Where in the Shenandoah Valley should we live? (Arlington, Roanoke: crime, homes)

[mango_jade]

Hey so with all the chaos of covid me and my partner have started to seriously consider moving up our plan to move to a small farm in the SV. Living on a farm has always been our dream but we always thought we would have to wait until we retired because job opportunities for what we do are few and far between in rural areas. However now that it seems work from home is going to become the standard and access to high speed internet in rural areas is potentially going to become a reality soon (i.e. SpaceX Starlink) I am now trying to narrow down what areas would be best for us.

Now a little bit about us. We and both 29 years old, currently live in Arlington, VA and I am from Texas and my partner is from Virginia. I am a black woman and my partner is a white man. Living in the DMV has meant we have never been made to feel out of place or unwelcome because our mixed race relationship and I am hoping that we could find a rural area that would provide a similar level of comfort for us in that regard. I have looked into various towns in the SV and it seems Harrisonburg is very open and welcoming to people of diverse backgrounds. I also like the look of Lexington but what gives me major pause is the fact that almost all the news articles I find about Lexington focus on the confederate flag day and the city's admiration for confederate generals.

Now I understand that rural Virginia is not a bastion of liberalism and many people display the confederate flag, however towns or areas where people seem to really define themselves by that history are places I don't want to move to.

So considering all of this what areas do you think would work for us? I have done research on Staunton, Blacksburg, Roanoke, and area around Charlottesville but I would love to hear from people that actually have been to or lived in any of these areas and your take on them.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for your contributions!

[Bigfoot424]

I live in the SV and it was the best move we could have made 5 years ago. I'm a little north of Harrisonburg. Yes, you'll see some confederate flags on homes spread throughout the area but I've yet to see or hear of any issues whatsoever from these. I've been in VA (NOVA) since 73 and retired from LE so knowing crime trends and ongoing crime issues is something I still follow. Are there many blacks in my area? Not really but the ones I deal with seem to be very happy here and again, I've seen nothing in the media to suggest there are any issues. Check out Woodstock. Great little town with and still near everything. But in reality, you can't go wrong in the areas you've mentioned although I am no longer a fan of Charlottesville and it's surrounding areas. And Lexington voted heavily for Hillary although the county went to Trump. Great town and one I do not think you would come to regret.

[bobamike]

I live a little more north in the Valley than the areas you mentioned, in Winchester, but I would echo bigfoot424's comments. I don't think you would have any issues here. Our neighbors are mixed race and haven't had problems that I know of.

[mango_jade]

Thanks everyone for your insights into the region. I'm happy to know that all are welcome in the valley and what to expect from people that live there.

[Shabba Snacks]

I would recommend Winchester (or in my case, Stephenson to be exact), on my block I would guess 70-75% white, and the rest Black, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Asian. Quite a few folks who were born and raised somewhere else including Sweden, Jamaica, Hong Kong, and The United Kingdom.

Winchester has more in common with Harrisonburg or Warrenton, but counts as the DMV, so you are at Dulles airport in 1 hour.

Further south I would say you will do just fine in Blacksburg or Charlottesville. Huge College towns with people of all shades and colors.

[ysrebob]

I think you would feel very comfortable in Harrisonburg. It's a college town.

In general in recent years a strong gradient has developed in the Valley from North to South, with towns along the I-81 corridor to the northern end (Winchester on down to Woodstock or perhaps even New Market) having some degree of cultural tie to and economic influence from NoVA... quite a few retirees from DC/NoVA/MD/Jersey; surprising amount of long-distance commuting into Dc area, etc. The northern end of the Valley is becoming more of a cultural melting pot.

South of Harrisonburg there's less connection to bigger cities outside the Valley, and less diversity. I'm not sure this means more cultural conservatism, though. The Valley was partly settled by German/Swiss pacifist anabaptists and has always had a surprising strain of liberalism/progressivism for so rural an area. I don't think it's really part of Appalachia. So you might really like Staunton, too, even though it's further from the urban orbit than the northern part of the Valley.

[mountainrose]

We have a farm in Charlottesville area, and there are a number of black farmers who love and thrive in this area. Check out The Pullet Man — everyone buys their chickens from Chris — he’s the best.
A farm a few miles from us with a black family is a favorite vendor at the farmers market. The problem is the cost for a farm here is exorbitant!! But you’d love the diversity and support here.

Staunton has a ton of less expensive farms and there is an active black community there.

We are retired and moving out of Cville because it’s just gotten too big and crowded. I don’t know how diverse Lexington is. We just started exploring Lexington a few weeks ago, but LOL - I had opposite concerns of yours. We are concerned they are too bigotted toward independents or conservatives due to The Red Hen restaurant incident. We are politically independent, but don’t want to live in a extreme political environment either left or right with protests, riots, anti-police politics nor any KKK or rightwing militia groups.

We were just in Lexington last week and did see one confederate flag, but the whole confederate thing there seemed to be more about their historical legacy and definitely didn’t get any white supremacy vibes.
The vibe is more liberal there than conservative — at least in the town.
Good luck and let us know what you find out.

[bemer]

Youve probably made a decision by now, but if you’re thinking about Lexington, be sure to spend some time there first. Without the college students, it’s under 3500 residents, and while it’s not riddled with white supremacy, it is ground zero for old-fashioned white privilege/money. There are some excellent restaurants, but because the town has always served the colleges (and now the sprawling retirement community) , there are no real public spaces in the sense of most cities. Very low energy, narrow social silos, little to do. Some great nonprofits, so volunteering is a popular solution.

[Jupiter1162]

Lexington is not considered Shenandoah valley though -- even though it is in a valley. Everything south of Waynesboro takes on a more Blue Ridge association. The confederate flaggers in Virginia are not the overly aggressive or racist ones - its more like a state flag to them than anything. I wouldn't worry about seeing them here and there. Most of them are not flying the flag around to taunt people.