Newcomers welcome in Staunton? (place, town, community)

[Valley Yellow Dog]

We have owned a house right in Staunton for 13 years and have lived here for 10 years. We were accepted right away and had no trouble meeting people and making friends through church, civic groups, concerts, and many other things. Our street is just one very long block -- and everybody here is from some place else.

There is more to do here than we can keep up with, including the Blackfriars, the annual music festival, visiting symphonies, three movie houses (including one art house that now shows the Met operas), and lots of music venues. Google Mockingbird, and also check the summer schedule for the park.

We don't encounter rednecks, hill billies, and whatever in the normal course of our lives. And those that we do encounter are just folks who have different interests from ours.

There is very little crime, the city is well governed, the public services are good, we have nice parks and a good library -- for a place of 24,000 we do very well.

And if you run out of things to do, Charlottesville (UVa), Lexington (W&L, VMI), and Harrisonburg (JMU, EMU) are 30 -45 minutes away.

Let us know if you make it here.

[johnnybc]

many thanks for your kind reply, still working on selling our house in new england, but we hope to come down and visit sometime this winter and check it out again. It's nice to know there are some nice transplants living there!!!

[TraveledLots]

Wow, all of you sound horribly snotty and rude talking about "all those red necks". There are many kind people all over regardless of their accent or the way their truck sounds- some may be rude as well, as I am sure you will find in all states with all types of people... and from the experiences I have had, many of "you yankees" come down here with quite an attitude yourselves, expecting uneducated fools and don't give anyone different than you a chance to begin with. Perhaps you should take the first step in reaching out, as you are the new one in town? Nice job casting the first stone- see how long your glass house will stand.

[johnnybc]

Well, looking back through the thread, it seems the people who brought up the red-neck issue both are from THERE, one who has lived there awhile, and one from Lynchburg. I love red-necks, we have plenty of them in Mass, I play music with some in a country band when I can, I started this to find out if people were excepting of people from other areas, enough so we might get some locals to take music lessons! Sounds like you, at least, will be glad to welcome us when we come down and start reaching out to people. Hope you enjoy the Shakespere too!

[ShadowBat]

Originally Posted by TraveledLots

Wow, all of you sound horribly snotty and rude talking about "all those red necks". There are many kind people all over regardless of their accent or the way their truck sounds- some may be rude as well, as I am sure you will find in all states with all types of people... and from the experiences I have had, many of "you yankees" come down here with quite an attitude yourselves, expecting uneducated fools and don't give anyone different than you a chance to begin with. Perhaps you should take the first step in reaching out, as you are the new one in town? Nice job casting the first stone- see how long your glass house will stand.

No need to get angry! Trust me, I have run across my fair share of snobbish people from our northern neighbors. But they are usually the ones from the large city areas. They even criticize their own states slower areas. I have heard Maine referred to as the deep south of the far north, basically saying it's a northern redneck state. The area of Delaware below the canal is called slower Delaware instead of lower. And in regards to Pennsylvania, they say you have Pittsburgh on one side, Philly on the other, and Alabama in the middle. I don't know what NYC people think of upstate NY, but I'm sure it's not pretty. And here locally, you have northern VA, and the rest of VA. I wouldn't get so bent out of shape over it. These are people who are usually so miserable with their own lives, the only way to feel better about themselves is to put everyone else down.

But on another note, don't you think it's a bit hypocritical to call somone "you yankees" as you tell them that they themselves are being snobby and arrogant? Seems everyone lives in glass houses everywhere. And as newcomers, shouldn't the local residents be welcoming and outgoing rather than the newcomers? How do you treat guests in your own house, do you expect them to welcome themselves and wait on themselves?

[lagoon7]

Originally Posted by TraveledLots

Wow, all of you sound horribly snotty and rude talking about "all those red necks". There are many kind people all over regardless of their accent or the way their truck sounds- some may be rude as well, as I am sure you will find in all states with all types of people... and from the experiences I have had, many of "you yankees" come down here with quite an attitude yourselves, expecting uneducated fools and don't give anyone different than you a chance to begin with. Perhaps you should take the first step in reaching out, as you are the new one in town? Nice job casting the first stone- see how long your glass house will stand.

Hah, too true. To be honest, for the complainers, if your biggest problem is rednecks, you have it pretty easy.

[johnnybc]

Dear Friends, I have finally bought a house in the area. Many thanks to all the welcoming people on this forum who have helped me so much in my search. I promise I don't want to change the area to be like where I come from, and I want to be respectful of the lifestyle as it exsists already. I was assured by the desk clerk at my hotel in Staunton that it is an open-minded accepting community and I'm sure it will be. I played a couple of my tunes at the open mike at the Darjeeling cafe a couple of Mondays ago and people seemed to like it...look out Shanandoah here we come....!

[ShadowBat]

Originally Posted by johnnybc

Dear Friends, I have finally bought a house in the area. Many thanks to all the welcoming people on this forum who have helped me so much in my search. I promise I don't want to change the area to be like where I come from, and I want to be respectful of the lifestyle as it exsists already. I was assured by the desk clerk at my hotel in Staunton that it is an open-minded accepting community and I'm sure it will be. I played a couple of my tunes at the open mike at the Darjeeling cafe a couple of Mondays ago and people seemed to like it...look out Shanandoah here we come....!

Welcome to the area!

[emsman]

Welcome! Just be yourself and you'll be just fine.

[BuiltforSin]

Anyone else notice it's always the smug, Yanks complaining about "rednecks"? If you don't like it then move back to your miserable Northern state. We won't miss you.