(Closed) Any Virginia bees or bees familiar with VA?

• IzzyBear
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

Born and raised in Hampton Roads!!

I’ve lived in Chesapeake (specifically Western Branch area), Suffolk (specifically HarbourView area), Norfolk (at ODU), and now Newport News (Denbigh srea, right up there by Williamsburg). I’ve always enjoyed the area.

There’s definitely more to do in the Va Beach area, but it is more congested. I hate traffic so I avoid VB. But if you don’t mind it too much, VB is a great place to live. Housing prices differ depending on the area. Some are crazy expensive, some are moderate, and some are low (the iffy areas)

Chesapeake is nice. It’s big so there’s big differences in the areas. Greenbier is more city like. Hickory and Great Bridge are more country like. Western Branch is a good mix of the two and is high demand for families (so is Hickory or Great Bridge). I grew up in Western Branch and loved it. Most places in Chesapeake have the same price ranges for houses.

I’m not a fan of Norfolk. I lived there for 4 years when I was at ODU but I happy to leave. Most areas aren’t ideal and the ones that are, are pretty pricey. There’s tons of traffic due to Naval Station Norfolk. The downtown areas are fun for going out though.

Suffolk is nice if you can afford the nice areas. Unfortunately downtown (old) Suffolk is no longer a “nice” area, even though the houses are gorgeous and historical. Harbour View is great, but pricey.

Peninsula (Newport News, Hampton, Williamsburg, Yorktown)

Newport News is nice in the right areas. Denbigh, Oyster Point, parts of J Clyde and Warwick are good. Fair housing prices as well. If you like the outdoors Newport News park (Deer Run) is nice and has a lot of things to do. Nightlife wise, not much in NN.

Hampton has it’s nice areas too. I’m not super familiar with them though. I do know that the 23666 area code is nice. There are a few popular bars/night clubs in Hampton.

Williamsburg is very nice. All of it. But that is reflected in the housing prices. They are higher. There are tons of things to do though. Great shopping, historical sites, winery, and it’s pretty close to Richmond. Oh, there’s also Busch Gardens and Water Country USA.

Yorktown is similar to Williamsburg. I’m not super familiar with it, but I do know that it’s very nice.

That’s about all I have for starters. If you have any specific questions for any area just let me know and I’ll try to answer it as best as possible 🙂

• TwoStatesBride
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

@soontobemrsm11:  wellll i live in Arlington so that’s pretty different from what you’re looking for, but i personally really love it here. access to DC (though i know where you’ll be that’s not a factor), not AS liberal as DC or MD but still liberal enough to make me feel comfortable, but conservative enough that things like my handgun aren’t a PIA. lol!

• Woodstock
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2012

Born and raised in VA 🙂 I love Virginia because of all the different things you can experience. History, beaches, the bay, mountains, valleys, country, city, suburbs! A little bit of everything! I went to Old Dominion for college, I lived in Norfolk which isn’t so bad you just gotta live in Ghent! (also look in the local paper and on the streets for the best deals!!) I love the restaurants on colley ave! It isn’t too expensive if you don’t buy a house since you can always find decent apartments to rent. Overall I’m not a gigantic fan of SE VA but it’s still nice. Too much traffic with the bridges and tunnels. But NoVa has bad traffic too. lol Once you get away from the cities out into the countryish areas like Chesapeake, Suffolk I like it more but that still normally means you have to commute and traffic is hell. (just like traffic from the burbs of DC) Williamsburg is really nice though, from what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard. I don’t know much about it other than all the colonial stuff and the parks there (Kings Dominion is better anyways)

• Woodstock
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2012

oh and stay away from portsmouth! I know they tried making some parts nice (I wanna say churchland area is where I have some family)… but I would still try and stay away!

• Ninteenthchance
• 5 years ago

@soontobemrsm11:  we live in Charlottesville close to UVA. We love it here. It’s really nice, there’s great schoola close by. It’s a “small town” but there’s lots of people and lots of new development. It’s also very historically rich in the area. And there’s lots of nice houses in all sorts of price ranges

• IzzyBear
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

@Woodstock:  +1

OP, I forgot to mention Portsmouth. I work there, but wouldn’t live there. There are a couple (like literally 2) nice neighborhoods but the schools are awful. Lots of bums too. Same with Norfolk. Bums everywhere.

• Meant2Bee
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: May 2014

@soontobemrsm11:  Hey there! I was born and raised in VA, tidewater area in particular. I’m from Chespeake and it’s quite suburban! Although I would say it was perfect as a child and military brat. The biggest down side to the tidewater area is TRAFFIC. If you can avoid living somewhere where you have to cross a bridge to get to work, you are just asking for an hour commute. 

The majority of people living in eastern VA are military. Housing is a bit pricer there than it use to be, but still affordable. 

I loved being able to go to the beach whenever I felt like it, plenty of amusement parks, etc.

I moved to Richmond for college and live here now. I absolutely love Richmond because of the vibrant culture, history, and beautiful area in general. It is a close promiximity to Charlottesville wine country and Washington DC.

Overall I love VA 🙂 

• inky_1
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

😀 I live in Virginia, but I live in Northern Virginia, so I’m probably not the best at telling you the best areas to look in. I was born & raised in Maryland, but I love living in VA!

• ajillity81
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

hampton roads is nice.  my brother lived there for a few years.

• TwoStatesBride
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

@soontobemrsm11:  yeeeaaahhh well that’s one of the downsides. we rent a 1 bed for $1600 a month. :/

• Woodstock
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2012

@soontobemrsm11:  tunnels for the road to go under the water. There are huge shipping ports down there so they have to go under the water to allow for the giant cargo boats to pass instead of draw bridges (well they do have a few of those). For some reason people don’t know how to drive in tunnels down there and slow down causing crazy traffic around rush hour and holiday weekends. I liked it when I lived in ghent and if you can get in a nice area it’s enjoyable but I just didn’t think there were enough nice areas to balance out the traffic. Too much trashiness around Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth. All the shipyards and ports. And if you’re not military get ready for ALL military (I was military so I didn’t mind it) Some people don’t like being around military. I just think there are much nicer areas/parts of Virginia than Hampton Roads.

• OldMrsMcDonald
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: November 2012

I’m originally from SE Virginia (Born in Newport News, lived there and Yorktown growing up).  I also went to college in Richmond and grad school in Charlottesville.

Virginia is a great place ot live, but has some wonky politics, IMO.  As far as areas, I’m partial to Yorktown/Williamsburg/Jamestown– all very nice areas with lots of older and newer homes, great places to eat and shop.  Public education systems are excellent, and most everything is well maintained from a government perspective.

I live in Chicago now, but I visit home 3-4 times a year.  While traffic certainly has gotten worse in recent years (I-64 around Ft. Eustis and any of the tunnels is particularly awful), it’s not a dealbreaker for me.  I’d move back, given the right financial package!

ETA: If you are looking at South Hampton Roads, I’d definitely go with Chesapeake over Norfolk or Virginia Beach.  Less traffic and congestion!

• Woodstock
• 5 years ago

• Wedding: October 2012

@soontobemrsm11:  haha I just saw you ask if it snows… yea it does once in a blue moon and you defintiely get all four seasons. It gets cold and there’s often freezing rain.. but snow doesn’t come that often.