What's it like living in Roanoke? (Franklin, Cana: rentals, low crime, tenant)

[seanpecor]

Hey David, nice panoramic shot! I was at a friend's place near the top of West Ridge Road and he has the same view albeit from the SE looking NW. It would be neat if both of you had webcams

I think many people moving into the greater Roanoke area are solving the property tax issue by not living within Roanoke City or Roanoke County. The property taxes in Franklin and Botetourt County (where most of the area growth is ocurring) are less than half of Roanoke City/County despite being 15 to 25 minutes to downtown Roanoke.

Here in my northern section of Franklin County the amount of development is staggering to some people who have lived in Roanoke for years and years and drive to our place to visit. Not having ever been through this part of the metro, they drive west down Bethlehem Rd in Boones Mill and expect to see nothing but cows and small ranch houses Instead they see many new homes, most of which aren't "spec" but custom homes built by new homeowners migrating to the area, presumably to work in Roanoke.

For example, the 31 lot 110 acre Cahas Green subdivision is having it's first open house this month. I took a photo of the subdivision from my front patio a few days ago:



Before they even had their two cul-de-sacs paved and utilities installed, 11 of the 31 lots were already sold. I know of a few more people including a local realtor who are putting their homes on the market now and buying 5 acre lots in the subdivision so they can build their dream home.

A 300 acre property adjoining our 128 acre farm on the West side is being sold at auction (Woltz & Associates, Inc. - Real Estate Brokers & Auctioneers (broken link)) on November 3rd. I suspect much of that will be bought by developers (I know some who expressed interest to me over dinner earlier in the summer) and turned into a few dozen estate lots.

Real estate assessments in FC are kept sensible thanks to the recent growth of Smith Mountain Lake, which has provided more revenue than the FC gov't actually needs to keep things running smoothly. As a result, A-1 land is still assessed at $2,000/acre even though it's being sold for $25K an acre in 5 acre pieces.

I know alot of folks over at Carilion including some very high level directors and being the curious type I ask lots of questions and the jigsaw puzzles I have don't form a complete picture. But I get the sense that within 5 years you'll see about 50 acres of industrial buildings visible from I-581 in SE Roanoke leveled and replaced with Carilion buildings, housing some of the most cutting edge bio-tech firms in the world. They want to connect the 100 acres east of the Roanoke River with downtown Roanoke via at least one large catwalk, integrating both areas into one cohesive massive biotech park. The top level directors visited every major clinic in the country (Mayo, etc) in order to design their vision. And they're not taking their time. In fact, many surgeons are a wee stressed out by the speed at which Carilion is moving. I've heard complaints that they should have taken a slower evolutionary approach rather than *wham* here is our plan, we're moving forward, full steam ahead. So some local medical groups are deciding to move under the wing of the Carilion Clinic, and others are resisting, instead hedging their bets and moving to Lewis Gale, where they seem to have more doctors than patients. It's really quite a drama behind the scenes. In the end, the Carilion Clinic will be a nationally known medical institution. They've still got a ways to go, but it will be fun watching it grow into fruition.

Sean

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

Here in my northern section of Franklin County the amount of development is staggering to some people who have lived in Roanoke for years and years and drive to our place to visit. Not having ever been through this part of the metro, they drive west down Bethlehem Rd in Boones Mill and expect to see nothing but cows and small ranch houses Instead they see many new homes, most of which aren't "spec" but custom homes built by new homeowners migrating to the area, presumably to work in Roanoke.

Before they even had their two cul-de-sacs paved and utilities installed, 11 of the 31 lots were already sold. I know of a few more people including a local realtor who are putting their homes on the market now and buying 5 acre lots in the subdivision so they can build their dream home.

I know alot of folks over at Carilion including some very high level directors and being the curious type I ask lots of questions and the jigsaw puzzles I have don't form a complete picture. But I get the sense that within 5 years you'll see about 50 acres of industrial buildings visible from I-581 in SE Roanoke leveled and replaced with Carilion buildings, housing some of the most cutting edge bio-tech firms in the world. They want to connect the 100 acres east of the Roanoke River with downtown Roanoke via at least one large catwalk, integrating both areas into one cohesive massive biotech park. The top level directors visited every major clinic in the country (Mayo, etc) in order to design their vision. And they're not taking their time. In fact, many surgeons are a wee stressed out by the speed at which Carilion is moving. I've heard complaints that they should have taken a slower evolutionary approach rather than *wham* here is our plan, we're moving forward, full steam ahead. So some local medical groups are deciding to move under the wing of the Carilion Clinic, and others are resisting, instead hedging their bets and moving to Lewis Gale, where they seem to have more doctors than patients. It's really quite a drama behind the scenes. In the end, the Carilion Clinic will be a nationally known medical institution. They've still got a ways to go, but it will be fun watching it grow into fruition.

Yes when I lived in Roanoke in the late 1990s it seemed there weren't a whole lot of employers,but Carilion along with Norfolk-Southern and Prudential were pretty much the ones to work at.
So they better make sure there are enough places to work along with all those housing developments going up!

