Staunton VA area?

[brava4]

Originally Posted by HomesickforWV

Does anyone know why the water rating is so poor. The Sperling Site states it is at 40 out of 100 national. This concerns me. Any help would be appreciated.

wow, I didn't know this. Not good at all.

[HomesickforWV]

Yes, I have been doing a lot of research into the area because we are wanting to relocate to that area. The air is clean and the surrounding areas of Harrisonburg have good water but the Staunton, Waynesboro area as well as Harrisonburg proper do not. You have to search for this info. Their sites will proclaim how wonderful their water is but it is not accurate. I realize Charlottesville is within the danger zone of a nuclear power plant but some people do not care, I do. I love the area but I want a minimum of 50 miles between my family and nuclear power. I am leaning towards one of the smaller towns around Harrisonburg. Easy short drive to all that you would need and a short drive to larger shopping areas. Any info from locals on the water would be great. I also notice gas is not in any of the new homes? How high would a electric bill be to heat a home of 2000 sq ft? When you are looking at retirement you must check all of this out or you could find yourself in a mess financially. Living in a suburb of Austin we have natural gas and it is cheap! Our property taxes are a killer, have to move to ever retire. I am from WV and I have always Virginia. Virginia has the beauty of WV without the poverty and poor management or maybe I should say horrid state government.

[choff5]

Maybe I’m in the minority but living near a nuclear power plant hasn’t been an issue to me, and I live on the water source for it, ie, Lake Anna. What actually made me even more comfortable was what happened during the earthquake. The epicenter of the 5.8 quake was about 11 miles away near Mineral and while briefly, 3 seconds, the magnitude exceeded what the reactors were designed for, the entire system automatically shut down immediately as designed, the first time it ever happened in the US. In other words, everything worked as planned. I have confidence in it and, so far, haven’t seen any fish glow in the dark!

[sregorat3]

Originally Posted by HomesickforWV

Does anyone know why the water rating is so poor. The Sperling Site states it is at 40 out of 100 national. This concerns me. Any help would be appreciated.

From their website: "Note that this is a measure of Watershed quality, not the water that comes from your faucet. The EPA has stated that a healthy watershed is closely related to drinking water quality." Lynchburg scores 100, but I still hear complaints about tapwater.

[rltrdc]

Originally Posted by usernameexists

Hi all, there is a chance my husband may take a job in the Staunton area (Verona, really) and I am trying to get some information on the area.

We will be moving from the suburbs of Chicago and are very excited about the prospect of slowing life down -- but also a little worried that a move to this area might swing the pendulum a little too far. We are also loving what we are seeing in terms of landscape, so that's a plus.

I guess these are our questions so far if anyone is able to provide some feedback.....

1. Schools.....This is probably my biggest concern. We are moving from an area that ranks nationally in terms of quality pubic schools; from what I've seen so far the public schools in this area seem to be a bit under-performing. Any feedback on this or suggestions for private schools (specifically -- ones that will teach science, not creationism)?

2. Will we be bored? What types of things are available in terms of culture, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, etc. within a 15-30 minute drive?

3. We have sort of ruled out the idea of your typical suburban home and are leaning towards either something in the heart of a downtown/historic are like Gypsy Hill or something with some acreage (10+ acres). Staunton seems to be the best bet for a walkable small downtown, but we are open to suggestions on towns with a similar setup. Also, we are open to hearing what areas might be good for getting a home with elbow room in terms of land. Preferably, though, within a 30 minute commute of Verona.

4. Happy to hear any other feedback/suggestions/ideas on this area for a couple in their late 30s with elementary-age kids.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by usernameexists

Hi all, there is a chance my husband may take a job in the Staunton area (Verona, really) and I am trying to get some information on the area.

We will be moving from the suburbs of Chicago and are very excited about the prospect of slowing life down -- but also a little worried that a move to this area might swing the pendulum a little too far. We are also loving what we are seeing in terms of landscape, so that's a plus.

I guess these are our questions so far if anyone is able to provide some feedback.....

1. Schools.....This is probably my biggest concern. We are moving from an area that ranks nationally in terms of quality pubic schools; from what I've seen so far the public schools in this area seem to be a bit under-performing. Any feedback on this or suggestions for private schools (specifically -- ones that will teach science, not creationism)?

