Moving to Virginia (Richmond, Roanoke, Centreville: transplants, apartment, rentals)

[lgr157]

Hello!

I just moved AWAY from Northern Virginia (Centreville). TOOOO expensive with a MASSIVE commute because there are TOO MANY PEOPLE. The house builders throw buildings up anywhere there is a spare tree and a patch of grass. Townhouses are at least $300,000 and an actual house is around $400,000 to $500,000 for a normal person house. There are rich people houses as well, but I didn't even bother to look at those. Jobs are in good supply with DC within commuting range if you don't mind an hour or so one way. I don't know about schools, we don't have kids yet. We moved back to NH to have them.

Good parts: restaurants (Chipotle, Five Guys Hamburgers, and tons of others), shopping, close to DC culture, nice weather, dogwood and cherry blossom trees in spring.

Bad parts: Traffic, stupid housing and rental prices, trying to figure out how every other car is a Mercedes, a somewhat cold attitude from people. People can knock their car door into yours while you are standing there and NOT EVEN LOOK AT YOU. Centreville is not a quaint small town. There is no "down town" feel like a New England town has. And they do not know how to plow the 2 inches of snow they get so crazy people don't crash into each other. If snow is even forcasted for the next day, schools are automatically closed. My apartment rent was $1100/mo for 723 square foot second floor one bedroom apartment. And our truck got broken into in the apartment parking lot and my car actually got stolen from the local repair shop when they left the keys in it in their yard.

Some I talked to LOVED it, but I had to get back where "traffic" means other people happen to be driving on the same road you are driving on.

[VABound-Help]

Originally Posted by williamsburgfan

change can be fun. we still need to know where you will be working and how long a commute. i will say in your price range the western part of the state 9except fro northern neck and eastern shore) will offer more house for the money as opposed to the north and estaern sections. 2 distinct geographies - mountains v water. where is your job - that will, of course, drive the answer.

My wife will be a Dentist and we will have the means to move where we choose. I am in sales and will consider my options when the time arrives. We can live wherever we would like to and a 30 minute commute isn't an issue.

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by lgr157

Some I talked to LOVED it, but I had to get back where "traffic" means other people happen to be driving on the same road you are driving on.

Well, aside from that Mr. Lincoln, how was the play?

You've discovered the pitfalls of the working class in NoVA. You literallly have to head an 75 minutes out of the DC area to start finding bedroom communities with nice downtowns - Winchester for example.

I moved from Vermont to Boones Mill, VA just south of Roanoke and it's a beautiful area to live with plenty of economic growth to support someone with marketable skills. You couldn't get me to move North again at gunpoint. It's too damn cold! Weeks of high temps in the teens, no thanks

Sean

[carolela]

I just moved from DC area..Its very expensive to live there. Will you be working or retiring..I can help you...but need more details.

[carolela]

sorry, I didnt read all your replies. Fairfax and Loudon County anything within 50 miles of dc is outlandish in housing and taxes. I lived there for 3 yrs and moved to Raliegh,NC for better jobs and lifestyle..a healthier one

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by carolela

sorry, I didnt read all your replies. Fairfax and Loudon County anything within 50 miles of dc is outlandish in housing and taxes. I lived there for 3 yrs and moved to Raliegh,NC for better jobs and lifestyle..a healthier one

Well, one should balance subjectivism with some objectivism in order to be more helpful. After all, you did move from NoVA to Raleigh where there is triple the violent crime rate. There is also higher unemployment in Raleigh, and unemployment in Raleigh is rising, not shrinking. There are also much fewer better jobs in Raleigh than in NoVA, keeping in mind that the median household income in Fairfax for example is 100% higher than it is in Raleigh. Furthermore, NC is behind only GA in hispanic immigration rates and according to the Pew Hispanic Center, 2/3rds of that immigration is illegal. Still, Raleigh can be a more hospitable place to locate employment and find a suitable home in an "up and coming" neighborhood but at it's current growth levels, one can't deny that the growth in the Raleigh area is not unlike the growth that NoVA began to experience 20 years ago and I suspect a forum such as this in 20 years will be full of people trying to escape the quagmire that is Raleigh traffic and cost of living

Sean

[VABound-Help]

Originally Posted by carolela

I just moved from DC area..Its very expensive to live there. Will you be working or retiring..I can help you...but need more details.

