Living In Virginia VS North Carolina...Input PLEASE??? (Richmond, Hampton: low crime, chapel)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

In not too many years both NC & VA will be bulldozed into one giant parking lot similar to Florida so forget about which state is nicer at the moment.

Ain't it a cryin' shame too how nobody in VA or NC cares about open space preservation? Whenever I bring up an anti-sprawl rant on the NoVA sub-forum I'm booed and hissed away by the people whose homes now line streets named after the natural features they destroyed.

[itsajourney]

silverwing--thanks for all of your insight and the beautiful picture you posted! I had to laugh about the returning to Illinois part.....you know exacatly what I mean...I KNOW YOU DO!!!!

[roanoker 4]

I have always liked to drive out into the country to get some peace and quiet but I am finding it is getting harder and harder to determine where the city ends and where the country begins. The apple orchards north of here were bulldozed recently to build a huge retail/housing development along with McMansions galore. Whenever I see cows wandering in the backyards of these homes it is very sad. I wonder what the residents think now with all of the development. I guess they ask themselves "Is this what the country looks like"? I know so many farmers have given up their land because at one time they could get huge sums of money and the young people are not that cool on farming. I visited northern Va recently(yes I did survive the trip!) and I noticed in Loudon County, VA around Leesburg it seemed the people were very strict about protecting their land from development. I know the people there have tons of money but I can't figure out how they keep all of that land free from development. I must look into why that particular area is so unique with out of control development. The rural areas around Roanoke seem to sprouting houses just about everywhere, even on sides of mountains. I visited one subdivision recently built on the side of a mountain and the trees have now engulfed the homes where they are hard to see from the street! Do we really need this?

[Aspe4]

I have lived in both VA and NC. I'm a native of Martinsville, VA and I currently live in VA right on the border of NC. If I had to choose between the 2 I would pick NC. NC's has about 1 million more people than VA and it's prosperity is more evenly distributed across the state. VA's prosperity is more concentrated in the area stretching from Washington, DC down to Hampton Roads. The rest of the state is economically depressed. I'm not saying that you won't find a job in Roanoke or Martinsville, for example, but for an area to thrive everyone else who lives there needs to be able to find a job that pays a good wage and those areas need high numbers of college grads--which they don't. When I'm ready to move I want to go back to one of the large cities in NC. If I moved within VA I would want to go to the Richmond area or back to the DC area (Northern Virginia). However, the cost of living in Virginia portion of the DC area is high and that may discourage me. NC by contrast has a lower cost of living because it's largest metro, Charlotte, has no where near the population or education levels of the DC metro so it is way less expensive to live there.

Both states have great natural beauty. You didn't mention if you like big cities or small towns. If you like small towns I think either state would suit you. What kind of business do you want to start? Without knowing more about you I would recommend NC at this point.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by roanoker 4

I have always liked to drive out into the country to get some peace and quiet but I am finding it is getting harder and harder to determine where the city ends and where the country begins. The apple orchards north of here were bulldozed recently to build a huge retail/housing development along with McMansions galore. Whenever I see cows wandering in the backyards of these homes it is very sad. I wonder what the residents think now with all of the development. I guess they ask themselves "Is this what the country looks like"? I know so many farmers have given up their land because at one time they could get huge sums of money and the young people are not that cool on farming. I visited northern Va recently(yes I did survive the trip!) and I noticed in Loudon County, VA around Leesburg it seemed the people were very strict about protecting their land from development. I know the people there have tons of money but I can't figure out how they keep all of that land free from development. I must look into why that particular area is so unique with out of control development. The rural areas around Roanoke seem to sprouting houses just about everywhere, even on sides of mountains. I visited one subdivision recently built on the side of a mountain and the trees have now engulfed the homes where they are hard to see from the street! Do we really need this?

Actually anything EAST of Leesburg is a giant sprawl. North and west of town is still charming and quaint, for the most part.

