How is Winchester for single thirtysomething transplants? (Blacksburg: apartment, house)

[WC44]

I'm thinking about accepting a job transfer to Winchester, VA. I grew up in a small, rural town, but have lived in coastal Long Beach, CA for almost ten years. I'm 30 years old, single, female, and feeling like I might need a serious change, or at least a career jump. I don't need alot of bustle to be happy but I do love coffee, restaurants, happy hours, and the occasional live music. I've seen alot of posts from people who are married with kids, but not many singles. I was really excited about the prospect of a move at first but after reading alot of posts, I'm wondering if this would be a terrible mistake. What do you think? Would I be crazy to do this???

[cathy J.]

Originally Posted by WC44

I'm thinking about accepting a job transfer to Winchester, VA. I grew up in a small, rural town, but have lived in coastal Long Beach, CA for almost ten years. I'm 30 years old, single, female, and feeling like I might need a serious change, or at least a career jump. I don't need alot of bustle to be happy but I do love coffee, restaurants, happy hours, and the occasional live music. I've seen alot of posts from people who are married with kids, but not many singles. I was really excited about the prospect of a move at first but after reading alot of posts, I'm wondering if this would be a terrible mistake. What do you think? Would I be crazy to do this???

Question is...do you want a roommate? Winchester may have a problem with that. Reason being is that last year Winchester as far as living there "defined" the word family. Meaning those who are married by blood or by family is considered "family" to Winchester otherwise Winchester considers it a "domestic partnership" which is not allowed. Now depending the size of your home Winchester may not allow it. You may need to check on this. Apartment? you may be ok, now for a house. There be an issue.

I live in Winchester, have lived here since 1974 and even I am not sure why the new rules. My take on this is Winchester's answer to that banning gay marriage/civil union state amendment that passed a few years back. Now I know that 2 members of the same sex living together to share the bills and whatever doesn't always equal gay but try telling the city of Winchester that. Others think it may be Winchester's way to control growth.

Either way if you plan on having a roommate you really need to contact the city to see what is allowed and what isn't otherwise you may have neighbors who will report which sadly many do. My cousin went through this just last year. She was planning to share a house with a female friend of hers since childhood but a number of neighbors complained about it so in the end, she ended up living alone.

[WC44]

Either way if you plan on having a roommate you really need to contact the city to see what is allowed and what isn't otherwise you may have neighbors who will report which sadly many do. My cousin went through this just last year. She was planning to share a house with a female friend of hers since childhood but a number of neighbors complained about it so in the end, she ended up living alone.

Wow - what?! That's really strange. Luckily, I am heterosexual and can afford to live alone. But I do not know if I would want to live among people who are not tolerant of diversity. Thanks for the input.

[cathy J.]

Originally Posted by WC44

Wow - what?! That's really strange. Luckily, I am heterosexual and can afford to live alone. But I do not know if I would want to live among people who are not tolerant of diversity. Thanks for the input.

It is strange and like I said earlier I am still not exactly sure why the city of Winchester feels they had to "define" the word family in the first place. I am not sure of any other place outside this area that did that.

In the case of my cousin( hetrosexual ), she bought a very small one bedroom house not far the local park. She was planning on having her female childhood friend move in ( also hetrosexual ) and help pay for some of the bills as well as give her a place to stay ( she just divorced her abusive husband ). So far so good, that is until a few of her neighbors noticed that there are two women living together so close by to them that they called up the city of Winchester to report it.

A day or two later someone from the city went to their house and pretty much told them that one of the girls had to move. At first the city claimed it was because their house was too small to allow two unrelated adults living together per-Winchester's code of family. My cousin asked them if this had anything to with that vote on banning same sex marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships. First they said no but later added "...well you know Virginia doesn't allow domestic partnerships of any kind by law and what you two have looks to an outsider like a domestic partnership".

Winchester is a nice place actually but its situations like what happened to my cousin that really gives the city a black eye.

[Rhett_Butler]

Let's remember that there are PLENTY of towns and counties around Winchester that aren't like this though, so the area isn't a total wash...... Just stay out of the city limits if this is really an issue...

[billybobwv]

Originally Posted by VAFury

Let's remember that there are PLENTY of towns and counties around Winchester that aren't like this though, so the area isn't a total wash...... Just stay out of the city limits if this is really an issue...

True...the places on the West Virginia Side. Might as well forget Frederick County since they too from what I understand felt they had to define the word family. In Frederick County's case I believe if two members of the same sex live to together say in an apartment, the apartment must have at least two bedrooms and two beds. Enforced? Doubt it, much like those old sodomy laws unless some nosy person brings it to the attention of the police or perhaps the board of health.

Well that is what happens when the voters of a state passes an constitution admendment whose wording so bizzare. Now I know the idea of gay marriage or even civil unions isn't everyone's cup of tea but domestic partnerships? That doesn't always mean gay. Sadly the law the way it was worded does give cities and counties the right to go after same sex straight members who live together and unmarried folks as well as gay couples and force one of them to move elsewhere if the city or county feels the living arrangement is too much like a marriage and falls under domestic partnerships.

[chi30]

I'm sorry but don't we live in a free country? A state, local municipality, etc... is NOT allowed to pull these types of sanctions on any citizen. Are you sure that you are not a resident of said town, and it is YOU that don't want certain people living there? Or are you just as flabbergasted as I am by the small-mindedness, let alone illegal behavior in that area. I have never been, nor do I know anyone there, so I am not an expert, but DO WHAT YOU WANT, IT'S A FREE COUNTRY. Period.

[WillV]

most local zoning ordinces have a definition for family. for instance, for zoning purposes most cities define familes because they want to limit the number of non-related individuals living together. There was even a SCOTUS case in regard to this many years ago, and the SCOTUS upheld allowing a muncipality to limit the number of non-related individuals in a dwelling. Most of the time, this type of language is added to a zoning ordinance because a university or college is located in the area...and, well this is the case with Winchester as well (Shenadoah U)...I have not read Winchester's family definition but I can gurantee you that is states somethign like this "no more than two non related individuals can live together..." you get the idea...so, in short this ordinace is not intended to discriminate but instead limit occupancy, and yes, you can live with a roomate...that is just silly...

[havasulady]

This is the silliest thing I have ever heard in my whole entire life. And believe you me I have lived many decades.

Legally, I do not know how they can enforce such a law.

[Azmordean]

Please, cities have had laws like this forever. Virtually every city has a law setting the "maximum number of unrelated house mates" or some such. The purposes of these are many. In a town like where I live (Blacksburg), the purpose is to prevent a bunch of college students from piling into one place. In Winchester I suspect the problem is partially college students and partially illegal immigrants. I know in NOVA there are serious problems with this - 10+ people move into one home, due to the high prices.

Usually the law is something like the number of bedrooms, or the number of bedrooms plus one. Some people may think these laws are silly, but for a lot of people with families, they just don't want a bunch of college kids stuffing a home in a single family neighborhood - or a bunch of illegal immigrants, or someone running a boarding house. I seriously doubt these laws will be a major impediment to most young professionals wanting a roomie or two, but as others have said, its worth checking out.

And as for recognizing homosexual couples as families - surely no one expected that to happen in Virginia? After all, the state just passed a state constitutional amendment barring gay marriage - and it may bar municipalities from recognizing it as well. Virginia is very tolerant of diversity, but not so tolerant of gay rights. It is happy to recognize the right to do what you want in private, but public acceptance is another matter. If you want a place that is friendly to things like gay marriage, you almost universally have to stay north of the Mason-Dixon.