April 17, 2008

Seven Va. counties among best places to live

RICHMOND—Seven counties in Virginia recently made Progressive Farmer magazine’s Southeast list of the “Best Places to Live in Rural America.”

Wythe, Lancaster, Alleghany, Essex, Gloucester, Albemarle and Shenandoah counties made the list. Wythe was ranked eighth out of 100, followed closely by Lancaster, which was 12th. The rankings were based on economics, education, crime, health care, climate and culture.

“It’s great that these counties have this recognition,” said Lindsay Potts, assistant director of governmental relations for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “Hopefully this won’t cause more growth and change the rural character of the counties or put pressure on the agriculture community for development.”

Bucky Sharitz, chairman of the Wythe County Board of Supervisors and a member of Wythe County Farm Bureau’s Board of Directors, raises beef cattle in the county. He said the county has seen some reasonable growth.

“We go back and look at the number of students in schools one, two, three generations ago, and the number hasn’t changed. But the number of houses we see has increased,” he said.

Sharitz said the county has a few industries that employ about 1,000 people and help maintain a low tax rate. They are located in an industrial park. “They’re situated in an area where we can bring infrastructure in to them and not have them spotted all into the county,” Sharitz said.

Craig Giese, a grain and soybean producer in Lancaster County, said his county is attractive to others because of its proximity to Richmond, Hampton, Norfolk and Washington. The county also has a waterfront area.

“The biggest thing that hits me all the time now is the amount of traffic we have in the area,” Giese said. “Compared to the way it used to be … no fast food, no stoplight … that’s all changed quite a bit, changed quickly over the last 10 to 15 years.”

Giese said there is not much industry in Lancaster, but a lot of farmland is disappearing due to development.

“One farm that was a 200-acre farm, in the last seven to eight years was split into three-quarter-acre lots, [and turned] into a golf course and housing development,” he said. “I remember easily 10 years ago that was still tillable farmland.”

Also, a new courthouse is being built on land that Giese used to rent for farming. Over the past five years, he has lost about 8 percent—50 acres—of his rented acreage to development.

Contact Potts at 804-290-1019.