[Waterboy526]

[quote=Nebat;11092860]

Originally Posted by itsajourney

I would really love to hear from folks who have lived in both Virginia and North Carolina. I lived in Pennsylvania for 11 years--just outside of Harrisburg. I loved Pennsylvania for its history, mountains, 4 season climate (winter was just a little too long tho), mostly down-to-earth people, small farms & fresh produce, etc. quote]

For the most part NC and VA are somewhat similar, however I think NC has a cheaper cost of living. I prefer VA for it's history and geographic location and it's natural beauty. Most people don't agree with me but I find PA and VA to be somewhat similar as well, at least in certain areas. In VA we have everything you loved about PA except our winters are not as long. I was up in PA last week and where i was the leaves were halfway to peak colors! Right now in VA our trees are starting to change too. I live about 3 hours or so down I-81 south of Harrisonburg and we have many farms and farmers markets here. One advantage VA has over NC at least for you is it's closer to home for you. I have recently on several occasions gone to PA as far as St. Marys and come home in the same day. DC is also close which is our local world class city for things to that nature. NC is kind of isolated from that level of entertainment and culture, not that Charlotte and Raleigh are not cultured but, hey, they're not DC. NC is a nice state though and it's beaches are great but for me personally I think VA is a nicer place. Hope this helps and good luck with whatever choice you make!

Raleigh is only 4 hours from DC, not much farther and closer than many places in SW VA. We also have much to do in NC. In Raleigh we are 3 hours to the closest mountains and 2 hours to the closest beach. I am from Northern VA as well and lived there until 3 years ago. Of course I think that is a wonderful area too, but traffic is worse than here and the COL is much higher. Raleigh has a very educated population with nearly 50% of adults holding a bachelors degree or higher.

[johnnybgood1999]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Ain't it a cryin' shame too how nobody in VA or NC cares about open space preservation? Whenever I bring up an anti-sprawl rant on the NoVA sub-forum I'm booed and hissed away by the people whose homes now line streets named after the natural features they destroyed.

It is pitiful and contradictory.

[thinkin about it]

To generalize, as is required here-Virginia is much more of an Orwellian Police State society. It feels like England sometimes. The police in general have a ton more length of chain, and they use it. I speak with no bitterness, as I'm not a criminal or anything of the sort. Seriously, I'm talking being given a lecture in morality for going 10 over, that type of thing.

To me, North Carolina is more quintessentially "southern" state-wide. Sir and Ma'am are not gone completely. I find the beaches to be nicer and less brick and mortar touristy, if that means anything to you.

In general, the differences are more pronounced in the coastal cities. The eastern parts of both states are, as you imagine and I'm sure experienced, more "country-ish" and thus tend to be more similar.

[citydweller]

Thought I would add my .02 to this thread. I am really comparing two areas and not the states themselves. I was raised in rural NC and moved to VA Beach 15 years ago so probably my experiences are somewhat limited but here are a few things I have noticed. VA Beach is hugely transient and folks don't reach out much to you. I hardly know most of my neighbors and they seem ok with that. Very few have made small talk and if so it is because I have walked by their house and stopped to talk. None so far have come up to me while I work in the yard or approached me. Myself, I prefer a greater sense of community but it is what it is. Norfolk may or may not have more a sense of community but I don't know. And this is the way I feel in my neighborhood and of course doesn't speak to the city as a whole. In comparing Raleigh to VB, Raleigh feels much more southern than here. Although it is quite diverse from years of newcomers it feels, to me, almost like the deep south. Not a bad thing indeed but just different. I have family living in Raleigh and each time I go I noticed how much more friendly people seem. Oh and people down there drive FAST. Driving 70 mph is slow to those folks. But I find Raleigh to be much more sophisticated than here in Hampton Roads. There are just my feelings though others have share different opinions.

[RVA-Jsn20]

North Carolina and Virginia are extremely similar. In my opinion, the southern parts of Virginia have a much more "old south" feel (people living there seem to have lived there for generations, particularly around Richmond and Western VA). Raleigh is a slightly larger city with a lot of transplants from the northeast (lots of young, friendly, and educated people).

I don't really recommend Raleigh as I feel it's more for that younger, recently out of college, crowd; Nor do I recommend Northern VA as it's far too busy for somebody looking for a place to retire in. Perhaps Roanoke??