A couple of weeks ago, I asked on Facebook and Twitter “what do you love about living in the New River Valley?” I was overwhelmed with responses, both in messages on Facebook, or tweets, or emails and in one case, a text.  Here’s a list, unedited, of some of the reasons why people are so in love with the New River Valley (well, bolding or links are mine… so it’s partially unedited). Feel free to add your own reasons by posting a comment below.

• When you drive down the back roads and people wave
• I love coming over a hill and seeing the Blue Ridge Mountains everywhere
• I like that I can leave my keys in the ignition and not worry about it not being there when I come out of a store or restuarant. Plus how clean it is.
• We love that there’s curbside recycling available, and that it’s growing to include even more of the Valley!
• The abundance of coffee shops, the tech savviness, the short work commute,  the Hokies!, the plentiful, jaw-dropping sunsets, etc…
• That if I go out of town for the weekend and forget to lock the front door, all of my stuff is still in my house when I return. Short commute
• The sense of community, parks and open spaces, the university brings events that a small town otherwise may not have (art, music, sports), and everything Caroline said
• Friendly people, supportive environment
• There isn’t any traffic – unless you’re trying to go to a football game at Lane Stadium
• I buy my fruits and vegetables from the Farmer’s Market and my meat directly from the farmer.  I love knowing where my food comes from
• Even though I have never gone to The Lyric on a Monday, I love the text message I get from Downtown Blacksburg each Monday informing me that it’s “Free Popcorn Monday” at The Lyric
• I love the parades we have for Christmas and 4th of July and how the whole Town attends them
• The kids in my neighbohrood play outside all day long and build forts, make up games, collect bugs and pick wild blackberries. I love that they can just be kids.
• There’s a planetarium in Radford that offers free shows.  At night, we can sit out on our deck and see the stars and point out all the new things we learned.
• At the local coffee shops, people don’t have conversations about what they watched on TV. They talk about how they can make our community better.
• I love that I can jump on Amtrak in the morning out of Lynchburg and be in the heart of New York City by mid-afternoon, all for $66.50 (and have wi-fi all the way)
• I love that I can catch Megabus in Christiansburg and be in the heart of DC in 4.5 hours for $8 (and have free wi-fi all the way).  If i want to take the BT to catch the MegaBus in Christiansburg,  it costs me an extra $.50.
• If I leave my neighborhood and travel 7 minutes west, I can see a covered bridge that was built more than 100 years ago.  If I trvel 7 minutes east, I can see the amazing things being researched and invented at Virginia Tech to improve our future.
• I have neighbors from Sweden, Poland, Mexico, China, India, and all parts of the US.  I experience the true meaning of diversity every day.
• I love that we have more health food stores and local markets than traditional grocery stores.
• I can experience three seasons in one day … I’m learning to layer my clothes and love that.
• I have a menu of collegiate athletic events I can choose to attend each week – many of which are free.
• The Christiansburg Aquatic Center.  It has a water park for my son and free wi-fi for me – I love it.
• My family can have a nice dinner out with table service for less than $30.
• My property taxes are less than 5% of the tax bill my parents pay on their house in New York. And I love to remind them of that.
• When people here say, “Hi! How are you today?”, they look you in the eyes and they mean it.
• Life in the New River Valley is not a sprint; it’s a marathon (quote from @nrvliving)
• Volunteering and giving to others is the norm here, rather than the exception
• I love that wherever I travel in the NRV, I always have a beautiful view out of my window.
• History is cherished here, rather than ignored
• I love the “casualness” of the NRV.  We put on our “nice” jeans to go out to dinner.  It’s okay to wear your slippers to the grocery store.   Sweatshirts are perfectly acceptable church attire.  And the kids all wear VT shirts to school.