Millenial Family Trying to Decide Between VA & NC for a Move (Virginia Beach: homes, school)

[spencer114]

In all of my adult years in Virginia, absolutely no one has asked me about my religious affiliation. I haven’t once been invited to a church service. I haven’t met a religious person (here in Richmond) since I moved to town in 1987 for college.

The parks and Targets are more crowded on Sunday mornings than the church parking lots. Honestly I don’t know in which world the folks on SC live.

[Watchful]

For another option, take a peek at LEXINGTON. It has a beautiful downtown and there are two colleges there. It's a good ways from the Atlantic, but the James River is close.

The K-8 schools in Lexington proper appear to be quite well regarded. For 9-12 they go to the county (Rockbridge) high school. (I had to look that up - did not know about that arrangement.)

There is a beautiful rails-to-trails that runs from Lexington to Buena Vista.

I am much more familiar with Roanoke than with Lexington and it also might be worth a peek. Good luck!

Normally I would think the culture you are looking for would best be found within a city of some size - but Lexington might be an exception.

I agree with the one who touted the unique virtues of Floyd VA but it is truly a small isolated town - so may or may not work. But it is an amazing place!

[VA Outdoorsman]

Originally Posted by spencer114

In all of my adult years in Virginia, absolutely no one has asked me about my religious affiliation. I haven’t once been invited to a church service. I haven’t met a religious person (here in Richmond) since I moved to town in 1987 for college.

The parks and Targets are more crowded on Sunday mornings than the church parking lots. Honestly I don’t know in which world the folks on SC live.

Are you married with kids or a single, young or gay bachelor? It matters here.

Richmond is indeed the Bible Belt but it's the surrounding counties that are like that, not the city itself, except for the west end back in the day. I've lived in Bon Air for decades, it used to be very, very religious and is today moderately religious for a close-in suburb. The Protestant-Evangelicals have a hold on the counties, there even used to be anti-Catholic discrimination about 20-25 years ago in Richmond.

[moderatelycrunchy]

Originally Posted by VA Outdoorsman

You could probably fit in anywhere in NC or VA given your criteria, although neither state is the poster child for Libertarianism. The South tends to be way more socially conservative and religious-minded than your typical socially liberal/fiscally conservative Libertarian area from the Northeast. That said, college towns and cities will give you a mix of both so you won't ever feel left out if that's what you prefer.


Raleigh and NoVa will be the two most entrenched liberal areas in each state. You can achieve a better balance politically/socially in Richmond or Charlotte, at least those areas allow for some sort of dissent against woke or the insane leftist mandates, yet are socially liberal enough for you to care about the other things you mentioned.


Good luck!

Thank you for your input! We will definitely look into these areas. In your perspective, what do you see as the big difference between Richmond or Charlotte as compared to Raleigh and NoVa?

[moderatelycrunchy]

Originally Posted by ersatz

Based on what you said, you could also be interested in Staunton and in the Blacksburg areas of Virginia. Both of them lie along Interstate 81, which makes them easy to get to. Both are college towns, which means they have a healthy population of liberals as well as conservatives. Both of them are situated in rolling foothill country, near lakes and rivers, with great hiking trails.

I visit Staunton once in a while, and I always have fun when I do (the Shakespeare reproduction theater is awesome https://americanshakespearecenter.co...ars-playhouse/) but I know the Blacksburg area well. I am particularly partial to nearby Floyd, VA. Once upon a time, there were hippy communes nearby, so folks tend to be very accepting of all sorts of people, both liberal and conservative, especially those who are into artisanal crafts, and self-sufficiency. There has been a Friday night jamboree at the General Store for decades, and in the summer when the weather is nice, the music spills out into the streets and people just enjoy themselves.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...DF87&FORM=VIRE

There is a really small but nice Farmers Market on Saturday. Blacksburg has a nice farmers market on Wednesdays and Saturdays too and also hosts a local acoustic music jam at that location. Thanks to Virginia Tech, the area also supports a number of advanced technical jobs and eco-research.
Blacksburg lies in the New River Valley, near the Appalachian Trail. There are all sorts of hiking trails in the area. There are white water rivers and Smith Mountain Lake not too far away. If you are interested in Floyd, check out the street view feature on Google Maps to explore how beautiful the country road nearby truly are.

I love the mountains, but I love the ocean just as much. I could not possibly pick between one or the other. I live in Northern Virginia, which has its pros and cons, but I am always within a three hour drive from the mountains or the ocean beaches. Virginia Beach is five hours from Floyd, when the traffic is good (spoiler alert – it usually isn’t.)

If you have more questions, feel free to PM me.

Thank you for the amazing level of detail in your reply! If you had to say, what would you say are the biggest differences between Charlottesville, Staunton, and Floyd?

