May be relocating to Christiansburg...please help! (Roanoke, Blacksburg: fit in, how much)

[lsharp66]

Hello,
My husband may be getting a job in Christiansburg and we are coming up this weekend to explore the area to see if it may be a good fit for our family.

I'll give you a background on us then if anyone could direct us to an area that sounds like a good fit...any thoughts are GREATLY appreciated. We are both in our early 30's. I am a stay at home mom with one 2yr old and hopefully another on the way soon. I'm looking for a safe area, middle class, close to shopping, restaurants and good schools. I would love to be in an area with other young moms. We are moving from the Raleigh area and I'm a little nervous moving to a smaller town. I've been looking into both Blacksburg and Christiansburg. Blacksburg makes me a little nervous being that it is such a big college town. Any thoughts?

If anyone would please give me some pointers or advice. What's the area like? Pros and Cons? We will only have about 1 day to see the area and make a decision so your thoughts will help considerably!!

[roanoker 4]

The New River Valley(Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Floyd, Pulaski) is made up
of college students, college students and college students. The businesses there cater to that demographic. You MUST be a VT HOKIE fan or you will
never fit in. Va Tech is basically a giant football stadium that happens to have a university attached. There is also a large population of foreign students who stay to themselves. It is a beautiful area with family friendly
outdoor activities. If you look at Salem(20 minutes from Cburg and 20 minutes from Roanoke) you may get the best of both worlds. Roanoke has the cultural offerings(opera, music, theater, ethnic diversity, etc). I would say moving from Raleigh may not be such a culture shock by picking Salem.
Good Luck!

[athornbury]

There are other people in the NRV area other than college students. There are parents, kids, working professionals, blue collar workers, teachers, professors, etc. You do NOT have to be a Hokie fan in order to fit in. You do NOT have to be a fan of football (or any sport for that matter) to fit in. Football is a big thing during the season (no surprise there), but it only impacts you if you choose to let it. There are foreign students here, but I have generally found them to be very open and welcoming...just have the balls to break the language barrier. They also do not represent the majority of the student population.

Now that I am off my soap box. I would agree that if you have a family, you probably don't want to live immediately around the university. There are students here and they do like to party/have fun. This can obviously be a big problem for sleeping, peacefulness, etc. However, there are many nice neighborhoods in Christiansburg and Blacksburg that are quite nice. Blacksburg is generally the more expensive of the two areas.

I used to live in Salem and commuted to Blacksburg everyday. At ~30 minutes each way this got really old, really fast. Not to mention the trucks on I-81 are a serious pain; if there is a wreck on the interstate, be prepared for a long wait. Did I mention there isn't really a timely alternative route to I-81? 460 Business isn't the only alternative, but it is about the only one that might get you there quickly.

I used to live in RDU, and such a commute wouldn't bother me there since almost all activities in RDU require long commutes. However, when you live in a small town and everything you need to do is generally less than 5 miles away, it grinds on you quickly. I would rather make the odd commute to Roanoke for specific events versus making the long commute everyday for work. But that is just me.

Now the questions: Do you want to work in the near future once your kids are in school? Be advised that southwestern Virginia is generally extremely lacking in employment opportunities. Employment in the health care area is generally good with Carilion but the rest is lacking. Seriously consider how much better your husband's job offer is versus his current employment. Does the offer include a severance package or similar compensation in case something goes wrong in the near future. What will you do in the case of loss of employment?

The area is beautiful and it is family friendly. It is great for outdoor activities and you will certainly enjoying doing them provided that it is your thing.

[roanoker 4]

I believe those of us fortunate to live in this region can appreciate the options!