How about Roanoke??? (Norfolk, Salem, Franklin: rental, homes, safe neighborhoods)

[crazylilkelly]

Alright, so I posted a thread wanting to know about he Norfolk/VB area. I'm also looking into the ROanoke area. We won't be moving for a couple years & want to start a family once we do move. I would love to hear what any of you think about the area in general. Also, our concerns are housing prices, how good public schools are & if there are a lot of things to do for just the adults & for the whole family. Thanks!

[tokyopapa]

Originally Posted by crazylilkelly

Alright, so I posted a thread wanting to know about he Norfolk/VB area. I'm also looking into the ROanoke area. We won't be moving for a couple years & want to start a family once we do move. I would love to hear what any of you think about the area in general. Also, our concerns are housing prices, how good public schools are & if there are a lot of things to do for just the adults & for the whole family. Thanks!

Roanoke is a beautiful, historic, and slow, peaceful town of about 100,000 people relatively by itself in the center of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With low cost of living expenditures, friendly natives, easy going traffic, and a progressive commerical district crowned with two super regional malls, Roanoke is the perfect city in which to raise a young family.

[SarahB]

I actually responded to your thread on Va Beach just a while ago before I saw this, recommending you to Roanoke! Just want to add to what I said on there . . . Didn't go to school here myself and don't have little ones of my own yet, but I believe that there are supposed to be some excellent school systems here. I work in the rental industry and I know that a lot of people choose to live in Roanoke County for the excellent school systems.

good luck making a decision!

[roanoker 4]

Public schools, safe neighborhoods, slower pace of life, outdoor activities, cultural offerings, affordable housing Roanoke ranks well above the Norfolk/VB area.
Norfolk/VB is a great place if you like the ocean, beach, seafood, a youthful
population, aggressive drivers(NAVY jocks!), an endless stream of strip malls,
mild winters and very hot/humid summers, a very large area of traffic and
suburban sprawl.

I would say the two areas are pretty evenly matched as to their affordability factors and income levels. The people in Norfolk/VB are heaving military while the Roanoke people are more settled and they tend to be older(therefore the
greater cultural offerings, restaurants, etc). Other than income, housing similarites, there really is little the two areas have in common. Visit both and then decide!!

[whereto]

My family and I are also thinking of moving to Roanoke area... possibly will happen sooner than later. From all my research, I can tell you that the public school systems are pretty good in that area - with the best results going to Salem City and Franklin Co. Public School Systems (2004-2005 data). You can research till the cows come home at schoolmatters.com or greatschools.net or the VA Dept of Educ.'s report card ( https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/ ). Also, here is the 2004-2005 data for Outstanding Perfomers ( http://www.schoolmatters.com/pdf/error_band/EB_Virginia.pdf (broken link) ), but if continue to track them up until 2006, you can see that the school systems still remain great perfomers. There are other great schools in the areas as well... as I've heard that SW Roanoke area has good schools too. So maybe others who already live in the area will pop in and direct you to a better individual school. FYI Salem is a smaller city west of Roanoke, and Franklin County is just south of Roanoke Co.

Housing prices are relative - depends on what area you're coming from. I've been tracking quite a number of homes... and things definitely seem slower. I've even seen some w/ price reductions.

I'm sure if you search this forum for Roanoke, you'll hit upon other's threads which are always a wealth of info.

Definitly visit the area.