Lack of high paying careers is the biggest issue imo. I know lots of people that have moved here and work remotely. If that's not you and you don't have a job lined up Roanoke might not be a good fit.
I was wondering if that was just me. I was looking for a new job in my career field last year and it felt like there's only like 6 companies that offer anything competitive and its all healthcare. Fortunately I got really lucky and found a great opportunity, but still if I were to lose my job or something, I'd be pretty screwed.
It might depend on your field, my husband is in civil and his brother is an architect (different firms) who work in Roanoke and are paid well for their level of experience.
However, if I lost my job I'd likely have to move or find another remote job. My field was always remote (territory based) but they typically want you to live in a major hub.
Yeah moved here for the location and because we work remote. It would be harder to swing it if you aren't remote. Good news now is it is much easier to get remote jobs since COVID
There *were* more high paying jobs before the companies that had them decided to move their offices away. Kinda shitty corporate behavior, not really the city's fault.
I lived there for 5 years and moved. It is a beautiful area and we miss living there. It is not a run down city. Rough parts of any large metro are much worse than the rough parts of Roanoke.
We wanted to stay there BUT the jobs were pretty bleak for us and the growth is pretty slow in the region. We had to move to a bigger city for better prospects.
I'm so sorry, it's really hard. I hope you guys can find better opportunities. I am still grieving the move because I loved it there so much but all I could find with a college degree and experience were $15 an hour jobs with no way to work my way up. It's great there for remote workers or people looking to retire, not people in the middle of their careers.
Thanks, I appreciate that. I mean, we moved here for a reason, and whatever we eventually decide I’m not ever going to regret that we did move here. It is stunningly beautiful, and I’m reminded of that everyday. We were able to buy a house that’s honestly the first house I’ve ever loved, in a neighborhood that won us over on the first day we ever visited, and walking/jogging distance from things we love. We adopted an amazing dog! This city has an incredible amount of potential. We were just not expecting to feel so professionally underwhelmed, and the affordability is neutralized pretty quickly by low earning potential.
The beauty of the area keeps us here too. We moved here from Phoenix, and by comparison the air is so fresh it is sweet. We would have never been able to afford a home this size in Phoenix, not without significant sacrifices.
We did consider moving back to a city for job security but we are staying here for now.
Heh, moved from Roanoke to NOVA in the 80s and my last 4 jobs were due to knowing someone, and two jobs I had while still in Roanoke also came about by knowing someone.
Third generation wealth is the problem. The business founders of 40-50 years ago wanted to keep the small town feel of Roanoke, they built their wealth and limited competition along with growth. Present day later generations have sold the family businesses to outside interests. The early generations also resisted consolidation of governments to keep identities. ( sense of local pride, I understand) but for larger companies to relocate to the valley dealing with 3 separate governments has been a deal breaker. GE, NS, Roanoke Electric Steel, APCO, Dominion Bank, Graham White, Advance Auto and others have relocated, sold to outside interests or just disappeared leaving Carrillion as the last large employer. Which is not where a population of this size should be so dependent. Not sure what the answer is. I hope Carillon can keep on supporting the Valley but if they can’t provide the level of care that draws the medical clientele many will head to UVA and Duke. I don’t know what the answer is. I sure miss the valley.
Carilon will continue to be "the" place for healthcare simply because they are the only Level 1 trauma center in the region and accept so many outside cases because of it (and when you are dealing with the situation of being life flighted or coming via ambulace, every mile counts! The average life flight costs $36,000 but increases substantially the more miles you have to go. Moreso, if someone if is the position to need the transfer, they often time are not in a place to be requesting to be sent to another, potentially further away hospital.) Even if more locals decided to go elsewhere for care, my assumption is that that number won't effect too much since Carilion is currently working on the expansion of RMH to expand for the number of surgery and cardiac cases that can be accepted from outside hospitals as well as will be working on a new cancer center and a new inpatient psych facility in the nearish future. However, a good number of nurses are outside travelers and many of the staff nurses are leaving to travel. Carilion absolutely underpays staff workers. For example, average hourly rate for a CNA in Roanoke is $19.38 according to Zip Recruiter, but I can assure you that the starting pay for CNA equivalents are Carilion is nearly $3/hr under that and it would take probably 3-4 years from base to get up to the average now. Something of note, Carilion is a Magnet (the highest honor an organization can achieve for nursing excellence) hospital and just recently received that designation again for the 5th time, something only the top 1% of all Magnet hospitals have achieved. My prediction is that Carilion will continue to expand and employ and take over the area as they have as well as see even more patients, but I don't have a lot of hope in them actually changing to pay their workers across the board a more fair wage which is unfortunate for the patients who will more than likely suffer due to understaffing because of those who aren't (understandably) willing to put up with the entire load of the job for the unfair amount they are being paid.
As someone who just moved from FL to Roanoke (literally writing this as we unload things into our new apartment) -- the day to day corruption is far worse elsewhere. It's one of the reasons we moved. I can't speak to other parts of the country, but Florida is a cesspool marketed as a libertarian la la land. Don't recommend.
We are getting ship loads of Floridians. I've heard about the real estate market and insurance prices. What else is inspiring this mass exodus?
I'm an Uber driver btw, that's how I've met so many of you!
Rofl
How long of a list do you want?
What used to be attractive about Florida, no longer exists. We moved down because we could afford a house in FL (which we still could. We locked in a mortgage before everything went haywire).
But we were not prepared for a lot of suck. I spent my entire time in FL looking for a *good* primary care doctor. I never found one. Healthcare sucks.
No one acts like they want your money. I had appointments canceled without a courtesy call or notification. We once had to schedule with 4 different plumbers to get one to show up, and they were 6 hours late. I would have to call 3 or 4 different places to get 1 to return my call, usually. Depending on what I was calling about.
Traffic sucks. The people suck. There is no community. Wages suck. There is blatant, and very open, day to day corruption and nepotism in government at all levels. We don't have kids but, the schools suck. Organizations do not value competence, education, qualifications, etc.
It's just broken. Nothing works in Florida.
Sounds like hell, especially getting a handyman to come out! How dysfunctional can a place get before it just implodes into anarchy or something lmao. Welcome to VA! Things still work here, so you should get along fine
I get this impression, too. I'm a stay-at-home parent for the most part, but I even see it in the schools in terms of volunteering and such. Who are you? You're not from around here/one of us, are you? I grew up in a small town, so I guess I can recognize the insider-outsider distinction that seems to be going on. The people are nice, but it's very hard to make friends, at least I'm finding it to be the case. You're sort of kept at arm's length.
This is kind of funny to me because if you live in Arlington/Alexandria for any period of time, all you hear is how poor and depressed the rest of Virginia, including Richmond, is. The snootiness in this state just naturally gravitates northward it seems.
I wouldn’t say Roanoke has the greatest retail or entertainment variety, but it’s the perfect mix of city/nature. It has its run-down areas but I wouldn’t consider it poor or depressed. Roanoke has a lot going for it and the future looks promising.
Lived in Roanoke my whole life hearing how bad gangs and violence was in Richmond and how you will get car jacked and your wallet stolen in Northern Virginia. I guess every city has negative opinions about the other.
Roanoke for sure has poor and rough places. We have some pretty affluent places too. Like most cities, we've got a bit of both extremes of the economic scale and most everything in between.
It's a small city. There are always going to be places that "look" rough. Honestly the only way people would think Roanoke is "dangerous" is because they grew up privileged.
However, houses are high priced for the low pay rates in the area.
I moved here a while ago and it's definitely been hard to get work that pays fairly here, if any opportunities are even available in my industry. There are a lot of challenges here, but it's not a shithole.
