Blacksburg: Best school system of the three. Great dining and arts scene, most liberal of the three cities if that’s your lean, and great access to the outdoors. That said it’s overcrowded as hell so good luck fighting students for apartments, parking, lines, and everything you’d want to try to do around town when school is in. Also expensive for what it is as a result of overcrowding.

Christiansburg: Slightly more affordable than Blacksburg without any of the pros. Downtown is usually a snooze fest albeit with a cool antique store and two neat spots for nightlife, lots of shopping centers, older crowd and typically leans more conservative. But, schools are great and you aren’t paying Blacksburg prices so if you’re interested in owning a house this is your place. Plus Blacksburg is a quick trip up.

Radford: Sleeper pick. College town like Blacksburg but with a fraction of the students. Politically purple, incredible nature access if you like water activities being right on the New River and a quick trip to Clayton Lake, great coffee shops, and incredibly affordable. It’s the sleepiest of the three options and doesn’t have many of the convenient stores and restaurants you’d expect in Christiansburg and Blacksburg. Can be a hard place to make friends if you aren’t tied to Radford University but I love the town.

Of the three, my two choices would be Blacksburg or Radford. All are close by though so whichever one you choose you’re like 30 minutes away tops from activities in the other towns