Living In Virginia VS North Carolina...Input PLEASE??? (Richmond, Roanoke: fit in, homes)

[itsajourney]

I would really love to hear from folks who have lived in both Virginia and North Carolina. I lived in Pennsylvania for 11 years--just outside of Harrisburg. I loved Pennsylvania for its history, mountains, 4 season climate (winter was just a little too long tho), mostly down-to-earth people, small farms & fresh produce, etc. Moved to Florida in 2001 with 4 kids-from elementery school to just starting high school. Have pretty much been ready to leave Florida since 2001--just couldn't do that to the kids tho. Now the kids are in college or almost there--so it's finally my time to decide.

I've spent the last 3 years making trips through N. GA, NC, and VA looking for the next (hopefully, last) place to call home. I have been to so many wonderful places in each of the areas that I honestly feel I am making things harder on myself. Instead of narrowing my choices down, I just seem to be expanding them. By the time I figure everything out, I'll be too broke to move. People are nice to me wherever I go--so I need some help from folks in the know.

I realize that what I am asking is very subjective, but please give me some insight as to similarities & differences between VA & NC when one chooses one state over the other to reside in. I have pretty much eliminated N. GA--but there is a lot of VA & NC wide open for consideration.

Any topic/subject is fair game if it affects your life and/or quality of life in one state or the other.

and....thank you so much for any info at all!!!

[roanoker 4]

My relatives from Pennsylvania had a similar experience! They lived in NE PA for many years, decided to move to the Tampa area and after living there during a storm season, they came back to PA with the cold winters. For them the reason they moved back up north was their family was in PA. They now live in the Roanoke area which is often an overlooked place with perhaps the best quality of life of most places(certainly in VA). The weather is mild, beautiful scenery, nearby lakes, skiiing, etc. Its over 3 hour drive to DC, 5 hours to Myrtle Beach(palm trees!), NC is only an hour away. My favorite place in NC is Wilmington, on the coast. It has a very inviting and energetic downtown like Roanoke and I like the ocean. NC & VA are big and diverse states. I believe both are in the top 10 of states with the biggest populations and incomes. The big cities in this region such as Charlotte, Raleigh, DC,
Richmond attract young professionals, the smaller cities such as Roanoke,
Lynchburg, Wilmington, Asheville, Triad attract retirees from Florida who have grown tired of the Florida rat race. Good luck in your search!

[itsajourney]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

My relatives from Pennsylvania had a similar experience! They lived in NE PA for many years, decided to move to the Tampa area and after living there during a storm season, they came back to PA with the cold winters. For them the reason they moved back up north was their family was in PA. They now live in the Roanoke area which is often an overlooked place with perhaps the best quality of life of most places(certainly in VA). The weather is mild, beautiful scenery, nearby lakes, skiiing, etc. Its over 3 hour drive to DC, 5 hours to Myrtle Beach(palm trees!), NC is only an hour away. My favorite place in NC is Wilmington, on the coast. It has a very inviting and energetic downtown like Roanoke and I like the ocean. NC & VA are big and diverse states. I believe both are in the top 10 of states with the biggest populations and incomes. The big cities in this region such as Charlotte, Raleigh, DC,
Richmond attract young professionals, the smaller cities such as Roanoke,
Lynchburg, Wilmington, Asheville, Triad attract retirees from Florida who have grown tired of the Florida rat race. Good luck in your search!

Hi Roanoker--I have been watching your posts for a while now--it's obvious that you are very fond of your home. I was in Roanoke in July--and was totally in heaven in my beloved mountains.

How long have your relatives from PA been in VA now? Yes, my situation sounds like it pretty much mirrors theirs.

After 8 years of being down here, I doubt that I will ever acclimate so it's time to move on. My kids pretty much aren't "in love" with Florida either--they miss a lot about PA also. I am hoping that once I finally decide on an area and get settled in, they will find their way up that direction--no guarantees of course, but it will make it easier for them to relocate after college. None of them are married or have families--so that will certainly make it much easier also.

Leaving the Florida rat race will be EASY--in the 8 years we have been here, I have had to deal with 16 auto accidents, a road rage incident where someone pulled a gun on my son in Miami, and numerous other incidents that come with living here. A claims' adjuster just wrote my daughter's car off as a total loss this afternoon. She had a kid who only had his license for a month turn left in front of her and she couldn't stop. Since July 30 of this year, I have had 4 kids in 4 car accidents--2 were total loss claims. Thank God they are all fine--and they have not been at fault in any of them. You don't even know how badly I want out of here while we are all still alive.

[roanoker 4]

Hi Itsajourney,
It is a chilling story about the car accidents also! My friends daughter moved from Roanoke to Tampa about 5 years ago and she has been in several accidents. About 5 months ago she was rammed by a "road rage" driver in Tampa and she still is recovering. She is only 28 and it is so sad her life almost ended by one of these maniacs. It happens so fast! My relatives from PA are still here but I think they miss NE PA also, due to family issues.
I think they don't miss the harsh winters in PA as we have been very lucky here with practically no snow or ice for several years, very mild! We have aggressive drivers in VA but not many in Roanoke, thank God!

