Moving to Roanoke, VA (Charlottesville, Petersburg: appointed, crime rates, schools)

[Erin1264]

Judy,

I don't know anything about New River Community College, I'm sorry.

I think Sean covered the weather pretty well in his post! Send me a PM if you want to know anything else.

Erin

[Stonecoldharbours]

Did you get my email awhile back? I hope so...you had mentioned that Covington had a drug problem remember? Was this you? I thought so, if not, sorry to bother you...I wanted more info on this and why you thought so here, since it will be close to where Clifton Forge is and we most likely will be near the town...thanks!

[Stonecoldharbours]

I guess it wsan't you, I am sorry to keep asking you something, you never answer me, so I guess your not the right person, sorry.

[Erin1264]

Hi there,
I replied to your PM saying the person that told me was credible and a co-worker, but other than that, I don't know any details, I'm sorry!

[Stonecoldharbours]

Thanks for replying to me! I thought that was you, is it really bad there? I really need to know this, if you don't mind, I need to know how bad is bad here.

[peaceandblessings]

We are considering a move to the Roanoke area and was wondering about the availabilty of childcare providers, centers, camps etc. We are moving from the New Jersey area and finding affordable, flexible childcare can be a issue, more so the affordability. Previous my current job, I operated my own family childcare program out of my home on a full-time basis, I'm currently operating part-time. Is there anyone with knowledge of the childcare needs in the area? Is there more of a need for the infant- toddler ages, pre-school, or does the area offer free full time preschool? Are there FT kindergarten programs? School- age before and after-care programs? what would you say the greatest need or needs would be and if you have a general knowledge of what the childcare costs are that would be helpful as well. Thank you for any and all information given..

[nssq]

Help im moving to roanoke virginia too I realize its a small town especially to some 1 movn from chicago. So does anyone know any good deals on apartments....I wanna live downtown....even a studio would do. Also what do ppl do for fun....from wht i know thrs nothing there. Thanks.

[movingtoroanoke]

I would just like to say my piece on Hampton Roads...I like it here, but it is BUSY here. You will not get away from the traffic by any means. In fact, I would bet that it's going to be worse here than in Roanoke. I am actually looking forward to living in Roanoke where it seems to be a little more laid back than Hampton Roads. I think Hampton Roads' problem is it's a lot of cities (big cities) smashed together in a pretty small area. We live in Williamsburg currently and we love Williamsburg, but my husband received an awesome job offer in Roanoke that he could not turn down.
You will not escape the cold here either, I'm afraid, because you are going to get the breezes from the water here and that makes it colder. Also, people here freak out when it snows half an inch. Things close down and everyone tries to drive and ends up in the ditch. Keep in mind, I love living here, but my point is that every place that you live is going to have it's problems I am very much looking forward to having a change of pace, but GradVT06, you are scaring me a bit by your post. By the way, do you need housing? We have our house up for rent...
papertrail...my husband and I are in our late 20's/early 30's and we would certainly be considered young professionals!!! We were wondering the same thing you are about people our age. Good luck to everyone!

[seanpecor]

Hey movingtoroanoke, congrats on the move to Roanoke. I'm 34 so I think that still qualifies me as a young professional (haha). We've entered our third year in the area (we live in Boones Mill, about a 25 minute drive from downtown Roanoke) and we absolutely love it. We'd never dream of leaving. If you have any questions feel free to PM me or ask publicly.

Sean

[CoolBill]

I am a 67 year old single guy looking again for a place to retire retire. Roanoke has been second on my list for a year or more.

I have lived in Prescott, AZ (Heaven for some) for years but family-and-friends picture has changed drastically, so I am looking east again.

Priorities are affordability, health and health care environment, transportation, crime rates, and overall quality of life. Roanoke has been looking pretty good until a few minutes ago.

Several writers at this site have expressed concern about crime rate. Most of the best secondary sources, like "Cities Rated and Ranked" and "Places Rated Alamanac" report for the MSA and not the central city. But, if you want to live in that central city as I do, you need different stats. Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed and City-Data.com do that very well. All use standard FBI stats. All the MSA suburbs do is dilute the crime statistics.

Lately, Roanoke has looked awful. Another source summed it up pretty well by stating that the City of Roanoke (pop. 92,000) in 2006 had the second worst crime rate in Virginia after Petersburg.

Most of my working life was in DC. I lived in northwest DC which was very decent in a city with an "awful" crime image. So, do neighborhoods matter that much in Roanoke? Probably.

The cities in competition with Roanoke are (1) Madison, WI, (2) Erie and (3)Pittsburgh, PA, (4) Charlottesville, VA, and (5) Asheville, NC. I am a native Californian, but the Middle Atlantic states are VERY attractive.

And I'm willing to listen.