The following text is from a native of Roanoke who decided to return not because of a job, but because of the following quality of life reasons: "Basically when choosing to come back to Roanoke, other than the position I accepted in the area, the main factors I considered: (1) cost of living, (2) weekend night life potential in Roanoke and Blacksburg, (3) proximity to other larger cities for weekend excursions every now and then, and (4) the amount of friends in the area as well as within about a 4-5 hour drive. I had some job offers in Manhattan, Washington, DC/Northern Virginia, Philadelphia and Roanoke. New York and Washington, DC are very expensive cities and the pay would have actually been less than the job in Roanoke. After talking to some friends in DC, for me to live in the required area(my job offer required me to live in my territory), I was looking at a minimum of $1200/month in rent alone. In Philadelphia I would have earned a little more, but the cost of living there is also significantly higher than Roanoke, probably $800-$900 in rent. In Roanoke I have done some research and for a very upscale, nice apartment you’re looking at maybe $500. Roanoke is within 4 hour drives of DC, Raleigh, and Richmond. Charlotte, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Asheville are maybe a few hours longer. 99% of my friends live within 6 hours of Roanoke, which is a huge plus for me. But really the main thing came down to quality of life on the weekends and the ability to get out and meet people. Sure in NYC, etc. Mon-Thurs. nights you can always find a happening bar or club…definitely not in Roanoke on those nights. But in reality, I lived in Chicago for a year, so I know from experience, that if you have to get up early for work you really could care less about going out to bars and clubs on a week night. From experience I know between downtown Roanoke and Blacksburg there will always be somewhere to go for a good time on the weekends. Maybe Roanoke doesn’t have a Tyson’s Corner or a King of Prussia mega-mall, or an NBA team, or big name concerts every weekend, but that is what weekend trips to those places are for. You can save so much money in Roanoke that you can afford to go to all of those events probably many more times than someone living in the area. On my interview in NYC I mentioned something to my interviewer about the cost of living there and he said that it costs so much that living there you find yourself only being able to stay there for vacation time because you can’t afford to buy plane tickets to travel somewhere else. Living in Roanoke, I’m planning on taking some great vacations down in Mexico or the Carribbean which will be expensive, but because of the low cost of the area, I will still have plenty of money left over." It seems this young lad has thoroughly analyzed the situation and has come to his own conclusion that Roanoke is the ideal location for young professionals for a variety of reasons.
