Roanoke or Blacksburg: Which area would be better for a young adult (Richmond: rent, established neighborhood)

[rednblue]

My husband, 18 year old son and I are planning to move to the area sometime soon. My son hopes to enter a trade program and will not be attending college. On a recent trip we saw very few people his age. I know it was just circumstantial, but he was concerned about it. He loves the outdoors, so he'll have no problem staying entertained during daylight hours. He's very social and I know there are a number of things he can do to meet people his age to hang out with at other times, but he's still worried.

He's thinking he'd have a lot more opportunity to meet people his age if we live closer to the Blacksburg/Christiansburg area than to the Roanoke area. Does anyone have an opinion about this?

Thanks

[j1n]

He's probably right about Blacksburg being a better "fit". Granted, many of the folks his age that he will meet will be attending VA Tech...but there will be a livelier scene there. And B-burg has tons of outdoors stuff to do as well. Even more so than Roanoke.

[eebrbee]

Tell your son we can be friends. I'm moving with my family as well, but we are moving to Roanoke. I too am worried about the social scene. Haha.

[seanpecor]

The Blacksburg population is tiny compared to Roanoke and most young working adults in the Blacksburg area are white collar. About 12,000 when the students are gone. About 62% of the working population in the Blacksburg area is white collar. I lived in Blacksburg for almost a year, and when I channel the 18 year old version of me and think about our time there, yes, the eye candy available in Blacksburg is undeniable but the reality is that outside of the student population Blacksburg is just as old as Roanoke. Overall there about 6 people in the Roanoke metro area for every 1 in Blacksburg, so even if Blacksburg skews younger there are far more young adults in the Roanoke area. For example, if I head to Meetup.com to find active social networking groups I find absolutely no meetups in Blacksburg except for a Ron Paul 2008 meetup group. In Roanoke I find alot, including The Roanoke Outdoor and Social Club (Roanoke, VA) - Meetup.com which is 242 members strong.

Housing and rent will be more expensive in Blacksburg too. Granted, if you live in the rural areas you'll find some deals but the rural outskirts of Blacksburg, due to the low populations, have little in the way of stuff like town centers and stores. I remember looking at property in the Catawba Valley on the outskirts East of Blacksburg. It was a gorgeous area, but besides being overly expensive thanks to retiring Hokie alumnae migrating back to the area, it was like a 40 minute round trip for a gallon of milk on a road originally designed for horse carts.

Another thing about young adults in Blacksburg is that virtually all of them leave after graduating from Tech. I know business owners in Blacksburg and they have a really hard time convincing Tech grads to stay put. They have better luck recruiting folks from out of the region in their late 20s and early 30s who have already started a family. Because, one of Blacksburg's strengths is that for a "town" it boasts some pretty great public schools and of course it does very well with the other family-friendly statistics.

I'd still put Blacksburg in the running but my sense is that he'll actually find fewer friends his age there that will remain in the area. He might get pretty sick of making friends only to have them graduate and ditch him.

Sean

[rednblue]

Good food for thought and it's a lot to think about. You're right about the rents in Blacksburg, Sean. In the little bit of searching I've done, it appears that rents tend to be about 50% higher there. Maybe Salem would be a good balance between the two areas. (?)

Additional input is welcome and appreciated.

[j1n]

Originally Posted by rednblue

Maybe Salem would be a good balance between the two areas. (?)

Additional input is welcome and appreciated.

Choosing Salem is essentially choosing Roanoke, as they run right into each other. B-burg is a good bit further out.

[seanpecor]

Salem is a nice little city, which as J1n says is pretty much in Roanoke From what I gather from locals, folks from Salem tended not to mingle much with folks from Roanoke in the middle of the 20th century. More than a handful of folks in their 50s and 60s that I know who are from Roanoke state matter-of-factly that Salem citizens were uppity snobs, lol. I don't know why this was the case back then, but of course, eventually Salem was absorbed for most practical purposes by the Roanoke metro.

Maybe Salem is a happy medium for your son, since living in Salem he'd be part of the Roanoke metro but he'd also be living in a "college town" thanks to Roanoke College. Of course, unlike Blacksburg, where there are hundreds of uber-athletic engineering chicks jogging around at any given time from April through September, in Salem, he'd have to settle for Birkenstock wearing crunchy college girls who don't shave their legs and wouldn't run unless they were being chased by a Republican with a shotgun I'm kidding. About the Birkenstocks.

Sean

[rednblue]

Hmmmm. He likes athletes and hippies. Decisions, decisions.

[Teebyrd86]

I think your son would love Roanoke once yall get settled in. Its like any other town it just takes some getting use to. When I moved here a year ago I was a little concerned about meeting people too but really that depends mostly on how your personality is. You have to be social and be willing to talk to people. If your shy it will be much tougher to find friends. I am a very social person therefore have met many people.. both my age and older. I am sure that Blacksburg looks to be more desierable to him because of the Va tech scene, even I felt that way because when I moved here from Richmond (I am 21) I had friends attending tech and spent many weekends up there. But in reality all of my new friends live here in Roanoke, and they (most of them) grew up here and had their own friends who are now my friends and so on. Bottom line I feel your son would love living in Roanoke, though it will take time. I would suggest living in a populated subdivision or older established neighborhood like where i live (south roanoke, The South Roanoke Circle). That way it would be easier to meet folks (I meet tons riding my bike around my neighborhood). If you move out to the country it will be harder to meet them. If your son has any questions private message me and we can go from there. Also I'd be willing to show him around town when you move here if he wants. Also where I work: Ukrop's (Ukrop's Super Markets) would be a great place for him to get a job, lots of young people work there. Have a nice weekend!

[rednblue]

Thanks Teebyrd86,

You've made some good points. My son is very social. He grew up in a small community outside of a city a little bigger than Roanoke, but he has friends all over the area. You're right, it will just take time. We may have to live in a complex for a while until we figure out where we want to live, but all of us prefer the country area, so it may take extra work on his part. I appreciate your offer to show him around and am sure he'd appreciate seeing the area through a young person's eyes. We'll be in touch when the time gets closer. Have you had any experience with the Roanoke Outdoor and Social club that Sean mentioned? I read about it a while back and thought it would be a good idea. I've never been in a Ukrop's store, but it does sound like it would be a good place to work. We have a Wegman's store in our area and I'm sad about leaving it-it's a great store! They're beginning to expand into Virginia, but it doesn't look like Roanoke's on their radar yet.