Moving to Virginia

[RRoller123]

Anyone in the Central VA area want to comment, my feelings are not easily hurt nor ego easily bruised.

We are looking to move from Massachusetts, "where the costs are too high and the temperature is too low", to VA, where we have a lot of family scattered all over the state, in many towns and cities. For the price of our condo here in Plymouth, I can get a nice house on 18 acres with a 4 car garage in Hardy. Tempting.

Can you drive hobby cars year round without salt? Here in MA, the season basically ends early November and doesn't restart until mid April. Taxes are outrageous, etc etc etc. Had enough.

Looking at many areas of the state, but right now we are investigating the Roanoke area, particularly Hardy and Smith Mountain Lake. Anyone familiar with these towns? Just interested in the general perception of these areas.

Thanks, don't hold back.

Pete

[RRoller123]

Obviously, public comments are for the good stuff, private PM for stuff not wanting to be said publicly. Worry not.

[baltobernie]

Proximity to family is a factor. So are taxes. Both VA and MA have personal property taxes. You'll want to compare other types, too. Cost-of-living encompasses many factors, not just house prices. Central VA climate is certainly more benign than coastal MA, but they get Winter, too. And it seems like everybody is using more road salt these days.

But perhaps further up the relocation list are things like "healthcare" and "quality of life". I suspect that Plymouth is within the circle of influence of Boston, which has a great reputation for medical care. As you get further from Roanoke, your medical options diminish pretty quickly. (The family pet, however is lucky; VA Tech is one of the premier veterinary teaching hospitals in the country )

Roanoke is an interesting city. It was a boom town with the Roanoke River hosting textile and steel manufacturing. During the days of Piedmont Airlines, it was their maintenance hub, and you could fly nonstop to Chicago, New York and other cities. Today you have commuter aircraft, high prices and connections to everywhere.

If I were considering Central Virginia, my first consideration would be lifestyle compatibility. The area is a mosaic of economic and cultural opposites. Charlottesville is bright blue, Lynchburg is really red. Albemarle County has a Trump winery and homes with outdoor plumbing. Virginia is an open-carry state, and the sight of a gun belt in a supermarket might startle you (or maybe not). I guess what I'm saying is that Virginia has micro-culture like other areas have micro-climate. The old saw about renting before buying in an unfamiliar area might be worth heeding.

[RRoller123]

Thanks for the inputs, that is very helpful! I had no idea that VA is an open carry state, that is fantastic. No one really should be carrying openly, it puts one at risk of misidentification, takes away the element of surprise, anonymity, etc etc etc. BUT what it does do is stop the hysterical screaming if you reach up for a jar of mayonnaise at the Stop and Shop here and some biddy notices your hidden holster and starts screaming bloody murder. That is mostly what these laws are designed for, to protect harassment from "brandishing" laws.

We will retain property on Cape Cod, and probably Plymouth as well, and come back (and forth) during the year, especially Summers, for various periods of time, and car season.

Our Dana Farber visits are only every 3-6 months now, and it is a day's drive from Roanoke, so that is a consideration. We need to be no more than a long day's drive from Boston. LOTS of family all over the state, so we have plenty of general and specific info on Charlottesville, Danville, Roanoke, Culpeper, VA Beach, etc; but I like all the data I can get, so I appreciate the input. I am leaning towards the central part of the state, near the Blue Ridge Mountains (and Parkways), and away from the crowding over near DC.

Tax wise, well that is interesting. The property taxes are outrageous up here in MA , example, my condo is over $4200 per year just for property taxes. Add the same again for condo fees. It gets ridiculous. I am looking at properties in Hardy, ~8-10 miles outside Roanoke, typical is with 18 acres of land, a nice house, 4 car garage, huge basement for my cabinet shop to resurrect, $1300 a year in taxes. (and we have no kids in school).

Anyone else want to chime in, it is all good, I appreciate the insights! Will do a scouting trip down there in the next month or so and take a good detailed look around.

[RRoller123]

(The family pet, however is lucky; VA Tech is one of the premier veterinary teaching hospitals in the country )

Two cats and a dog here!

[baltobernie]

I am leaning towards the central part of the state, near the Blue Ridge Mountains (and Parkways), and away from the crowding over near DC.

Culpeper and Fredericksburg are well within commuting distance (and prices) of DC. Heck, people commute from Gettysburg, PA, albeit on a train.