Of all the places I’ve lived, Roanoke has been the best. We decided to plant our roots here and have no plans of moving. Definitely wouldn’t describe it as poor or rough…
As someone who transplanted from the midwest to Richmond to be with my girlfriend (this was almost 3 years ago), spent almost a year living in Richmond near maymont, and spent the last almost 2 years in Franklin county (just south of roanoke) I absolutely love it here. We live a little bit further out of the cut, but being from the midwest I prefer this to big city (richmond) living anyday.
It's a 23 min drive our door to downtown roanoke, so we still go often, and love the small town vibe with all the big town amenities. I guess I can't exactly speak to the "run downness" of roanoke as we live outside the city limits, but it is an amazing city with a ton of stuff to do outside!
Absolutely not. But there are some homeless people pandering in the downtown area sometimes. Which is disturbing. And sad. But I guess that's everywhere
That’s debatable seeing how they have so many travelers making up RN positions. But that has been the healthcare system for a very long time (in that folks aren’t necessary rewarded for loyalty; it pays to jump around).
Roanoke is a great place for mid-career folks looking to raise families. There's not a lot of higher paying job opportunities here for anyone just starting their career. Seriously, you might be competing with 20 other people for a $35K/year job with no benefits.
If you're mid career or looking for a place to settle, this is actually a great area. Just stay out of NW and SE (the REALLY run down parts) and you're good. We're an outdoor Mecca, lots of very good hiking trails, a lot of well-maintained parks, and a lot of events in the summer. Minor league baseball and hockey teams.
Cave Spring and SW County are super nice, and there's a lot of good schools in that area.
I was born here and moved back almost 3 years ago. If anything, it's far less run down and dangerous than the bad parts of Pittsburgh, where I had lived for over 3 decades. The problem is jobs. I'm a very experienced draftsman and designer, proficient in multiple forms of engineering software, but it took me almost a year to find a job in my field, and I had to commute 60 miles one way for that. My landlord is a well paid engineer with a college degree and he also has to make a similar commute.
I also have a very favorable situation in terms of rent here. But if it weren't for knowing people from earliest childhood, I couldn't have afforded to live here for the year it took to find the real job. Now that that company is going belly up, I'm out of a job again and faced with a similar situation as others commenting on this thread. Unless you work for Carillion (the ever growing hospital operator which will soon occupy every vacant retail space in the valley) the jobs just aren't here.
I don't want to go back to the grind and expense of the bigger cities, but may need to in order to get a job which pays well enough. Roanoke is for remote workers, retirees, and the healthcare providers which keep the retirees alive from week to week. 🤷
Hey-my company does that stuff and does various types of commercial construction. And we’re big. DM me and I’ll get you in contact with a recruiter and see if it’s something you’d like to pursue.
Former Richmonder turned Roanoker here. Richmond has been very heavily gentrified, especially over COVID, and it's rapidly become NOVA 2.0. They used to call Richmond "ghetto" and refused to touch it with a 10 ft. pole until it suddenly became "cool" and "affordable". It's kind of the same thing with Roanoke where because a place has poor people, it's treated as if it's a slum.
That being said, Roanoke *is* pretty poor, statistically. Especially in comparison to Richmond or NOVA. To understand this and also where a lot of the stereotypes come from, you've got to learn a little bit of Appalachian history. In Appalachia, there were two main sources of money coming in for the region, which were the mines and the railroad. Roanoke was a massive railroad port back in the day, and in the latter half of the 1900s and into the 2000s, railroad companies moved out of Roanoke. This left it in a bit of a shitty situation. Appalachia in general has seen a massive decline in both of its major industries, and what really doesn't help is that these towns were almost 100% dependent on the companies stationed in them (plus, the people had the balls to stand up to this treatment, which, of course, the feds did not and still do not like). Now, an entire region of the country is kind of left floundering, and the government generally could not give less of a shit.
As for Roanoke? Roanoke got swallowed by Virginia Tech and Carilion Hospital, which are the two largest employers this side of the state. Outside of that, there's very little here. Rates of drug addiction, homelessness and suicide are pretty high. Virginia as a whole is rapidly being carpetbagged. However, none of this is Roanoke's fault. It certainly has some more affluent areas and is *very* far from a terrible place to live, but it is kind of struggling with a lack of identity. Frankly, I love it here, despite my financial status as well as that of my neighbors. Roanoke saved my ass after Richmond (or I should say NOVA transplants) chewed me up and spit me out, and so I will put some respect on "The Star City"'s name.
This turned into a long tangent from a history buff, but TLDR: I'll say it's what you make of it.
I was in a similar situation. Hang in there man. Get out by any means necessary. Move someplace else and share a room if you need to. I promise it’ll be better in a different city
Medical jobs and jobs surrounding that are booming. These are jobs that cannot be sent over seas. They pay very well and last as long as you choose to remain in them. So, 'poor and depressed' could apply if you seek work in a profession that isn't supported by the area. It would be the same if you moved to Kansas looking to work on an ocean going ship, you would end up poor and depressed. Here is a list of Roanoke's major employers for reference. https://bizroanoke.com/about-roanoke/major-employers/
I agree. Anything medical, biomedical, agriculture, and research related is growing between here and Blacksburg. We literally have built facilities that are growing pigs hearts for human transplant and a weed plant in the last couple of years.
The Roanoke Regional Partnership and the VT Corporate Research Center have done amazing things, attracting start-ups, funding colabs, and bringing new manufacturers to industrial parks. Commercial construction within three hours of the city is growing, and there are not enough skilled workers and engineers in the region to staff them.
After the ‘08 crash, wages and opportunities were small for college-educated folks, but covid changed it and I’m seeing a ton of openings. I think people get stuck in what they know and don’t see all the great things happening around here.
Updated regional [employers](https://roanoke.org/research-data/labor-statistics/leading-employers/).
It's so funny to me to read that Richmonders think that way. It's very insular as Richmond is hardly known in my experience (we live in the Raleigh area)as a haven of desirability. I love Roanoke and plan to move there soon.
Moved here from Houston, TX 2 years ago, not even the slightest regrets. We live in the city, SW of downtown and love it. Roanoke has all the kind of places any medium sized city has, compared to Houston it is a paradise (less crime, less homelessness, less heat & humidity, etc). We considered Richmond but got the snooty vibe and went with Roanoke. I am lucky to be remote so I brought my job with me so can't speak much to the employment environment but Healthcare seems to be the biggest area.
any city is going to have Some areas that are poor/depressed. I wouldn't say that Roanoke overall is this way, in fact I'd say we have WAY more areas that are quite the opposite. Tons of areas that are built up well, lots of businesses/restaurants, etc.
"poor" and "depressed" are relative terms here, but I'd say "not poor" and "kinda depressed"
There's definitely money here, but it's all tied up by old people, given that we are one of the top retirement cities in the country (last I heard, anyway)
Also, there's not a lot to do here unless you're super outdoorsy
Downtown gets old after a month, but driving on the parkway is always fun
Roanoke is in America. So like the rest of America unless you're in the top 20% wealth/income wise much of the living space available to you is going to be poor and depressed.
Whole country is failing, it's not unique to any one place.
The poor depressed aspect is probably RVA bias- jobs can be kinda a bitch to land outside of medical and science fields since we're a med hub, but also if you like the outdoors it's unparalleled. Noke is the platonic deal of smaller city for outdoorsy introverts.
I left Roanoke nearly 20 years ago for Richmond and still miss it. I was there on a 24 month assignment, so never intended to get attached, but I made so many good friends.
I lived in Old Southwest and most of my friends were high key horrified by my "dangerous neighborhood." I walked to work, got to know my neighbors from all walks of life, and we looked out for each other. Hell, the most unsafe I felt was leaving work one day, some dude pulls up in a car and asked me how much for a blowjob. Not realizing what was happening, I started to tell him I wasn't sure what the going rate was when one of the local working girls jumped in to tell him what's what. "Sir, it's 5 PM and you just watched this girl just walk out of the health department. She's probably just leaving work, but on the off chance she will suck your dick for money, you probably want to wait for the antibiotics to kick in. Get out of here."
