Please tell me about Salem, VA (Norfolk, Richmond: real estate, low crime, job market)

[Kanako]

I am considering a job and may move to Salem from Northern California. I know next-to-nothing about the city except what I read on the real estate websites. Can anyone help me with a few questions?
1. What are winters / summers like?
2. Schools (I've got a young/growing family)
3. Proximity to Roanoke (no traffic, right?)
4. More attractive to live in town, or in surrounding areas?
5. In general, is it the kind of place people move away from, or the kind of place people move to?

I might be looking at settling down in this area. Any thoughts? Thanks so much, this is my first post on this forum.

[Upstate Dave]

Salem is right next to Roanoke, as is Vinton, and lots of info can be found online about this area. Roanoke has a great website- www.roanokeva.gov, and many more can be found. You can also research about this area within this forum. Many people have posted about the area.

My wife & I are planning to move there within a few years. All of our research and recons keep us coming back to the Roanoke valley in our planning. Looks like good schools, manageble traffic, low crime, lots to do, good family town in a beautiful region. We currently live on the north coast of New York, and winters here usually are not fun. We like some winter... but not the kind that stays for weeks and weeks.

PM me if you would like more links for your research.

[Steven2149]

Hello, although I don't live there anymore, I have sort of given myself the unofficial title of Roanoke Representative here. I have had some lenghty posts on the area. I lived there for about 3 years and grew up a little over an hour away. That whole area, in my opinion, is about as pleasant a place to live as I could imagine. I will answer your questions and then provide a little additional insight.
Weather - You have 4 distinct seasons. The area has a decent amount of snow and usually gets nailed a few times a year. You will not see as much snow as you would in the northeast or upper midwest, though. Summer is very pleasant compared to where I am now, Atlanta. Pollen is terrible in the spring. Other than that, the weather is great imho.
Schools - All the Salem and Roanoke County Schools are terrific. Great school / teacher / student sizes and ratio's. The city schools are okay, but rank a little bit lower according to greatschools.net.
Proximity to Roanoke (Salem) - From the far end of salem, you are about 15 minutes away from Roanoke at most. The two cities do border one another. Keep in mind that Salem is quite a small town, so about the only traffic you will see there is along U.S. 460, aka Main Street.
Salem is neat in that it still has a nice small town atmosphere. I would be very comfortable living in the city or one of the many neighborhoods that surround the town. Just drive around, you won't find any bad areas in Salem.
The bottom line there is to ask yourself.. do you want small town living, suburban, city, or country living? All are within a very reasonable distance of Salem.
Generally speaking, the area is stable, I guess. That is a hard question to answer without looking at stats. Many people there are from the Northeast. Not many people move there from the South. The one negative thing I can say about the Roanoke area is the job market and how some people fight very hard against progress. Fortunately, that is showing signs of changing. I would love to go back to Roanoke after 6 years of living in Atlanta. There just is not much of a job market there for what my wife and I do. I will say that it is an excellent place to start your own business.
Overall, if you have a family and can find comfortable employment, I would say go for it and that you will love it. It is a wonderful family town. No, it doesn't have all the things that some larger cities (Charlotte, D.C, Richmond, Atlanta) have... but that is good in many ways. It has all I need or care for. Minor League baseball, several concerts, okay shopping, okay dining (with some outstanding dining as well), good community spirit, very low crime (don't pay attention to some of the stats that people throw at you, there are a few less desireable neighborhoods which account for much of the crime). Good luck and feel free to ask me any more questions.

[StuckPA]

Originally Posted by Kanako

I am considering a job and may move to Salem from Northern California. I know next-to-nothing about the city except what I read on the real estate websites. Can anyone help me with a few questions?
1. What are winters / summers like?
2. Schools (I've got a young/growing family)
3. Proximity to Roanoke (no traffic, right?)
4. More attractive to live in town, or in surrounding areas?
5. In general, is it the kind of place people move away from, or the kind of place people move to?
I might be looking at settling down in this area. Any thoughts? Thanks so much, this is my first post on this forum.

Welcome to the forum.
Yes Salem is next to Roanoke,but I think it's slightly nicer of a town. One thing I remember about living in Roanoke was of course the things that come with any city of size,higher taxes etc. But Salem is considered Roanoke County so it's not as bad.
The weather is of course the same as Roanoke.The summers can get a little hot but I think being located where it is,it gets windy in the winters and that can make it feel colder. It didn't snow alot when I was there,as a matter of fact the one big storm they had they didn't know what to do and started to close all the restaurants and things early and I think had to borrow snow trucks from nearby areas because I don't think they're used to getting alot of snow.
I wasn't sure about elementary schools but I do know that Roanoke College is right there and some other colleges nearby,so there is a good amount of college kids around.
I would say for convenience you should look at something closer to town because some of the outlying areas can be kind of desolate,but there's enough exits off of I-81 that'll bring you in and out of town with no real traffic problems. Although there seemed to be alot of truck traffic on the interstate going through the area.
So in my experience there,I've not heard any complaints about wanting to move out of the area.
As far as you coming from California,depending on the size of the city you're coming from it can seem like a really small town. As far as I know,things in the east aren't as spread out as the west. It's also much cheaper to live here,but I'm not sure how the pay is in California. So unless you get transferred with a good company,the pay is not great. Also if you're from out of the area it can be somewhat difficult to get in with the few big companies in the area. Norfolk-Southern for example seems to be a generational company,where people get in because other people in their family worked there.

