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backstory alert- feel free to skip to the last paragraph emphasized as ***THE POINT*** LOL
After a lengthy and agonizing elimination process on where we'd like to buy land in the U.S., we finally decided on Southern Arizona. Mostly because we had started to feel established here after a few years of constant traveling, and fell into some easy land. We do really like it here, and our land is beautiful. however, after being pulled over twice in the course of a week on the same stretch of road, under false pretenses, and having my car searched without permission or a warrant, i decided to try to complain about it. that's when i learned that we live in a "constitution free zone", which means that we have limited constitutional rights in this area, and we can be subject to (what you would think to be illegal) search and seizure. after all these times getting pulled over for no reason and being accused of drinking, or any random thing, we've never so much as been given a ticket, breathalyzer, nothing. ANYway. we are thinking that maybe this would best serve as nest egg or vacation land and are considering the places that we narrowly avoided buying in before. we do value our constitutional rights (which are limited if you live within 100 miles of the border on any side of the U.S., which means all of michigan, hawaii, florida, probably all of Maine, even a good portion of Virginia, etc.) and would like to take up residence somewhere where we have the same rights as everyone else. (which, by the way, about 2/3 of the citizens of the U.S. live within 100 miles of the nation's border, therefore amazingly, 2/3 of the U.S. Pop. has limited constitutional rights!)
sorry to rant about that. i just learned about it in the past week, and am just amazed. and bummed, as living near the coast is now a definite no-go for me.
so, long story long, 'if i had my druthers', i'd like to live somewhere with some real southern culture. I do miss my trees, streams, and grass. my family is southern, and raised me in MI, so i've always felt cozy around southern folk and in southern states, but alas, can't speak a lick of appalachian english (although i can understand it clearly) LOL I love the food, attitude, beauty, the whole culture and feel of the american south. I do consider Virginia to be a southern state, as that's where my family is from, and they are southern as they come (they are from the hills near WVA, and all farmers, bee keepers, and coal miners, and fantastic southern cooks!) and have lived in VA since the 1600's. HOWEVER, i've visited Virginia a couple times, and other than that little hill that pieces of my family still reside on, it doesn't seem all that southern anymore. i think the culture might be drying up out there. (not that my arrival would help that any, but if my smaller kids could end up with a southern accent, then i would just melt <3)
*****************THE POINT*******************
My family and I would really like to live in an authentically southern area of Virginia, but if not Virginia, somewhere with a southern feel, southern people, southern food, maybe even some honky tonk. we are looking for somewhere with plenty of unrestricted land that's affordable and not being fracked, maybe 30-40 minutes outside of a roughly 50k-70k sized city. Can this still be found in Appalachia? THANKS!!!
By the way, I really enjoy the area around Tazewell and Carroll Counties, just so you have an idea. Just haven't spent much time there to know how far off they are from what i'm looking for. it's not in the hills, really, but is appomattox a 'southern' area of VA? we had some fun out there, however, could have been 'Hilly-er'
Interesting. Apparently I'd been living in one of these zones my whole life. While the reading I've done says there is supposed to be "suspicion" before pulling people over and doing any sort of search, I would myself be suspicious that your experience has more to do with living in Arizona and close to the border than something that is a universal experience for everyone living within this "extended border" region.
I spend quite a bit of time in southwest virginia for work...if you don't mind my asking...where is your family from?
So here is my suggestion. Look into the towns of Richlands, Tazewell, Clintwood, Lebanon, Norton, or Wise, VA. These towns are all fairly small...probably the largest of them having under 5k people but most of them averaging around 3500 people. Each of these towns are around 45 minutes from the Tri-Cities area which includes Bristol TN/VA, Kingsport, or Johnson City, TN. The Bristol's along probably have around 25k people and the entire Tri-Cities metro (and I use the word metro loosely) has well over 100k people and a nice little regional airport that I've frequented over the years that has multiple daily connections to ATL and Charlotte.
Richlands and Tazewell are in Tazewell country which has postcard beauty and one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at (Cuz's).
Norton and Wise are both in Wise County and are beatutiful as well. Wise has a small college that is affiliated with UVA which brings a few cultural events to the area.
Clintwood is in Dickenson county and it has an awesome state park called "The Breaks." It sits on the border of KY/VA and is often referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the South."
Lebanon is in Russell County and it is probably the closest to the Tri-Cities area. It is replete with rolling hills and has a great BBQ place called "Southern Smoke." It is a very cute little town with very affordable property.
ALL of these areas are VERY SOUTHERN feeling to me. I'll narrow that down a bit further...they are all Appalachian Southern feeling. Appalachian Southern is quite a bit different than your traditional "Gone with the Wind" style southern.
The accents and traditions are fairly thick and unfortunately people are sometimes a bit xenophobic of outsiders...regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. Case in point...I'm a sales rep for a company that sells heavy equipment and I deal with a lot of companies in the coal fields of SWVA, Eastern KY, and Southern WV. I'm from the Midwest originally, therefore I don't have much of an accent or family from the area. When I initially met with some smaller strip-mining managers they immediately tensed up a bit when they realized that I'm not from around there as most of their vendors are based in the area. It's just a border that they've built up...once you befriend them they take you on as one of their own. I honestly feel that these are some of the best people I"ve ever met...but they certainly don't open up right away to you...especially if you aren't from the region. Given you have parents from the area...I think you'll be fine.
