Why do so many people on here choose Roanoke? (Norfolk: transplants, new home)

[badger74]

why the difference--I would say the fact that L was ranked 120th in job growth from 2006-2008 while R was ranked 202nd.
I can say in the year I lived in L I went to R once for entertainment for an antique show that tuned out to be a bust. As C'ville was just as close and had better shows and sports we went to C much more often--probably twice a month. We also would do some shopping there as they had Whole Foods and Eddie Bauer and a few others not in the L. After Kroger expanded and got better we made fewer trips for food stuffs.

Downtown L is smaller than R with only 1 highrise building. It is about half way to being reclaimed from the move of all the stores out to the burbs. We are going to be staying at the newly renovated Craddock-Terry Hotel downtown. It has gotten great reviews so we are looking forward to that trip in May.

Boutique Hotel | Craddock Terry | Lynchburg Virginia Hotels

L is far from flat as it's nickname is the city of 7 hills. It's very hilly and the westside butts up against the foothills of the Blue Ridge. The minor league baseball team is the Hillcats. I prefer it to R because we are retiring there so jobs are not an issue. I like the proximity to CVille without the high cost, less traffic and good access to DC and points north where we have family.


The one thing we would like to see added to L is a good meat market butcher shop. Krogers is decent but we like to deal with a real butcher shop. We also look forward to the completion of the performing arts center renovation project downtown.

About the Academy of Fine Arts (http://www.academyfinearts.com/aboutus.asp - broken link)

[Jerry_Williams]

Can some one explain this whole job growth thing with Lynchburg, PLEASE?? Were the heck do people work??? I can see that with the hospital seriously expanding and the growth of Areva new jobs would be created. However, most of this should show up in 2008 numbers, not 2007.

[Jerry_Williams]

Originally Posted by WolfX

I would probably live in Lynchburg though. Either way the area is great. People are cool, and it's a BEA utiful landscape.

Can you please explain what is so cool about the people in Lynchburg. Most folks are either Jerry Falwell type "Christians" or rebel flag waiving moster truck fans. Both categories are very likely to shove their opinions down your throat and get verbally aggressive if you do not agree. (So I usually just listen). OK, there are some people who does not fit in to either category, but they are not many.

In my wildest imagination I can not phantom what makes people here cool. Is driving around town with a rebel flag sticker saying “We don’t care how you did it up north” cool?

I must obviously must be missing the point with Lynchburg.

[Mr,Jonas]

Yeah, cool people in Lynchburg sounds strange to me, unless you love WWF and The Moral Majority..........

Jerry, Do your self a favor and drop the whole “understanding the job market” in “the burg”. The old boy network rules and outsiders are not welcomed. Very simple.

[badger74]

I guess it's all who you know. Most people in my neighborhood did not go to Falwell's church and nobody ever tried to convert us. Several were Jewish as there is a good sized Jewish population in Boonsboro. We do not go to church at all. The whole Moral Majority thing is so over.

[roanoker 4]

I have always seen Lynchburg, Roanoke & the NRV as one region. Apparently some people wish to divide the region and compare "job growth" statistics between L & R. Whats next? How many Starbucks R has to L? It all sounds very silly to me. On a national scale this "Region" is not even on the map and even in VA we are overshadowed by NoVa & Tidewater's influence in state politics. Face it folks, if we don't come together we will further fall behind not only the state but the region.

[badger74]

L had Starbucks first! I worked in opening that first shop. They hired me because I was NOT from L and knew Starbucks having lived in Seattle for 12 years or so. Some national city rating publication actually used that as one criteria to rate cities.

But yes it would be seen nationally as one area that is more similar than different. I'd even include C'Ville, Staunton etc. I always just call it Central Va. Of course we have to leave out Danville, etc.;-)

[roanoker 4]

Lynchburg seems like it wants to go its own way for some reason or even with C'ville? C'ville doesn't want to have anything to do with L'burg as it has
closer ties with Richmond & DC. Like it or not, at some point in the future the population with grow together in the NRV, R & L areas and then there will be talk of a major metro area. Until that future event I guess everyone will go their seperate ways and think locally and forget the big world out there.

[badger74]

Politically L has not been happy with C since they managed to change the route of the interstate from going through L from Richmond up to C. Now they keep blocking expansion of the bypass around C for US29 which is the major N/S route. This is seen in L as economic warfare to keep L from gaining more companies and rightly so. That said there is a constant flow of traffic between the two towns and I think much of the $$$ class in L relates more to C than R.

I checked the AREVA site to see about jobs in L. They have nearly 40 listed and nearly all are professional level so the growth in better jobs is coming. But you need the quals which were mostly computers and engineering plus a few financial jobs.

AREVA - Careers : Experienced applicants

Babcock and Wilcox has even more highly paid openings in L. So there.

https://mcdermottbwbwxt.tms.hrdepart...searchjobs.cgi

[JackJM]

The missus and I plan to relocate to the Central VA area in the future (1-2 years). We have been looking in the Lynchburg/Bedford/SML area. Although we are coming from NY, we are NOT among the ones who sell their $750M home.

Presently, I own an insurance agency, but will look to do something different. Not being old enough, nor "flush" enough to retire, work is important.

We haven't looked in the Roanoke area, but have been told it is a good place to explore.

Of the above mentioned areas, what is the consensus with regards to the better business environment? Roanoke? Lynchburg? SML?

Whatever I do, it will not be insurance. (30 years is enough!)

Also, we anticipate that our son and his family will relocate,too. Which area offers the most for a young (30 year old) family?