Considering Roanoke or Salem (Richmond: transplants, to rent, insurance)

[Movingsouth2011]

We're jumping ship out of NY. We are 2 adults and one teen and a bird dog.

The costs are insane here. We are ready to move down south and I stumbled somehow across this forum and Roanoke/Salem VA.

I wonder if this would be a good spot for us. We're pretty much live and let live and don't do any partying or whatever. We don't go to church but we respect those who worship. We love to enjoy a quiet home and read a lot, so an excellent library is a priority.

My husband is in the medical inventory field and I wonder how hard it would be to find jobs down there. I have worked in offices as an administrative professional and manager.

Also are NY folks accepted? Again, we aren't out to change the world to fit our life here, just get a place and a job and live safely and happily.

I'm seeking reasonable rents and a family place. I have done big cities and small towns...prefer something in between.

The number 1 reason for moving is the cost of living here. We can't even afford the rent in a bad area...

Thanks very much if you reply.

[KathyR]

The medical/hospital industry is huge in the Roanoke area. They have a huge senior population. You would also find rents to be quite affordable. Other than that.....can't say I'd recommend it for a teenager. Have you considered the Richmond area?

[j1n]

Originally Posted by Movingsouth2011

We're jumping ship out of NY. We are 2 adults and one teen and a bird dog.
The costs are insane here. We are ready to move down south and I stumbled somehow across this forum and Roanoke/Salem VA.

City, LI, or upstate?
We did the same, from the suburban NYC area about 3 yrs ago... haven't looked back. We bought a 5 bedroom, 2 bath liveable fixer-upper on a good street that's about a 2 min drive to downtown Roanoke for under 100k and we pay approx 1k in taxes per year. Nuff said...?

I wonder if this would be a good spot for us. We're pretty much live and let live and don't do any partying or whatever. We don't go to church but we respect those who worship. We love to enjoy a quiet home and read a lot, so an excellent library is a priority.

So far, so good. And we have an excellent library system. Not quite as progressive as I might hope, but that's what Amazon is for.

My husband is in the medical inventory field and I wonder how hard it would be to find jobs down there. I have worked in offices as an administrative professional and manager.

Carilion and Lewis-Gale are big employers here. You both should have little problem finding suitable work here.

Also are NY folks accepted? Again, we aren't out to change the world to fit our life here, just get a place and a job and live safely and happily.

Yes, you'd be fine. LOTS of transplants here.

I'm seeking reasonable rents and a family place. I have done big cities and small towns...prefer something in between.

Roanoke is exactly "something in between"

The number 1 reason for moving is the cost of living here. We can't even afford the rent in a bad area...

please refer to my first response . You'll find that it's cheaper to buy here than to rent in lots of other places up north. And there isn't much in the way of "bad areas" here... at least not compared to what I was accustomed to (Newark, NJ, Elizabeth, NJ, Camden, etc...)

Thanks very much if you reply.

No worries. Feel free to send me a private message if you need any more info.
Also... Roanoke and Salem (although they are connected and it doesn't feel much different when you drive from one into another) are two very different towns. There is a very different dynamic to Salem. There are other threads in this forum that go into that in more detail, so I'll leave you to do some searching. But my advice would be to look more closely at Roanoke initially. Once you spend some time here, you would be able to feel Salem out and see if you would like it there.

[Movingsouth2011]

Thanks for the replies. I have to dig a bit to find out if we'd like that area and can get jobs.

[Kreutz]

Originally Posted by Movingsouth2011

Thanks for the replies. I have to dig a bit to find out if we'd like that area and can get jobs.

I second what j1n said (we moved to Roanoke county though-we're getting a brand new library in a few months), this is a great place and theres alot of Northerners and foreign people (seems to be alot of Brits for some reason) floating around.

We escaped from Westchester county (though grew up on Long Island).

My mortgage and property taxes and insurance per month for my huge nice house is a third of what I paid for a crappy 3 bedroom in NY.

[roanoker 4]

Originally Posted by KathyR

The medical/hospital industry is huge in the Roanoke area. They have a huge senior population. You would also find rents to be quite affordable. Other than that.....can't say I'd recommend it for a teenager. Have you considered the Richmond area?

Just curious but what do teenagers in Richmond do that is different from Roanoke teens? Their main activity seems to be texting to each other. There is probably more to do here for them if they like the outdoors!

[j1n]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

Just curious but what do teenagers in Richmond do that is different from Roanoke teens? Their main activity seems to be texting to each other. There is probably more to do here for them if they like the outdoors!

I agree. In my experience, Richmond doesn't have a low enough cost of living to really make it a viable option for someone from "up north" looking to radically change their situation. I find it pretty depressing, and much less interesting (and flat!) than the 'Noke.