles away from the nearest town.

We would prefer to have a house on a piece of land which could be as small as half an acre just so long as our neighbors weren't on top of us.

From what I have read in this forum Roanoke has flooding problems so obviously we wouldn't want to live in a flood zone.

Lower humidity level (very important for health reasons).
Mild winters without a lot of snow.
Near a city with a college (for cultural events).
Good medical facilities nearby.
Not too conservative.
Good shopping i.e. Lowes or Home Depot, Dept. Stores, Target, etc.
Decent restaurants in close proximity.
Houses below $250,000.
Reasonable taxes.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[j1n]

Originally Posted by norm

I am retired and my wife will be retiring in the next few years at which time we plan on moving away from the NYC area. I would like to know if Roanoke is an area that meets our needs or at least most of them.

Although we were both born and raised in New York City we used to own a home in the Catskill Mts. and we loved the area. We were 6 miles away from the nearest town.

We would prefer to have a house on a piece of land which could be as small as half an acre just so long as our neighbors weren't on top of us.

From what I have read in this forum Roanoke has flooding problems so obviously we wouldn't want to live in a flood zone.

Lower humidity level (very important for health reasons).
Mild winters without a lot of snow.
Near a city with a college (for cultural events).
Good medical facilities nearby.
Not too conservative.
Good shopping i.e. Lowes or Home Depot, Dept. Stores, Target, etc.
Decent restaurants in close proximity.
Houses below $250,000.
Reasonable taxes.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hey Norm,
I'm no authority at all on the Roanoke Valley, but I am hoping that we will be moving there shortly and I've done a lot of research, talking, asking questions, doing comparisons, visiting, etc. So I'll share what I perceive about the area.

Humidity. I think it has the potential to be as humid as almost anywhere on the east coast. I'm from NJ, have lived in FL, and spent good chunks of time in upstate NY, etc...I know humid!! But then again, in SW VA you have the mountains and their unique "climate" going for you as well, so I think it would vary.
Mild winters are one thing we (actually, my wife ) are seeking. I want the 4 seasons and some snow. She wants somewhat less snow than me! The Roanoke area gets a much less harsh winter than NYC, NJ, Catskills, etc.
Schools and events. Blacksburg is close to Roanoke and has Virginia Tech. Salem, Roanoke's neighbor has a college as well. Downtown Civic Center in Roanoke too...lots of events to attend as you like.
Good med facilities...Carilion is in Roanoke and also the New River Valley to the southwest. Lewis-Gale is in Salem. Montgomery Regional is in Blacksburg.
In my opinion (and I've heard from locals as well) that the area is generally pretty conservative. I found it to be a "good conservative", i.e. family values, sense of community, general friendliness from strangers. Others may perceive it as oppressive? But I do not think it is an exclusive type of conservative. But that's just my perception. Does that make sense?
Good shopping. Main St in Salem has a WalMart and a Big K, I believe. There is another WalMart (or Big K?) in Roanoke as well. There's sldo the Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke. In addition, there are good bookstores too...B&N, Books-A-Million. (I need good bookstores.)
Definitely decent restaurants in close proximity. All over the place. (No diners though...if you get diner withdrawal, hit Famous Anthony's!)
Definitely housing below $250,000.
Definitely reasonable taxes (especially if you are familiar with the north east).
Hope that helps! I'm still learning about the area too.
j1n

[norm]

j1n,

Thanks for the info. Humidity is one of the things we have no give on. We live on Long Island and the humidity can be opressive. At the moment the temperature is 85 with 65% humidity. High humidity makes my wife sick. From what I have seen on various weather sites the humidity in Roanoke is lower then where we are now.

Are there any specific areas or towns that you recommend.

At the moment we have Albuquerque, Reno & Prescott, AZ on our list of possibilities but if at all possible we would prefer staying of the east coast.

[j1n]

Originally Posted by norm

j1n,

Thanks for the info. Humidity is one of the things we have no give on. We live on Long Island and the humidity can be opressive. At the moment the temperature is 85 with 65% humidity. High humidity makes my wife sick. From what I have seen on various weather sites the humidity in Roanoke is lower then where we are now.