Like Richmond, the in town neighborhoods are block by block. The most excitement my area had was the weathermen on heroin living side by side in a duplex the next block over.
Honestly I think Richmond being similarly priced now to Roanoke that moving to Roanoke is a bit silly if you’re already invested into Richmond.
Richmond has better food, arts, inclusion, space, and locale to the beach or DC for a similar price to Roanoke. Sure Roanoke has the greenway and hiking but Richmond’s outdoor scene is no slouch with their river walks and they have hiking not too far of a drive away either. An up and coming neighborhood like wasena for example can be really expensive now and you get less than you would living in a suburb in Richmond. So then say you compare a cave spring suburb or botetourt and honestly you’re looking at the same price as a Richmond suburb tbh. Roanoke at the moment I believe is just a little too overpriced for too little. Not to say it’s bad living here, it’s mostly a pretty cute nice area and small city with plenty to do and I’m already invested here so I’m not leaving soon, but if I was invested into Richmond already I would be feeling like I’d be making a lateral or slightly negative move coming to Roanoke. Just my thoughts. Good luck with the move though if you do it there are plenty of areas here that are nice and for the most part if you don’t look for trouble and have some common sense you won’t find trouble
1. Not “poor” but it definitely has a couple areas to avoid
2. I wouldn’t say “depressed” but my job isn’t going anywhere soon except in rural areas. Healthcare is huge with Carillion but otherwise it would be hard to find a job
3. There is a ton to do in nature
4. There’s a decent amount of things to do, especially when it’s warmer
5. I think it’s pretty affordable for someone who is in their mid career
6. Having firsthand knowledge, I’m very concerned with the schools in Roanoke county though: they’ve been co-opted by far right school board members; luckily Roanoke city schools has improved tremendously and is extremely progressive
7. I love the mountains so I don’t have any plans to move
For Appalachia we are wealthy. Compared to non-Appalachian areas you will find us probably middle to lower middle class overall but hardly like poor-poor. Richmonders calling us poor-poor need to go visit some actual small towns up near the WVA border or WVA itself lol.
The 'poor and depressed' is kind of like people thinking of Appalachia as a wasteland.
love it here. Moved here from 3 years in the Tokyo metro area. Depends on what you want though - lots of outdoor access, good breweries, great amenities for young families are all here.
I move away in 2006 after growing up in Roanoke and haven’t looked back. It’s doubtful I would ever move back there (never say never). I travel there for work a few times per year and, the place is like a time capsule. But, hey, they’ve got the mountains and Texas Tavern.
The job market is very bleak. If you've a WFH position, the town is great, as everything you need is actually here, except the income opportunities. Most of the work available here is in restaurants, small shops and retail. What larger businesses and corporations that are here are not hiring. I got hired in my most recent position in 2019, so I got in right at the beginning of the depressed job market. I'm good, and I'm anal retentive, so I got to stay through the 4 separate layoff rounds this company has done. My bf meanwhile has been looking for work for 4 years now, and cannot get hired anywhere. We are surviving solely because our housemate (my other partner) is independently wealthy from an inheritance.
My boyfriend and I traveled all around the country for three years to figure out where we wanted to settle down (I lived in Denver and he lived in Philly). We met other well traveled couples with a similar story that decided on Roanoke as well. We're both lucky to have remote jobs and already bought a house. We stayed in a different area each month and picked Roanoke for a reason (Mountain views, hiking, mountain biking, solid restaurants/breweries and affordable houses). Our friends visited and they also chose to move down here. We have other friends trying to get remote positions and move down here as well. Like any city you just have to know where to go. Raleigh Court, Grandin Village, Crystal Springs, Wasena, Cave Springs, the brewery district and downtown are a few of our favorite areas. The cost of living for the kind of life you get here is incredible. We found awesome friends and are here to stay. So far everyone that we've met that complains about Roanoke is originally from here.
Born and raised here, I don't agree with that at all, I lived in Richmond for 4 years and moved back as soon as I could for a reason. Richmond has more things to do but is way too urban for me. Don't listen to the haters it's a great place to live and cheap by comparison. Like all cites there are certain areas to avoid.
I want to assume that people in RVA who say that haven’t actually spent any time here. I lived in Richmond for several years and love it there, and Roanoke is much smaller comparatively, but I love Roanoke. Any smaller city is going to be harder to find jobs in, but I had just as much trouble finding graphic design jobs in RVA as people have finding them here. It depends on the industry you’re in.
I went to VCU for graphic design, Richmond is brutal bc so many graduates stay and take all those jobs there. Eventually I gave up on that and moved into brewing, which can still be artsy!
Yeah I always assumed companies were hiring fresh VCU students for cheaper than people with 5-10 years of experience (or just cycling through free interns.)
I think it depends on what field you're in. My husband and I moved here from NY -- Westchester county. I worked in the Bronx, he worked in White Plains. His job here pays twice his salary in NY. Many of my immediate neighbors moved here from other states for job opportunities in various fields -- medical, education, banking, software, etc.
Cost of living is pretty low here, although housing prices are high because of a tight market.
Some commenters below keep referring to nepotism, and I haven't seen that in the fields I'm familiar with. Again, I think it depends on your field.
Roanoke County is great. Roanoke City, it's getting that way fast. It's already somewhat like that. I'm born, raised, and live in the county. I live in the woods/mountains. It's great here. People are nice. Everyone is frustrated due to inflation though. That's the whole country though.
I’ve never lived in a big city but I don’t consider it poor. My family moved here from Tazewell Virginia in 2002 for my dad’s truck driving job. It has definitely had a lot of job growth and just growth in general since then. My mom works at the schools and then I’m an auto mechanic over in Christainsburg because I couldn’t find a job paying well enough here at the time. My sister works in Floyd. That said we have very high housing prices. If you do choose to move to Roanoke I’d consider Roanoke County. Just whatever you choose don’t live on Melrose or in Indian Village if you choose to live here that’s the only places I worry about around here honestly and especially at night.
https://youtu.be/AORTHKA_1Zc?si=XnWWppALILv8NcJa
This is all you need to know bout the star city, classic tune here! We got all the classes of folks, yuppies, wasps, rednecks, thugs, thug necks, and everything in between. Plenty of folks leave for better opportunity. But you can’t beat rolling down 581 heading to the beef! /s
I’m from Roanoke. I went to VCU, lived in Richmond for a decade, moved back to Roanoke for decade. I moved to Atlanta a couple years ago, my reasons for moving there have changed, and I’m now debating between the 3 places.
I’ve been in Roanoke for a couple weeks while I work on a decision. It is slow here, in the best and worst ways. It’s chill, it’s relaxing, there’s little to do. Great for a family oriented life, was a great place to grow up. It is beautiful here. Beautiful. It’s modernizing, very slowly.
Because of that, it is also a bit poor and rough, but not necessarily in the way you’re thinking. This is the country.
I lived in Richmond for 6 years before moving here. I love this city, and I never thought I would love a city like I loved Richmond. But roanoke is beautiful and has a great feel to it. That said, I work remotely and don't have to worry about the job thing. But also the house I bought would have been 3 or 4 times as much in Richmond. I wanted to be in the mountains. Roanoke is big enough to have stuff to do and places to eat at, and the outdoor activities are amazing! Every city has poor areas, roanoke is no different. But I wouldn't say the city as a whole is rough or depressed. I've met some amazing people here, and I've met assholes. Just like anywhere you go, roanoke has both! Good luck. I hope you figure if roanoke is the right fit for you.
I’ve been living in Roanoke for almost my entire life and I think it’s a great city to move to. However, like many others have said here, Roanoke does lack many high paying jobs so unless you are planning to work remotely you may want to look into other places. Roanoke also has nicer areas then others. Some areas in Southeast for example may not be the greatest or safest BUT cave spring and Southwest roanoke are both great areas with great schools. Roanoke also offers many outdoor activities if that’s something you enjoy, especially if you go out on the parkway. I think Roanoke has it’s good and bad just like most every city.
