MHC has it all, for work and play
August 18, 2022
What could you do with more free time each work day?
What could you buy with more money residing in your bank account? Instead of it jumping off your debit card to pay for basics like groceries, mortgage payments, and healthcare, it can go where the fun things are.
Today, more than ever, making wise purchases with limited resources is essential. Martinsville-Henry County is a great place to make your money and time go far.
For example, what could you do with spending up to 115.1% LESS money for basic expenses, including 642.7% less on the purchase of a home? According to www.bestplaces.net, these numbers represent the different between living in Martinsville-Henry County and living in Fairfax.
How about Richmond? Again, based on information at www.bestplaces.net, the cost of living there is 39.5% higher than here.
Need more? Charlotte is 44.7% higher. Raleigh is 48.6% higher. Roanoke is 21.2% higher.
The facts are overwhelming, and that’s why homesnacks.com ranks Martinsville-Henry County as the fourth-most affordable place to live in the Commonwealth.
If time is money, then the commuting patterns here and in the localities mentioned are impactful. According to insideNOVA.com, the average commuting time in Northern Virginia is 57.2 minutes a day.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the average commuting time in Martinsville-Henry County is 35.8 minutes round trip. That saves a M-HC driver almost 22 minutes a day over NOVA’s commute. That’s nearly two hours over the course of a week of suddenly-free time on your hands.
With time and money covered, a place to work would be nice. M-HC has them. According to the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation, since 2018 an additional 1,358 new jobs and $379.5 million in capital investment were created in M-HC.
The area’s unemployment rate, which a few years ago was in double figures, now sits near 3%. More people are working locally than at least since the mid-2000s.
New companies such as Press Glass, Crown Holdings and Schock chose our community for significant projects. Local stalwarts such as Bassett Furniture, Hooker Furniture and Eastman continue to flourish by operating in
M-HC.
Still, no one wants to work all the time. Our options for free time are tremendous.
We have the Dick and Willie Trail covering more than 10 miles of paved path, with the next expansion beginning soon. Want to put a kayak in the Smith River? We have 10 access points for you.
Martinsville Speedway is the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit and plays hosts to two Cup Series weekends a year. The Speedway experience traditionally ranks at or near the top of all NASCAR tracks, according to the fans
We have the Smith River Sports Complex, which plays host to soccer tournaments, Ultimate Frisbee tournaments and high school and college sporting events. It also is the host site for the annual Smith River Fest, which draws thousands, each August.
If it’s live music that you want, RoosterWalk is your answer. The multi-day music festival is held each Memorial Day weekend at Pop’s Farm in Axton. Artists such as Grace Potter, Little Feat, Robert Randolph, Marcus King, John Cowan and Billy Strings have played the event.
Local breweries such as Scuffle Hill and Mountain Valley, and Hamlet Vineyards, provide locally-produced beverages and also play host to live music.
Is proximity to mountains important? We are less than 45 minutes from the Blue Ridge Mountains. We are 4 hours from Myrtle Beach and 5 hours from Virginia Beach. We are less than an hour from Smith Mountain Lake.
Odds are, if you already live here, you already know these things. But what about those friends and relatives who don’t know what we have?
That’s where our “Move To Martinsville” effort (www.movetomartinsvilleva.com) comes in.
We work with our community partners to bring more attention, and more people, to Martinsville-Henry County. We have everything a family could want in a community, as I’ve outlined above; we just need to make a better effort at NOT keeping it to ourselves.
I was raised here and I moved away for several years. Truthfully, I probably took for granted a lot of the things that our community provides for a family or a young professional.
But not anymore. We have a wonderful community and wonderful amenities. Let’s work together to let others in on our secret.