Not a great place to live
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8/12/2014
I've lived in Roanoke for about seven years now and have found several things I like and don't like. First and foremost, the job market here is a joke, if one new business opens an old one will close. Maggie Moo's, a local ice cream parlor has recently closed; Baja Bistro, a mexican food venue, has recently closed; Cici's pizza has closed; Books-a-Million, has closed.
The area is served by two shopping malls, Valleyview and Tanglewood. Tanglewood has been a mostly vacant dead-mall for years now, and unfortunately Valleyview is headed the same way, many of its stores have been closed in the past few months, it has about 30-50% vacancy.
Downtown, is trying to make a comeback, it's been trying for years. It is ultimately hampered by the same problem which made people stop going downtown to begin with: no where to park. There are a few restaurants but, as is typical of many towns, many of the businesses are closing their doors at 7pm. There just isn't enough business down there to justify staying open any later.
If you're interested in public transit look elsewhere. The bus system, run by Valley Metro, has busses running only once an hour on most routes and the bus system shuts down at a quarter after 7pm. Also, if you ask anyone on the bus, they'll tell you the same thing, that they don't save any time taking the bus. If you can wall there in forty-five minutes, the bus can get you there in an hour.
I am an economics major and can tell you a little known secret about unemployment. Unemployment is a measure of the people out of work and actively looking for work. When you stop looking for work, you're no longer unemployed. You can verify that with any source. The unemployment is low here because there are few jobs and many people are burned out and have stopped looking for work. Others are driving to othe cities to work, some driving three to four hours to Richmond or Washington for work!
I work in the real estate industry and know from experience that homes are moving very slowly in this area. The average days on market is still over six months, with many home owners finding they have little equity in their homes.
The greenways in the area are nice, but many of the people who use them are not. Many people do not clean up after their dogs and once when running in the early evening two men jogged past me and said "sheesh, is it beginning to look like gorillas in the mist out here or what?"
In conclusion, Roanoke is a large southern town with lots of small town problems. Small town racism, lack of jobs and nightlife, and a sluggish home market. My advice, stay away.
Dorian | Roanoke, VA