compare Greensboro area vs. Roanoke, VA (Winston-Salem, High Point: house, schools, university)
Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High PointThe Triad Area
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Little background: Married with a toddler. I currently work at a large hospital in Roanoke, VA and have been offered a job with a large hospital in Greensboro. Same position but with higher pay and more challenging (positive) work. I live in the New River Valley area (near VT) and commute via I81 everyday to work. Can people familiar with Greensboro and Roanoke give me a pros/cons and which you would pick and why? Thanks
The closest I come to with familiarity with both areas is that I have a friend that works at Washington and Lee University up I-81 from you - and I've visited just once. We moved to an area southwest of Greensboro (closer to Winston-Salem and High Point) about 3 years ago and like the area (I'm married with a teenager).
The Triad (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point) is a much larger metro area - is that what you're looking for? We were looking to be in a sizable metro area, though my wife would prefer to be outside of an even larger city. But the Triad has a lot to offer, with a reasonable cost of living.
If you don't mind saying, is it Moses Cone? Some on here might be familiar with the specific facility if you share the name.
That is what we are looking for, to be closer to a larger metro area. It is Moses Cone at the Wesley Long Hospital. We would be staying in the Northwest part of Greensboro/Guilford County, to shorten my commute. I have been driving around 45 mins one way to work. The thought of moving to Roanoke never really appealed to us.
I moved to Greensboro (Oak Ridge area) from Martinsville, VA a couple years ago, but had always considered living in Roanoke. Since I have friends who live up that way, it was nothing for me to spend more time in the Roanoke area than in Martinsville. Of course, when I met my wife (who lives in Greensboro) I moved to NC. Still getting used to the place, but it's growing on me. I've met a lot of really nice people, and I appreciate what all Greensboro has to offer. My personal preference is Roanoke, simply because I like the mountain backdrop to the city where as you're not going to get that in Greensboro, and it seems more like a "hometown" to me than Greensboro. However, the more I get to know the city, the smaller it's getting, which is a good thing for a small town guy like me. My only complaint is that it's been tough trying to get hired in GSO in my line of work, so consider yourself lucky for already having a job even before moving. That's a big deal right there!
The Oak Ridge area is really nice. If you don't want to live right in the city, Oak Ridge is perfect. About five minutes from the airport, and just a few minutes from being into Greensboro.
We came close to moving close to Oak Ridge - the subdivision we looked at was Oak Ridge schools; it was just south of the town of Oak Ridge. As it turned out, I got a job in Winston-Salem, so the house we chose near Wallburg was in a better locatoins.
I have friends in Roanoke, and my daughter is a VT alum, so I've spent a bit of time in that area. I'd say quality of life is very similar to the Triad, but as noted the Triad is a larger metro area so you'll have more options for shopping, restaurants, things to do, etc. If the job is more attractive, I can think of no reason why you wouldn't want to relocate, unless of course there's something about the Roanoke area that specifically appeals to you.
I don't have a ton of experience with Roanoke, but I'll note that the population of the City of Greensboro (277k) is almost that of the Roanoke metro area (308k) and close to three times the population of the City of Roanoke (97k).
Greensboro's metro area (including High Point) has a population of 723k, and the Piedmont Triad CSA (Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point) is 1.6 million.
So all of that is to say that there are a lot more people in the Greensboro area, which is obvious to you already, I'm sure. I just wanted to illustrate the scale of the difference.
I'd say quality of life is very similar to the Triad, but as noted the Triad is a larger metro area so you'll have more options for shopping, restaurants, things to do, etc. If the job is more attractive, I can think of no reason why you wouldn't want to relocate, unless of course there's something about the Roanoke area that specifically appeals to you.
I don't have a ton of experience with Roanoke, but I'll note that the population of the City of Greensboro (277k) is almost that of the Roanoke metro area (308k) and close to three times the population of the City of Roanoke (97k).
Greensboro's metro area (including High Point) has a population of 723k, and the Piedmont Triad CSA (Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point) is 1.6 million.
So all of that is to say that there are a lot more people in the Greensboro area, which is obvious to you already, I'm sure. I just wanted to illustrate the scale of the difference.
277-8k was back in 2012, pretty sure it might be nearing 290k for the entire GSO area now, just basing that on the pop growth from 2010 to 2012 census.
I love Roanoke, i love visiting it and the beautiful mountain back drops, but when it comes to city vs city there is no competition. one is a bigger(mid sized southern city) the other is a smaller sized southern city.
Factually There is just a ton more Stores/places/international entertainment and Big events you wont find in Roanoke or any part of Virginia, You won't find things like Ferrari, Lamborghini,Bentley,Maserati,Aston Martin, Rolls Royce dealerships or stores like Brooks Brothers, Anthrapologie,Coach in Virginia(excludes west virginia)(I tried to make it sound like high cotton) lol.
Basically the two cities are vastly different. But, Both are great places to live, but if you want a more lively "New south" like medium sized city, Greensboro is it imo. Just stay away from High point road area and you will be fine.
Without any further annexation, it would be amazing for GSO to add 23,000 people in 2 years. I am pretty sure tha no Triad city is experiencing that kind of growth.
To the OP...it depends on what you want as to which city would suit you better. People have already made the point that GSO is much larger than Roanoke, but Roanoke definitely has GSO beat on scenery. The mountain setting is beautiful. Roanoke is the main city within it's metro and doesn't share the limelight with other sizable cities, so it may have almost as much to offer as any Triad city. For example, Roanoke does have a Trader Joe's location.
In other words, GSO is definitely the larger city but because it is part of a metro with 3 other large cities it may not seem that much larger.
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