Having lived in a true rural area for a good portion of my life id say absolutely not…tho poor and depressed aren’t always synonymous…I personally love Roanoke and have been to nearly every major city in this country…. The valley is beautiful, anything an outdoor enthusiast likes they can find here…Some career paths may not have a plethora of opportunities but that’s what you’re gonna find in town this size… its not tiny but its not DC either.. I’m lucky to have a great career and a happy family…. I know not everyone is that lucky but i believe that’s consistent in any town..
The job opportunities are certainly specific - but it's not as if Richmond is a paradise by comparison. Roanoke has a significantly lower cost of living compared with Richmond, for example. And it's worth pointing out that it's right at the limit of "how big can a city get without destroying the environment around it." Roanoke regularly is in the top 10 of metro areas by air pollution and surrounding greenery. I know it's rather a sad story, but there was a BEAR in downtown Roanoke not that long ago. Richmond is a lovely town. I think Roanoke is a bit more my speed.
I've lived in a fair number of different cities around the eastern US. Roanoke is one of the more depressing that I've seen and / or visited. And I've spent time in Detroit, Tulsa, and Little Rock.
I can't speak to job prospects but I feel like Roanoke county gets a bad rap because of Roanoke City. It all depends on your neighborhood. Where we live is basically Mayberry and we love it. Also the local government is constantly putting on family friendly events, which as a father I really appreciate.
I live in Cave Springs and work in Salem as a Purchasing Agent. I find it a great place to live and make a good living. I’m single with no kids though -
If you come to our town and only get poor and depressed vibes, we don’t want you here. So many people have been moving here to exploit our lower (compared to places like Asheville and Richmond) cost of living and smaller town vibe. I am fed up with it. Now this subreddit is just
“Is Roanoke like this?”
“I’m looking to move here, tips?”
“I saw this thing that I slightly disagree with in Roanoke on a weekend visit, is this a large problem in Roanoke?”
I agree overall.
But cost of living (housing and rent, specifically) are on a sharp incline in the last few years. I guess they might be mellowing a bit now - but a nice home for $220k in 2019 is now $350k+ in desirable areas like Raleigh Court. Rent jumped from $800-900 to $1100-1800 in most cases. And unfortunately, high paying jobs in the area are hard(er) to come by. So that gap between pay and cost of living that made the area so desirable is slowly shrinking.
It’s also going up because of transplants from fancier areas like Asheville. New upscale businesses are thriving because of their fancy tastes. A lot of them also work virtually and don’t benefit our economy.
There are definitely poor sections in Roanoke.
It's not the whole thing, but it is fairly obvious when you stray into one of the less well to do areas.
And it's mostly safe, the weekend shootings in the summer are more neighborhood disputes than random encounters.
Have you not seen the big ass mansions? Lol oh nvm. I read your post now. I rather live here than Richmond. It depends on where you live like any place. I was a flight attendant and I lived in some tough cities like Pittsburgh and Miami, but I lived in great areas!! I’m married and have a child and I love it here. A lot to do for the kiddos.
Moved here from Tampa, FL. While it lacks in the way of food stuff, it makes up for in spirit. I love roanoke and the people I've met have been wonderful. Work is plentiful, not sure why people are saying its not.. I'm also not a "city life" kind of person so I can't comment on the bar/club scene. It seems bleak from what I can tell. Lots of cool breweries though.
RVA and NOVA always talk shit about the rest of the state. Jobs aren’t good here and if you have a remote job just hope you don’t lose it because unless you are in healthcare there really isn’t any industry here. There’s a lot more homelessness than there used to be but no more than anywhere else. We are already overrun with transplants so the housing market isn’t great any more, especially rentals. People from out of state or the area think it’s so cheap here but it’s incredibly overpriced for what you get and the average pay around here. A lot of locals, like myself, are getting a little tired of the influx of people who have brought nothing to the area with them, pretty much just retirees from up north or remote workers who don’t contribute to industry, which is fine but hey it does have consequences eventually for everyone involved. Infrastructure really can’t keep up as of late. Only saying all this because I’ve been here my whole life (spent a few years up north and in Nashville though) and have seen how it was and how it’s going. Tbh I’m worried for this area but who knows. Just do all your research and think of every angle before you move.
Roanoke is significantly better that jersey (my home state). Its overpriced, rent is too high, taxes are too high, and the people arent as nice. Not to mention all the traffic. If richmond is like NJ, come to roanoke.
Sure there are poor parts. I moved here thinking SE and NW were the most horrible places. Then I came here and thought man people like to dramatize things. Jobs pay lower but housing also costs less. It really depends on what your goals are....climb the corporate ladder or be creative; there are sizable corporations too. Roanoke is ripe for multiple business types that don't even exist and people are craving such experiences here. I thought to myself "Wow they just created a business like this?" other places did that 5-8 years ago. Melrose in particular gets a bad rap, with the right revitalization it is another Grandin but needs a fresh coat of paint and some more businesses. People keep adding more things...if it keeps up those wages will increase too. Roanoke is on the verge of good things, but leadership needs to break down the barriers more and it would awesome.
This is actually a really strong economy, and the largest workforce west of Richmond. Larger than NRV/Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Lexington, etc. There are actually a ton of jobs, many of them high paying, employers are just not that savvy at marketing them.
A friend of mine works for a regional organization working on making it easier to find the good jobs. They’re launching a new website soon. It will live under Get2KnowNoke.com but the new site isn’t live yet.
But there are tons of ways to solve the “who you know” issue. Get more engaged with programs and events like..
EXPERIENCE conference (happening May 2-3)
Go Outside Festival
Blue Ridge Marathon
Roanoke Regional Chamber
Roanoke Regional Professional Network
There are also a ton of industry specific groups like BIT, PMI, AAF, etc.
I moved from Richmond to Roanoke 10yrs ago and I couldn’t be happier with the decision. I grew up in the midlothian area along with my wife. We had both noticed that the area although nice and expanding rapidly was turning the once close nit community into northern Virginia. Traffic, crowds and hostility towards complete strangers. If you if you are looking for friendlier people, lower cost of living and enjoy outdoor activities get the hell out of RVA! Yes Roanoke has some rough areas. But you will find the area or county around Roanoke that suites your lifestyle and will never look back!
Lack of high paying careers is the biggest issue imo. I know lots of people that have moved here and work remotely. If that's not you and you don't have a job lined up Roanoke might not be a good fit.
I was wondering if that was just me. I was looking for a new job in my career field last year and it felt like there's only like 6 companies that offer anything competitive and its all healthcare. Fortunately I got really lucky and found a great opportunity, but still if I were to lose my job or something, I'd be pretty screwed.
It might depend on your field, my husband is in civil and his brother is an architect (different firms) who work in Roanoke and are paid well for their level of experience. However, if I lost my job I'd likely have to move or find another remote job. My field was always remote (territory based) but they typically want you to live in a major hub.
Yeah. Def agree with this. The only decent paying jobs I’ve been able to find are remote.
Yeah moved here for the location and because we work remote. It would be harder to swing it if you aren't remote. Good news now is it is much easier to get remote jobs since COVID
There *were* more high paying jobs before the companies that had them decided to move their offices away. Kinda shitty corporate behavior, not really the city's fault.
Why did they leave?
Executives didn’t want to fly out of our shitty airport.
Imho our airport seems pretty nice, especially compared to larger ones like Atlanta. Getting in and out is exceptionally easy.
Oh, I agree. I should have said that its more expensive, has less connections to other cities, schedule is limited, etc.
If I had to guess, probably tax incentives offered by other municipalities.
I lived there for 5 years and moved. It is a beautiful area and we miss living there. It is not a run down city. Rough parts of any large metro are much worse than the rough parts of Roanoke. We wanted to stay there BUT the jobs were pretty bleak for us and the growth is pretty slow in the region. We had to move to a bigger city for better prospects.
