mountains (Roanoke, Bristol, Christiansburg: home, buy, high school)

[Truth-B-told]

Hey would u know what one should expect to pay per acre for land ind that area, say around 5 to 10acres.

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by VAFury

And that has what to do with Rappahannock???

I didn't mean to divert the discussion. But it does maybe have just a little to do with Rappahannock, considering that according to their gov't site, Rappahannock County residents "endure the third highest average travel time to work (34.7 minutes) of any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth" I suspect that might have something to do with an increasing number of folks opting for a certain balance between job availability in NoVA and the desire to live in a truly rural setting. What gives the county away is it's $53,000 median household income. That's comparable to Fluvanna and Frederick counties and less comparable to truly rural counties that aren't bedroom or resort communities, which typically hover in the $30,000 area. So even though Rappahannock is very rural, there is clearly a growing white collar population and I suspect, with the largest employer in the county being the County Schools, that they're traveling a good 60+ minutes to work one way.

I'm not saying Rappahannock isn't a good choice. It's a beautiful area. But it's on the fringe where people who tolerate 1+ hour commutes will consider settling in. That is pressuring real estate prices up. But mostly, I get the impression if the OP was including WV in his short list, he was looking for really mountainous areas. You know, the sort of town where the sun sets behind the mountain at 2:30pm

Sean

[KewGee]

Well, in my case, I checked a map and it look like Rappahannock County was in Northern VA per se. Personally, if it's just 1 1/2 hours away from D.C., I wouldn't want to be there. I would be too afraid it would turn non-rural very soon.

I'm looking for a county that is less likely to grow in the next 25 years or so. I had considered Giles but don't like the idea of the power plant there or in Russell County as well.

I want mountains so that when I drive hither and yon at least within a 50 mile radius, I will see them. Roanoke so far seems to fit the bill of being near a "big" city, but not too near.

I think it's Tazewell that has a prison so that's out. I know Grayson was thinking of buidling a prison and if so, that would be out as well.

One thing that concerns me is that the air doesn't appear to be too clean in VA due to so many power plants.

http://www.cleartheair.org/dirtypower/map.html (broken link)

I want to avoid flood-prone area, traffic noises, no planes, no trains, no speedways, low population, and so many other characteristics of serenity.

Weather is a factor as well ~ low humidity, not too much snow, few tornadoes which as I have checked seems to be wonderfully lacking in them in the mountainous areas, not too hot (again, yea mountains), etc.

I do have tons of information printed out from this forum, but I can seem to stop myself from continuing my posting.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

I didn't mean to divert the discussion. But it does maybe have just a little to do with Rappahannock, considering that according to their gov't site, Rappahannock County residents "endure the third highest average travel time to work (34.7 minutes) of any jurisdiction in the Commonwealth" I suspect that might have something to do with an increasing number of folks opting for a certain balance between job availability in NoVA and the desire to live in a truly rural setting. What gives the county away is it's $53,000 median household income. That's comparable to Fluvanna and Frederick counties and less comparable to truly rural counties that aren't bedroom or resort communities, which typically hover in the $30,000 area. So even though Rappahannock is very rural, there is clearly a growing white collar population and I suspect, with the largest employer in the county being the County Schools, that they're traveling a good 60+ minutes to work one way.

I'm not saying Rappahannock isn't a good choice. It's a beautiful area. But it's on the fringe where people who tolerate 1+ hour commutes will consider settling in. That is pressuring real estate prices up. But mostly, I get the impression if the OP was including WV in his short list, he was looking for really mountainous areas. You know, the sort of town where the sun sets behind the mountain at 2:30pm

Sean

Looks like that is very true of the Eastern half of the county.... Good catch... I guess what I like about it is that it remains very rural and hasn't been hit by overdevelopment....

Sorry for my reaction as Winchester is nothing like Rappahannock and I though you were trying to draw a close comparison..

Hard to believe anyone would drive that far to work in the first place...

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by KewGee

Well, in my case, I checked a map and it look like Rappahannock County was in Northern VA per se. Personally, if it's just 1 1/2 hours away from D.C., I wouldn't want to be there. I would be too afraid it would turn non-rural very soon.