Are there any specific areas or towns that you recommend.

At the moment we have Albuquerque, Reno & Prescott, AZ on our list of possibilities but if at all possible we would prefer staying of the east coast.

Norm,
like I said, I may be a little off in my report on the humidity. I can only tell you what I've experienced, and that is this...
the East Coast tends to be pretty humid. I just got back from Wyoming. I find WY, UT, CO more of a "dry heat". Still hot! Really hot! But definitely not that "muggy" feeling like summer in the tri-state area means. I honestly have not spent any time in the Roanoke valley in, say, August. So a local resident (preferably a recent northeast transplant!) would be better suited to really answer that question for you.
I think that if you have a background in the Catskills, you would probably really like the Roanoke Valley. I'd say it's a similar "feeling" as far as the land, topography, etc. You may find that the Blue Ridge Mountains may actually feel even a bit more "mountainous" than the Catskills.
My suggestion would be to take a ride down from the city in August. Be sure to take 78 east to 81 south (the "scenic" route), not I-95!! Stay for the weekend and see what you think. Check out the towns and the sights. If it's blazing hot, at least your hotel and car will have ac, and you'll know for yourself what the weather holds! j1n

[seanpecor]

It would appear that the average annual relative humidity in Long Island is 70%. In Roanoke, it is 53%.

Humidity just on the East side of the Blue Ridge mountains will be slightly lower than in the Roanoke Valley. For example, we're in Franklin County which is just south of Roanoke County and still part of the Roanoke metro area. Since Franklin County isn't inside the large "bowl" of the Roanoke Valley, we don't get nearly the number of air quality alerts that Roanoke gets. With that said, there aren't many air quality alerts in the Roanoke area, compared to Long Island where it is much more common. I wonder if it's not so much the humidity that's making your wife sick, but rather the potential effect on air quality when both humidity and pollution are high?

Franklin County has the lowest tax burden within the Roanoke metro area. Although even Roanoke City taxes will seem very low by comparison with northeast tax burdens.

I suspect you'd really like it here. Personally, I'd wilt if I moved out to the desert West. I have to go to Las Vegas once a year to a business conference and the dry air is really hard on my skin, my nose and my throat. And it's so brown and lifeless looking, except where people are irrigating, and as that region enters into an extended drought, you have to wonder what sort of water emergencies lay just beyond the horizon out there.

Sean

[norm]

Sean,

According to the weather site I use the average annual humidity in our town in 61% while in Roanoke it's 50%.

The places out west that we are considering are high desert so they are green (except for Prescott, AZ). We spent one week in Prescott and yes we had to carry a bottle of water with us for hydration but it was never uncomfortable. Even temps in the low 90's were very bearable.

The quality of the air has nothing to do with my wife's reaction to high humidity. She is even willing to live without grass if it meant her not getting sick the way she does.

Are there any towns in Franklin Cty that you recommend for me to check out?

We do intend to visit any area we are considering and then we will spend about a month in the areas that make the final cut before making a decision.

[Blue Moon Athena]

norm:

When comparing locations with regard to humidity, the method you are using may not be the most accurate. Most weather statistics on humidity are giving you a reading of relative humidity. From the sound of things, your wife’s condition varies by the amount of moisture in the air and not the relative humidity. You will want to focus your comparisons using statistics of absolute humidity and not relative humidity. Absolute humidity is the measure of how much moisture there is in the air. Relative humidity is a ratio which describes the amount of moisture in the air as relative to the temperature. The two are not the same.

Here are a couple of examples of how comparing relative humidity can yield deceptive results:

Assume that on a summer afternoon, the amount of moisture in the air is exactly the same in Roanoke and at a spot on Long Island. If the temperature is, say, 90 degrees on LI, while at the same time the temperature in Roanoke is 85, the relative humidity in Roanoke is going to be a higher number than the relative humidity at that moment on LI. And that despite the fact that the amount of moisture in the air is exactly the same in the two locations.

