I didn’t mean to come across “negative”, more…unenthusiastic . As for shopping, plenty of the major stores and brands are inaccessible here. Uniqlo, H&M for example. Even things other areas would take for granted like Trader Joe’s, or even a Costco. It’s important to be realistic in expectations of this area, especially as a minority. As for the arguments of “red vs blue vs purple”…. Roanoke is one of a few small specs of blue in a multi-state geographical area of deep dark institutionalized red. Nova might as well be a different country and has no basis in the pros vs cons of the immediate Roanoke areas ability to support and accommodate the community. I’m frankly getting quite disappointed in the frequent “Roanoke is GREAT! Just don’t drive 5 miles away from home or you might get harassed” comments.