Hi Will--

I come from Roanoke, spent three years in NoVA, and have lived in Ferrum since October 2002. My primary reason for going to NoVA was friends who lived there and to get a better paying job. The friends I still miss terribly, and I miss visiting D.C.'s monuments and museums, but the better-paying job did little to offset the much higher bills, for instance.

For me, I tend to prefer living in scenic areas (nearly all of my favorite activities are outdoors ones) and I could never fit into a place where, literally and metaphorically, I got honked at for driving the speed limit in the slow lane. I had no interest in the big house or any shows of affluence; I grew tired of dealing with the federal government everywhere I looked; and the incredible emphasis on money, a fast pace, and development was overwhelming. When my then-girlfriend and I decided to marry we decided we didn't want to raise children in that kind of environment, and we moved back down to SW VA a few months after the wedding.

Several friends of mine also wish they could move back here too (one told us that as sad as she was over our leaving, she "cheered that we were getting out"), but don't either due to family in the NoVA area, or they don't figure they'll be able to get work doing the same things they're doing there.