2. Will we be bored? What types of things are available in terms of culture, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, etc. within a 15-30 minute drive?

3. We have sort of ruled out the idea of your typical suburban home and are leaning towards either something in the heart of a downtown/historic are like Gypsy Hill or something with some acreage (10+ acres). Staunton seems to be the best bet for a walkable small downtown, but we are open to suggestions on towns with a similar setup. Also, we are open to hearing what areas might be good for getting a home with elbow room in terms of land. Preferably, though, within a 30 minute commute of Verona.

4. Happy to hear any other feedback/suggestions/ideas on this area for a couple in their late 30s with elementary-age kids.

Thank you!

Hi I'm from Staunton - I will tell you it is an AMAZING city that is getting more charming every year. Schools you know people look at these national rankings and think that definitely correlates to school quality but it doesn't, let me tell you why.

If you go to a school in McLean VA probably both your parents are college educated and making six figures and are good parents native English speakers, they talk to your teachers, make sure you're staying at grade level or above in your subjects, etc. and almost all the kids will be like this. This will equate to higher test scores on average, etc... does that make teachers or programs any better? No, let me shoot at a hula hoop sized basket while Larry Bird shoots at a normal one and I might win, but I'm not a better basketball shot than him. Likewise, people in Staunton and Augusta County are less educated overall. More farmers, truckers, factory workers, etc. do you think their kids are going to get the same kind of attention and nudging for education at home as the lawyer and phd's kids? Of course not, so test scores will not show the same. Likewise, very good schools in Alexandria have a very high hispanic population that are not close to fluent in English drag down their test scores, but not a bad school.

Augusta County schools are pretty good, stay away from Wayensboro city. Robert E Lee (Staunton City) also pretty good. If they go to Staunton City (RE Lee), Waynesboro (No just no), County schools (Gap, Wilson, Riverheads, Stuarts Draft, Fort Defiance) they can go to SVGS (which I attended and is right beside Wilson) which has an amazing college-prep math, science, tech focus where they can take AP everything almost and dual-enrollment with JMU (they also have an arts program but I take it you aren't into that).

Private schools.. there is Stuart Hall known to be good but I think they are not co-ed K-12.. I think it is girls only high school or something?

I'm trying to think but there aren't a ton of private schools most of them are related to a church like Grace Christian there are probably some I'm not thinking of and definitely in Charlottesville I'm sure.

- Boredom is a thing in Staunton if you like tons of really exciting big city things like pro sports or 'the club' or whatnot, there just aren't many of those but there are things to do. There is a shakespeare theater, a great downtown full of restaurants, gypsy hill park (most affordable golf ever although not a 5 star course), Mill Street grill (possibly best restaurant in Valley imho) has Jazz on Wednesdays, Redbeard's brewing has live music often, there is Staunton Jams street music festival twice per year, farmer's market spring through fall at the wharf, sometimes a carnival comes to town and sets up at the mall or in Churchville or somewhere else, Augusta County Fair, tons of outdoors things with two national forests right there, lots of fishing options, hunting options, Charlottesville has many shops and restaurants etc. and Crozet is quite the trendy go-between that is like a mini-cville and closer. Harrisonburg and Waynesboro has almost any big box store Staunton is missing. I mean it's not the most exciting place in the world but there are things to do. Go meet John Huggins down at his beer store at the Wharf he'll tell you everything that's going on, he's like a Staunton promoter of sorts.

If you want to live near downtown there is Gospel hill district which has some amazing Victorian homes right around N Coalter St, and then up from there North Staunton is where the money is, Newtown is the somewhat dilapidated area West of downtown that is coming along and has some hipster venues..

Anyways, Staunton's amazing I'm making money in DC right now but I'm sure I'll move back one day. Check out Swoope if you want some land. You can get from most places in the county to another place in the county in 30 minutes, there are never traffic jams almost.

[HomesickforWV]

This post is full of great info. We will be making a trip in the Fall if not sooner to visit the Staunton area. I am extremely excited. We live in Round Rock TX and the heat just is not tolerable any longer. Our traffic makes it scary to get out on the roads. I so miss the beauty of the North East. Virginia here we come!

[usernameexists]

Thanks everyone! This is helpful! We will likely be moving in the fall. Always looking for any info anyone can add.