Question about Charlottesville, VA neighborhoods for active, retired couple (Richmond: renters, condo) - Virginia - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Carab · 08-04-2011, 06:03 PM

Hi Natalie,
I tried to find you on Facebook but there are too many with your same name. I did friend you on this forum, so maybe we can connect there in the meantime. I've never used this before, but we can explore. Right now I don't have a lot of time to chat because we'll be out of town next week and we're trying to get our house ready for the market, but would enjoy chatting more after that!

Carab

Beth H · 10-13-2011, 09:33 AM

I am happy to find this discussion. My husband retired 2 years ago (I brought my job with me) to New Bern NC. It was lovely and friendly. Built a house on a small lake and moved down from DC area. Then reality set it - our neighborhood of mostly retirees is the most contentious place I have ever lived. I discovered I don't like living with mostly seniors - in this neighborhood, they are cranky. I think I am not nuts about the demeanor of the many people who are transplanted from NY, NJ, and CT. So due to that and the discovery that I am allergic to this pine forest, we are investigating moving back to VA. We also made a mistake in being so far from family. C'ville is high on my list and your discussions are very helpful. We like to hike, kayak, read, would love a good book club, cook. My husband is a target shooter and likes to putter around in the yard. He taught night classes at colleges for many years, is retired from the AF and a large beltway bandit corp. I am hopeful that perhaps we would find people with interests more in tune with ours in the C'ville area. We also found out the hard way that being in a small town, a couple hours from malls and large hospitals (Raleigh is 2 hrs away) has made life difficult. Didn't realize that we would miss those amenities.
So, if you have any clues on retirement (I also don't like that word), I would love to hear from you.
Beth

Carab · 10-14-2011, 08:29 AM

I can't write much now... have a meeting to go to. And... we just sold our house in ND and are packing up to move to C-ville. In fact next week (Oct 18-21) we're flying out to look for a place to rent for 6-12 mo while we look for a new home in C-ville or its close "suburbs" (as well as confirm that's where we want to retire before we buy).
Would be happy to discuss more later.

ShadowBat · 10-17-2011, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beth H

I am happy to find this discussion. My husband retired 2 years ago (I brought my job with me) to New Bern NC. It was lovely and friendly. Built a house on a small lake and moved down from DC area. Then reality set it - our neighborhood of mostly retirees is the most contentious place I have ever lived. I discovered I don't like living with mostly seniors - in this neighborhood, they are cranky. I think I am not nuts about the demeanor of the many people who are transplanted from NY, NJ, and CT. So due to that and the discovery that I am allergic to this pine forest, we are investigating moving back to VA. We also made a mistake in being so far from family. C'ville is high on my list and your discussions are very helpful. We like to hike, kayak, read, would love a good book club, cook. My husband is a target shooter and likes to putter around in the yard. He taught night classes at colleges for many years, is retired from the AF and a large beltway bandit corp. I am hopeful that perhaps we would find people with interests more in tune with ours in the C'ville area. We also found out the hard way that being in a small town, a couple hours from malls and large hospitals (Raleigh is 2 hrs away) has made life difficult. Didn't realize that we would miss those amenities.
So, if you have any clues on retirement (I also don't like that word), I would love to hear from you.
Beth

I don't have any clues on retirement, but from your description, Cville sounds perfect for you. Other possibilities could be Harrisonburg, Staunton/Waynesboro, or Roanoke.

On a side note, I have an aunt that lives near New Bern. I thought it was a cool little town, but it was waaay too far from a population center for me to ever consider living there. Good luck!

Moving on up to C'ville · 10-19-2011, 06:19 AM

My husband and I just bought a house about 2 months ago in Mill Creek. We're quasi-retired (he's a retired Naval officer and has a good pension) and I'm looking for work, largely because I'm seriously bored at home and am looking for a way to meet more people.

