Blacksburg is nestled in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of southwest Virginia, at 2,000 feet above sea level, in Montgomery County, Virginia. It has a relaxed, small-town flavor with college-town amenities. The town’s population is about 41,800, including Virginia Tech’s 30,000 students. Shadowlake Village Cohousing is a five-minute drive from campus and about a 15-minute drive to Interstate 81. Blacksburg is located about 250 miles southwest of Washington DC. For more statistics, click here.

Opportunities for outdoor life are plentiful and of high quality, and range from the simple pleasures of walking the paved Huckleberry Trail to canoeing the New River, hiking in the nearby National Forest and Appalachian Trail, bicycling, jogging, and lots more. The September 2001 issue of Outside Magazine named Blacksburg as one of 10 dream places to live in the U.S. for people who love outdoor activities.

Downtown Blacksburg is adjacent to the Virginia Tech campus and consists of several square blocks of restaurants, small shops, and the restored Lyric Theatre that shows good movies year round. Blacksburg has many churches, a synagogue, a Moslem worship center, and other spiritual centers.

Besides the downtown shops and the town’s supermarkets, there are two health food stores, World Market groceries, and a thriving outdoor Farmer’s Market every Wednesday and Saturday. Mall and big-store shopping can be found in nearby Christiansburg and 40 miles away in Roanoke, which is also where the nearest commercial airport is located.

There’s a lot of live music to be found here. Blacksburg and the surrounding area have a very active old-time music and dance scene with weekly old-time jams, a monthly mountain square dance with old-time bands, clogging and flatfooting, contra dances, and visiting musicians, and old-time and bluegrass weekends and competitions are held throughout the summer within 2 to 4 hours driving distance. Classical music concerts are presented during the academic year under the auspices of Virginia Tech, nearby Radford University, and other organizations, as well as in Roanoke.