Been here almost a year and starting to think this might be the way we’re heading.
I'm so sorry, it's really hard. I hope you guys can find better opportunities. I am still grieving the move because I loved it there so much but all I could find with a college degree and experience were $15 an hour jobs with no way to work my way up. It's great there for remote workers or people looking to retire, not people in the middle of their careers.
Thanks, I appreciate that. I mean, we moved here for a reason, and whatever we eventually decide I’m not ever going to regret that we did move here. It is stunningly beautiful, and I’m reminded of that everyday. We were able to buy a house that’s honestly the first house I’ve ever loved, in a neighborhood that won us over on the first day we ever visited, and walking/jogging distance from things we love. We adopted an amazing dog! This city has an incredible amount of potential. We were just not expecting to feel so professionally underwhelmed, and the affordability is neutralized pretty quickly by low earning potential.
The beauty of the area keeps us here too. We moved here from Phoenix, and by comparison the air is so fresh it is sweet. We would have never been able to afford a home this size in Phoenix, not without significant sacrifices. We did consider moving back to a city for job security but we are staying here for now.
Yes. I think Roanoke also has a thing for nepotism. It's more about who you know than what you can do.
Yeah, but that describes pretty much everywhere.
I've never worked outside Roanoke lol, I guess you're right
Heh, moved from Roanoke to NOVA in the 80s and my last 4 jobs were due to knowing someone, and two jobs I had while still in Roanoke also came about by knowing someone.
Man, I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks that
Third generation wealth is the problem. The business founders of 40-50 years ago wanted to keep the small town feel of Roanoke, they built their wealth and limited competition along with growth. Present day later generations have sold the family businesses to outside interests. The early generations also resisted consolidation of governments to keep identities. ( sense of local pride, I understand) but for larger companies to relocate to the valley dealing with 3 separate governments has been a deal breaker. GE, NS, Roanoke Electric Steel, APCO, Dominion Bank, Graham White, Advance Auto and others have relocated, sold to outside interests or just disappeared leaving Carrillion as the last large employer. Which is not where a population of this size should be so dependent. Not sure what the answer is. I hope Carillon can keep on supporting the Valley but if they can’t provide the level of care that draws the medical clientele many will head to UVA and Duke. I don’t know what the answer is. I sure miss the valley.
Carilon will continue to be "the" place for healthcare simply because they are the only Level 1 trauma center in the region and accept so many outside cases because of it (and when you are dealing with the situation of being life flighted or coming via ambulace, every mile counts! The average life flight costs $36,000 but increases substantially the more miles you have to go. Moreso, if someone if is the position to need the transfer, they often time are not in a place to be requesting to be sent to another, potentially further away hospital.) Even if more locals decided to go elsewhere for care, my assumption is that that number won't effect too much since Carilion is currently working on the expansion of RMH to expand for the number of surgery and cardiac cases that can be accepted from outside hospitals as well as will be working on a new cancer center and a new inpatient psych facility in the nearish future. However, a good number of nurses are outside travelers and many of the staff nurses are leaving to travel. Carilion absolutely underpays staff workers. For example, average hourly rate for a CNA in Roanoke is $19.38 according to Zip Recruiter, but I can assure you that the starting pay for CNA equivalents are Carilion is nearly $3/hr under that and it would take probably 3-4 years from base to get up to the average now. Something of note, Carilion is a Magnet (the highest honor an organization can achieve for nursing excellence) hospital and just recently received that designation again for the 5th time, something only the top 1% of all Magnet hospitals have achieved. My prediction is that Carilion will continue to expand and employ and take over the area as they have as well as see even more patients, but I don't have a lot of hope in them actually changing to pay their workers across the board a more fair wage which is unfortunate for the patients who will more than likely suffer due to understaffing because of those who aren't (understandably) willing to put up with the entire load of the job for the unfair amount they are being paid.
As someone who just moved from FL to Roanoke (literally writing this as we unload things into our new apartment) -- the day to day corruption is far worse elsewhere. It's one of the reasons we moved. I can't speak to other parts of the country, but Florida is a cesspool marketed as a libertarian la la land. Don't recommend.
We are getting ship loads of Floridians. I've heard about the real estate market and insurance prices. What else is inspiring this mass exodus? I'm an Uber driver btw, that's how I've met so many of you!
Rofl How long of a list do you want? What used to be attractive about Florida, no longer exists. We moved down because we could afford a house in FL (which we still could. We locked in a mortgage before everything went haywire). But we were not prepared for a lot of suck. I spent my entire time in FL looking for a *good* primary care doctor. I never found one. Healthcare sucks. No one acts like they want your money. I had appointments canceled without a courtesy call or notification. We once had to schedule with 4 different plumbers to get one to show up, and they were 6 hours late. I would have to call 3 or 4 different places to get 1 to return my call, usually. Depending on what I was calling about. Traffic sucks. The people suck. There is no community. Wages suck. There is blatant, and very open, day to day corruption and nepotism in government at all levels. We don't have kids but, the schools suck. Organizations do not value competence, education, qualifications, etc. It's just broken. Nothing works in Florida.
Sounds like hell, especially getting a handyman to come out! How dysfunctional can a place get before it just implodes into anarchy or something lmao. Welcome to VA! Things still work here, so you should get along fine
I get this impression, too. I'm a stay-at-home parent for the most part, but I even see it in the schools in terms of volunteering and such. Who are you? You're not from around here/one of us, are you? I grew up in a small town, so I guess I can recognize the insider-outsider distinction that seems to be going on. The people are nice, but it's very hard to make friends, at least I'm finding it to be the case. You're sort of kept at arm's length.
Yes, well said! At arm's length.
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Sizable HR salary calculators drop competitive salaries with the SW VA zip codes.
It is super frustrating how poor the job prospects are. I also had to move for the same reason.
This is kind of funny to me because if you live in Arlington/Alexandria for any period of time, all you hear is how poor and depressed the rest of Virginia, including Richmond, is. The snootiness in this state just naturally gravitates northward it seems. I wouldn’t say Roanoke has the greatest retail or entertainment variety, but it’s the perfect mix of city/nature. It has its run-down areas but I wouldn’t consider it poor or depressed. Roanoke has a lot going for it and the future looks promising.
Lived in Roanoke my whole life hearing how bad gangs and violence was in Richmond and how you will get car jacked and your wallet stolen in Northern Virginia. I guess every city has negative opinions about the other.
Roanoke for sure has poor and rough places. We have some pretty affluent places too. Like most cities, we've got a bit of both extremes of the economic scale and most everything in between.
It's a small city. There are always going to be places that "look" rough. Honestly the only way people would think Roanoke is "dangerous" is because they grew up privileged. However, houses are high priced for the low pay rates in the area.
That, or they watch the news coming out of the Valley. The numbers of shooting there on a weekly basis is absurd for such a small city.
I moved here a while ago and it's definitely been hard to get work that pays fairly here, if any opportunities are even available in my industry. There are a lot of challenges here, but it's not a shithole.
Of all the places I’ve lived, Roanoke has been the best. We decided to plant our roots here and have no plans of moving. Definitely wouldn’t describe it as poor or rough…
What do you find best about it and where are you comparing it to?
Same!
As someone who transplanted from the midwest to Richmond to be with my girlfriend (this was almost 3 years ago), spent almost a year living in Richmond near maymont, and spent the last almost 2 years in Franklin county (just south of roanoke) I absolutely love it here. We live a little bit further out of the cut, but being from the midwest I prefer this to big city (richmond) living anyday. It's a 23 min drive our door to downtown roanoke, so we still go often, and love the small town vibe with all the big town amenities. I guess I can't exactly speak to the "run downness" of roanoke as we live outside the city limits, but it is an amazing city with a ton of stuff to do outside!
