small towns in SW VA with nice downtowns (move, competition)

[seanpecor]

The newcomers to Franklin County are, in general, outdoorsy people. And dipping into the Roanoke metro pool will get you into a substantial outdoor oriented community. Climbing, hiking and cycling is pretty popular. So is kayaking, canoeing and boating in general. Challenger World held the U.S. Challenge here back in 2006 (Challenger World Results Website).

For skiing, most folks head to Snowshoe Mountain in WV (Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort - Official Website - Snowshoe, West Virginia) which is about 3 hours from where I am in Boones Mill. Snowshoe summit is 4,848' and average snowfall is 180" with full snowmaking, a 1,500' vertical, 50+ trails, a dozen or so night trails, 16 restaurants, 8 bars, 300' half pipe, etc.

Sean

[savvymom]

If you are remotely familiar w/ Smith Mountain Lake.. they are currently building a downtown area in Moneta from scratch (where there was just pasture).. street lamps to shops to housing..completely carved into an old fashioned upscale downtown, near the amenities of the sought after lake area).. Its to bring in even more attention to this high class area. See for yourself:
--> DOWNTOWN* MONETA,* VIRGINIA! <--> PICTURE GALLERIES TOO!!

[j1n]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Is it a popular place for outdoors-oriented people? I'm interested in that demographic as it tends to be year 'round. Hikers, cyclists, climbers and winter sports as well. I realize downhill skiing might not be a factor, but cross country would be good.

Rocky Mount is not a really "outdoorsy" type of place in the way that I believe you are talking about. It is outdoorsy-oriented if you are referring to fishing, hunting, farming, and mudbogging 4x4's. You might want to look into Marion, as it is more of the "gateway" to Mt Rogers, Grayson Highlands, Hungry Mother, etc. Marion is not far from Damascus either. Damascus is the "trail town" on the AT...they hold a big festival there every year for AT hikers. I would imagine that Damascus is pretty inundated with outfitters, but Marion strikes me as a place that could use one.

[sweetpotater58]

Pearisburg would certainly provide you with cheaper real estate-but the economy is bad there, Wal-Mart destroy the small businesses of both Narrows and P-Burg. I concur with others about Abingdon/Rocky Mount, as for Glade Spring-maybe, another one to think about checking is Big Stone Gap-further west. As for Damascus-while it may not be energizing into a rebirth-it could with people who had a vision. I had heard Marion was trying to improve itself. Last, but not really that far Southwest, would be Scottsville of the James River.

[VALover]

Galax has sort of a neat downtown as far as I am concerned and the New River Trail begins/ends right near the downtown.

[vafiddler]

I would second Marion, and add Wytheville to the list. As someone who has lived all along the western side of virginia, I think the Mt Rogers/Grayson Highlands area offers by far the best opportunities for outdoor recreation, not to mention great music. Despite spectactular scenery, it is very underused and doesn't have the overabundance of outfitters like the highlands of NC or places further north in Virginia (i.e. CHarlottesville/Harrisonburg). Either Wytheville or Marion are logical stepping off points for Grayson Highlands area visitors coming from the west or north, and offer far easier access then from Rt. 58 or any points south. Wytheville and Marion both have beautiful downtowns, and are large enough to support a business locally. They're also well served by interstates. Wytheville, as you probably know is basically at the intersection of I77/I81, Marion is right on I-81. Really a ton of opportunity out there!

[Robin Y]

I have lived in Giles County for 10 years: Pearisburg, which is supposed to be the nicer area. I have lived all over the country and moving here was a terrible mistake. Since I have been here, I have been ripped off by countless Giles County "contractors", to the point that it is my policy and my companies policy to not hire any contractor from Giles County. I have had my animals poisened twice (once on Christmas Eve so that I would find them dying on Christmas Day), my house broken into twice...after complaining about "law enforcement", I have been followed by every cop in the town and harrassed endlessly...The "neighbors" in Giles County I believe have the saying "MY land is MY land, and YOUR land is MY land". There are constant property boundary disputes. The word "redneck" is not strong enough. Hillbilly would be more accurate. Hillbillies are dangerous rednecks. The police and judges protect the locals. If you are an "outsider", such as myself (although being there for 10 years), you are shunned. The local "businesses" are a joke. There are no restaurants, except for a couple of fast food places, and one that has given me food poisening three times (once hospitalized). Even then the doctor tried to cover for the local restaurant! The small businesses are run by unprofessional locals and they go out of business frequently. I personally know of a situation where a family was harrassed so badly by the school board (to include 2 teachers and the cop this man called to help him who drove by his house repeatedly, opened his dog pens in the middle of the night...(all on film) with the intent of scaring his family) that they had to move. Everyone is always in your business, the gossip, extreme corruption...all true. This stuff is too incredible to make up. This is just a fraction of what I have seen. The New River is nice. The rest of the county is bad news.

[SCBeaches]

Originally Posted by Robin Y

I have lived in Giles County for 10 years: Pearisburg, which is supposed to be the nicer area. I have lived all over the country and moving here was a terrible mistake. Since I have been here, I have been ripped off by countless Giles County "contractors", to the point that it is my policy and my companies policy to not hire any contractor from Giles County. I have had my animals poisened twice (once on Christmas Eve so that I would find them dying on Christmas Day), my house broken into twice...after complaining about "law enforcement", I have been followed by every cop in the town and harrassed endlessly...The "neighbors" in Giles County I believe have the saying "MY land is MY land, and YOUR land is MY land". There are constant property boundary disputes. The word "redneck" is not strong enough. Hillbilly would be more accurate. Hillbillies are dangerous rednecks. The police and judges protect the locals. If you are an "outsider", such as myself (although being there for 10 years), you are shunned. The local "businesses" are a joke. There are no restaurants, except for a couple of fast food places, and one that has given me food poisening three times (once hospitalized). Even then the doctor tried to cover for the local restaurant! The small businesses are run by unprofessional locals and they go out of business frequently. I personally know of a situation where a family was harrassed so badly by the school board (to include 2 teachers and the cop this man called to help him who drove by his house repeatedly, opened his dog pens in the middle of the night...(all on film) with the intent of scaring his family) that they had to move. Everyone is always in your business, the gossip, extreme corruption...all true. This stuff is too incredible to make up. This is just a fraction of what I have seen. The New River is nice. The rest of the county is bad news.

Wow, that all sounds like a scary movie!

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by SCBeaches

Wow, that all sounds like a scary movie!

Stopped in Pearisburg at a motel for the night. It was a bit scary as were the people, hence we moved on down the road to Wytheville. It was kind of like as scary movie as was Wytheville. Another horror motel story there and kept moving. Actually, two incidents in the same motel in Wytheville.

I liked Galax very much on the border of Carroll and Grayson Counties.

[car54]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

...I liked Galax very much on the border of Carroll and Grayson Counties.

I'll second that!

(and if you're lucky, you can hear me win the banjo competition at the Fiddler's Convention in August...LOL)