I'm looking for a county that is less likely to grow in the next 25 years or so. I had considered Giles but don't like the idea of the power plant there or in Russell County as well.

I want mountains so that when I drive hither and yon at least within a 50 mile radius, I will see them. Roanoke so far seems to fit the bill of being near a "big" city, but not too near.

I think it's Tazewell that has a prison so that's out. I know Grayson was thinking of buidling a prison and if so, that would be out as well.

One thing that concerns me is that the air doesn't appear to be too clean in VA due to so many power plants.

http://www.cleartheair.org/dirtypower/map.html (broken link)

I want to avoid flood-prone area, traffic noises, no planes, no trains, no speedways, low population, and so many other characteristics of serenity.

Weather is a factor as well ~ low humidity, not too much snow, few tornadoes which as I have checked seems to be wonderfully lacking in them in the mountainous areas, not too hot (again, yea mountains), etc.

I do have tons of information printed out from this forum, but I can seem to stop myself from continuing my posting.

Maybe Hardy County West Virginia.... Just drove over the mountains the other day to Wardensville, WV to take a peak at a house and it's definately rural and mountainous and no threat of anyone touching it any time soon..... Incidentally the house was very nice, a split-foyer 4/2.5 in a nice hilltop neighborhood for $172K..... Too rural for my wife though so I scrapped that idea...

[seanpecor]

Originally Posted by VAFury

Sorry for my reaction as Winchester is nothing like Rappahannock and I though you were trying to draw a close comparison..

I hear ya. I've stayed in Winchester a few times. I think I read somewhere Winchester is the Dangling Truck Hitch Ball Sack capital of the world Oh yeah, I just wrote it and then I read it. I hope that doesn't get me into trouble That about sums up my impression of the area. The very dead center of Winchester's historic district is quite pretty but virtually everything else is generally very cookie cutter, overpriced, or borderline impoverished. The last time I drove through there (last July-ish) about 4 out of 5 For Sale signs had a reduced sticker and still weren't moving. I'm sure $3 gallons of gas nearly shut down the real estate market in Winchester for the time being.

Sean

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by seanpecor

I hear ya. I've stayed in Winchester a few times. I think I read somewhere Winchester is the Dangling Truck Hitch Ball Sack capital of the world Oh yeah, I just wrote it and then I read it. I hope that doesn't get me into trouble That about sums up my impression of the area. The very dead center of Winchester's historic district is quite pretty but virtually everything else is generally very cookie cutter, overpriced, or borderline impoverished. The last time I drove through there (last July-ish) about 4 out of 5 For Sale signs had a reduced sticker and still weren't moving. I'm sure $3 gallons of gas nearly shut down the real estate market in Winchester for the time being.

Sean

Well the D.C. market really dictates what's going to happen out in this direction... If prices drop, many that work in the city will move or choose to locate closer and thus siphon out the consumer base for real estate here. I am personally waiting like a hawk for that moment...

[hikers]

Originally Posted by REBEL88

me and my wife are looking at moving to either west va or virginia, im not sure exactly where the mountains start in virginia? what counties are the most mountainous? that would be a big help because i dont know where to start looking...thanks...

I just returned from a visit to Roanoke. If you are influenced by beautiful scenery and mountains you should consider this area, it is amazingly beautiful.

[SCBeaches]

Back to the original post....

I recently bought 11 acres in Scott County, VA, which is about 20 minutes from Bristol....my land is actually near a little wide-place in the road named Mendota. It's just minutes from the TN border and a little over an hour from Asheville, NC.

I paid less than $50,000 for this beautiful piece of "God's Country". I have relatives in Wise, Pound, Bristol, and Christiansburg and found my land by getting out and driving around while up there visiting. I live 5 1/2 hours away in Charleston, SC and I plan to have a log home built up there (which I would consider high hills, but very close to the real-deal mountains) in the next few years. I want to use my VA land & future home for vacations until I retire, then I just may retire and move up there for good.
Again, it is absolutely gorgeous up there and all the land I priced was extremely reasonable.

[KewGee]

Good grief. I just looked up Mendota, Virginia after I read the above post as I'm thinking of possibly relocating to some place in the mountains. When I did a search, I found this link which certainly was discouraging:

http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/f...is/mendota.htm