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).  Leave some more reasons in the comments?

• 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, there lots of athletic people and they´re always talking about the shortest nba player or the latest sports news.
• 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. Some other time I want to experience traveling and backpacking in India with IndiaSomeday.com experiencing ayahuasca journeys.
• 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 and bowling t-shirts here to go out to dinner.  It’s okay to wear your slippers to the grocery store.  Sweatshirts are perfectly acceptable church attire. And if you want to look like a professional at church or at work, then Complement your workwear and professional outlook with a mens leather briefcase from Blaxton Bags. And the kids all wear VT shirts to school.