RELOCATING TO SOUTHWEST VA...info please (Bristol, Wytheville: for sale, apartment complexes, rental)

[mudbugs]

Hi All,
Can anyone help me out there with these questions. First my story, Hubby and I are relocating to the southwest part of Va possibly around the Coeburn, St.Paul area. His job will be in around St. Paul and were wanting to find somewhere thats not a long drive to it. So we would consider something other than coeburn or st.paul. Something thats a clean area, possibly a rural area.
My questions are:
What are the deposits for lights,water ect...?
What kind of neighorhoods are these areas?
And is there any other areas thats close besides the ones I mentioned?
I would appreciate any help anyone can give me.
Mudbugs

[Trevor92]

St. Paul or Castlewood would be your closest areas. They're very rural though if you're not sure if you want to live in a rural area. City data lists the St. Paul population at 968. Graduating high school classes are around 50-60 students if you have children. Castlewood lost their "town" status and is now a community within Russell County. Neither have reliable cell service from any provider anywhere in town. They just built a Verizon cell tower at the power plant, but it doesn't penetrate the large mountain between the power plant and St. Paul. There's one grocery store that serves both towns, a Food City in St. Paul. Miles and miles of land though.

For other places to live you might want to think about Abingdon which is a very nice, large town. It's about 40 minutes away but a far more developed area just off I-81. It's only about 5 miles from Bristol. You're probably talking about a rent similar to that found in a more urban area because it's a very nice place to live.

You could also consider the other direction on the highway such as Coeburn. It's an intermediate area that's closer to the hospitals, shopping centers, and UVa-Wise, mainly in Wise and Norton. You're probably talking about a 15 minute drive if you live there. Still a rural area, but with more development than the towns right near the plant that might suit your other shopping and entertainment needs better.

Rents in places like this are variable, and it depends on if it's a house, in a trailer park (which there are several), or something between. There are no apartment complexes and very few row houses or townhouses. St. Paul or Castlewood would probably be the least expensive and Abingdon the most expensive. I don't know much about the specific neighborhoods in these area, but violent crime is also very low compared to larger cities.

[A_dougee_doug]

Whythville or Tazwell are nice!!!!

[gginger]

I am in the process of placing my home with a realtor for sale that is located between the towns of Coeburn and St. Paul, Virginia. If you would like more info, please respond to this message.

[mudbugs]

Thanks for getting back with me on this.
Yes cell phone service is a must. Children are grown so we don't have to worry about any schools. Between Coeburn and St.Paul would be nice. But we're looking for something to rent.
Can you tell me any thing about the power plant that's going up there? Also how are the towns of Whythville and Tazwell like and how far?
Thanks again,mudbugs

[Trevor92]

Wytheville and Tazewell are too far away. Both are over an hour away from the new plant and don't really offer anything that that the closer areas don't.

If you want an area populated enough to get cell service, I would certainly consider the Coeburn area. I would also recommend that you don't rent sight unseen if you want cell service from home. If that area doesn't suit your taste, then I'd focus on areas closer to Abingdon. Lebanon would probably also fit your needs. It would be about a 30 minute drive to St. Paul, similar to the drive from Norton or Wise near Coeburn. From Lebanon, it's also about a 30 minute drive to Abingdon and the interstate. It should also allow you to miss the higher rent prices in the Abingdon area.

There are several news articles on it such as this article. Dominion News

I drove by the site a couple months ago and construction is well underway. I don't think the site is suppose to become operational until 2012 though so there must be a lot more construction to do. If you do a google search, it is difficult to get reliable information because you get a lot of opinion blogs on the environmental impact of power plant. You may want to occasionally check the website of the local paper, Coalfield.com - Coalfield Progress, Dickenson Star, The Post and they might also have some older articles in their archives. They only bad thing about the website is you can't access the full article without a subscription, but you can get a 3 month on-line subscription for like $11 and it would also give you access to local classified rental ads.

[mudbugs]

Thanks for all the info I/we really appreciate it.
Coeburn sounds like what were looking for possibly the out skirts. Yes the job is suppose to last till around 3-4 years. I'll check out those sites.
Do you happen to know what the water and lights deposits are?
Thanks again, mudbugs

[gginger]

I'm not sure if my first message posted. I have my house for sale and it is located between St. Paul and Coeburn....about 5 minutes from the power plant. Where are you relocating from?

[mudbugs]

Hey Gginger,
We're coming from Louisiana in about 6 weeks. The area sounds great and close to the plant like what we're looking for but, we're looking to rent not buy at this time. If you consider renting please let us know.
mudbugs
and thank you for all your help.

[gginger]

I really want to sell my house/property and just placed it with a realtor last week but if it doesn't sell then I will consider renting it. My house is a great location from the power plant. Less than a 5 minute drive to get to work. You had asked about utility deposits...if my memory serves me right, I think the electric, phone and water deposits are about $100.00 each with a full refund when you disconnect. Not bad, I guess. I think there are very few rental properties in the area unless it's a mobile home. The Town of Abingdon is a more expensive choice to live. I think because it's mostly historical and is closer to the City of Bristol and Kingsport. Hey, once you live in the beautiful mountains of Southwest Virginia, you may want to make it a permanent home. I hope this has helped you with your move to VA.