outside roanoke (Salem, Vinton, Rocky Mount: for sale by owner, 2013, neighborhood)

[TRUCKER88]

me and the wife are moving to va, we are looking for a medium size town 3-15 thousand outside of roanoke, yet close enough to do things such as hikes and shopping and museums etc etc, any ideas?

[seanpecor]

Yeah, I'd suggest Rocky Mount VA. Town population is 5,000 give or take, and while it's got all of your day to day needs covered (doctors, hospitals, schools, local shops, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Kroger and Food Lion grocery, and so on and so forth), you're 20 minutes from Smith Mountain lake and in addition equally as close to national parks, forests, hiking etc. In the Rocky Mount area, in general, you'd be about 35 minutes from Roanoke.

On NE side of Roanoke you've got Troutville and other such very small towns, but they're pretty small. Mostly folks travel into Roanoke for alot of things; at least that's my understanding. There is also Vinton, but to me Vinton has been absorbed by Roanoke. It's not really distinct from Roanoke? You might check into it though. That's about it for incorporated towns within a reasonable drive to Roanoke. Other options are small cities like Salem.

I live in the Boones Mill area, which is sort of between Rocky Mount and Roanoke. That location, and the Boones Mill area's natural beauty (once you get off the main Route 220 artery anyway) contributes to our area's growth. But even though we're in a great "neighborhood" persay, with lots of neighbors and many whom we speak with or see regularly, we are in the country. We're a short drive (15 minutes) to Rocky Mount and only about 25 minutes to downtown Roanoke. But if you want to "live in town" then my area likely isn't your cup of tea.

Hope this helps,

Sean

[TRUCKER88]

def helped some, now are all those areas in the mountains? i looked into salem i like what i see and hear already they have alot of sporting events held there which i am a huge football fan and would love to take my kids to some events....if theyre in the mountains i think i may have found where to move to...thanks again

[seanpecor]

Well, if you like mountains, then Boones Mill may be your best bet. I'm known in this forums to gratuitously use my webcam but it's the best visual pic I can think of:



I'm at about 1,300' altitude and the mountain visible in the pic is Cahas Mtn +/- 3,500'. There is a road that travels over between it's two summits. The road is called Wades Gap Road. Here is a photograph I took while driving along Wades Gap last autumn:

http://www.pecorfamily.com/Blog_202006_2D10_2D29_20Cahas1.jpg (broken link)

If you visit For Sale By Owner I know there is an 8 acre lot on the very north foot of Cahas, on the Roanoke County side. It's listed for +/- $147K. You'd be literally 10 minutes from Roanoke on that plot of land.

You definitely sound like Cahas Mountain material. I'd give it some serious thought.

Sean