Photos and Notes: Williamsburg, Yorktown & Gloucester County (condos, homes)

[Caladium]

Well, I guess I should post the last few of the photos I took. And clearly I need to go back and take some more!

The following photos were taken on a rainy Sunday morning. Not the best time to get a good representation of the development, but it happened to be the time we had to go over there. For better photos and many interesting comments, see http://www.city-data.com/forum/hampt...ames-city.html

New Town:










New Town is a mixed use Town Center, with shopping, office buildings, medical buildings, apartments, homes and condos mixed together. It's about 2 miles to William and Mary, with a walking trail through the woods. There is good bus service here as well. Community buildings including a large hall that's used by local churches and clubs. They're building an ice rink there, too.

I like New Town in theory, but when walking around it, we felt we’d rather be in a more spread out development. New Town seemed cramped (for us) and we wondered if noise might become a problem since students would likely rent some of the apartments and people would be driving there to use the stores. Still, it did look like a very practical place to live, and it was very clean and attractive.

One thing that cracked us up in New Town was the plastic rocks in every flowerbed in front of the stores. They hide stereo speakers, so you can hear mellow music as you shop. It's surreal, but amusing--however if I has my druthers I'd use those speakers to play bird songs.

[Caladium]

My photos of Yorktown are (mostly) too dreary to post. We'll go back and take some better ones. What can I say, we happened to visit on a weekend when it rained a lot. I did get a few shots before the showers started, however:





These are both in the "historic area" near Yorktown beach.

Two things you notice in the Williamsburg area--there are a million billion pancake houses and almost as many gazebos. As a person who walks a lot, I’m a big fan of gazebos (as long as I’m allowed to sit in their shade for a minute or two when the sun gets too bright.)

I haven’t decided if having a pancake house for every 25 residents is merely a good thing or the Best. Benefit. Ever.

And now for a few Misc. Notes...

Hospitals:

The hospitals there seem to be fairly good. Although none of the Williamsburg hospitals make the top ten in the nation lists, they all seem to have ratings of above average with a few departments that receive excellent ratings. This is Sentara Hospital, which is quite pretty, especially at night.

When we planned this trip, we started checking around to see if we knew anyone who lived in the area. God bless Facebook, it’s amazing what you can find. One person we found was a woman who had gone to elementary school with my husband and was now a nurse at Sentara. She was able to give us quite a bit of information about the town and the medical services there. According to her, Williamsburg doctors have the same issues doctors have everywhere of not liking to take on patients with Medicare. However, doctors are taking new patients and once you become a patient they are good about continuing your care even if you do start using Medicare. This is an issue in some areas of the country, so I thought this was good to know.

BTW a new hospital called Doctors Hospital is being built in the area. I believe it should open this summer. Here is a thread on the various hospitals:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hampt...-good-bad.html

Weather:

The following is what I've heard, so please step in to correct any wrong impressions I may have.

Apparently the area is not prone to severe storms, however hurricanes have occasionally been known to blow through. That’s something to consider, too. Usually they lose steam in the outer banks and so are not big events.

Winters are usually mild. The area gets 5-6 inches of snow, with some years without measurable snow. Ice does not seem to be a problem.

The summers are hot and humid (although may not be much different from what we have in northern VA). We are worried that mosquitoes may be an issue, but FWIW neither of us got a single bite on this trip. Maybe we were just being blessed by the vacation gods, though. We’ll have to visit again in August to see how it goes.

I hear Autumn is gorgeous, with dry crisp air. We also hear that spring is relatively long (compared to DC area, anyway) and the dogwoods are spectacular along the Colonial Parkway.

Who Lives There:

I hear that Williamsburg has a southern vibe but FWIW al the people we met on this visit had retired from the Midwest, the northeast, and California. (The Californians had actually moved to DC metro area first, and then retired to Williamsburg--however they referred to themselves as Californians and said we would meet lots of people retiring there from CA, so I thought it was worth mentioning.) I do want to point out these were the people I met during a very brief visit so may not be representative of who actually lives there.

The people there seem nice. Unusually friendly, in fact, and we made a point to talk to people everywhere we met. Everyone was happy to chat for a moment or two, and I mean everyone! We got lost and stopped at a deli for directions--the clerk went out of his way to help us. We parked near Aromas and some men standing nearby got into a long conversation with us after we asked if we could park there. People waiting for a bus were happy to chat about bookstores. The librarian at the Scotland Street library not only told us where the concert hall was, she offered to give us a tour of the whole facility. If I didn't know better I would have sworn all these people were planted by the Chamber of Commerce. I could get used to living in a town where people are friendly like this.

We were also struck at the number of conversations we had about books, music, and other similar topics. An influence of being in a college town, maybe? Many of the people said they had been drawn to retire there because they were liberal arts majors in college and loved history, so maybe that explains it a little bit, too.

There are lots of retirees there, which also makes me feel programs for seniors will see plenty of future support.

Th-th-th-at's All Folks!

Well, I’m running out of steam so I guess that will be enough impressions for now. I’m sure I’ll add some more as time goes by, and after we make a few more trips.

[Wild Colonial Girl]

Mosquitoes are definitely a huge issue. The more sterile neighborhoods spray for them, but you don't really want to be sprayed. It's a catch-22. But, because it's so humid in the summer you won't be outside to be worried by them.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by Wild Colonial Girl

The more sterile neighborhoods spray for them, but you don't really want to be sprayed.

Why not? Bad smell or are there health issues?

[Mr Williamsburg]

LoveAutumn, condo rentals can be found on Realtor.com .http://www.realtor.com/homesforrent/...2000#/sortby-1
There is one currently for $1050 right now in Braemar Creek, a very nice condo development surrounded by Williamsburg National Golf Course. The development has a pool tennis courts, fitness room and clubhouse. Its about 2.5 miles to Target, Starbucks, grocery store, etc. Six miles to Colonial Williamsburg.

You should also search the William and Mary off campus housing website. You will need to register to search but you can do that as a guest if you are not a student.

Our local newspaper The Va Gazette will also have homes, town homes, condos, apartments for rent in their classified section here

I wish I had time to assist renters but my regular job consumes 100% of my 50+ hour weeks..

[Caladium]

Holy cow, I just saw that I have more than a thousand views for this thread. Makes me glad I went to the effort to take photos and write down a few impressions. For such a short trip I really did learn a lot. Can't wait for the next trip.

[Darkseid]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Holy cow, I just saw that I have more than a thousand views for this thread. Makes me glad I went to the effort to take photos and write down a few impressions. For such a short trip I really did learn a lot. Can't wait for the next trip.

This was a great thread! I hope to be able to visit some of the other places you photographed next time I am down there. The kids don't have much patience (at this point) for quiet activities, but I am glad to see that there is much, much more to do down there for other trips

[macalan]

Great post!!

Did you happen to visit Fords Colony?

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by macalan

Great post!!

Did you happen to visit Fords Colony?

No, that's on our list for the next visit, though. We've met a few people from there and it sounds like we may end up really liking Ford's Colony. Although Wyndham Plantation looks very intriguing, too, as does the Queens Lake area. We're thinking of making the next trip in September, and I'll post plenty of photos.

We might hit Waller Mills Park and a few of the other local parks on that trip, maybe catch a show at the Lake Matoaka amphitheater if something's there, and maybe even take the ferry just for the fun of taking a free ferry. And I need to get photos of the train station and the hospitals. And if we have a spare moment.... I might just Go Ape!

[loveautumn]

thanks, Mr. W...very helpful as always!

Caladium, are you planning a trip to visit HR area soon...I'm looking forward to your feedback and photos.