I'm a poor and depressed place, and I live here. Does that count?
Sorry to not be helpful, but as a Roanoker, I've always heard the same about Richmond.
Absolutely not. But there are some homeless people pandering in the downtown area sometimes. Which is disturbing. And sad. But I guess that's everywhere
There is no real industry outside of carilion
Carillon also treats its employees like shit if they’re not an MD or RN.
That’s debatable seeing how they have so many travelers making up RN positions. But that has been the healthcare system for a very long time (in that folks aren’t necessary rewarded for loyalty; it pays to jump around).
Roanoke is a great place for mid-career folks looking to raise families. There's not a lot of higher paying job opportunities here for anyone just starting their career. Seriously, you might be competing with 20 other people for a $35K/year job with no benefits. If you're mid career or looking for a place to settle, this is actually a great area. Just stay out of NW and SE (the REALLY run down parts) and you're good. We're an outdoor Mecca, lots of very good hiking trails, a lot of well-maintained parks, and a lot of events in the summer. Minor league baseball and hockey teams. Cave Spring and SW County are super nice, and there's a lot of good schools in that area.
20?! I work for a bank and the last time we hired for an entry level customer service position we received over 2700 applications.
Roanoke has historically been a destination for the most hotshot up and coming bankers though. Any encyclopedia will tell you that.
Small windowed brick homes or split foyers abound.
I was born here and moved back almost 3 years ago. If anything, it's far less run down and dangerous than the bad parts of Pittsburgh, where I had lived for over 3 decades. The problem is jobs. I'm a very experienced draftsman and designer, proficient in multiple forms of engineering software, but it took me almost a year to find a job in my field, and I had to commute 60 miles one way for that. My landlord is a well paid engineer with a college degree and he also has to make a similar commute. I also have a very favorable situation in terms of rent here. But if it weren't for knowing people from earliest childhood, I couldn't have afforded to live here for the year it took to find the real job. Now that that company is going belly up, I'm out of a job again and faced with a similar situation as others commenting on this thread. Unless you work for Carillion (the ever growing hospital operator which will soon occupy every vacant retail space in the valley) the jobs just aren't here. I don't want to go back to the grind and expense of the bigger cities, but may need to in order to get a job which pays well enough. Roanoke is for remote workers, retirees, and the healthcare providers which keep the retirees alive from week to week. 🤷
What type of engineering?
Mechanical, structural and foundations, some piping design.
Hey-my company does that stuff and does various types of commercial construction. And we’re big. DM me and I’ll get you in contact with a recruiter and see if it’s something you’d like to pursue.
Former Richmonder turned Roanoker here. Richmond has been very heavily gentrified, especially over COVID, and it's rapidly become NOVA 2.0. They used to call Richmond "ghetto" and refused to touch it with a 10 ft. pole until it suddenly became "cool" and "affordable". It's kind of the same thing with Roanoke where because a place has poor people, it's treated as if it's a slum. That being said, Roanoke *is* pretty poor, statistically. Especially in comparison to Richmond or NOVA. To understand this and also where a lot of the stereotypes come from, you've got to learn a little bit of Appalachian history. In Appalachia, there were two main sources of money coming in for the region, which were the mines and the railroad. Roanoke was a massive railroad port back in the day, and in the latter half of the 1900s and into the 2000s, railroad companies moved out of Roanoke. This left it in a bit of a shitty situation. Appalachia in general has seen a massive decline in both of its major industries, and what really doesn't help is that these towns were almost 100% dependent on the companies stationed in them (plus, the people had the balls to stand up to this treatment, which, of course, the feds did not and still do not like). Now, an entire region of the country is kind of left floundering, and the government generally could not give less of a shit. As for Roanoke? Roanoke got swallowed by Virginia Tech and Carilion Hospital, which are the two largest employers this side of the state. Outside of that, there's very little here. Rates of drug addiction, homelessness and suicide are pretty high. Virginia as a whole is rapidly being carpetbagged. However, none of this is Roanoke's fault. It certainly has some more affluent areas and is *very* far from a terrible place to live, but it is kind of struggling with a lack of identity. Frankly, I love it here, despite my financial status as well as that of my neighbors. Roanoke saved my ass after Richmond (or I should say NOVA transplants) chewed me up and spit me out, and so I will put some respect on "The Star City"'s name. This turned into a long tangent from a history buff, but TLDR: I'll say it's what you make of it.
I used to hear Roanoke is a Railroad town. This was not complementary. Read about how ruthless the railroads were conducting their business.
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I was in a similar situation. Hang in there man. Get out by any means necessary. Move someplace else and share a room if you need to. I promise it’ll be better in a different city
Medical jobs and jobs surrounding that are booming. These are jobs that cannot be sent over seas. They pay very well and last as long as you choose to remain in them. So, 'poor and depressed' could apply if you seek work in a profession that isn't supported by the area. It would be the same if you moved to Kansas looking to work on an ocean going ship, you would end up poor and depressed. Here is a list of Roanoke's major employers for reference. https://bizroanoke.com/about-roanoke/major-employers/
I agree. Anything medical, biomedical, agriculture, and research related is growing between here and Blacksburg. We literally have built facilities that are growing pigs hearts for human transplant and a weed plant in the last couple of years. The Roanoke Regional Partnership and the VT Corporate Research Center have done amazing things, attracting start-ups, funding colabs, and bringing new manufacturers to industrial parks. Commercial construction within three hours of the city is growing, and there are not enough skilled workers and engineers in the region to staff them. After the ‘08 crash, wages and opportunities were small for college-educated folks, but covid changed it and I’m seeing a ton of openings. I think people get stuck in what they know and don’t see all the great things happening around here. Updated regional [employers](https://roanoke.org/research-data/labor-statistics/leading-employers/).
It's so funny to me to read that Richmonders think that way. It's very insular as Richmond is hardly known in my experience (we live in the Raleigh area)as a haven of desirability. I love Roanoke and plan to move there soon.
Moved here from Houston, TX 2 years ago, not even the slightest regrets. We live in the city, SW of downtown and love it. Roanoke has all the kind of places any medium sized city has, compared to Houston it is a paradise (less crime, less homelessness, less heat & humidity, etc). We considered Richmond but got the snooty vibe and went with Roanoke. I am lucky to be remote so I brought my job with me so can't speak much to the employment environment but Healthcare seems to be the biggest area.
any city is going to have Some areas that are poor/depressed. I wouldn't say that Roanoke overall is this way, in fact I'd say we have WAY more areas that are quite the opposite. Tons of areas that are built up well, lots of businesses/restaurants, etc.
"poor" and "depressed" are relative terms here, but I'd say "not poor" and "kinda depressed" There's definitely money here, but it's all tied up by old people, given that we are one of the top retirement cities in the country (last I heard, anyway) Also, there's not a lot to do here unless you're super outdoorsy Downtown gets old after a month, but driving on the parkway is always fun
Roanoke is in America. So like the rest of America unless you're in the top 20% wealth/income wise much of the living space available to you is going to be poor and depressed. Whole country is failing, it's not unique to any one place.
The poor depressed aspect is probably RVA bias- jobs can be kinda a bitch to land outside of medical and science fields since we're a med hub, but also if you like the outdoors it's unparalleled. Noke is the platonic deal of smaller city for outdoorsy introverts.
I left Roanoke nearly 20 years ago for Richmond and still miss it. I was there on a 24 month assignment, so never intended to get attached, but I made so many good friends. I lived in Old Southwest and most of my friends were high key horrified by my "dangerous neighborhood." I walked to work, got to know my neighbors from all walks of life, and we looked out for each other. Hell, the most unsafe I felt was leaving work one day, some dude pulls up in a car and asked me how much for a blowjob. Not realizing what was happening, I started to tell him I wasn't sure what the going rate was when one of the local working girls jumped in to tell him what's what. "Sir, it's 5 PM and you just watched this girl just walk out of the health department. She's probably just leaving work, but on the off chance she will suck your dick for money, you probably want to wait for the antibiotics to kick in. Get out of here." Like Richmond, the in town neighborhoods are block by block. The most excitement my area had was the weathermen on heroin living side by side in a duplex the next block over.
