places in VA to check out for potential move

[Watchful]

Lexington is also a very nice small college town - just gorgeous - another oasis of blue/purple surrounded by a county of red. Much smaller than Roanoke, but the presence of two colleges (VMI and Washington & Lee) makes it quite notable.

I would guess you would find quite a few more multi-racial families in Roanoke and Lynchburg than in Lexington - but that is just a guess as I don't know about Lexington.

[salt of earth]

There is no need to look for a 'blue' area to find acceptance as a bi-racial household. Rural, white conservative areas are just as accepting as others. There are many mixed-raced couples in Virginia and you just won't run into much of an issue anywhere here.

But since you asked, Buncombe County and Watauga County in Western North Carolina may also fit the bill for you, as well as outside of Greensboro and Winston-Salem in the Piedmont. There is no reason to leave North Carolina if you are looking for a blue semi-rural area; heck there are more in NC than VA anyway. Also, the north east of NC is in the black belt so those rural areas are very blue.

Virginia's rural, predominately white areas are very brightly red but also accepting of bi-racial households. Don't let politics lead you to believe otherwise. We also have rural black counties that vote your preferred way too.

[Tyler_Jolie-Pitt]

Originally Posted by salt of earth

The rest of Virginia, outside of the major urban areas, is more brightly red than they've ever been and redder than rural parts of North Carolina (which is increasingly attracting more of your preferred kind of voting people, especially WNC).

This may well be true. Unfortunately, because NC is so badly gerrymandered, the balance isn’t reflected at all in the state’s General Assembly.

[kyle19125]

OP, check out Norfolk. It has a lively downtown and is relatively diverse thanks to the military presence and Old Dominion University. https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...rmore?view=map

[SteelCityRising]

I was thinking Roanoke/Salem would be the ideal area to consider. Urban areas are blue. Rural/suburban areas are red (but seem to be more of a John McCain/Mitt Romney red and less of a Trumpy red), which makes the area purple overall.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by evi61893

out of curiosity, which parts of rural NC are you referring to? just WNC? we've considered a move out there, but it's mostly too expensive for us. otherwise, the rural NC counties I'm familiar with are solidly red, economically depressed, and have very little going on by way of arts/culture.


I'll check out the VA counties you mentioned.

There are plenty of areas in WNC that are not Asheville prices. My girlfriend lives halfway between Marshall and Weaverville, and is 20-30 minutes from most of Asheville. Property prices drop off pretty quickly. They also drop off eastbound going into McDowell County, NC.

There are maybe some spots in VA that might work - Harrisonburg, Roanoke, Abingdon. There is some culture in each, and they are fairly purple politically.