Quick question …
I’m working on something, and I’d like your input to help guide it. When you’ve moved to a new area – be it for personal or professional reasons – what features and things were most important to you? What issues did you consider when making the decision of where to live? I’m not speaking directly to “why did you choose that particular home”, but “why did you choose that area? That neighborhood, that town or city, that state? What things about it made it feel right for you and your family?”
Would love your comments below … your feedback will be helpful!
Thanks, TD – let me know if you need any help getting acclimated.
Thanks, TD – let me know if you need any help getting acclimated.
Thanks Jeremy! Its an interesting topic. Great site and I have enjoyed reading it as we have worked through our decision to move to the NRV!
Thanks Jeremy! Its an interesting topic. Great site and I have enjoyed reading it as we have worked through our decision to move to the NRV!
This is great stuff, TD, thank you. All of the comments have centered around many of the same themes, so it’s good to see the consistency – that’ll help a great deal.
And welcome to the area!
This is great stuff, TD, thank you. All of the comments have centered around many of the same themes, so it’s good to see the consistency – that’ll help a great deal.
And welcome to the area!
Me and my family are in the process of moving to the NRV area, so we recently went through the long process of deciding where to re-locate. We looked at several different areas in VA and NC, and decided on the NRV (we had no previous ties to VT). There are so many factors that go into a decision of this magnitude, especially when you have young children.
Here are the main factors that we considered:
1) Ability to work/maintain careers at a certain level to provide for the family
2) Safety of the town/general area we will be living
3) Quality of local schools and day care providers
4) Size and Feel of the town area – does it fit what we are looking for in terms of daily living, stress level, etc.
5) Affordability of Housing
6) Weather
7) Nearby resources, activities, entertainment, shopping, programs for kids
8) Availability of quality health care in the area
9) Proximity to “larger” city for things like Airport access, etc.
Me and my family are in the process of moving to the NRV area, so we recently went through the long process of deciding where to re-locate. We looked at several different areas in VA and NC, and decided on the NRV (we had no previous ties to VT). There are so many factors that go into a decision of this magnitude, especially when you have young children.
Here are the main factors that we considered:
1) Ability to work/maintain careers at a certain level to provide for the family
2) Safety of the town/general area we will be living
3) Quality of local schools and day care providers
4) Size and Feel of the town area – does it fit what we are looking for in terms of daily living, stress level, etc.
5) Affordability of Housing
6) Weather
7) Nearby resources, activities, entertainment, shopping, programs for kids
8) Availability of quality health care in the area
9) Proximity to “larger” city for things like Airport access, etc.
First of all, the mountains are just pretty. Nothing special about that, it’s simple natural aesthetics, every day I see multiple great views.
Secondly, the people. Not just any people, it’s people who live in the “rural” area but are as a whole “go getters.” As a group there are a higher number of educated, doers and achievers in this rural community. In more urban places there are many more of these people in terms of pure volume. What makes the NRV unique, is having this group of people as a high percentage in our rural community. With the two universities, the CRC, VM school of Vet Med, VCOM and the growing medical education with HCA-MRH and Carillion the NRV and Roanoke Valley has attracted more and more of these advanced educated people.
Thirdly, the entertainment. I admit I enjoy sports, it’s not for everyone, but it is for me. To have the quality of talent come through Blacksburg from “our” teams as well as the competition is awesome. How many national champions have competed in Blacksburg? Who gets to see this level of talent regularly. We’ve had on our teams and hosted Olympians, #1 draft picks in multiple sports, national champions, on and on. Many of those events are free to see. Soccer (top draft pick 2 years ago), Softball (player of the year), Track & Field (national champions and Olympians), Swimming (Olympian), Baseball (many players I’ve seen at English field are playing MLB). Of course some events have a price tag, but now I’m a fan of many NFL teams because of the number of Hokies playing in the NFL. I used to not care about some games, now I almost always have someone to root for because a Hokie is on that team. Men’s and women’s basketball, the talent of Duke and UNC among many others to play at Cassell Coliseum, we are fortunate to have access to, in this small rural community. Many people only see them at Madison Square Garden, I saw that talent 2 miles from my house in Blacksburg. Both of our teams have produced both Olympians and professionals, as well as many more players from the competition played at these levels. Need a golfer? We’ve got Drew Weaver, British Open Amateur champion.