Good luck.

[Kanako]

Thanks for your responses. I've read through the other threads and found some rather lengthy and lively discussions of the Roanoke area. I'll try the links recommended.

Are the driving distances around Virginia accurately descripted on google maps? I mean, if it says 3hrs 57min to drive to DC, is that pretty close? Or are the country highways a lot slower than that?

Thanks again.

[jballa]

Google, Yahoo and others are fairly accurate in these parts in regards to driving times. I drive 5-10 mph over the limit (which is acceptable here with little chance for a ticket) and I find that on long distance trips, I have time to stop for gas or a potty break and still get there within a few minutes of the predicted time.

In regards to salem itself, it is not a part of Roanoke Co. even though they do things very similar. They even went in together on Salem's Civic Center and the water system (Long story short - Roanoke City insisted on its own water and civic center but it turns out that their water turned dry and the RCC has lost money every year. The city begged the county and Salem to get in on the water and they eventually allowed a buy in.) So... except for people in Salem think a little too highly of themselves, it is a great place to live... definately better than the city. State Champs Amherst County football (along with just about everything else Amherst Co.) is better than that of Salem's but who's keeping track.

Look around the forum and you'll see the many places in the Valley that are fantastic. Also check out Roanoke.com. Good luck

[roanoker 4]

Salem is a quiet town west of Roanoke. To some, it is progressive, to others it does not like change. Real estate prices have been climbing at the same time the town has been losing population. I think Salem has the most potential of any small city in the region since it is halfway between Roanoke and the New River Valley. If some potential developers would come in and shake it up and start building some unique housing developments I think Salem could be a gem. In my opinion at the present it is just "ho hum".

[PaperTrail]

As jballa suggested, one issue with that area is that the cities, primarily Roanoke and Salem, don't collaborate on the big stuff well enough. For example, each city has built it's own decent-size civic center. But if they got along and trusted each other a bit, they could have one awesome civic center that serves the entire region. Right now, stuff like that can be somewhat segmented. From what I've heard, the cities bicker with each other over little things, but it's nothing that should concern anyone looking to move to the area. I wouldn't worry at all.

I like Salem a lot. One aqaintence of mine in the area said that Salem is kind of snobbish at first to "outsiders," even those that live next door in Roanoke. I've been there several times, though, and the locals treated me perfectly nice. I don't have a complaint to give.

I think Salem is nicer as a city than Roanoke is. Salem seems to be safer as a whole and generally kept up better and cleaner. But, the two cities flow directly into each other, and I personally don't make much of a distinction when talking about the Roanoke/Salem area. They're really not all that different. Except that Salem hosts the Div-III football and men's basketball championships every year. That's my favorite part.

[rtangs]

One thing I've noticed after living in Salem for a year and a half is that it's an old town and a majority of the people living here are at least middle-aged, with most of the young adults being Roanoke College students. Consequently, Salem has very little in the way of entertainment and shopping. Thankfully, Roanoke itself is but a short drive away where you can get almost anything you want in that regard.

I have to add that I too have found Salemites standoffish to outsiders, especially if your accent is markedly different from the local flavor.

Salem's not a bad place by any means. I won't stay here, but my reasons are my own and likely don't apply to most. Certainly, most Salemites seem to love living here, and your happiness is dependent on how easily you can integrate and become a Salemite yourself.

[j1n]

1. What are winters / summers like?
Last week it was 70 degrees. Today it was 20. We have had a couple little snows and some ice this winter. Summer is hot, humid, and hazy. Autumn is beautiful....crisp, clear views of the surrounding mountains, fall colors, etc.
2. Schools (I've got a young/growing family)
Salem schools are supposed to be pretty good, I think. I hear Glenvar schools are great. Glenvar is just (barely) west of Salem. There's a great park for the kids in Salem.
3. Proximity to Roanoke (no traffic, right?)
East to west...Vinton, Roanoke, Salem. Traffic? Yes and no...depends on the time of day, I guess. Main St through Salem can be kind of a bummer sometimes.
4. More attractive to live in town, or in surrounding areas?
The immediate "surrounding areas" are essentially the sprawl of Roanoke. But it's really nice north of Salem - Catawba area. And there is a lot of "rural" to be had 15-20 minutes in any direction.
5. In general, is it the kind of place people move away from, or the kind of place people move to?
Both. I moved here to the Roanoke Valle from the suburban NYC area last August. I hear some younger folks can't wait to leave. But I think it's only natural to want to leave somewhere you've grown up in...the "grass is greener" scenario. I can see why outsiders are attracted to the area...and I can see wh the local youths might want out. But overall, the area is growing.

I might be looking at settling down in this area. Any thoughts? Thanks so much, this is my first post on this forum.

There is a pretty tangible "us vs them" vibe between Roanoke and Salem. There is some sort of high school football rivalry that just seems to stay with folks into adulthood. I have an aquaintance that runs a successful business in Roanoke. When he opened another store in Salem, it flopped. Why? Because he wasn't from Salem. Although I do not personally live in Salem, we have/are considering moving over there from our current location south of Roanoke. This is a concern that has been brought to my attention time and time again...that many folks in Salem are slow to welcome anyone deemed an outsider.
I guess you could take that as a positive thing...maybe no nosey neighbors asking to borrow lawn equipment?