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My wife and i are looking to relocate to the VA area. We are originally from the NY and MA area. We dont know much about VA, so we hope you all can help us out. I work in the financial services field (analyst) and my wife works in marketing. We would like to nice, safe, family friendy community that doesnt cost and arm and a leg. And if possible a descent commute time. We would like to start our family together in the best possible way. Any help about the area (jobs, housing, crime, anything) would be much appreciated. Thank you.
dont know? i dont know much about anything in VA. we are looking for an area with a good job market, that is safe, that has a great community feel, that has great schools and that is relatively affordable.....would that be Roanoke, would it be Charlottesville, i was hoping to get some info from people who know.....
I'd recommend Roanoke, certainly. If you were interested in a great community village feel you would do well to look in Roanoke City. There you can find neighborhoods like Grandin Village, where there are many side streets with young families, block parties, sidewalks, restaurants, shopping, and the Roanoke Food Coop. If you're from NY and MA you'd really feel at home in Grandin Village. I'm not sure what an arm and a leg costs these days, but I was seeing gorgeous 3 to 4br craftsmans and tudors for under $200,000 in those neighborhoods the other day on Realtor.com.
As far as financial services goes, in Roanoke there is (among others) Morgan Stanley and Wachovia that I seem to remember have strong presences in Roanoke. Insofar as marketing goes, probably one of the best local resources is Stuart (Connecting People). He knows alot of folks and helps maintain a sort of incognito candidate database that alot of local firms use. Ask him about it, I can't recall the URL.
I think Charlottesville is a great area. Your money will go farther in Roanoke though, and at this point, with the arts and culture community being as strong as it is in Roanoke, it's not entirely clear that you're getting value for the added expense of living in the C'ville area. But that's all subjective; I think you wouldn't go wrong in either place.
thank you for the post sean. that was very helpful. any specifie subdivsions to look into. how is the crime there??? will my wife and i have to worry about feeling safe? thanks
Crime is high in a small handful of specific neighborhoods, quite removed from the Grandin Village area. In fact those tougher neighborhoods are for the most part on the north ("top") side of the Roanoke River and a realtor would be quite helpful in helping you avoid those. Pretty much if you use Realtor.com, the high crime areas will be detected in the asking prices. If a proud looking 3 bedroom house has an asking price of $75,000..... well, it's the location that is dragging the comparables down. Side streets in Grandin Village are not throughways; in fact, some are barely wide enough for two cars passing in opposite directions, so they're really quite deserted except for kids playing and adults walking about. Here is a great little article on the various neighborhoods and regions within the Roanoke metro:
The Roanoker Magazine...Where to Live in the Roanoke Area (http://www.theroanoker.com/visitorguide/wheretolive/index.cfm - broken link)
Any newer subdivisions are for the most part upscale. Depending on how much you want to invest in a house I can recommend some where I've got friends. However, unless they're very old and establish subdivisions, the "community vibe" will be largely a work in progress.
My own personal favorite neighborhood is Old Southwest City. From the lower lying streets, to the 80+ year old neighborhoods that snake up the mountains and offer jaw dropping views of the Roanoke Valley. I was just recently looking for some investment property and found a really neat house on Walnut Avenue that didn't fit my specific needs but for +/- $150K it would be a stupendous find for a young professional couple, and sitting just at the base of Mill Mountain at that. If you hit Realtor.com and search within the 24016 area code, you might find the one I'm talking about.
Thanks again for the info. You are very helpful. We are looking to spend around 325K for a house. I took a look on Hotjobs for jobs and it looks like slim pickins there, so that might be an issue. we will take a look on realtor.com to see the houses there. thank you for the link as well. this area seems like a really great area to live. i hope we are able to work something out. please let me know of any other information that you can think of. thanks again
Well, $325k would get you a great home in the community where I live.
It's in Ladysmith, VA. It's about 30 miles north of Richmond, and 20 miles south of Fredericksburg. (Right off the highway) There are tons of jobs in the area, between Fredericksburg, which is getting a lot of jobs from northern VA, and Richmond, the state capital. Traffic isn't bad, unless you get a job further north than Fredericksburg. Single family homes start at $240k, and go above $500k, depending on the options you add.
$325k is the perfect price to get a good 4 bedroom home, and still have some money to add options. There are several builders, and all but one include a 2 car garage and basement standard. So for price and jobs, I think this community would be a good fit for you.
You mentioned starting a family, which is exactly why my wife and I chose to build a home here. We are only a couple years out of college, and are having our 1 year anniversary this Sunday. (I'm excited) Ladysmith was the best place we could think of to raise a family. There is a new elementary school being built within the community. It's almost done, and is due to open in January '08. Near the school will be a county park including a soccer field, tennis, volleyball, play ground, and all that. There will be miles of walking trails around the South River (more like a creek, but it's still pretty) It's a village style community. Smaller lots, and alleyways. The fronts of homes look great, because they are not dominated by garage doors. All garages, trash pickup, and utilities go through the rear of the home, from the alley. The fronts have big porches, side walks, and street lights. This month the developer finished most of the work on the outdoor amphitheater. We had a big pumpkin festival there on the 20th, where we carved over 1400 pumpkins for charity. We raised over $30,000! Next to the amphitheater is going to be the dog park. They have roped off where the fence will be, but haven't installed it yet. 2 blocks from my home is a branch of the county library, built new by the developer, and then donated to the county. Next to there will be live/work shops along one side, and then next year the resident's club will be finished with pool, fitness center, and other amenities. Another block or so south is where the YMCA will be built. It will be around 25 acres and include an indoor swimming pool. Last I heard, they will be breaking ground next year.
