What's it like living in Roanoke? (Norfolk, Cave Spring: transplants, hotels, cost)

[dsobotta]

Originally Posted by StuckPA

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.

You might have heard of Cary, NC which is adjacent to Raleigh. The name was chosen carefully and stands for Containment Area Relocated Yankees.

You'll find people all over the south who came from the north. One of the new things we are seeing on the Carolina Coast is people coming to the area from California. We have also seen people coming from Florida because of insurance issues.

When our subdivision was first built on the mountain near Hidden Valley Country Club, almost everyone was from someplace besides Roanoke.

For years General Electric brought a lot of interesting people including Canadians to Roanoke. My son(who was born in Canada) played on a Roanoke youth hockey team. There was at least one other Canadian on the team.

One person who recently moved into our subdivision came from Boston.

It is pretty hard to tell the Yankees from the Southerners these days.

[dsobotta]

Originally Posted by 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

Sean,

Good to hear from you.

No webcam for me. I already have too much technology to deal with these days.

However, I can send you a nice shot of a walk on the beach this evening. The water temperate is around 79 degrees so it is close to perfect on the beaches now.

Come on down for a visit. I'm sure that farm can run itself for a day or two. This great weather on the coast won't last forever.

I don't suppose there has been any rain in the Roanoke area?

[seanpecor]

Thanks for the offer! I may take you up on it but it may wait until next year. Too much going on. No rain in Roanoke recently although it's finally cooling down and the colors are starting to kick in. We've had more rain in Franklin County than the RV has so we're in better shape but it's still drier than it should be.

Moving from FL to Carteret County to escape insurance costs? I googled Carteret County and it's been hit directly or indirectly by at least 14 hurricanes since 1900, including Hurricane Fran in 1996 which Wikipedia states caused Carteret County 500 million dollars and damaged 90% of homes. Oh well, I'm sure it's still safer than the Eastern coast of South Florida

Sean

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by dsobotta

You might have heard of Cary, NC which is adjacent to Raleigh. The name was chosen carefully and stands for Containment Area Relocated Yankees.
You'll find people all over the south who came from the north.

For years General Electric brought a lot of interesting people including Canadians to Roanoke.

It is pretty hard to tell the Yankees from the Southerners these days.

Oh I can spot em a mile away Not interested in going to the south for yankees tho,going there to try and get Away from that attitude!

As far as Canadians coming,when I worked in Roanoke about 9 years ago Blue Star Bakers or something was one of the Canadian companies that came to Roanoke.

[cheryl Frampton]

Hi, thank you for replying, I am counting the days when we can jump in the car and get away to some cooler weather for a while, when in Roanoke I will definatly check out the downtown, everyone here tells me its a great place, beautiful but very slow, not sure if they mean slow as in nothing to do, or slow pace of live. In my experience just because a town is small does not mean it is slow, so we are really looking forward to it. Any suggestions or good restuarants or bars to pop into?

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by cheryl Frampton

Any suggestions or good restuarants or bars to pop into?

A good majority of the bars are near the downtown square. You can pretty much hop from one to another. There are some unique restaurants downtown also and there are of course some chain restaurants up near the mall.

[ricutie]

I have been keeping up with the posts on city data re: Roanoke and vicinity. I am searching for a single family home to purchase. I am working with a realtor to find a nice home. However, which areas should I avoid in Roanoke City? Also am interested in renting out the property untilwe can relocate. What is the ballpark figure for rentals 3 bedroom single family with full basement? Do homes rent well in Roanoke and Roanoke city?
Thanks kindly for any suggestions!

[JoeSo]

Originally Posted by ricutie

which areas should I avoid in Roanoke City?

There are some areas in north Roanoke,near Williamson Rd and by the airport that aren't too swell. Also some areas in SW,of course that's a 'historical' area as well.

[cellar]

Well I agree that we should all pretty well blend together by now. I have lived in the South for most of my adult life however, and I still catch flak from Southerners about being a Yankee. Up in the North (Syracuse) where I grew up, we never differentiate between Northerner/Southerner...I am an American and I wish everyone would just look at it that way. We have a beautiful country and it occurs to me that one of our freedoms is being able to move, travel, live throughout the whole nation...without harassment. Move a Virginian to Upstate NY (not NYC! they are a bit different there!) and they will be welcomed as any other...usually.

I love it here in Roanoke, great city, peaceful, low crime, light traffic, beautiful mountain views, central location to all on the East Coast...more people should move here.

[cellar]

Originally Posted by ricutie

I have been keeping up with the posts on city data re: Roanoke and vicinity. I am searching for a single family home to purchase. I am working with a realtor to find a nice home. However, which areas should I avoid in Roanoke City? Also am interested in renting out the property untilwe can relocate. What is the ballpark figure for rentals 3 bedroom single family with full basement? Do homes rent well in Roanoke and Roanoke city?
Thanks kindly for any suggestions!

I recommend sticking with a North County or SW County home if you intend to rent it. You should get a more reliable tenant in these areas. A basic 3 br should rent for 800-1100 depending on overall condition and size. A small ranch in great shape, about 800/mo, a 2400 sf 2 story closer to 1100/mo. Rents and values drop by about 14-20% in any city area. SW City (not too close to downtown) is and exception.The Grandin Court, Raleigh Court areas are very desirable and compare to most County locations.

I hope this helps!