Housing near Stanardsville (Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Staunton: apartments, rental, house)

[rachie88]

I recently accepted a new position in Stanardsville and I cannot wait to start! I am finding that rental housing may be a challenge as it does not look like there are many 1-bedroom apartments available in Greene county and me and my hubby are not looking to rent a house until it is less than $800 a month cause we are trying to save money.

My husband is going to transfer his job but we are not sure if he will end up in Staunton (most likely place), Culpeper or Charlottesville. I love Harrisonburg and would love to live there but it looks like it may be about a 30-40 minute drive to Hburg from Stanardsville. It looks like it's about 30 minutes to Charlottesville as well.

I was trying to see if there might be affordable housing somewhere in between, near Ruckersville or in Elkton or Eastern Rockingham.

Any ideas for apartments that are less than $800 a month, preferably less than $700 a month? Also, has anyone done a similar commute from harrisonburg to Stanardsville crossing 33?

Thanks!

[TN Lily]

Have you checked Craigslist for Charlottesville? That's probably your best bet to find housing near Stanardsville.

[ShadowBat]

To be honest, even though it's 30 miles from Hburg to Sville, that is a rough drive, especially in bad weather. Rt. 33 is VERY curvy. You would not be able to go much faster than 45 mph. It's doable and many do make that commute but just thought i'd warn you about it. Staunton and Stanardsville are about an hour from each other with a mountain range dividing them, so there won't be a real easy solution.

[rachie88]

Yeah, I've done the drive to Harrisonburg from to Stanardsville and I'm a slow-poke on route 33, especially around the mountain but even going like 25-30 mph, it still doesn't impact the travel time too much cause it's really like 5-10 minutes on the mountain and then your done. Really bad weather could be a challenge but there isn't that much snow so it probably wouldn't impact me very much. I've heard the road has only closed a couple of times in the past 5 years.

I'm thinking of just trying to live in eastern Rockingham, so it'll be about a 35 minute commute for me and a 30-35 minute commute for my husband. Otherwise, we'll live between Stanardsville and Culpeper but I don't think there is too much in between there. I think I would rather have a longer commute and be near Harrisonburg where there are tons of great churches, restaurants, affordable housing, and I know people.

[emsman]

If your husband winds up in Culpeper or Charlottesville you might want to check out Madison County, VA.. The weather on 33 isn't always bad but if when it's foggy in the spring and fall it really sucks.

[rachie88]

What's Madison county like? Is there affordable 1-2 bedroom places available for rent? Is there much going on in Madison county?

[emsman]

Not sure about the housing in Madison County but i'm sure there's something there that could work. I don't know of any apartments, maybe someone else does. Madison is a quiet county, mostly farms and wineries. It has the basics in the town of Madison the rest is pretty rural. The town of Gordonsville, about 20 miles East of Stanardsville on US 33, has a number of homes and apartments. It's actually a pretty good size w/ it's own police dept. and everything in town you could need. If you like small towns it's worth checking out.

It would be a hell of a drive for your husband to Staunton from Gordonsville, or Madison Co. for that matter, but if he went to Culpeper or Charlottesville that could work for you.

[rachie88]

Thanks for your response! I am waiting to find out where my husband will be placed. I think either one will work just fine, I've just gotta wait and see what happens.

Rockingham county is our preference because we love the area but the only kicker with that is route 33 in the winter. I don't know how icy it gets there but there isn't usually that much snow and when it snows, everything basically shuts down. I'll just have to be very careful driving, like I would anywhere in the country in the winter. I've been talking with some parents of a friend who have lived in Rockingham for probably over 50 years and they think it'll be fine, maybe just once or twice a year the commute would be challenging.

Either way, I'll be happy when I find out where my hubby will be. Probably Staunton though.

[emsman]

If he gets the Staunton position it will open a lot more options for you, won't go into all those right now. We're here when he gets an answer. Good Luck to you both!!! And your right, 95% of the year the mountain on 33 is not bad.

[rachie88]

He got the job in Staunton! We are looking into an apartment near RMH for $675 a month that is a brand-new "luxury" apartment. We haven't checked it out yet, but I know the developer and their other properties are wonderful.

Emsman- What options are you thinking of? I would love hear your ideas!

-Thanks!