Forest

Forest is in that awkward category between the middle of nowhere and an actual town. There is little to no shopping in Forest (except Goodwill and a few local boutiques), and if you need to buy clothes or something of that nature, you will have to go to the River Ridge Mall in Lynchburg, but if you want DECENT shopping you will have to drive 1+ hours to get to Charlottesville, Richmond, or Roanoke. Forest is a generally wealthy area, almost all of the population is white, and materialism is not uncommon. The students of the local high school, Jefferson Forest, are deemed 'snobby rich kids' by the students in surrounding counties, but the academics there are pretty good. They aren't stellar, but the school does offer many AP classes- the most in the area, eighteen not including the ones offered online. There are some great teachers there, but there are also so bad ones whose actions are ignored by administration. Forest Elementary and Forest Middle School are the other area schools- both along the same lines as JFHS, decent but not spectacular. Homes here are typically more expensive than surrounding areas, mostly new builds and subdivisions. Being a more rural suburb of Lynchburg, Forest lacks restaurants and attractions. Some more fun things to do are visiting various historical attractions. Forest has a strong baptist, conservative population- and its influence can be found nearly everywhere. When my family moved here from New York, we figured that we could live with this, that we could ignore it, but this is nearly impossible. If you do not share their view point, or do not fit their image, you will be judged and criticized and I would not suggest living here. When we went to visit the elementary school, we were assured that we wouldn't find any of "those tattooed mothers here". Many of the men are misogynists. And while this may simply be an aspect of southern society, it is not one that should be tolerated. The people can be very judgmental, and while it is true that this occurs everywhere, it occurs at a very high degree here. I would NOT recommend living here if you are LGBT or if you are strongly liberal. Overall, Forest is best for families with younger kids or older couples (as long as you do not fall into the previously listed categories), but it is not a place suited for young adults or couples without children no matter their political or religious affiliations.