Lynchburg, Roanoke or somewhere else? (Virginia Beach, Blacksburg: apartment, for rent, condo)

[bkern89]

When are you moving? August, 2017
Where are you coming from? Kansas
Why are you moving? A change of life. I'm HUGE on hiking and nature.
Where will you be working? Retail
Have you been here yet? I've driven through the state a few times. I've stayed overnight in Roanoke once but have no real knowledge about either city.

Will you buy or rent? Rent for at least a year, possibly more.
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend?
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? I'm open for renting either an apartment, house, townhouse or loft. If living by myself, I can't do more than $600 for rent, but I do plan on looking for a roommate and if I do find one, I'd like to stick under $850 total, $425 each.
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Either is fine by me.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Single with no children.
Do you prefer public or private schools? Schools are not a concern to me.
Do you have pets? I've got one cat.
Do you want or need a yard? This isn't necessary.
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? I'd rather have calm and quiet, but I would like to get out and socialize, though I'm not into the club or bar scene.

What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) Would be nice to be within walking distance of a supermarket, but it's not a must.
Nightlife Not necessary for me.

First off, I'm a 27 year old male. Like the thread title states, I'm deciding on either Roanoke or Lynchburg but am open to other possibilities if anyone has any. I'm not familiar with either city, but from research, they seem very similar. The reason I'm considering these vs other areas in Virginia are because of the mountains, but also because of the cost of living. Blacksburg seems nice, but considering the fact that I'm working retail, Blacksburg seems to be out of my price range. As a HUGE hiking fan, being close to the mountains is my biggest concern. Like I said above, I don't have a huge social life, but I would like to get out and socialize somehow without having to head to the local bars. While a generally safe town would be a plus, I've been around long enough to know that if you stay out trouble, you typically wont have a problem with the crime. This will be a big life change for me. It'll be just myself and my cat and I don't know anyone at all, so I'd like to make the right decision. Any and all opinions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[ersatz]

bkern89

You will probably get more response by posting in the Roanoke subforum. As far as possible living areas go, if you are interested in retail jobs in Roanoke/Blacksburg, you may also want to consider Christiansburg, as it has a lot of big box stores and strip malls. You may want to consider expanding possible opportunities such as driver, receptionist, etc. The Roanoke/New River Valley area is known for health care so you may want to think about opportunities in that field as some jobs may be available without extensive training in health care.

I don't live in the area but my family does so I am down there fairly often. Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Radford have a large student population. On the plus side, there are lots of opportunities to socialize with the college crowd. On the negative side, the students will be competing with you for part time work.

Sure, there are pockets of crime in the area, but compared to large urban centers, these are pretty minor. As you pointed out, if you aren't into that sort of thing and exercise common sense you should be fine.

I recommend checking out meetup.com to get in touch with Roanoke hikers. I've heard that they are fairly active in supporting the Appalachian Trail that winds through the area. Mountain hiking is great, but if you move to Roanoke you are also within about a five to six hour drive from the ocean. There are some terrific nature areas and trails south of Virginia Beach. Totally different experience than hiking in the mountains.

[bkern89]

Thanks for the response. I considered posting there, but the most recent post was a couple of weeks ago so I figured it would get seen more in the general Virginia forum. As far as going outside of retail, I'm not sure how much of an option that is as I don't have a college education and college isn't something I'm interested in. I've been working for the same company for six years and would probably transfer with them, so I wouldn't have to really compete with anyone thankfully.

Radford and Christiansburg do appear to be quite a bit more affordable than Blacksburg does, so that's also a place that I could consider.

I'm an active user on Meetup.com and I also noticed on Roanoke's city website calendar that there appears to be a weekly or bi-weekly hiking meetup that takes place at various places throughout the years. I'd definitely look more into that if I chose Roanoke. I hadn't really thought of heading to the ocean for hiking. I'm personally not a fan of the ocean, but if they have some good hiking areas around there, I would probably be a bit more interested in going.

Again, thanks for the response.