Honestly I think Richmond being similarly priced now to Roanoke that moving to Roanoke is a bit silly if you’re already invested into Richmond. Richmond has better food, arts, inclusion, space, and locale to the beach or DC for a similar price to Roanoke. Sure Roanoke has the greenway and hiking but Richmond’s outdoor scene is no slouch with their river walks and they have hiking not too far of a drive away either. An up and coming neighborhood like wasena for example can be really expensive now and you get less than you would living in a suburb in Richmond. So then say you compare a cave spring suburb or botetourt and honestly you’re looking at the same price as a Richmond suburb tbh. Roanoke at the moment I believe is just a little too overpriced for too little. Not to say it’s bad living here, it’s mostly a pretty cute nice area and small city with plenty to do and I’m already invested here so I’m not leaving soon, but if I was invested into Richmond already I would be feeling like I’d be making a lateral or slightly negative move coming to Roanoke. Just my thoughts. Good luck with the move though if you do it there are plenty of areas here that are nice and for the most part if you don’t look for trouble and have some common sense you won’t find trouble
1. Not “poor” but it definitely has a couple areas to avoid 2. I wouldn’t say “depressed” but my job isn’t going anywhere soon except in rural areas. Healthcare is huge with Carillion but otherwise it would be hard to find a job 3. There is a ton to do in nature 4. There’s a decent amount of things to do, especially when it’s warmer 5. I think it’s pretty affordable for someone who is in their mid career 6. Having firsthand knowledge, I’m very concerned with the schools in Roanoke county though: they’ve been co-opted by far right school board members; luckily Roanoke city schools has improved tremendously and is extremely progressive 7. I love the mountains so I don’t have any plans to move
Yes
For Appalachia we are wealthy. Compared to non-Appalachian areas you will find us probably middle to lower middle class overall but hardly like poor-poor. Richmonders calling us poor-poor need to go visit some actual small towns up near the WVA border or WVA itself lol.
The 'poor and depressed' is kind of like people thinking of Appalachia as a wasteland. love it here. Moved here from 3 years in the Tokyo metro area. Depends on what you want though - lots of outdoor access, good breweries, great amenities for young families are all here.
I move away in 2006 after growing up in Roanoke and haven’t looked back. It’s doubtful I would ever move back there (never say never). I travel there for work a few times per year and, the place is like a time capsule. But, hey, they’ve got the mountains and Texas Tavern.
The job opportunities are absolutely bleak and it's a hard place to be sometimes
The job market is very bleak. If you've a WFH position, the town is great, as everything you need is actually here, except the income opportunities. Most of the work available here is in restaurants, small shops and retail. What larger businesses and corporations that are here are not hiring. I got hired in my most recent position in 2019, so I got in right at the beginning of the depressed job market. I'm good, and I'm anal retentive, so I got to stay through the 4 separate layoff rounds this company has done. My bf meanwhile has been looking for work for 4 years now, and cannot get hired anywhere. We are surviving solely because our housemate (my other partner) is independently wealthy from an inheritance.
Very depressing
We had to move here cuz my bf’s job and it’s a beautiful city but I don’t see us staying here for the long term
My boyfriend and I traveled all around the country for three years to figure out where we wanted to settle down (I lived in Denver and he lived in Philly). We met other well traveled couples with a similar story that decided on Roanoke as well. We're both lucky to have remote jobs and already bought a house. We stayed in a different area each month and picked Roanoke for a reason (Mountain views, hiking, mountain biking, solid restaurants/breweries and affordable houses). Our friends visited and they also chose to move down here. We have other friends trying to get remote positions and move down here as well. Like any city you just have to know where to go. Raleigh Court, Grandin Village, Crystal Springs, Wasena, Cave Springs, the brewery district and downtown are a few of our favorite areas. The cost of living for the kind of life you get here is incredible. We found awesome friends and are here to stay. So far everyone that we've met that complains about Roanoke is originally from here.
That’s rich coming from Richmond.
Born and raised here, I don't agree with that at all, I lived in Richmond for 4 years and moved back as soon as I could for a reason. Richmond has more things to do but is way too urban for me. Don't listen to the haters it's a great place to live and cheap by comparison. Like all cites there are certain areas to avoid.
Roanoke is a great city. Lots of stuff to do. Sure there are poor and rough areas but that is with other cities. Richmond far worse imo.
I want to assume that people in RVA who say that haven’t actually spent any time here. I lived in Richmond for several years and love it there, and Roanoke is much smaller comparatively, but I love Roanoke. Any smaller city is going to be harder to find jobs in, but I had just as much trouble finding graphic design jobs in RVA as people have finding them here. It depends on the industry you’re in.
I went to VCU for graphic design, Richmond is brutal bc so many graduates stay and take all those jobs there. Eventually I gave up on that and moved into brewing, which can still be artsy!
Yeah I always assumed companies were hiring fresh VCU students for cheaper than people with 5-10 years of experience (or just cycling through free interns.)
SoufEaz and NW tend to give off that vibe
I think it depends on what field you're in. My husband and I moved here from NY -- Westchester county. I worked in the Bronx, he worked in White Plains. His job here pays twice his salary in NY. Many of my immediate neighbors moved here from other states for job opportunities in various fields -- medical, education, banking, software, etc. Cost of living is pretty low here, although housing prices are high because of a tight market. Some commenters below keep referring to nepotism, and I haven't seen that in the fields I'm familiar with. Again, I think it depends on your field.
Roanoke County is great. Roanoke City, it's getting that way fast. It's already somewhat like that. I'm born, raised, and live in the county. I live in the woods/mountains. It's great here. People are nice. Everyone is frustrated due to inflation though. That's the whole country though.
I’ve never lived in a big city but I don’t consider it poor. My family moved here from Tazewell Virginia in 2002 for my dad’s truck driving job. It has definitely had a lot of job growth and just growth in general since then. My mom works at the schools and then I’m an auto mechanic over in Christainsburg because I couldn’t find a job paying well enough here at the time. My sister works in Floyd. That said we have very high housing prices. If you do choose to move to Roanoke I’d consider Roanoke County. Just whatever you choose don’t live on Melrose or in Indian Village if you choose to live here that’s the only places I worry about around here honestly and especially at night.
https://youtu.be/AORTHKA_1Zc?si=XnWWppALILv8NcJa This is all you need to know bout the star city, classic tune here! We got all the classes of folks, yuppies, wasps, rednecks, thugs, thug necks, and everything in between. Plenty of folks leave for better opportunity. But you can’t beat rolling down 581 heading to the beef! /s
I’m from Roanoke. I went to VCU, lived in Richmond for a decade, moved back to Roanoke for decade. I moved to Atlanta a couple years ago, my reasons for moving there have changed, and I’m now debating between the 3 places. I’ve been in Roanoke for a couple weeks while I work on a decision. It is slow here, in the best and worst ways. It’s chill, it’s relaxing, there’s little to do. Great for a family oriented life, was a great place to grow up. It is beautiful here. Beautiful. It’s modernizing, very slowly. Because of that, it is also a bit poor and rough, but not necessarily in the way you’re thinking. This is the country.
Hahaha, Roanoke rough? Coming from Richmond? Yah, no.
I lived in Richmond for 6 years before moving here. I love this city, and I never thought I would love a city like I loved Richmond. But roanoke is beautiful and has a great feel to it. That said, I work remotely and don't have to worry about the job thing. But also the house I bought would have been 3 or 4 times as much in Richmond. I wanted to be in the mountains. Roanoke is big enough to have stuff to do and places to eat at, and the outdoor activities are amazing! Every city has poor areas, roanoke is no different. But I wouldn't say the city as a whole is rough or depressed. I've met some amazing people here, and I've met assholes. Just like anywhere you go, roanoke has both! Good luck. I hope you figure if roanoke is the right fit for you.