Not only are there many athletic events, but there are plenty of Arts events as well. The Lyric Theatre, Squires and Burress Hall’s have hosted many renown and popular performances that to often can only be found in city atmospheres. Again, we have access to them in our “rural” valley communities. And Theatre 101 opens up in just a few short weeks.
Of course I care about the quality of life and income my interests can earn. However, equally important, I want to know my community as a whole has the ability to have all the successes they can achieve. If it’s working for Moog, Volvo or another industrial park company, higher education, medicine, or the pure entrepreneur, this community allows for success. The best part, it allows for each one to have success as well allows each of us to be a contributing part of this community.
The NRV gives choices from living in neighborhoods of starter homes to luxury homes. I can live in towns or in the country and not be far from anything. I live 1.1 miles from S. Main Street and I don’t have neighbors on either side of me. I used to live in the middle of town and had more neighbors then I cared to have. Our NRV gives us easy options for both and everywhere in between.
Finally, we have most all the shopping needs someone could want. No longer does one need to travel to Roanoke or further to find what they want. From the shopping district in Christiansburg, to the specialty stores in downtown Blacksburg and Radford and now the First and Main shops in Blacksburg, your options are covered.
Lastly, we have four seasons in the NRV. Winters are not harsh, summers are not too hot (never a 100 degree reading recorded in Blacksburg), spring and fall are just awesome.
That’s why I have loved the NRV for 17 years now.
First of all, the mountains are just pretty. Nothing special about that, it’s simple natural aesthetics, every day I see multiple great views.
Secondly, the people. Not just any people, it’s people who live in the “rural” area but are as a whole “go getters.” As a group there are a higher number of educated, doers and achievers in this rural community. In more urban places there are many more of these people in terms of pure volume. What makes the NRV unique, is having this group of people as a high percentage in our rural community. With the two universities, the CRC, VM school of Vet Med, VCOM and the growing medical education with HCA-MRH and Carillion the NRV and Roanoke Valley has attracted more and more of these advanced educated people.
Thirdly, the entertainment. I admit I enjoy sports, it’s not for everyone, but it is for me. To have the quality of talent come through Blacksburg from “our” teams as well as the competition is awesome. How many national champions have competed in Blacksburg? Who gets to see this level of talent regularly. We’ve had on our teams and hosted Olympians, #1 draft picks in multiple sports, national champions, on and on. Many of those events are free to see. Soccer (top draft pick 2 years ago), Softball (player of the year), Track & Field (national champions and Olympians), Swimming (Olympian), Baseball (many players I’ve seen at English field are playing MLB). Of course some events have a price tag, but now I’m a fan of many NFL teams because of the number of Hokies playing in the NFL. I used to not care about some games, now I almost always have someone to root for because a Hokie is on that team. Men’s and women’s basketball, the talent of Duke and UNC among many others to play at Cassell Coliseum, we are fortunate to have access to, in this small rural community. Many people only see them at Madison Square Garden, I saw that talent 2 miles from my house in Blacksburg. Both of our teams have produced both Olympians and professionals, as well as many more players from the competition played at these levels. Need a golfer? We’ve got Drew Weaver, British Open Amateur champion.
Not only are there many athletic events, but there are plenty of Arts events as well. The Lyric Theatre, Squires and Burress Hall’s have hosted many renown and popular performances that to often can only be found in city atmospheres. Again, we have access to them in our “rural” valley communities. And Theatre 101 opens up in just a few short weeks.
Of course I care about the quality of life and income my interests can earn. However, equally important, I want to know my community as a whole has the ability to have all the successes they can achieve. If it’s working for Moog, Volvo or another industrial park company, higher education, medicine, or the pure entrepreneur, this community allows for success. The best part, it allows for each one to have success as well allows each of us to be a contributing part of this community.
The NRV gives choices from living in neighborhoods of starter homes to luxury homes. I can live in towns or in the country and not be far from anything. I live 1.1 miles from S. Main Street and I don’t have neighbors on either side of me. I used to live in the middle of town and had more neighbors then I cared to have. Our NRV gives us easy options for both and everywhere in between.
