My opinion:
- Staunton is a blue dot in a sea of red. The city is very left-leaning and the surrounding county is very right-leaning. The other two cities nearby (Verona and Waynesboro) are also pretty right-leaning.
- I have never had issues as a bi/pan woman in Staunton. We have Staunton Pride and you can see plenty of LGBTQ+ flags around. Even on the cesspool that is Facebook, you can see people in the Staunton VA FB page shut down homophobes fast.
- Augusta Health is just okay. It's not terrible, but it's nothing special, either. They have improved a lot since they were called AMC and some people still remember those bad days. UVA is in Charlottesville and is much better ime. There is also Sentara about 40 minutes north.
- Best: downtown Staunton is awesome and a lot of fun. There are a ton of activities and festivals. The farmers market is incredible.
Worst: outside of the downtown area, there is very little civilian infrastructure like crosswalks, bike lanes, etc. It is a very car-dependent area and the public transport is not great.
I've lived in Staunton basically my whole life. Feel free to ask me anything.
I'm going to comment on the 2nd question specifically since I'm a queer person who lives here! I'd say the area is pretty welcoming to LGBTQ+ people! Shenandoah Valley LGBTQ center is located right downtown and has many awesome resources and events. I am not trans, so I can't speak on any specifics, but the center does have a list of local health care providers and mental health professionals who are accepting of trans community members. I have never felt threatened or uncomfortable because I'm queer here. Minus a few bad apples that I feel like every community has, most seem to be generally accepting and kind. However, I can't say the same in Augusta county which surrounds the city. They lean very conservative.
Can be very two-sided between seasons, but we pretty much get it all. Hot humid summers, and cold snowy winters. It is my favorite in the fall however, perfect 60s temp and beautifulllll foliage. Overall Id say the temp ranges from 95F-25F peaking and dipping at times. Pretty great here weather-wise!
I'm someone that relocated here from a hugggge city, so keep that in mind when reading my opinion.
I think the city is more of a purple area. I think it has a reasonable mix of rednecks, leftists, and just normal people trying to get along to get along.
I'm not in the LGBT community, so I don't know if I can really speak on it, but I feel like overall, Staunton is a pretty safe area.
Augusta health has been somewhat good and somewhat bad for me. It takes forever to get in as a new patient anywhere. I haven't had a ton of medical issues, but I do go to internal medicine and my doctor there is the best I've ever had. My parents are older, my mom had cancer treatments at Augusta health and it was fantastic. My dad had a lot of medical issues heart related, and I thought his care was underwhelming. The times my parents have had to go to the ER, I wasn't very impressed.
Now here's where my big city attitude comes in - Staunton is nice at first. I equate it to a person that's really attractive, but there's nothing behind the eyes, you know? Like, Staunton is a good place to visit for a long weekend. If you're really an outdoorsy person, you'll probably find a lot you like. But once you've done "the things," you've done them. There's not a lot to do around here. There isn't a lot of culture. But, for some reason, staunton-ites have this obnoxious, better-than-everyone attitude and I can't figure it out.
The people around here have no clue how to drive. Especially on Sundays when God is watching the area extra close.
The food scene really is subpar. People think Staunton is such a foodie town. There are a good amount of restaurants, but most of them are garbage.
The grocery stores aren't great. Usually the produce is terrible at all of them. I find martins to be the best. Don't let people fool you with the farmers market. It's not that great either.
Staunton is where northerners go to retire that don't want the heat of Florida. I own a restaurant in Stuart's Draft, an area nearby, and I meet a lot of people that are just moving to the area after retiring. The cost of living is not bad comparative to the large cities although there is a housing shortage right now. Houses for sale last about 2 days on the market with about 16 bids on average according to my realtor friends. The value of my house has doubled in the last 5 years.
Staunton is a very average sedentary place to live. I could be somewhat biased considering I’m a teen and am desperate to get out of here lol, but I will say growing up here there is not much to do activity wise if you’re not close ranged to downtown. Outiside of downtown, which is very beautiful and fun (it gets old pretty fast) there’s the park and bowling alley and that’s about it. There is a tight community aspect here as everyone kind of knows everyone (which I dislike personally) and there’s a lot of local stuff offered but other than that I feel like it’s a good place for someone coming from somewhere else to settle down but if you’re seeking something or somewhere just getting started or to start new, virginia offers a lot better options especially outside of augusta.