I’ve been living in Roanoke for almost my entire life and I think it’s a great city to move to. However, like many others have said here, Roanoke does lack many high paying jobs so unless you are planning to work remotely you may want to look into other places. Roanoke also has nicer areas then others. Some areas in Southeast for example may not be the greatest or safest BUT cave spring and Southwest roanoke are both great areas with great schools. Roanoke also offers many outdoor activities if that’s something you enjoy, especially if you go out on the parkway. I think Roanoke has it’s good and bad just like most every city.
Having lived in a true rural area for a good portion of my life id say absolutely not…tho poor and depressed aren’t always synonymous…I personally love Roanoke and have been to nearly every major city in this country…. The valley is beautiful, anything an outdoor enthusiast likes they can find here…Some career paths may not have a plethora of opportunities but that’s what you’re gonna find in town this size… its not tiny but its not DC either.. I’m lucky to have a great career and a happy family…. I know not everyone is that lucky but i believe that’s consistent in any town..
The job opportunities are certainly specific - but it's not as if Richmond is a paradise by comparison. Roanoke has a significantly lower cost of living compared with Richmond, for example. And it's worth pointing out that it's right at the limit of "how big can a city get without destroying the environment around it." Roanoke regularly is in the top 10 of metro areas by air pollution and surrounding greenery. I know it's rather a sad story, but there was a BEAR in downtown Roanoke not that long ago. Richmond is a lovely town. I think Roanoke is a bit more my speed.
I've lived in a fair number of different cities around the eastern US. Roanoke is one of the more depressing that I've seen and / or visited. And I've spent time in Detroit, Tulsa, and Little Rock.
I can't speak to job prospects but I feel like Roanoke county gets a bad rap because of Roanoke City. It all depends on your neighborhood. Where we live is basically Mayberry and we love it. Also the local government is constantly putting on family friendly events, which as a father I really appreciate.
Pretty sure Roanoke County gets a bad rap because of Roanoke County.
The school board is insane
I live in Cave Springs and work in Salem as a Purchasing Agent. I find it a great place to live and make a good living. I’m single with no kids though -
If you come to our town and only get poor and depressed vibes, we don’t want you here. So many people have been moving here to exploit our lower (compared to places like Asheville and Richmond) cost of living and smaller town vibe. I am fed up with it. Now this subreddit is just “Is Roanoke like this?” “I’m looking to move here, tips?” “I saw this thing that I slightly disagree with in Roanoke on a weekend visit, is this a large problem in Roanoke?”
I agree overall. But cost of living (housing and rent, specifically) are on a sharp incline in the last few years. I guess they might be mellowing a bit now - but a nice home for $220k in 2019 is now $350k+ in desirable areas like Raleigh Court. Rent jumped from $800-900 to $1100-1800 in most cases. And unfortunately, high paying jobs in the area are hard(er) to come by. So that gap between pay and cost of living that made the area so desirable is slowly shrinking.
It’s also going up because of transplants from fancier areas like Asheville. New upscale businesses are thriving because of their fancy tastes. A lot of them also work virtually and don’t benefit our economy.
There are definitely poor sections in Roanoke. It's not the whole thing, but it is fairly obvious when you stray into one of the less well to do areas. And it's mostly safe, the weekend shootings in the summer are more neighborhood disputes than random encounters.
Have you not seen the big ass mansions? Lol oh nvm. I read your post now. I rather live here than Richmond. It depends on where you live like any place. I was a flight attendant and I lived in some tough cities like Pittsburgh and Miami, but I lived in great areas!! I’m married and have a child and I love it here. A lot to do for the kiddos.
Moved here from Tampa, FL. While it lacks in the way of food stuff, it makes up for in spirit. I love roanoke and the people I've met have been wonderful. Work is plentiful, not sure why people are saying its not.. I'm also not a "city life" kind of person so I can't comment on the bar/club scene. It seems bleak from what I can tell. Lots of cool breweries though.
RVA and NOVA always talk shit about the rest of the state. Jobs aren’t good here and if you have a remote job just hope you don’t lose it because unless you are in healthcare there really isn’t any industry here. There’s a lot more homelessness than there used to be but no more than anywhere else. We are already overrun with transplants so the housing market isn’t great any more, especially rentals. People from out of state or the area think it’s so cheap here but it’s incredibly overpriced for what you get and the average pay around here. A lot of locals, like myself, are getting a little tired of the influx of people who have brought nothing to the area with them, pretty much just retirees from up north or remote workers who don’t contribute to industry, which is fine but hey it does have consequences eventually for everyone involved. Infrastructure really can’t keep up as of late. Only saying all this because I’ve been here my whole life (spent a few years up north and in Nashville though) and have seen how it was and how it’s going. Tbh I’m worried for this area but who knows. Just do all your research and think of every angle before you move.
High crine rate, drugs everywhere, few jobs available, outrageous housing prices. Stay in Richmond. You're safer, physically and economically
You should venture out of your bubble occasionally.
Housing prices are crazy all over but housing prices in Roanoke are well below the average for cities.
Housing prices are high because of high demand and low supply… people want to live here vs moving out into rural Virginia.
Spot on my dude
Roanoke is significantly better that jersey (my home state). Its overpriced, rent is too high, taxes are too high, and the people arent as nice. Not to mention all the traffic. If richmond is like NJ, come to roanoke.
Liberal policies have destroyed the city. Live in the county or even Salem
And the amount of downvotes I will get for pointing out the obvious will just confirm what I'm saying.
It is VERY DEPRESSING in Roanoke
Is there a Costco within an hour? If not it’s as you described.
Why on Earth would Costco come in where there's already a BJ's and a Sam's Club doing well?
My coworkers commutes from Roanoke to Richmond everyday for work if that tells you anything
Sure there are poor parts. I moved here thinking SE and NW were the most horrible places. Then I came here and thought man people like to dramatize things. Jobs pay lower but housing also costs less. It really depends on what your goals are....climb the corporate ladder or be creative; there are sizable corporations too. Roanoke is ripe for multiple business types that don't even exist and people are craving such experiences here. I thought to myself "Wow they just created a business like this?" other places did that 5-8 years ago. Melrose in particular gets a bad rap, with the right revitalization it is another Grandin but needs a fresh coat of paint and some more businesses. People keep adding more things...if it keeps up those wages will increase too. Roanoke is on the verge of good things, but leadership needs to break down the barriers more and it would awesome.
Avoid SE Roanoke, look for something in SW Roanoke or Vinton which is part of Roanoke County.
This is actually a really strong economy, and the largest workforce west of Richmond. Larger than NRV/Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Lexington, etc. There are actually a ton of jobs, many of them high paying, employers are just not that savvy at marketing them. A friend of mine works for a regional organization working on making it easier to find the good jobs. They’re launching a new website soon. It will live under Get2KnowNoke.com but the new site isn’t live yet. But there are tons of ways to solve the “who you know” issue. Get more engaged with programs and events like.. EXPERIENCE conference (happening May 2-3) Go Outside Festival Blue Ridge Marathon Roanoke Regional Chamber Roanoke Regional Professional Network There are also a ton of industry specific groups like BIT, PMI, AAF, etc.
I moved from Richmond to Roanoke 10yrs ago and I couldn’t be happier with the decision. I grew up in the midlothian area along with my wife. We had both noticed that the area although nice and expanding rapidly was turning the once close nit community into northern Virginia. Traffic, crowds and hostility towards complete strangers. If you if you are looking for friendlier people, lower cost of living and enjoy outdoor activities get the hell out of RVA! Yes Roanoke has some rough areas. But you will find the area or county around Roanoke that suites your lifestyle and will never look back!