[SouthernMomto3]

I'm new to the board and Sean, I appreciate your posts. Love the gorgeous photos I've seen posted by you and others. I've been reading for a while but I can't usually type a reply or question b/c my computer time is usually shared with the baby I'm nursing! I found your info on Carilion interesting and very true from what I've learned. My H and I will be relocating there next June and he'll be going to work for Carilion Clinic as an attending to resident physicians and eventually the VA Tech med students. You are right, there are growing pains, but I think what will be accomplished in the long run will be truly great! Our real estate agent showed us South Roanoke and the county areas that cover HVHS and CSHS, but not in the county areas you speak of. With my H working at the hospital what non-Roanoke county might be good for us? The public schools would be important to us. We would have one in elementary school when we move and two more to follow. We would definitely start in the public schools and decide later on private schools. We're looking to buy a house to meet our needs for 2 or 3 years. Any advice is appreciated...I really would like to not be more than 10 or so minutes from grocery shopping. Thanks.

[cheryl Frampton]

Hi, I am a londoner at heart and now live in Sarasota Florida with my family- we have been here 3 yrs in all. We are next month taking a holiday to Roanoke with the view of relocation to Virginia or nearby. At the moment I create new events for downtown Sarasota to bring more people downtown, I was wondering if any one can tell me if Roanoke beside being beautiful has a vibrant downtown life. Of course I don't want anything like London nor do I expect it. I do however, miss the seasons and nature so Roanoke appealled to me. Those that I have spoke to here in Florida tell me that Roanoke had nothing going on and is very slow, I am hoping that is not exactly true.
Any thoughts out there on this?

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by cheryl Frampton

I was wondering if any one can tell me if Roanoke beside being beautiful has a vibrant downtown life. Of course I don't want anything like London nor do I expect it. I do however, miss the seasons and nature so Roanoke appealled to me. Those that I have spoke to here in Florida tell me that Roanoke had nothing going on and is very slow, I am hoping that is not exactly true.
Any thoughts out there on this?

Of course the locals in Sarasota are probably going to say there's nothing like Sarasota,that's why they're there. But objectively there is probably enough in downtown Roanoke to keep you busy.

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by StuckPA

So they better make sure there are enough places to work along with all those housing developments going up!

I hear ya. However, virtually all folks that I've met in our area already had jobs with Carilion or were headhunted into white collar positions, or like me operated out of a home office. And on top of that you've got retirees who the locals call "Halfbacks". They're folks from up North who years ago moved to Florida, but are now leaving in droves - but rather than move all the way back to VT, NJ, or NY they settle in places like VA and NC.

Cheers,

Sean.

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by SouthernMomto3

With my H working at the hospital what non-Roanoke county might be good for us? The public schools would be important to us. We would have one in elementary school when we move and two more to follow. We would definitely start in the public schools and decide later on private schools. We're looking to buy a house to meet our needs for 2 or 3 years. Any advice is appreciated...I really would like to not be more than 10 or so minutes from grocery shopping. Thanks.

I don't think you can go wrong with HV and CS High Schools. Our girls (grades K and 2) go to North Cross and we absolutely love the school. There is a high concentration of physician parents at North Cross. In our girls' grades off the top of my head I can think of two heart surgeons, an ortho surgeon, a urologist, a ENT physician, a rheumatologist, a pathologist, etc. There are also many lawyers, which make for hilarious parent socials

Here we're about a 4.8 mile drive from Route 220, which is the major north/south route that commuters use to travel from the Boones Mill area into work. We're 15 minutes from four grocery stores (two in Rocky Mount, two in Roanoke). They're breaking ground in early to mid '08 on, among other things in a 40 acre development on Route 220 in Rocky Mount, a grocery store. The grapevine suggests the grocery would be a higher end place like Ukrops or Fresh Market. That would be exactly 10 minutes from us. That said, there are lots of places in Franklin County that are 10 minutes from groceries and such things. The elementary school in Boones Mill is actually highly regarded and the teachers there are very good and overall my understanding is that the community between teachers and parents is very pleasant. They are also planning on completing a new Windy Gap Elementary sometime next year (Franklin County Public Schools (broken link)) which will serve to reduce growth pressures on Boones Mill Elementary.

Franklin County High School is huge. People think rural county and imagine a backwards high school. Not so. It's got something like 2,300 students and some pretty nice AP courses.

Still, SW RoCo offers more of a suburban/urban feel which is an entirely different setting than FC. Where FC appeals to a certain group of people, SW RoCO can appeal to an entirely different set. I'd visit FC next time you're in town.

Cheers,

Sean

[gottaGetOut]

As far as Roanoke Downtown, there was one year when a contingent from nearby Greensboro, NC went to scope it out to learn what Roanoke was doing right and well.

Which is a lot, really. Its a great downtown at night, and unexpectedly safe for walking around.

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

"Halfbacks". They're folks from up North who years ago moved to Florida, but are now leaving in droves - but rather than move all the way back to VT, NJ, or NY they settle in places like VA and NC.

Great,that was the idea I had years ago. So now when the south gets filled with northerners I wonder if there will be any pure south left. I was afraid of this.

[seanpecor]

Well, as my native american mother might opine, before they became northerners and southerners they were all pretty much European invaders Therefore, if the English and Irish can become Billy and Smitty in just 200 years, well, I think there is some hope for all us Northerners moving in and settling down South

Sean