Need information on Charlottesville VA area

Hubby and I are nearing retirement (early) and considering a move from southern OR to the Charlottesville area. We like the area where we live but we need to move to a property where we can practice self sustainability and it looks like it may be financially unsustainable to remain in this area. We've narrowed down our search to the east coast as hubs has to be relatively close to an ocean and the west coast is just too damn expensive. We don't want harsh winters or summers but we can handle some snow. How bad is the humidity in the Charlottesville area? We enjoy hiking, kayaking, hunting, fishing, growing and preserving our own food. We may still dabble in part-time work; hubs is a finish carpenter/contractor and I train dogs. We enjoy getting a cultural fix once or twice a year and I thought we could visit Richmond. Does this sound reasonable? Can anyone tell me the upside/downside of life in Charlottesville? Thanks!

Charlottesville is a cultural bubble. It's also a weather bubble. It's old money. It's a close knit small town. It's fun, but once you leave the bubble, you're in the Appalachia. Which is old world ideas. It's a great place to get away from everything, but the mirror of the West Coast. Lots and lots and lots of poverty hidden in the mountain hollows. Some are great hard working people, some are crazy pill heads that will shot you on site.  I personally love the WV/VA area. If you want to be a feral human, it's a wonderful place to be. The National Quiet Zone is near by. (Less EMF and RF) My personal advice it to visit the area before you move. It WILL be a culture shock. C-ville maybe Floyd, VA , Boone, NC those might be some of the closest cities to a West Coast Culture. I live in a little mountain hamlet, in Southern WV. The heart of coal country.

Good Luck with your adventures.

-Justyn