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The Roanoke Valley’s many neighborhoods offer wide-ranging choices for just about everybody.
Over the past 25 or so years, the Roanoke Valley has earned a reputation for diversity, whether that is related to its Local Colors festival, its inclusion and efforts to correct past errors, or its wide variety of diverse neighborhoods.
Most lists of top neighborhoods in the Valley begin with South Roanoke, Cave Spring, Hunting Hills and Raleigh Court, but there are more than 300 neighborhoods in the Valley and their variety and range of environments are impressive.
Herewith are a few of those neighborhoods, in no particular order, giving you an idea of the wide assortment of choices families have to choose from, regardless of income, national origin, sexual preference, race or interest. We asked people who live in these neighborhoods why they chose to live there.
Northwest/Williamson Road
Jeanne Bollendorf and her husband bought a 1960s-era home in Northwest several years ago and they’ve been delighted with it since. “We have a medium-sized home for an affordable price [with] beautiful views of the mountains; we’re close to businesses and work; and we have an incredibly diverse population. Our neighbors are all skin tones, all ages (some of them still live in the home they built on our street). They come from as far away as places like Bhutan.
“One of my favorite things to do is walk my dog and look at the yards, gardens and decorations, because with so many nationalities around us, I see many interesting plants or décor that is new to me and I enjoy seeing so many different cultural traditions.”
Greater Grandview
Colbert Boyd finds the Greater Grandview Neighborhood to be one of Roanoke’s most diverse. “There is a diversity of languages and cultures. Although diverse, the residents have so much in common: recognition of a higher spirit, the importance of an education and the willingness to work hard to support their families.”
Grandview is not only a model of racial and ethnic diversity, but also of economics ranging from high to low. The neighborhood was formed from the old Huff Farm and at its peak—Round Hill—rests one of the best views of the Roanoke Valley and homes for those with comfortable incomes. Throughout are small homes built after World War II for returning vets, housing a cohesive and comfortable blue-collar community. Its location is such that most of the rest of the Roanoke Valley is accessible within about 15 minutes.
South Roanoke
Carol Fralin, who grew up and still lives in South Roanoke says, “[South Roanokers] are often leaders in our city, helping others and preserving our relatively short history. Made up of many local old families from the last century and many new families and individuals who found a home in South Roanoke, we are loyal and accepting of one another. Many new friends will be coming soon as the Carilion Research Center grows. The diversity will be welcomed and add to our small tribe.”
Hollins
Lizetta Staplefoote “raised my kids in Hollins and we love the area,” but “when I said I was moving to Roanoke County, specifically Hollins, [friends] said I was crazy. My kids’ grandma warned me to watch out for the Klan and overt racists. Others said I’d wind up isolated living so far away from the Grandin Village neighborhood that had been our home before the move. So, why would I, a single black mother to two young sons, want to move all the way out there?
“The first reason was the schools. Then, the property that we found was magnificent and at a price point that I could afford. The neighborhood was a good mix of younger families with toddlers, older families with kids my age, and retirees who’d lived in the neighborhood for decades.
“And though it seems like it’s way out in the boonies, it’s actually just a shot down Plantation Road to get to downtown, a jump up Williamson to get to Botetourt and a stone’s throw from I-81 to get anywhere you want to go. And third, the peace.
“I’ve never felt more at home, nor have I experienced any racism from my neighbors or felt the least bit uncomfortable in my surroundings. From my sunroom, I’ve watched countless sunrises over the mountains and enjoyed many nights of star gazing. My kids both graduated from Northside High with a diverse set of strong friends from various backgrounds and solid education to support their journey into adulthood.”
Windsor Hills
Jeanne Fishwick doesn’t “think our area is very diverse in population, but what I love about it is the diversity of architecture and landscape. The neighborhood is a beautiful hodgepodge. We love that it is close to everything, but on the way to nothing, private and convenient. The neighborhood contains the largest privately owned piece of land in Roanoke (the Ellett farm) and a small, private man-made lake. In the last 50 years my street has been in Salem, Roanoke County and now Roanoke City.”
Pat Pfister talks of the “comfortable country feel. Our neighbors are extra friendly with enough space to not live on top of each other.”
Southeast
Sherry Lucas understands that little has been expected of Southeast for many years, but she loves it. “I’ve owned a home here for 23 years because it’s close to everything: downtown, Vinton, Smith Mountain Lake. I have a view of the Roanoke Star from my front porch; the greenway is close by; and neighbors have become like family. I’m a lover of old and historic houses and have even renovated some for a living. So, mainly I love the housing styles in Southeast and all the history.
“They’re all unique and most of them, like mine, have a tremendous amount of character, wide woodwork molding, French doors, pocket doors and, oh, how I love the tall ceilings.”
