I want the good bad and ugly on these towns. (Blacksburg: for sale, real estate)

[StraightWhiteMale]

Narrows
Cana
Hillsville
Woodlawn
Rural Retreat
Saltville
Richlands
Cleveland
Weber City
Dryden
Pound
Clintwood


I want to know everything about them. How close are they to larger towns, what is there to do in them, good place to raise kids?

[StraightWhiteMale]

I can not believe noone lives in these towns, the folks on the tennessee forum were more than helpful come on folks give me some info.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by StraightWhiteMale

Narrows
Cana
Hillsville
Woodlawn
Rural Retreat
Saltville
Richlands
Cleveland
Weber City
Dryden
Pound
Clintwood


I want to know everything about them. How close are they to larger towns, what is there to do in them, good place to raise kids?

Well, being a northeast Tennessee resident, just south of SW Virginia, I recognize many of those towns. Many are rural area in SW Virginia and I have been to a few of them.

I have not been to Clintwood since 1995, but if I recall, it was a nice little town, but seems like it took forever to get there (despite only being about 90 minutes from Bristol. Not too far from the Kentucky state line.

Hillsville is nice and close to I-77 and I-81. Not too far from North Carolina and Andy Griffiths hometown of Mt. Airy. Beautiful country.

Weber City is nice and just north of the Tennessee state line... just to the north of Kingsport TN actually, which is a fairly large city... population nears 60,000 in Kingsport and total metro area population is over 300,000 (Bristol and Johnson City and surrounding areas included). Of the ones you listed, this would likely have the "mildest" climate, as that area is fairly down out of the rugged mountains and high terrain.

Saltville - small town... have not been there in years, but dad has a friend that lives there.

Richlands - very small, but nice. I was there a couple of years ago helping at one of our companys stores. Not too far from the West Virginia state line.

Cleveland is just outside of Lebanon, but I have not been to Cleveland. Lebanon is nice though, so I imagine Cleveland is too. I know a lady that lives there (she works for the same company I do and I met her at one of our meetings).

SW VA is nice, but once you get away from the interstate (I-81) it can get very rural, very fast. I looked at a car for sale that was outside of Lebanon last summer. We turned off of the main highway onto a small two lane that was like in the middle of nowhere. We drove for 10 miles and it was nothing but fence/farmland for miles and miles, only passing a house or two every 2-3 miles. I was starting to get dark, so it was a little scary not knowing where we were or see any lights. I remember praying the car would not break down, but the strange thing is our phone always had an excellent signal service!

Hope this helps.
Not sure about those other areas you mentioned though.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by StraightWhiteMale

I can not believe noone lives in these towns, the folks on the tennessee forum were more than helpful come on folks give me some info.

Im from Tennessee and replied to your question

See above post.

[ktroy]

I currently live in Cana and very close to Hillsville. I lived here for almost 10 months now.. moved from upstate NY.

Cana is a rural, down the mountain, area with not much going on besides 4 wheeling and tree watching. Oh and the dozen flea markets and fruit stands down 52 (which is pretty much central Cana). There are some areas where you may want to avoid and some really nice areas. Its a part of the county which is on the bottom of the ridge of mountains.. so to get there you have to drive down a 2000ft mountain (route 52) or up it.. to get to Hillsville. Law is not really enforced because of the distance and strenuous drive back and forth from the county seat of Hillsville. The nearest city is Mount Airy, which is over the NC border. PLenty of big block stores and also a nice downtown area.
The weather here is much warmer here versus Hillsville because of elevation. The temperature change is about 10 degrees from Cana to fancy gap (half way to hillsville) The view from Hillsville is rolling hills tons of fields and distant mountains. The view from Fancy gap (right on the edge of the mountain) is long and amazing open views of foothills. The view from Cana is the blue ridge mountains.. being right on the bottom of them and actually in the foothills. Its a very beautiful place and has plenty of places to find a nice peaceful lot. People are mostly nice but also the truck driving red neck / hillbilly are to be expected.

Very close to the parkway and lots of places to see. Carroll county is really beautiful.. very open with miles and miles of fields and hills. I have attended several town board meetings in Hillsville and they sure have their act together.

If your interested in the area... find a nice place away from the road with some land.
Enjoy life in the mountains

[StraightWhiteMale]

Thanks for the replies, are there anything bad about these places? I think im gonna have to divide my time into 2 trips to each place...Maybe yall can help narrow them down some, i want somewhere thats not tiny but still country like. It HAS to be within 30 miles of a larger city 10k+ prefer closer than that though. Does that knock any off?

[sregorat3]

Have you posted in a Tennessee forum for the Tri-cities area? People there might be most familiar with these towns and I'd imagine more people in that portion of VA go to TN for shopping, hospitals, etc. than to larger metros in VA.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

Weber City is nice and just north of the Tennessee state line... just to the north of Kingsport TN actually, which is a fairly large city... population nears 60,000 in Kingsport and total metro area population is over 300,000 (Bristol and Johnson City and surrounding areas included).

I stand corrected.... upon further research, its more like 500,000 total metro population in the Tri-Cities area (which would include Weber City). Of those you mentioned, I would recommend Weber City.

[sweetpotater58]

Narrows-town is economically depressed, but real estate is good-i would live there if i had a job. Biggest town would be the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford area-while no big city-there are a lot of things there. As for raising kids, the people overall in this area are nice, but the local schools could use some help. I do know that education students from Va. tech used to lend a free hand to children needing help in Narrows.
Cana
Hillsville
Woodlawn
Rural Retreat-nice area, Marion closest bigger town. As for raising kids, it's country, so there you go.
Saltville-this town has suffered more than it's fair share of economic woes over the last 40 years, from factory closings and such. Believe it or not, during the first half of the 20th century it was a very prosperous small town due to the Salt works, and nearby Gypsum mines. I have family that live in and around the area. They like it, but it is because our ancestry is from this area. It is safe and all, but not much opportunity.
Richlands
Cleveland
Weber City
Dryden
Pound
Clintwood
Sorry-those three areas are the only ones i know. If I were you, Narrows might provide the better economic possibilities due to it's proximity to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and the rest.

[SCBeaches]

I have family living in Pound, Richlands, and Clintwood and have been through Saltville and Hillsville. There is nothing wrong with any of them as far as crime goes. Not many jobs, unless you want to commute to a bigger town or work out of your home. If you like small towns and rural living, you'll love these areas. SWVA is beautiful so anywhere you drive is going to be scenic with awesome views, in my opinion. You'll have to look at a map to see how far each one is to a city as I'm not sure....these towns are pretty far apart. Housing is very affordable though!