Finally, we have most all the shopping needs someone could want. No longer does one need to travel to Roanoke or further to find what they want. From the shopping district in Christiansburg, to the specialty stores in downtown Blacksburg and Radford and now the First and Main shops in Blacksburg, your options are covered.
Lastly, we have four seasons in the NRV. Winters are not harsh, summers are not too hot (never a 100 degree reading recorded in Blacksburg), spring and fall are just awesome.
That’s why I have loved the NRV for 17 years now.
Well, since I just moved, I suppose I can answer this!
1. Quality of life
2. Cost of living
3. Educational system
4. Weather
5. Location
6. Availability of technology
Well, since I just moved, I suppose I can answer this!
1. Quality of life
2. Cost of living
3. Educational system
4. Weather
5. Location
6. Availability of technology
oh, well, after watching your video, I guess to be a little more general: what I look for in moving to a new area:
1) professional opportunities
2) school systems and other opportunities for my son (sports, scouts, etc, etc)
3) what’s nearby–what to do for fun
4) affordability
oh, well, after watching your video, I guess to be a little more general: what I look for in moving to a new area:
1) professional opportunities
2) school systems and other opportunities for my son (sports, scouts, etc, etc)
3) what’s nearby–what to do for fun
4) affordability
Since we are parents, the primary thought in our heads is “is this what is best for our son?” Where we used to live–a small city–we knew that, for example, we’d probably need to send our son to private school. And while the city was an affordable place to live and we had good jobs, there were a lot of things we didn’t like about living there, like urban problems, poor city planning/no zoning laws, the general closed-mindedness of people.
Two years ago, we moved to Blacksburg. My husband was looking for a job that would be a step up, and while there were several opportunities in his field available throughout the country, he only applied for two. He didn’t want to bother with places we didn’t want to live.
We’d spent quite a bit of time in the NRV before we were married, and really loved the geography–it is a beautiful place. The public schools are among the best in the nation. I love the diversity of Blacksburg–all different kinds of people live and work and go to school here. It is affordable. We can walk to work at one of the world’s major research universities, and yet live a country life.
I also feel like Blacksburg does a lot to take care of the town and take care of its residents. I visited my hometown last week (don’t get back there much), a small town in northern New Jersey. It looked kind of run down. Signs needed to be repainted. The grass on the soccer field needed to be cut–it was really overgrown. It just looked shabby. It didn’t look that way to me so much the last time I was there. Is it the economy? Cutbacks on certain spending projects for the town because of decreased tax revenue, etc? Or maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Blacksburg.
We really like it here. This is the first time I’ve been able to say that about someplace I’ve lived in a long time. Because of the nature of academic jobs, we figure that we probably won’t be here forever. But we’re enjoying it while we can.
Since we are parents, the primary thought in our heads is “is this what is best for our son?” Where we used to live–a small city–we knew that, for example, we’d probably need to send our son to private school. And while the city was an affordable place to live and we had good jobs, there were a lot of things we didn’t like about living there, like urban problems, poor city planning/no zoning laws, the general closed-mindedness of people.
Two years ago, we moved to Blacksburg. My husband was looking for a job that would be a step up, and while there were several opportunities in his field available throughout the country, he only applied for two. He didn’t want to bother with places we didn’t want to live.
We’d spent quite a bit of time in the NRV before we were married, and really loved the geography–it is a beautiful place. The public schools are among the best in the nation. I love the diversity of Blacksburg–all different kinds of people live and work and go to school here. It is affordable. We can walk to work at one of the world’s major research universities, and yet live a country life.
I also feel like Blacksburg does a lot to take care of the town and take care of its residents. I visited my hometown last week (don’t get back there much), a small town in northern New Jersey. It looked kind of run down. Signs needed to be repainted. The grass on the soccer field needed to be cut–it was really overgrown. It just looked shabby. It didn’t look that way to me so much the last time I was there. Is it the economy? Cutbacks on certain spending projects for the town because of decreased tax revenue, etc? Or maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Blacksburg.
We really like it here. This is the first time I’ve been able to say that about someplace I’ve lived in a long time. Because of the nature of academic jobs, we figure that we probably won’t be here forever. But we’re enjoying it while we can.