The stereotype of Southeast is that of poor white families, but Lucas says, “Our street has professionals: a schoolteacher, electrician, Home Depot manager, furniture salesman, et al. A Mexican family [bought a house nearby recently], and a French family lived here for two years. This area got a $7 million grant for 2020 improvements to the Belmont-Fallon area, so I’m hoping visual improvements will attract more families and people who want to renovate and live in these old homes.”
Ron McCorkle has a business in Southeast where “houses are more affordable, and I recently bought a house in need of rehab and am happily restoring it to good condition.” Terry Huxhold finds the neighborhood “highly walk and bikeable and we have more parks, blueways, greenways and bike lanes than any other part of the city. We are boxed in, but it adds to our sense of community. We have the lowest crime rate in the city and are the safest from violent crime. Best of all, we take care of each other.”
Gainsboro
Martin Jeffrey discovered Gainsboro 35 years ago and it “has featured significantly in my Roanoke experience. I have lived there, worked there, worshipped there and dreamed there. I currently live in Gainsboro with my wife, Sharron, and our son, Zeke.
“For us, Gainsboro is a family matter, an economic matter and a cultural matter. The history of Gainsboro informs our lives as black people and as Roanokers. Living on the land where indigenous peoples watered their horses and hunted food; where white settlers birth a railroad; and where blacks, segregated from equality and justice built a community with an economy that was the 20th largest Black economy in the country for cities the size of Roanoke, represents a particular privilege for us. We own the land, we embrace the history and we are committed to fighting for its possibilities as a place of reconciliation and restitution.”
North Lakes
Ben Martin sees North Lakes as “solid middle class ... where you have African-American neighbors as well as those of Asian descent. We all seem to get along very well.” Thomas Ryder is fond of the convenience of “the rich, wonderful diversity in the neighborhood, [which] is unique in this homogeneous county. Homes are well-tended and hold their value, yet their values aren’t over-inflated.”
Old Southwest
Jan Kister has been an advocate for Old Southwest for years and finds “it’s a great place full of diversity, with a mix of rentals and owner-occupied homes, low-income to wealthy residents and a variety of different races, religions, ethnicities and countries of origin. Much of the rental housing is affordable, so we have lots of young families and students, but we also have seniors. Old Southwest is known nationally as a ‘Gayborhood,’ friendly to alternative lifestyles and sexualities.”
Old Southwest “features structures over 100 years old, as well as Roanoke’s first school and park, which are both still going. It is the first neighborhood in Virginia to be listed as a Historic Neighborhood. Neighbors have meetings and social events open to everyone, and many of us have developed close friendships. I can’t imagine any other place as home.”
West End
Corbin Prydwen finds the West End to be “diverse and colorful. We have neighbors from all over the world, Australia to Nepal to Pakistan to Burundi to Mexico to China to Afghanistan. West End was originally a place for the unwanted. With the deed restrictions all over the city, immigrants had to choose the West End, because there weren’t deed restrictions to keep them out. Patterson Avenue was once a place for immigrants, and here we are again with a mixed diverse community.”
Salem (North Broad Street)
Writer Emily Paine Carter puts it this way: “Vintage homes are nicely eclectic, mostly Victorian and colonial architecture. They’ve cropped up in a country music video and a Salvage Dawgs treasure-gleaning. It’s a fine setting for trick-or-treating and Christmas caroling. North Broad is old-fashioned in other ways: Neighborly neighbors are the treasures, ready to lend a hand or a hug. We cheer and we console. We chat as we play in our canasta clubs and as we stroll to the farmers market and blessed Brooks-Byrd Pharmacy’s orangeades. We’ve rallied to help neighbors, and who can pass by a Norman Rockwell-esque lemonade stand?”
Raleigh Court
Kurt Navratil says, “We’re able to walk to a movie, or dinner, a bike shop, either of two greenways— Murray Run and Roanoke River. A library, a post office, the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op. Black Dog Salvage, farmers market and Urban Gypsy. Proximity to so much. Churches, schools, sidewalks, a cemetery. Alleys, variety of houses, a wonderful mix of yards – it’s the kind of place you can settle into and stay a while. Which I’m really glad we did.”
Cave Spring
Kelly Wittenauer Zuber moved to Cave Spring “for the schools … I found, however, that raising a child in the suburbs also places responsibility on parents to expose their children to the wider world of ethnicity, religions, cultures and socioeconomic groups, so they grow up realizing that life in the suburbs is not everyone’s reality.”
Samantha Steidle says she “always noticed how nice people were” when she was young and working in the area for the first time. “They would actually hold the door for you, help you if your car was stuck in the snow and were just in general good human beings. That’s the primary reason we moved to Cave Spring. The world desperately needs more of that right now.”
The Roanoke Valley is without a perfect neighborhood, but what you’re looking for is here, regardless of what that is.
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