On a winter day on LI, the temperature may be 30 degrees. The dew point, which is a measure of how much moisture there is in the air, might be 25. A calculation of relative humidity in that scenario would yield what most would consider to be a fairly high reading. But in reality, the air on that day is fairly dry and the absolute humidity would be a much lower number than the relative humidity. On that same winter day, if the temperature in Roanoke is 45 and the dew point is 30, the relative humidity would be lower than it is at that moment on LI, yet the amount of moisture in the air would be higher than on LI.

Though not as readily available as statistics on relative humidity, I might suggest that you instead focus your research on comparing dew points. The dew point is a measure of how much moisture is in the air, and thus, a measure of absolute humidity as opposed to relative humidity. Very simply, the higher the dew point, the more moisture there is. You will want to find the “tipping point” at which your wife starts having health problems. Find out what the dew point is at that time and you will have your starting point. In my experience, most individuals that experience humidity-related health problems, do so when the dew point reaches the mid 60s or higher.

You may also want to focus on not just the dew point, but how often the dew point reaches a specific level. I can tell you that if your wife has problems with the level of moisture that she experiences on LI, then she will have similar problems anywhere in the eastern half and northern third of the country. The differences from place to place would not be whether or not the dew point reaches a certain level, but how often it reaches those levels. In order to find a location which has consistently low dew points, you will need to focus your search on areas in the west. But even in those locations, dew points have a tendency to creep upward at certain times of the year. For instance, in Tucson, AZ, you will find low to very low dew points much of the year. However during monsoon season, which runs from roughly mid July to early September, dew points can easily be in the 60s or even higher.

Good luck with your search.

BlueMoon’s other half (retired meteorologist)

[norm]

Athena,

I really appreciate the information about humidity. I have tried without success to find a site that gives absolute humidity data. Currently it is 79 degrees where I am with a dew point of 72 while it show Roanoke at 82 degrees with a dew point of 66.

I just checked the month by month dew points and Roanoke is exactly the same as where we live now so I am afraid I will have to stop pursuing Roanoke as a place for us to retire to. I am disappointed because it has all of the other things that we want but humidity is priority #1 for us.

Thanks again for your help.

[seanpecor]

Norm, is it simply the amount of moisture in the air, or is it your wife's bodies' ability to regulate its own internal temperatures when the relative humidity is so high that her perspiration cannot evaporate and cool her down during the warmer months? Or is it an allergy to mold or mildew?

Franklin County has one notable town: Rocky Mount, VA. It is also the county seat. The town population is 5,000 while the county population is over 50,000. We live in the Boones Mill zip code, which is a rural area that is becoming a semi-rural area for folks who enjoy the country but prefer to be reasonably close to city conveniences. We enjoy this specific area because we're 20 minutes from the Tanglewood Mall area of Roanoke, 25 minutes from Roanoke's downtown, and 15 minutes from the town of Rocky Mount. We're about 8 minutes from convenience stores and with the population in this area increasing, there are a couple of new commercial developments of interest within a 10 minute drive, including a large grocery store and additional restaurants. It's a nice balance for us.

If you liked the Catskills then you'd love the mountains down here. For example, this is my webcam view:



I think it's wise to spend a month in each area. It may be that out West is the best choice for you folks due to health reasons. The two high desert areas that you call green might be a good choice. Still, I looked at the weather history of both areas and they each average only 10" of rain per year. Here in Franklin County we average about 40". We love the lush greenery, the easy gardening and the four seasons. But there is a certain kind of beauty in desert areas that is quite amazing if one can adapt to it.

Sean

[norm]

Sean,

That beautiful scenery looks exactly like what we saw looking off of our deck up in the Catskills.

As for what makes my wife sick all we know is that when the humidity goes up she gets a sickly feeling including headaches & nauseousness. As much as she loves gardening she is willing to move to the desert if it means her feeling better.

I checked and Rocky Mount has the same dew point as Roanoke and our home so it wouldn't be good for her.

Although the areas we are considering don't get as much rain as we do here in the east they do get some snow which provides a source of water.

Prescott, AZ for example averages 21" of rain and 25" of snow annually. Albuquerque gets 8.5"/11" and Reno gets 7"/24".

No matter what happens I always end up coming back to these 3 cities because overall they have most of what we want.