We are also very interested in Virginia Beach but I'm not sure if it's one of those places that is packed to the gills with tourists in the summer and then kind of bland in the off-season, or if it's a vibrant place to live year-round. What is the culture/vibe like?

Also, what made you choose to live in Northern Virginia?

[moderatelycrunchy]

Originally Posted by Watchful

For another option, take a peek at LEXINGTON. It has a beautiful downtown and there are two colleges there. It's a good ways from the Atlantic, but the James River is close.

The K-8 schools in Lexington proper appear to be quite well regarded. For 9-12 they go to the county (Rockbridge) high school. (I had to look that up - did not know about that arrangement.)

There is a beautiful rails-to-trails that runs from Lexington to Buena Vista.

I am much more familiar with Roanoke than with Lexington and it also might be worth a peek. Good luck!

Normally I would think the culture you are looking for would best be found within a city of some size - but Lexington might be an exception.

I agree with the one who touted the unique virtues of Floyd VA but it is truly a small isolated town - so may or may not work. But it is an amazing place!

Thank you for this suggestion! How does Lexington compare to Roanoke? The feedback we've received is that Roanoke is probably too small for what we desire.

Also, Floyd keeps cropping up as a recommendation! When I looked it up on Google Maps, I've noticed it is teeny tiny. I wonder what it would be like for a transplant? In my experience, small towns can be kind of difficult for newcomers.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by spencer114

In all of my adult years in Virginia, absolutely no one has asked me about my religious affiliation. I haven’t once been invited to a church service. I haven’t met a religious person (here in Richmond) since I moved to town in 1987 for college.

The parks and Targets are more crowded on Sunday mornings than the church parking lots. Honestly I don’t know in which world the folks on SC live.

Agreed. For the last 13 years, my husband and I have lived in a very small town (pop 700) in rural, western Loudoun County. I believe there are 7 churches in town. No one has ever mentioned religion to me or asked what church I attend. Never.

[Ted Bear]

Just a couple of considerations/observations.

NC is VERY Hot and humid. From a New Englanders perspective, disgustingly so.

When i lived in NC, admittedly a couple of decades ago, the churches were too aggressive for my tastes with the banging on doors, buses on Sunday morning rounding up the sheeple. Your religion is YOUR business. Just like your sex life, keep it that way. I don't want to know, nor care.

When i moved south, my considerations were University town, bigger medical centers (both for diversity reasons), no state income tax, lots of out of doors activities, low humidity, four seasons (sort of), access to transportation (you will find that you take a hopper to a major airport from your local facility, which is frustrating, but part of the reality of living a little more rural), and an ability to integrate and become friends, but not have people into my business too far.

What i found was pretty much what i wanted/expected. People are great, facilities are adequate (you go to a major center for major medical issues, should they arise), taxes are WAY lower, but so are services, and the one thing that has been a real downer is politics (thank you Trump for dividing people--for us it has killed many friendships with the locals, which friendships were strong until he came along...enough said).

There are two weaknesses: Grocery stores are poor (there is Wegmans in the Research Triangle now, and also in Charlottesville) and restaurants are generally lousy. No bread either! You learn to live with these and stock up as much as possible when you leave the area.

Were we to move again, the Charlottesville area is attractive to us. But the state has income tax.

My best suggestion is to visit the area(s) in which you are interested. Spend some time. Mingle with the locals, Sit at the bar in the hotel or local dive and talk. Listen. Learn.

Stay on the north side of the mountains or you will be in for a weather hell: hot, humid, A/C from April to October.

[luv4horses]

Are you independently wealthy? Or work from home types. Or in medical or social services fields. You might want also consider job availability, wifi power, etc. There are many nice areas in NC.

[VA Outdoorsman]

Originally Posted by spencgr

Agreed. For the last 13 years, my husband and I have lived in a very small town (pop 700) in rural, western Loudoun County. I believe there are 7 churches in town. No one has ever mentioned religion to me or asked what church I attend. Never.

"It's never happened to me, so it doesn't happen"


Please look at some data:

Virginia comes in at #8 for weekly church attendance compared to the country as a whole and is firmly part of the bible belt. By comparison, North Carolina ranks less than Virginia in church attendance.


https://www.pewresearch.org/religion...ices/by/state/

The only states that rank more religious than Virginia, in terms of regular church attendance are: Utah, Alabama (tie), Tennessee (tie), Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana (tie), West Virginia (tie) and then Virginia, in that order. By comparison, the least religious states are all in New England, so the OP should acknowledge that, but he won't have any issues going anywhere because people are not that nosey about this sort of stuff in real life and are generally kind.


The least religious southern states are North Carolina and then Florida, in that order but they're still both in the top 25.