Have you noticed? Folks move to Vinton and they rarely leave.
Roanoke County school board member Tim Greenway grew up here, in Vinton. While eating lunch at The Dogwood Restaurant on a recent Wednesday, Greenway said he stuck around to raise his family here — it’s a great place to raise a family, he says — he sees new families moving into town all the time.
Folks without kids move in, too – double income, no kids, or DINKS, they’re called. The town sees retirees moving in, empty-nesters. They can take advantage of the newly improved nightlife downtown and at Rosie’s. They drive to Smith Mountain Lake to boat or for a dockside concert or hop into Roanoke for a movie. Lancerlot offers ice-skating and Firehouse promotes adults–only skate nights — these are the things that get your blood pumping and bring fresh faces to town.
In the midst of a career change, Robin and Jonathan Blizzard purchased a 115 acre property near the Blue Ridge Parkway and moved their blended family here from North Carolina in 2019. Now that the kids are grown and they are empty-nesters, the Blizzards have built a “barndominium” on the property, which will soon open as a customizable event space.
This was their “go for it” moment. The property is tucked away. It is private and intimate. But it is still just minutes away from everything. “This has been a very welcoming town,” Robin Blizzard says. “We could not have picked a better place.”
A Year-Round Vibe
Quality of life is a top factor that people consider when looking to relocate. That quality of life factor? Here it’s pretty high, higher now that town officials made a concerted effort to refresh the walkable downtown shopping district. Housing is relatively affordable. The schools are good, the churches are filled, and the neighbors are friendly.
Julie Wheeler moved to Vinton because of its small town feel. That was 17 years ago, when her now-grown daughter was just three. Now that she’s an empty-nester, she plans on sticking around. “Vinton has come a long way,” Wheeler says. “We’ve got a little vibe going on here. There’s nightlife. I don’t have to leave town to go celebrate with friends or go to a book club.”
The Vinton Area Chamber of Commerce holds the Mingle at the Market on the second Saturday of each month throughout the summer. The event features live music, food, drinks, and fun for the whole family. In recent years, residents have taken to stopping in area restaurants for a Mingle pre-game or post-game, town councilman Mike Stovall says. It’s a great way to extend the evening.
Town Pride
This spring, Mountain View Realty realtor Jason Boothe worked with a family looking to relocate from Bonsack to Vinton. The move wasn’t far, fewer miles than you can count on two hands, but it was significant. Their children are students at William Byrd. “Just a young couple raising high school kids. They’re Vinton people. They got tired of driving from Bonsack to Vinton everyday,” Boothe says.
In the fall, everyone cheers on the William Byrd Terriers football team and claps along to the high school band. Winter brings the Christmas parade and New Year’s celebration, and then spring arrives. It’s time for the annual Dogwood Festival, a tradition started back in the 1950s. It feels like a big homecoming, with the whole town spilling into the streets. They crowd together to congratulate the newly-crowned Dogwood Festival Queen who, with her court, takes a horse-drawn buggy ride right through the center of town.
It’s a Hallmark movie or Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. Vinton’s all-American charm is on display year-round in its tidy streets, local businesses and town pride.
On the Market
Vinton boasts all of the outdoor amenities the Roanoke Region offers to enthusiasts — mountains, trails, rivers, bike tracks, places to run and hike and climb. Roanoke’s job market is strong, with Carilion and Virginia Tech’s medical school and research center driving employment, as well as new opportunities constantly coming on board.
People are moving to Vinton and East Roanoke County for all the reasons people are moving to Roanoke, except Vinton offers the same attractive housing options at more affordable price points.
The good news is, there are enough for sale in Vinton to meet demand, for now. As of the beginning of May, there were upwards of 60 properties listed for sale in the 24179 zip code, some of which were new construction, according to realtor.com. For folks moving in, it is a buyer’s market. So far, sales are slightly down for the year and houses are staying on the market an average of ten days longer. Still, houses are selling quickly, within an average of three and a half weeks of being listed.
Local realtors are seeing houses go faster than that. “If we put a house in Vinton on the market and it stays longer than a week, it’s either something wrong with the house or it’s overpriced,” says real estate agent David Bell, of Mountain View Realty.
In February, the median sales price was $295,000. This is lower than Roanoke County’s average sales price of $315,000 and Botetourt County’s average price of $427,000.
“If we ever get those interest rates down, we’ll see a lot of turnover, definitely,” Bell says.
Homecoming
Six days a week, Clay Owens of Goodview stops by The Dogwood Restaurant. His waitress knows his order by heart: two eggs, bacon, and a half order of gravy. Often, he returns for lunch, dinner, sometimes both.
“I used to come here as a kid,” Owens says. Several years ago, he heard that The Dogwood had some great sausage gravy, so he returned.
Vinton is home. Family. Your best broken-in denim. Your grandma’s apple pie. Your fastest pinewood derby. It’s fireworks at the War Memorial. Flying a kite on the lawn with the kids. It’s ice cream cones at the Down Home Creamery. It’s greeting friends like they’re cousins. It’s Friday Night Lights, with the post-game celebration at the Twin Creeks Brewing Company.