In my opinion the area feels just as southern as what I've experienced in the deep south. The accents are just as thick, if not thicker. The football/religion/sweet tea/fried food/church on sunday stereotypes that people typically associate with the south are VERY pronounced in this area and I personally enjoy it a lot. I've actually talked with my wife about looking into moving there.
My direct family is mostly up on Jewell Ridge, some in Richlands, some out in Roanoke. The house my grandfather grew up in is empty right now (on Jewell Ridge) but his deceased brother's ex wife owns it right now and isn't quite interested in selling yet because her son might want it. I'm hoping she changes her mind, because it's about 50 yards from where my great grandparents from my grandmas side lived, and about the same distance from a REALLY cool old family cemetery that my dad and his grandparents used to maintain when he was a kid. That cemetery is across the street from my uncles brothers family LoL. So that's how tight knit it is up there. The whole hill has family I barely or don't know. When I go out there (twice in my life) people know who I am by my family, but some people has never met before and some only a handful of times as a kid. Most are pretty far up there in age, too. I figure if I wanna get 'in', I'd better try soon LOL
Although Roanoke is not really southern compared to other places have you thought about rural Franklin county? You would be about 45 mins or so from roanoke. Although the city is about 100k and the metro is over 300,000 you should be far out enough to get what you want.
Rural VA is still very southern in character. I was driving back on I-81 from Boston last month and the accents were notably different from Chambersburg PA (got breakfast) to Strasburg VA (got gas). I stopped a little later in Harrisonburg and saw plenty of Duck Dynasty shirts, hunting apparel, etc, at a Pilot stop. The reason VA doesn't seem "southern" is that the population centers (Hampton Roads and NoVA) are mainly populated by transients and people from other areas. This is also true of Richmond, IMO to a lesser extent. Other than that, VA is still southern, but there just aren't many people in other parts of the state.
I used to work in Lebanon, VA in Russell County for two years. It is a beautiful area, but very hilly and isolated, so getting a large amount of flat land (if you want it) is going to be difficult. There has been a lot of new property development over the last decade or so with Northrop Grumman and CGI coming to town. Homes seem to have gotten disproportionately expensive there.
Out of these towns mentioned, Richlands, Tazewell, Clintwood, Lebanon, Norton, or Wise, VA, only Lebanon is under 45 mins to the Tri-Cities and Lebanon is half an hour back to Abingdon and I-81. The others are farther back into the mountains and are even more isolated. I had to go to Wise from Kingsport a few months ago and it was well over an hour. There's also nothing of note going the "other way" into Kentucky or WV, so it's a long trek back to the Tri-Cities when you need something. The culture is a blend of Appalachian and Southern, but it's a mountain culture that is quite different than what you'll find in other areas of rural VA.
I'm guessing you're retired, and if you're okay with extremely isolated land, these towns might work out for you. However, many of these towns may only have a Food City and a Wal-Mart for essentials, minimal shopping and services (some places only have dial-up and well water instead of broadband and municipal water), can have heavy snowfall in the winter (there's currently a rain/snow mix moving through the higher elevations...in mid-April), and have a lot of drug abuse problems. Tazewell and Buchanan also frequently rank among the poorest counties in the country.
If I were going to move to rural VA, wanted something southern, and didn't need a job, I'd be looking into Henry, Pittsylvania, or Halifax counties. These areas are still very southern, don't get as much snow, and aren't quite as isolated and impoverished as the mountain counties.
Well, my husband and I currently live in a small city called Danville, VA. It's right on the border of North Carolina, fairly good sized with a good amount of things to do/stores/restaurants/etc, and all of the outer lying areas are pretty rural and country/southern. Right now, my husband have a house about 15 minutes from town, and it links to some fields.
(ps... it's for sale ;] 260 Hyler Cir, Danville, VA 24541 is For Sale - Zillow ). Our house adjoins to a 44 acre estate, and it's a very quiet neighborhood. There's a creek, a big field, and plenty of wild life from our back yard.
Anywhere you drive you'll see fields, pastures, farmlife, little ma & pa shops, etc. Plus, it's convenient to live in the county and be only 15 minutes from town.
Danville is the last confederate capital of the south, so it is pretty Southern at heart. All of the county schools (especially the one I went to) is pretty country and southern. Everyone either has a farm or land, everyone does 'southern things' like four wheeling, bon fires, horse back riding, hunting, etc. Also, Martinsville is the city directly west of us, which houses Martinsville Speedway, so come Nascar season--there are always things to do. Historic Chatham is only 30-45 minutes away from Danville City Limits and there is a LOT of Old Fashinoned South' going on there; from the architecture, the homemade goods they sell, the two private schools in Chatham City Limits and the yearly festival they have which goes back to how "Old Chatham" did things.
I feel like if you're looking for the good ol' South, with great home cooking, history & culture, privacy, and rural areas... Danville is definitely a medium sized city to consider. Not too small that you're dying for something to do, and not too big that there's no way to function.
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emphasized as ***THE POINT*** LOL
we are looking for somewhere with plenty of unrestricted land that's affordable and not being fracked, maybe 30-40 minutes outside of a roughly 50k-70k sized city. Can this still be found in Appalachia? THANKS!!!
