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Old 03-26-2007, 07:49 AM
 
Location: Lutz, FL
53 posts, read 250,868 times
Reputation: 30

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My family and I are being transferred to Clintwood, VA in Dickenson County. Can anyone tell me about the area? How are the schools? How is the crime rate? What is the nearest Mall? Is there a Walmart or Home Depot nearby? Are there activities for kids to do - soccer, cheerleading? Any information is greatly appreciated.
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Old 03-26-2007, 02:42 PM
 
112 posts, read 803,636 times
Reputation: 70
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lutz Lady View Post
My family and I are being transferred to Clintwood, VA in Dickenson County. Can anyone tell me about the area? How are the schools? How is the crime rate? What is the nearest Mall? Is there a Walmart or Home Depot nearby? Are there activities for kids to do - soccer, cheerleading? Any information is greatly appreciated.
The twin pillars of Dickenson County's economy are coal mining and prisons. There has been a large amount of coal strip mining around Clintwood, including the notorious "mountain-top removal" method; and the landscape has been permanently altered. There's two Supermax state prisons, one in Wise County and the other at Red Onion, near the Wise-Dickenson county line. Amnesty International and others have criticized these institutions for inmate deaths, racism, and inhumane treatment of inmates bordering on torture.

Dickenson County is among the top 5 counties in Virginia for highest suicide rates. It's in the lowest classification for scholastic achievement (standards of learnimg), and in the top 20% for unemployment rate. [source: www.vaperforms.va.gov] (broken link) The county and the area are medically underserved. The climate is very pleasant although they received quite a lot of snow this winter.

The high school is large and modern, with good sports programs. There are "big box" discount stores in Norton, about 20 miles away. Clintwood is the county seat and there are attorneys and a handful of other professionjal services. The US Army Corps of Engineers has a dam and lake nearby, with fishing and recreation. There used to be a cafe' directly across from the courthouse, the White Star, that had fantastic and cheap Southern cooking - if you stay there for awhile you will see just about everyone in town.

Insofar as a lot of the people are related to each other and they share a distinct Appalachian accent, there may be some initial difficulties for your family fitting in, but people are by no means unfriendly. I'm sure your coworkers will help to show you the ropes. Good luck; it will be a big change from Florida.
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Old 03-27-2007, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Lutz, FL
53 posts, read 250,868 times
Reputation: 30
Thanks for the information. Can you tell me where you found the information on the schools? I would like to look it up. Also, you mention that there might be difficulties fitting in. What do you mean by that?
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Old 04-05-2007, 09:01 PM
 
8 posts, read 39,566 times
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Dickenson County is in a very remote, mountainous area of the state. The population is very small. You will be living in small town America. Norton or Bristol would be the nearest shopping areas. There is nothing like a Walmart in Dickenson County.Abingdon would be a close drive too for entertainment and shopping.Also Kingsport or Johnson City, TN would be within driving distance for shopping and entertainment.

You probably want to go visit Dickenson County before you make your mind up to move there. I would not choose to live there myself. You could live in Norton and drive to Dickenson County to work. The schools would be better in Wise county also.
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Old 04-30-2007, 07:51 AM
 
1 posts, read 5,797 times
Reputation: 10
Smile Dickenson County Virginia

I am a native of Dickenson County and I have lived in other areas. I lived away from here for about 10 years before moving back here. This is the best place to raise a family. I work for the county schools and I can tell you that our schools are very good. We strive to provide a very positive learning environment for our students, and for such a small county, we provide some of the best and leading technology services to our students. True there is not a Wal-Mart or a Mall in our county, but they are within a close driving distance. If your company is tranferring you to Clintwood, my suggestion is to live in Dickenson County. You will not be satisfied living in another county and working in Dickenson County. Fitting in is not a problem. Like I said, I lived away from here for about 10 years. I moved away right after high school and lived in Bristol, VA and North Wilkesboro, NC before moving back here. There was a period of adjustment, but it was short. If you are a person that is open to new experiences, then you will adjust to living here very quickly and will fit it nicely. I believe that if you choose to live in Dickenson County that you will love it. There is a lot of beautiful scenery, lots of great people, and lots of wonderful churches to attend. If you want to know about living in Dickenson County, listen to someone who actually lives here instead of someone who has only visited here as some of the previous posts seem to imply. It is a wonderful place to raise a family and your children will learn some really good values growing up in such a wonderful place as Dickenson County.
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Old 04-30-2007, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Lutz, FL
53 posts, read 250,868 times
Reputation: 30
I do want to let you know we have visited Clintwood and Dickenson County and we really liked it a lot. We got to tour the schools and were very impressed. There seemed to be a very real sense of community there and people seemed very down to earth and friendly. I am sure there are always going to be some that dont fit that mold, but that is everywhere. A good place to raise a family is exactly what we are looking for as we are not into impressing people with fancy cars, clothes or housing. We certainly dont mind having to drive a little bit to get to shopping. Any other info you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Such things as sales tax, are vehicles required to have inspections, who the best cell phone provider would be and great places to eat are just some of the things we could use help with. Thanks again.
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Old 05-30-2007, 04:39 PM
 
2 posts, read 11,331 times
Reputation: 10
Smile Information about School

There's websites that you can find more about the schools in dickenson county..... for clintwood its CHS on the Web
Haysi is HAYSI HIGH SCHOOL Drawer G
Ervinton is Home

Me myself just graduated haysi an Dickenson County is the best place that I have been. The school systems are always great an are very helpful if you need anything. Yeah, we have a WalMart about 30 minutes away an all the other stores. This is a little county and pritty much everyone knows everyone an thats the best part about it. I would concider anyone living here because it is a Great Place!
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Old 05-30-2007, 04:50 PM
 
2 posts, read 11,331 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lutz Lady View Post
Thanks for the information. Can you tell me where you found the information on the schools? I would like to look it up. Also, you mention that there might be difficulties fitting in. What do you mean by that?
I disagree with the diffuculties with fitting in. Everyone is very nice an would do anything in their power to help out another person. An even though we do have a prison close to us they havent been many incendents of suicide or anything like that in a very long time.
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Old 07-06-2009, 04:45 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,875 times
Reputation: 10
I have relatives in Dickinson and Buchanan counties,some of their last names are Thomas,Boyd,DEAL.I am working on my geneology and I would like to talk to someone there with some information. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
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