[Nebat]

[quote=itsajourney;11048906]I would really love to hear from folks who have lived in both Virginia and North Carolina. I lived in Pennsylvania for 11 years--just outside of Harrisburg. I loved Pennsylvania for its history, mountains, 4 season climate (winter was just a little too long tho), mostly down-to-earth people, small farms & fresh produce, etc. quote]

For the most part NC and VA are somewhat similar, however I think NC has a cheaper cost of living. I prefer VA for it's history and geographic location and it's natural beauty. Most people don't agree with me but I find PA and VA to be somewhat similar as well, at least in certain areas. In VA we have everything you loved about PA except our winters are not as long. I was up in PA last week and where i was the leaves were halfway to peak colors! Right now in VA our trees are starting to change too. I live about 3 hours or so down I-81 south of Harrisonburg and we have many farms and farmers markets here. One advantage VA has over NC at least for you is it's closer to home for you. I have recently on several occasions gone to PA as far as St. Marys and come home in the same day. DC is also close which is our local world class city for things to that nature. NC is kind of isolated from that level of entertainment and culture, not that Charlotte and Raleigh are not cultured but, hey, they're not DC. NC is a nice state though and it's beaches are great but for me personally I think VA is a nicer place. Hope this helps and good luck with whatever choice you make!

[itsajourney]

Thanks Nebat---you hit on those things that are causing me so much agony in making a decision on where to go. Since I want to quit "wandering" and feeling "homeless", I really would like to make the right decision. I plan to open a small business--so I would really like to get it up and going without worrying about how long I might stay someplace. Home for me is actually Illinois--which I have no desire to return to--but I did love south central/eastern PA. I would like to be able to make day trips back to some of my favorite places up there.

[Uninhabitedparadise]

I would have to go with North Carolina. Then again I think ive overdosed on Virginia's bull****.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by itsajourney

Home for me is actually Illinois--which I have no desire to return to--but I did love south central/eastern PA. I would like to be able to make day trips back to some of my favorite places up there.

*snork* You too? Native Illinoisan (actually a 5th or 6th generation native) who has lived in NC for the last 20 years. I would consider returning to our home state with the same dispirited feeling as if someone said "you are going to die and definitely go to hell." We never want to return there

Economically, NC is in a very low spot right now. If you were planning to move here and look for work, I'd advise having a job lined up before moving. Starting a small business? I guess it depends on what it is. You would probably want to be sure to have enough to live on for at least two years while you get started. That amount would vary, depending on where you'd settle.

If you want quick access back to PA, and your small business idea would fit in this particular area, you might want to check out western Virginia. We are looking at SW VA for retirement, ourselves. Spouse is looking at probable forced retirement from the bank industry in a few years and we've been pondering what to do at that time. For us, that part of VA seems to still retain much of what NC has lost over the last three decades because of rapid economic development and too-fast growth. A lot of the "friendliness" has been lost because people moving from areas where an aggressive attitude is necessary for survival have failed to lose that attitude once they get here.

We were just in the Abingdon area this past weekend. I didn't want to come home. The thought of living in that historic area, being able to ride my bike on the VA Creeper Trail (not on the weekends - it's crazy then) Virginia Creeper Trail Guide - Virginia's Premiere Mountain Biking Experience
driving the backroads without frowning at the kind of over development which has ruined much of western NC ... even the fall colors were much brighter. We thought about getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but dreaded the usual crowds. Instead we drove through the Mt Rogers recreation area and saw very few people while at the same time viewing these kinds of colors


Visiting western VA brings back a lot of the enthusiasm we remember having when we left Illinois and settled in NC. As a Midwesterner, the variety of this part of the country is certainly exotic, with western VA now seeming to feel a lot like what we remember of NC when we first arrived here.

If there is time before having to make a final decision, I'd definitely recommend spending a week exploring the I-81 corridor. While we favor the bottom part, we've been up and down that stretch and agree with Nebat on his/her views.

[roanoker 4]

In not too many years both NC & VA will be bulldozed into one giant parking lot similar to Florida so forget about which state is nicer at the moment.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

In not too many years both NC & VA will be bulldozed into one giant parking lot similar to Florida so forget about which state is nicer at the moment.

Well, as of 2007, NC was #1 in losing farmland to development. VA is #11. Much of what you see in NC is that farming simply doesn't pay. Efforts by preservationists to keep land out of developer hands is being fought by the farmers themselves. A few years ago, there were efforts to control some of the rampant sprawl around the Mooresville/Lake Norman area. 100s of acres were declared off-limits to development, which caused the farmers to raise ten kinds of hell. In the rural area where I live, you don't see the amount of land put to cultivation as there once was. Back in the 70s, the farm lobby was strong enough to stop Duke Power from building a nuclear power plant on the Yadkin because of the amount of water that would be taken from their fields (the 3-Mile Island disaster was also a factor). Today, a lot of farmers run a rag-tag herd of cattle; just good enough for the dog food manufacturers; to make enough for the tax payments. Otherwise, they're just waiting for a developer to come along and offer to buy their land.

Other areas have had more success
N.C. leading nation in farmland lost to development | North America > United States from AllBusiness.com

To be fair, you have to give farmers an incentive to keep up the often thankless, certainly hard, job. There are a number of century and older farms attesting to the love some families have for their work, but put that up against the McMansions being built in the same area where some farmers live in much more modest homes and you can see why they might declare a desire for the same kind of life. The money they'd get from the developers would assure that.