I don't know if it's humanly possible to drive from Roanoke to Boston in one day. Traffic on inbound I-66 at Strasburg is thick at 4AM. It is crawling in Manassas at 6 AM, and from there, the Beltway, and I-95 North is awful all the way to 9-10 AM, Baltimore and beyond. If you wait to avoid morning DC rush hour, you'd hit the beginnings of Baltimore afternoon, and certainly the thick of Philly. And you still haven't done the hard stuff; New York. You could maybe join the trucks on I-81 after dark and arrive Boston before dawn, but my goodness what an ordeal. Maybe drive to Dulles and fly, or take VRE diesel to Union Station and Amtrak electric to Boston. At least you're able to get up and walk around. If you look up train and airfare tickets, you'll see what I mean about expensive transportation from rural areas.

Again, Pete, not saying you shouldn't do it, just be realistic. A DC Fiats couple retired to Albemarle and love it. Acreage, rustic, etc. But chicken-snot that I am, I'd have to try it before I bought it.

[RRoller123]

Thanks for the heads up, we do DC in 9 hours typically, and it is only another 3 I think(?) Down to Roanoke. Just did a straight through to Tampa with my son, in his GTI, that was fun. 23 hours. No problems with marathon driving.

The issue is traveling WITHOUT the RV and two cats. The dog is a piece of cake, I will actually take him with me on the scouting recon mission, and at any rate will time it out then and see what it takes. I think the cat limit is about 12 hours, and I will prob have to figure out a way for them to do their business. The dog is SO much easier!

I would rather not haul an RV though, it is so much easier in a passenger car. My wife cant fly due to her back cancer so it is not an option. Either car or pull the RV.

I usually leave the Boston area about midnight or 1 am, so we get past the NYC stuff before dawn. Then we are headed generally downstream when going down 95, but this route may be different. I will need to take a close look at the map. I am assuming go to DC then turn SW somehow.

When I went to Baltimore to pick up the second Spider engine from John "Spiderparts", I left at midnight, drove down, we loaded the engine and I was back for dinner!

[kilrwail]

Pete - I sent you an email about a property.

[rridge]

Virginia is a large state with many unique and distinct regions. Statewide generalizations about weather, road conditions, services, and taxes are difficult, just as they are in Massachusetts. Pick places in the state where retirees tend to congregate like Winchester, Northern Neck, Williamsburg and Virginia Beach and find out more about them.

[RRoller123]

Thanks for the inputs, and the private referrals on properties. It is all good and all appreciated.

It is too bad that the speed limit is so slow on the Parkway, but it is so beautiful up there that I don't tend to want to drive too fast anyway. I have done about 100 miles of it so far. But I am sure there are any number of rural roads in hill country that will meet the needs of the Spider!

Roanoke comes up on my search for highly rated retirement spots, any specific knowledge of that area and the surrounding communities? The Railroad history is very interesting, my Dad would have loved it, he was a RR buff and was well known on the Cape as a local historian. Our family members in the Roanoke area say it is still a major switching point for traffic headed either South or on up East and North.

[RRoller123]

One thing I am curious about, for those who live in the general Central VA area:

I hear that there are BR Mountains effect weather such that Roanoke is frequently cloudy, has more rain, etc; being right at the foot of the BR Mountains, whereas if you go 10 or 20 miles further South, the weather is typically more clear. This is due to the updrafts of Southerly winds at the mountains, and the resultant pressure drop and condensation of atmospheric moisture.

Talking weather, not climate here.

We have a similar effect on Cape Cod that we all laugh about, called the "Chatham Fog". It will be lousy, cold and damp in Chatham., and warm sunny and clear the next town over, Orleans. We owned properties at one time in both towns. The gift shops on Main Street in Chatham sell sweatshirts and coffee mugs with the Fog motif, it is such a thing. It is caused not by winds, but by the deep, cold North Atlantic water mixing with the shallow, very warm Nantucket Sound water at the elbow of the Cape.

Back to Roanoke weather. Correct me if I am wrong regarding temperature effects from the BR Mountains. I am thinking that the South side of the ridge is generally warmer, due to the trapping of Southerly winds, while the Northern side would be colder, trapping Northerly winds.

[VAspider]

Also a transplant from MA 20 years ago. In the valley as well, right at the junction of 64 and 81 near Staunton. Cost of living is far below what it is in MA. Our property taxes when we left were around $4,000. Compared to $1,500 now for pretty much same house. Fuel costs are about 0.40-0.50 per gallon cheaper. Vehicle insurance costs are lower as well. Depending on year vintage vehicles can be registered using year tags. If not antigue tags can be used, one time purchase and no annual inspection needed if you chose not to. Oh and inspections are $16, no emissions. PM if you have other questions.

[RRoller123]

+1 , fantastic, thank you. What town/city are you in/near?

[VAspider]

Just outside of Staunton which is about 25 miles south of Harrisonburg, JMU etc. Roanoke from us is 80 miles south.

[RRoller123]

Nice area, we have cousins in the Charlottesville surrounds.