There are about 140 homes constructed right now, but over the next 20 years or so, there will eventually be almost 3200. There are several homes for sale by home owners, and several builders to choose from. My personal suggestion would be Atlantic Builders (Atlantic Builders) The community website is Ladysmith - a Newland Community
We have a community intra-net where each resident has their own account information, with forums, classifieds, interest groups to join, and other features. If you have any other questions, just ask, but I think Ladysmith Village would be worth checking out.
Thanks for the info buddy. We really appreciate it. Congrats on your anniversary, we just got married last Sunday the 21st. We will look into this area, it seems very nice, with a great community feel. It sounds what we are looking for. What area would you look at for jobs, it seems like jobs are slim to none there.....
Thanks for the info buddy. We really appreciate it. Congrats on your anniversary, we just got married last Sunday the 21st. We will look into this area, it seems very nice, with a great community feel. It sounds what we are looking for. What area would you look at for jobs, it seems like jobs are slim to none there.....
Downtown Richmond has a lot of jobs. Also the far west-end of Richmond has a lot of opportunity (where my wife and I work) In the 'West-End' there is a large office complex called 'Innsbrook'. It's basically like 2 square miles of all office buildings.
To the north you can look for a job in Fredericksburg, but there would be more competition heading that way. A lot of people live in Fredericksburg and work in Northern VA or even Washington DC... so whenever a job opens up in Fredericksburg itself, a lot of people apply, looking to shorten their commute.
Several people in the community do work in Northern VA though. It's a bit of a drive, but people car pool or van pool north. Some work from home 3 days a week, and then go into the office for 2. Others work off schedules, so they miss the rush hours.
There is a lot of options, but I think (as far as job opportunities go), looking around Richmond would be your best bet. Local jobs are very slim. Ladysmith right now has under 8k residents, but a study was done resently that shows by the year 2027 (20 years from now) the population will be around 30,000 people. That king od growth is bound to bring a lot of job opportunities. There is two office parks under construction here, with new buildings being added every few months. My wife and I are car pooling down to Richmond until we can get a job locally, or work from home.
Another thing is that a new hospital is going to be built in about 2 years, that will only be12 miles north off the highway. they're building a new exit off the highway, and the hospital will be right there. That means, if you're looking to wait around 2 years to have kids (like my wife and I are), there will be a new hospital, close by. As of now you have to go to Fredericksburg, which isn't that much further, but it's a couple miles off the highway, and I couldn't imagine having to wait through traffic lights at that point lol
As for as shopping goes, there is 2 malls within 20 miles (one in Fredericksburg, and one south of Ashland) They are called the Spotsylvania Towne Center, and the Virginia Center Commons. The closest 'big-box' stores are 15 miles away, right up Rt. 1 or I-95. There, there is a super wal-mart, super target, kohls, movies, bowling, lowes, best buy, and everything you'd need. 16 miles might seem like much, but there's next to no development between, so it really only takes like 15 minutes, and you're there.
Currently in-town, there is one grocery store, a dollar store, an ABC store, a BBQ place, chinese place, dominoes, an italian place, subway, a movie rental place, auto parts place... everything you'd need on a short notice, or if you don't feel like cooking. Right now they are building a new shopping development like 1/4 of a mile up rt. 1... it's going to have more stores, and places to eat out. They are building 8 buildings eventually, but the first one is up, with windows in, but it still needs some work... but it's looking great. There is a requirment that all new construction have a 'village' feel, so these new shops kinda look like a row of town houses with dormers and stuff.
As far as things to do, there is a great amusement park only 15 minutes away (Kings Dominion), there is a huge lake only 25 minutes away (Lake Anna.... Lake Anna Beach Marina is 25 minutes away offering a beach, boat rentals, pizza....), accross the highway is the Virginia Bazaar, which is like a huge flee market that operates on the weekend. There is a lot of historical attractions to see in Fredericksburg. For weekend trips, you can go up to washington dc and check out the smithsonian, or down to williamsburg (there's another amusement park down there, water park, and a big indoor waterpark). There's also virginia beach only a couple hour's away, if you want to go to the beach. A lot fo people int his area rent beach houses in the NC outer banks. They're fairly affordable, considering that you get a whole house on the beach, and they work best if you split the cost with a friend or another family.
Anyways, I think I've said enough at this point... I hope you check out the community. Oh yeah, and if you like golfing, there's a course that's open to the public about 1 mile south on Rt. 1. Also there's the Virginia Sports Complex like 4 miles down the road, which has like 8 or 10 baseball fields and basketball facilities... great for once we have boys, right? (I'm hoping for at least one)
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