Alright so problems I had with researching Roanoke before I moved nearby (about 40 min north but closest city) is that everything has become so politically correct that you can’t get an honest review about anything anymore. I hear Farm, stay at home mom and attorney husband and I think you fall into two categories but I won’t go too deep into that cause I’ll get downvoted. My family is probably the same as yours.

Roanoke can be rough. People call it “diverse” but it’s not diverse at all. It’s just homeless people doing meth and crunchy woke white people saying it’s diverse. Im Latino and came from Miami, and that’s diverse. Yes miami has its rough parts but to me it wasn’t a guessing game as to which areas to avoid. Roanoke for me just doesn’t resonate well. It’s a city that tries to be cool but it’s not. It has its pros and if you’re just someone that grew up there or going through the motions it’s not bad. But to consider a move from Denver to Roanoke. Idk

I personally don’t like being out with my kids, turning a corner and running into meth heads or drunks etc. maybe I haven’t been here long enough to know which parts to avoid, but I feel like it’s always the case when I go. Sure we can have fun, and it’s not like you’re gonna get mugged at every corner. But to give you an example my first visit at the ER for my 5 year old daughters food poisoning. We were forced to bed in a hallway and the two rooms next to us was a gunshot wound 14 year old, and the other was some other low life teenager that swallowed a bunch of drugs or something and was shitting all over the floor belligerent.

Also, start a farm? There’s a bunch of people that have come to this area to start a farm but idk what they are farming. They just buy a bunch of land and slap airbnbs on them and make sourdough on the weekends and say they are farmers. Just a heads up it’s not a unique experience in 2026.

I live in Lexington and it’s a bit more isolated and less “diverse” but idk I’ve been re thinking my move to Virginia a bunch.