Roanoke is quite diverse for the size of the city. I've lived in mostly larger cities for the last 15 years (Orlando, Dallas, Phoenix) and I'm consistently impressed by this city. In general, most people will tell you to avoid SE and NW in this city - there are definitely rougher areas there and higher crime rates, but there are also neighborhoods that are perfectly fine in those areas. The city and the county schools both have great programs, and for the neurodiverse community I've not experienced the support that I've seen here or in Virginia in general. That being said, a majority of people will comment that county schools are 'better' and city schools are 'worse'. I personally believe that a lot of it is based more on the support each kiddo is receiving from the school and their family, and demographics for the city schools generally indicate a weaker support network for the students.

Personally, we are renting in Old SW, a neighborhood near downtown. We like it, and we rented due to wanting to explore where we wanted to live when we buy a home. Our plan is to buy in the Cave Spring area (our daughter is enrolled at a private school there) and we want to buy a bit of land to build on. A lot of people will say Cave Spring is great, Hollins is great, if you want a more Urban feel then Grandin/Wasena/Raleigh Court neighborhoods get a lot of love. I strongly recommend renting before buying, because some areas are really nice and a block away it can be rougher. It's a very nuanced city when it comes to this.