My wife and I will be just starting our work careers. I have a good job here in Nebraska, but I will be looking for something pretty equal in virginia or north carolina. As I stated in earlier messages, my wife will be partnering with a dentist in the VA/NC area and we are trying to get a feel as to where we should live. You mentioned you lived in Raleigh at one point in time. Crime rate aside...there's crime everywhere.... are the suburban neighborhoods any good? school? jobs? Also, what do you think about the VA area? Roanoke?

Thanks for your input!

[VABound-Help]

How is Boones Mill? Better or worse than Raonake?

[seanpecor]

Boones Mill describes both a postage stamp sized town on Route 220 that is only 1 square mile in area, and it also refers to northern Franklin County, and even the very southern edge of Roanoke County. Most people who live in "Boones Mill" actually, like myself, live in Franklin County in the Boones Mill zip code. The town itself, while not picturesque, offers basic conveniences including a post office, two banks, one convenience and one general store, a used car dealership, a rustic gift store, a Subway fast food restaurant, a landscaping nursery, a pharmacy, an insurance company and even - of all things - a marketing and web design company.

Outside of town, to the East or West of Boones Mill, is a pastoral highland setting that is drawing much interest from middle to very high income folks who work in Roanoke but love the country setting. Middle income folks are for the most part buying older but well kept homes, while builders are almost without exception catering to higher income folks, building what I would consider to be high quality custom homes in the $450K and up range in various styles. I own close to $2M in real estate in Boones Mill, and I personally love the area. I'm 20 minutes from the south side of Roanoke City and we do a mix of shopping in Roanoke and Rocky Mount, a small picturesque town 15 minutes from us. There are new 30-50 lot suburban neighborhoods being built in Boones Mill, three of which are within 3 minutes of me, but unless you've got at least $400K to bring to the table I'd look elsewhere. For a professional family just starting out I'd recommend the Grandin Village or Raleigh Court area of Roanoke City. You'd be living on narrow side streets with no thru-traffic and lots of young families. I've driven through them with friends and relatives interested in moving to the area, there were lots of families out and about in those neighborhoods. One of the great things about those neighborhoods is the 100 year old trees and old craftsman style and victorian homes. Very attractive.

Another alternative is downtown living in Roanoke. Roanoke is NOT a big city, and being in the heart of it all isn't as intimidating as, say, living in the heart of Philly Plus there are stupendous deals like $218,000 for a brand new loft apartment with 5 years worth of tax credits. For a new family, I couldn't imagine a better location. In 5 years the same apartment would be worth $400K, and presuming you'd be thinking of a family at some point after that you'd have a good handle on neighborhoods you like the most. Roanoke's downtown resident population was only 40(!) in 1996, and in 2006 it grew to 400. The growth is now beginning to curve upward as alot of things in Roanoke start coming together, like major initiatives to convert old buildings into urban apartments, and the 170 million dollar art museum, and the new medical college to be built near Carilion's 28 acre bio-medical park in Roanoke. The college will be a partnership between Virginia Tech, Carilion and the state government, so if you were looking to establish a practice in a small metro area enjoying 3% growth that will in all likelihood grow to 8% after about 5 years then Roanoke should be on your short list.

Sean

[kmflan]

I grew up in Va and now live near KC
Richmond is probably more like Omaha as far as city amenities, size, housing prices. And it's a nice city. Has bad parts like every other city. But is also has art, culture, amazing history and architecture, museums, Lewis Ginter botanical Gardens, Maymont Park, The James River. My sister is an art teacher there.

PLus. Drive one and half hours east and you are at the beach; one and a half hours west and you are in the mountains

Check out Richmond and surrounding are before you make your final decision.