Why not SWVA??

[bargainmom]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

It would be hard to find another town of 40,000 or less that's as flush with I.T. jobs and ethnic diversity as Blacksburg is. The Indian and Asian population in Blacksburg is appreciable, and there are plenty of interracial couples. Anecdotally speaking, we bought our Blacksburg house from an indian family and when it was put on the market 9 months later, we ended up selling it to an indian family relocating from NJ. The husband had moved to Blacksburg to take an I.T. job with a software development company specializing in the oil industry. Blacksburg is a college town with some of the top engineering minds from India and Asia living there while they earn their B.A. or Masters in I.T./Engineering. Not surprisingly, some stay in Blacksburg to raise a family.

The only shortcoming with Blacksburg that bugged me a little was the lack of cultural events (plays, musicals, concerts, etc). You'll have to drive to Roanoke for most of that. Which if you're living on the south side of Blacksburg isn't much more than a 45 minute drive.

Sean

Hi Sean,

I have a very wealthy (and not so very friendly) uncle who lives in Smith Mountain Lake. Is Roanoke as good a place to live as Blacksburg environs? Do you think we'd do okay living in between the two areas? Also, is Blacksburg now just a sort of "overflow area" for people leaving the DC area due to overcrowding and insane housing prices? Although I am from the Nova area orginally, I HATE it. I don't want to hang around with a bung of obnoxious rude "Yankees" but I want to have some diversity at the same time--talk about conflicted!

[bargainmom]

Hi Sean, my dream as of the past few years, but changing a bit recently: To buy at least 10 acres, put in a very small organic farm, grow most of my own food, start a Buddhist-Christian fellowship. Can you tell me the name of the town where you are located? Owning a horse farm--sounds as though you are independently wealthy! Do you earn a living from the farm or is that a hobby farm? Do you still work? I'm looking for a place that is not yet overcrowded and that still has fresh air and wide open spaces, yet has a decent econoomy and jobs--a real catch 22 eh?

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by bargainmom

Hi Sean, my dream as of the past few years, but changing a bit recently: To buy at least 10 acres, put in a very small organic farm, grow most of my own food, start a Buddhist-Christian fellowship. Can you tell me the name of the town where you are located? Owning a horse farm--sounds as though you are independently wealthy! Do you earn a living from the farm or is that a hobby farm? Do you still work? I'm looking for a place that is not yet overcrowded and that still has fresh air and wide open spaces, yet has a decent econoomy and jobs--a real catch 22 eh?

Hi there,

In betwixt Roanoke and Blacksburg are places like Shawsville, Elliston... They're small rural towns. I'd hesitate to consider Elliston and even Shawsvilee if you want peace and quiet. There is a 99% chance that Norfolk Southern will be building a 40 acre intermodal railyard in Elliston. Good for the environment (taking trucks off roads) but bad for noise pollution Until the yard gets built it will be impossible to determine how its noise pollution will affect that small valley.

Blacksburg is loaded up with polite people, as is the Roanoke area. Lots of people from NoVA down here but they leave for the same reasons you're considering it.

We live in Boones Mill, Franklin County. South of Roanoke, and about a 25 minute drive to downtown Roanoke. About a 15 minute drive to Rocky Mount, VA - a very picturesque small town. Since you've mentioned a desire to have a small organic farm I'd recommend Franklin or south Roanoke County over Blacksburg. Blacksburg elevation is 2,000' and the temps are noticeably cooler. Spring shows up a few weeks later and Autumn kicks in a couple weeks earlier. With a slightly smaller growing season in Blacksburg it might affect your crop yields. Just a thought. Maybe your crabby relative on SML will warm up to you if move to Franklin County, only 20 minutes away

Our farm isn't a hobby really. We don't depend on it for income, but these days that's the case for 66% of all Virginia farmers. I'm investing alot of my dotcom business income into the farm and we plan on increasing farm revenue until it operates within the black in five years.

I think what you're looking for, Franklin County qualifies for. It's within a 25 minute commute to central Roanoke and land, while appreciating at about 15% annually, is still affordable relative to urban prices. You're going to have neighbors in most places in Franklin County close enough to make a commute to Roanoke viable, but you might be close enough to see them. In fact I know of about 15 wooded acres for sale adjoining us that could be cleared partially for organic growing, and I know of 2-10 acre lots being sold by another lady for a brand new green home community. If you want that contact information you can email me (click my username, my profile link should give you that). I think a 15 acre chunk would run about $150,000. Less if you buy further from Roanoke.

