READ if you are asking about where to live in VA (Richmond: apartment complex, mortgage broker)

[Jpurvis]

Hello

I am from South Florida looking to relocate. I am curious as to which area would work for me.
I am a divorced Mom of two grown children, but would be coming alone. My son lives in the Bedford Area now.
I do accounting work, and would be renting a place until I make sure this is where I want to be.
I like the small town areas, not so small where there is nothing there, but not big at all. I am willing to commute 30-40 minutes or so.
Since I am going to be there by myself, I am concerned about living somewhere that is safe. I know everywhere has crime but being alone, I would like to feel ok to be living alone.
I have never lived in the snow, but I do want to live where there is some. I love cold weather and look forward to it.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[StoneCold_Calvin_Austin]

We have very little snow these days. Lynchburg is fantastic for those of us who love going to church. Roanoke is more urban.

Originally Posted by ks776

My son is going to college in lynchburg next year, we live in New Hampshire, work in Boston, and really really are ready to leave. So we just came back from lynchburg and loved it, however, after reading the virginia forum, i am intrigued w/roanke, and also virginia beach looks beautiful. I work in cat scan in major hospital so that would be a factor. I just wanted to say that sometimes you don't know where to go and you may rely on people to give some good advice, that's about it thanks, this is my first post

Centra who run the two Hospitals in Lynchburg are allways looking for health care workers. I am quite sure they could land you a job OR tell you were in Lynchburg you could work.

Originally Posted by stlizzie

My next question has to do with cultural/ethnic diversity. We currently live in a very conservative, predominately caucasian, predominately Catholic area. I definitely want my kids to grow up in an environment that offers more diversity than this. For this reason, I'm concerned about Roanoke and would again think B'Burg might be a better fit.

I also would like to hear which SW VA communities might be best for the following: good restaurants (that are NOT Americana chains, i.e. Applebee's, etc.), organic groceries, yoga studios, etc. And I know it's been said that B'Burg is short on the arts, but we currently drive 30 minutes into our city to get to good theatre, a great Zoo, etc, so I"m not worried about driving a bit. But are there other communities besides Roanoke w/strong arts support (I think I saw Floyd mentioned somewhere but I'm not sure).

Thanks for your thoughts,
St. Louis Lizzie

I live in Lynchburg. I doubt you will like it. Most of Virginia exept Northern Virginia and to some extent Va Beach is white conservative protestants...like myself. Mybe Charlottesville would fit you?

I have to ask based on what you wrote. Why are you moving to Virginia?

[Michy2007]

Are you considering Danville, Va? If so I might be able to give advice, since I left upstate NY 15 years ago.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by jmrk

My family and I are moving out to the DC area from CA, but we do not want to live in DC. We are looking at Annapolis, and surrounding areas in MD, and we are also considering VA. But, we don't know where to start. Maybe you have some advice? We are a family of 5, one high school student, two in Kindergarten (twins). My husband is going to be working a lot in DC and some in Baltimore. He'd like to take the metro when possible. We would like an area that is country-ish, because out here in CA having country/land is very difficult. We can spend between 390 - 480K on a house. We don't want to be in hicksville, but yet we don't want suburbia haven either. We definitely want good schools, and ideally some cultural diversity. Thanks if you can help

Just an Idea, but, Waynesboro is a nice spot, a mountain community, it is a fair, but quite workable, commute to DC, it has the Ski resort there. It is a small town with a high educational quotient. The schools are quite good, a couple of restaurants one would expect to be in larger cities and....well.... as an example, the town built several basketball courts in the town parks. The last act to complete the courts was to place a basketball under the goal. they replace the ball every so many years, to the best of my knowledge, none of the basketballs have been stolen or otherwise walked off. It also has good trout fishing.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Seaharbour

Anyone know bout Danville Va? I had heard its not a great place to live, but I am thinking it might be ok to work there and live in north carolina then? Anyone know of where is nice in NC that is close to the border of where Danville is located???Thanks!!!

Blanch N.C. is ten minutes from Danville, a quiet rural community with a great Amish store and other amenities.

[Jerry_Williams]

Yeah, Danville is a very bad place.

[OREGONRAIN]

I've thought of retiring to southern Va a number of times and probably will again as time goes by. As long as Va taxes pensions, and smokes everywhere in public I could never live there. Those might seem like small reasons to many people but for me its not. So Im guessing Va is a nice place in so many ways, but its not for everyone.

[kcnjessica]

look into the west point area...best schools in the state!

[picasso30]

Hello everyone. I am relocating from Atlanta. I am currently a high school ESL teacher. I have been accepted into VT for my PhD, so I would like to live somewhere between Blacksburg and Roanoke.

My first and most important question is about the schools.
Which school systems are the best? I have been teaching in Ga's largest school system for ten years, so I'm thinking anything small is going to be a huge change for me.

To answer your questions:
-Where you are working - not sure yet
-How much you are willing to spend on housing - $500 rent
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate - about 30 minutes (I'd prefer to be able to walk to work or take public transport.)
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? I do not have kids, but I would like info on both types of schools. I need to work part time so I can focus on my studies.
-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight? I'm used to the city, but everything will be so new to me. Please, no cows. lol
-Community amenities important to you coffe shops, diversity, wireless friendly places
-Pie or cake? cake
I would also like infomation on churches. Methodist or Episcopalian

Thanks for any information.

[SouthernMomto3]

Congrats on your acceptance to VT! I can't help you much because I'm getting ready to move to VA this summer. My husband is going to work for Carilion Clinic and will eventually be affiliated with VT once the med school opens. We will be living in Roanoke. You posted great info and you will probably get a better response if you copy that and start your own thread. I know there are plenty on the board who can and will help. Best of Luck!