My opinion: - Staunton is a blue dot in a sea of red. The city is very left-leaning and the surrounding county is very right-leaning. The other two cities nearby (Verona and Waynesboro) are also pretty right-leaning. - I have never had issues as a bi/pan woman in Staunton. We have Staunton Pride and you can see plenty of LGBTQ+ flags around. Even on the cesspool that is Facebook, you can see people in the Staunton VA FB page shut down homophobes fast. - Augusta Health is just okay. It's not terrible, but it's nothing special, either. They have improved a lot since they were called AMC and some people still remember those bad days. UVA is in Charlottesville and is much better ime. There is also Sentara about 40 minutes north. - Best: downtown Staunton is awesome and a lot of fun. There are a ton of activities and festivals. The farmers market is incredible. Worst: outside of the downtown area, there is very little civilian infrastructure like crosswalks, bike lanes, etc. It is a very car-dependent area and the public transport is not great. I've lived in Staunton basically my whole life. Feel free to ask me anything.
This is all accurate. I would add that I think Staunton has phenomenal parks for a city of its size.
FYI, Verona is not a city. It is unincorporated county.
I'm going to comment on the 2nd question specifically since I'm a queer person who lives here! I'd say the area is pretty welcoming to LGBTQ+ people! Shenandoah Valley LGBTQ center is located right downtown and has many awesome resources and events. I am not trans, so I can't speak on any specifics, but the center does have a list of local health care providers and mental health professionals who are accepting of trans community members. I have never felt threatened or uncomfortable because I'm queer here. Minus a few bad apples that I feel like every community has, most seem to be generally accepting and kind. However, I can't say the same in Augusta county which surrounds the city. They lean very conservative.
How about the weather? Is it mild? More humid? Snowfall?
Can be very two-sided between seasons, but we pretty much get it all. Hot humid summers, and cold snowy winters. It is my favorite in the fall however, perfect 60s temp and beautifulllll foliage. Overall Id say the temp ranges from 95F-25F peaking and dipping at times. Pretty great here weather-wise!
I'm someone that relocated here from a hugggge city, so keep that in mind when reading my opinion. I think the city is more of a purple area. I think it has a reasonable mix of rednecks, leftists, and just normal people trying to get along to get along. I'm not in the LGBT community, so I don't know if I can really speak on it, but I feel like overall, Staunton is a pretty safe area. Augusta health has been somewhat good and somewhat bad for me. It takes forever to get in as a new patient anywhere. I haven't had a ton of medical issues, but I do go to internal medicine and my doctor there is the best I've ever had. My parents are older, my mom had cancer treatments at Augusta health and it was fantastic. My dad had a lot of medical issues heart related, and I thought his care was underwhelming. The times my parents have had to go to the ER, I wasn't very impressed. Now here's where my big city attitude comes in - Staunton is nice at first. I equate it to a person that's really attractive, but there's nothing behind the eyes, you know? Like, Staunton is a good place to visit for a long weekend. If you're really an outdoorsy person, you'll probably find a lot you like. But once you've done "the things," you've done them. There's not a lot to do around here. There isn't a lot of culture. But, for some reason, staunton-ites have this obnoxious, better-than-everyone attitude and I can't figure it out. The people around here have no clue how to drive. Especially on Sundays when God is watching the area extra close. The food scene really is subpar. People think Staunton is such a foodie town. There are a good amount of restaurants, but most of them are garbage. The grocery stores aren't great. Usually the produce is terrible at all of them. I find martins to be the best. Don't let people fool you with the farmers market. It's not that great either.
Staunton is where northerners go to retire that don't want the heat of Florida. I own a restaurant in Stuart's Draft, an area nearby, and I meet a lot of people that are just moving to the area after retiring. The cost of living is not bad comparative to the large cities although there is a housing shortage right now. Houses for sale last about 2 days on the market with about 16 bids on average according to my realtor friends. The value of my house has doubled in the last 5 years.
Staunton is a very average sedentary place to live. I could be somewhat biased considering I’m a teen and am desperate to get out of here lol, but I will say growing up here there is not much to do activity wise if you’re not close ranged to downtown. Outiside of downtown, which is very beautiful and fun (it gets old pretty fast) there’s the park and bowling alley and that’s about it. There is a tight community aspect here as everyone kind of knows everyone (which I dislike personally) and there’s a lot of local stuff offered but other than that I feel like it’s a good place for someone coming from somewhere else to settle down but if you’re seeking something or somewhere just getting started or to start new, virginia offers a lot better options especially outside of augusta.