Sean

[tamlee7]

Extreme Southwest Virginia NOT polluted? Come to Buchanan County and tell me it's not polluted. Everywhere you look, these beautiful mountains have been raped for everything they are worth. The streams are dead-the levisa river has tons of blackwater from the coal mining industry dumped into it every year. Coal mining has picked up recently due to the demand, coal trucks run constantly as well as the trains carrying the coal-it's in the air we breathe and this area has one of the highest cancer rates in the country. Go over to Tazewell County and it's better, go to Russell county, it's slightly better. Several writers contributing to this post have it correctly as far as describing this place. It is no longer pristine, it hasn't been in a very, very long time.

[seanpecor]

I suppose I could have clarified my opinion by describing instead the environmental quality of SWVA relative to the region compared against SWVA by the original poster.

I suppose I should also have stayed out of this discussion since I live just outside the edge of SWVA, in Franklin County, which is subject to different environmental issues.

No part of this country is untouched by pollution, and cancer rates while relatively high in Buchanan could also be attributed as easily with supporting data to rural poverty. Across the country the rural poor are the most at risk from cancer.

With respect to Coal, it's going to get worse before it gets better, but I believe it will get better, particularly if we all take steps to pressure our local representatives while we're searching each day for ways to sensibly reduce our own individual addictions to carbon fuel. Be it a smaller more efficient cars, dumbing your A/C up to 78F in the summer and your heat down to 68F in the winter, transitioning to energy star appliances, and so on. This is particularly sensible since nowadays energy is so much more expensive. We're saving at least %20 on energy costs on our farm after some cheap upgrades.

Sean

[Beenaroundabit]

SWVA with respect to Roanoke, Christiansburg, and maybe even as far as Abingdon is one thing (what I call "mainstream" SWVA). But SWVA as far as Wise, Grundy, Big Stone Gap - THAT far SW - I found it to be pretty poor and pretty depressed.

This was an area (circa 2001) where $17,000 a year was considered a "good salary" and one of the most common ways to make a living was collecting some kind of Social Security disability check (I used to investigate SS disability and prescription drug fraud and never saw it more rampant than in this part of the country).

Of course, to even GET THERE from mainstream SWVA you'll end up spending a few hours on two lane roads, maybe behind a coal truck, so even fewer people actually MOVE there. It's also one of the first places in the country where the Oxycontin abuse first started - they called it "hillbilly heroin" for a reason.

Can't speak to the pollution because I never really noticed it, and it IS a beautiful place, but it's economically very weak. Lots of people still haven't found anything to do since the mines have cut back in the last 30 years. I'd imagine it's not much better in today's economic climate, but I haven't been there since 2002.

Hey Sean: what are the odds that we have both lived in this part of VA AND were born/raised in VT? Small world!

[seanpecor]

I've run into very few Vermont transplants in Virginia. Last week I saw a truck with an oval white on green VT sticker on one side of the rear window, and the orange and maroon VT sticker on the other side, so I had my suspicions

Dude, Seattle! You managed to find the one place in the country where the sun shines less often than in Vermont

Sean

[mlammons]

I think it all depends on what you are looking for. I moved to Bluefield, WV which is right on the VA border. Bluefield, VA is about a 2 minute drive from my house. I moved to this area from Atlanta to get away from the hustle and bustle and raise my son somewhere that had a sense of community. Yes, perhaps it has been more difficult for my fiancee to find the exact kind of job he's looking for but he has never been out of work. There are plenty of medical, social work, and mining jobs around here. The pay is much less here but the cost of living is also a lot less. Our lives here are so much less stressful because the attitude is laid back and relaxed not "rush rush rush". In my opinion it is easier to make ends meet here than it was in Atlanta. There are poor desolate areas but there are also quaint neighborhoods with tree lined streets and beautiful old houses. The crime and drugs here are NOTHING compared to Atlanta (or other areas I've lived) and I feel completely safe letting my child play outside. So, I really think it all depends on what kind of lifestyle you are looking to have

[Beenaroundabit]

Dude, Seattle! You managed to find the one place in the country where the sun shines less often than in Vermont

Yeah, tell me about it. We used to live in Blue Ridge, right on 460 outside of Roanoke - then moved to Juneau, AK (nahh...not too shocking ).

I've now made it this far back towards the east coast and am setting my sights on Richmond (to be closer to the Northern neck, where my wife is from) or Abingdon, so I'm taking baby steps!

[ksc71966]

I moved to Big Stone Gap 2 yrs ago from 150 miles away and you described this area exactly. It takes some getting used to the backwardness of EVERYTHING but there is no crime, traffic, or pollution to speak of. Houses are cheap. Car repairs are cheap. Big Stone has horrible streets but the surrounding towns do not.

If you're considering this area go with Abingdon. 60 miles east.