We chose Mill Creek because of its proximity to downtown Cville. It's literally only a 5 minute drive to the downtown pedestrian mall. Initially we were looking at houses out towards Louisa (Spring Creek), but fast realized that that was too far out for us and not a good fit. Mill Creek is a mixed neighborhood, mostly 40/50's people, some 60's. A few younger (30's) families, but not too many (I don't see swarms of kids at the school bus stops in the a.m.) There are some rental homes with what appear to be grad or post doc students...hard to tell exactly.

Mill Creek is a planned community with an eclectic vibe to it. All the houses sit back from the street and are nestled in trees (and pine trees...sorry). Its also very hilly and the original builder designed the homes to look like mountain homes. If you need a big house with lots of interior space, then Mill Creek is not for you. Most of the houses range between 1300 - 1800 sq. ft. Ours is roughly 1600. But the houses in this neighborhood are very affordable. As best as I can tell, the majority of people work at UVA -PhD - researcher, media relations or at one of the local hospitals (Martha Jefferson) There appear to be quite a number of nurses and doctors (though not the flashy kind of doctor's cause this isn't a flashy neighborhood).

We're extremely pleased with Mill Creek. Our home wasn't perfect, but fortunately we were at a price point where we could do some remodeling to make it perfect for us. Great advice we received from our Realtor whom we adore, was find the location....then modify the house to make it fit you. And we did!

Hope this helps... if you want more info, send a private message...

Carab · 10-29-2011, 11:11 AM

I'm excited to hear this. We've rented an townhouse not very far from Mill Creek, on Maple View Drive. Looking forward to exploring the neighborhoods south of I64 as we'll begin our hunt for a house. We're packing up to move Dec. 1. Crazy... Charlottesville, VA and Jamestown, ND have the same temperatures right now... but Jamestown doesn't have snow forecast! Glad to see that C-ville's temps will climb back up again next week.

Beth H · 10-31-2011, 06:10 AM

Thanks for the info. We are visiting friends in near Smith Mountain Lake in Nov. and then driving thru Cville on our way to DC. So will take time to look around. Who was your realtor? Do you know anything about Crozet area? You are smart to look for a job. I work full time from home for a company in DC - I am really cut off. So, I will probably find some less taxing job once we move, just to meet people.

Moving on up to C'ville · 11-01-2011, 01:23 PM

Beth we had a FANTASTIC realtor who has also become a friend. If you want her name, pls private message me and I'll give you her info (I think the moderators don't like posting those things). She also does a lot of rental property searching, etc., if you're looking for rentals instead of buying.

emsman · 11-13-2011, 07:22 PM

Beth H.

A little about Crozet area, It is growing steadily. There are lots of new houses and townhomes on the west side towards C'ville along w/ a new shopping area and Food Lion grocery store. The new constructions have to comply w/ Albemarle county code so they don't look like "stores" if you know what I mean. The small central town area has a remodeled branch of the county library and there is Western Albemarle middle and high schools on US 250 near I-64 exit 107. There is a dam w/ a public swimming area going towards C'ville.
The only downside is US 250 to C'ville is 2 lane road which gets busy on work days but moves OK. Crozet is becoming more popular due to being slightly cheaper than inside the city limits, but you need a car to survive out there.

Carab · 06-09-2012, 09:02 PM

An update on us! It's been a year since we first visited C-ville and subsequently decided to move here for our retirement. After searching for a ranch style house with a double car garage near Charlottesville we finally decided that building would be the most cost effective for us. We decided to build just off 240 on the eastern edge of Crozet, which is actually a Charlottesville address. Our house will be ready in August! We'll only be ~15 minutes away from downtown Charlottesville. We're so looking forward to it.
We just had a fantastic wedding anniversary dinner followed by viewing the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph, an annual event. Lots of wine tastings, farmers markets... Looking forward to when peach season begins. Flowers are fantastic here as well as the variety of trees and other vegetation. People are welcoming and friendly. We're glad we made this choice!