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Whats it like at night? Does everything close and everyone go home at like 9?
As someone else said, the places along the beach are the only things that really stay open. Hampton Roads in general is mostly just sprawled out suburbs an and strip mall. The oceanfront will get boring after about 2-3 visits since it's mostly for tourist and not locals. There are some things to do in Norfolk in well at night, but it's about a 20 minute drive away. You may like this neighborhood in Norfolk called Ghent since it's close to most of Norfolks nightlight. And Richmond as I mentioned earlier, is an hour drive away. Most of the nightlife there is concentrated in downtown in the historic neighborhoods.
I have spent a week here with my girl, we are social butterflies and have collected the insights of about 100 people mostly in the 20s or early 30s...Here's our insights:
Just about everyone nailed it.
We can probably narrow it down to four spots where there's things to do...
VB Oceanfront / boardwalk / resorts is a touristy beach...It's near dead as far as activities other than summer...Some people enjoy hanging out with tourists some don't...Plenty of summer concerts & festivals during the warm months. Consists of both beach bars and trendy clubs...We spent the least amount of time here, seemed like everyone we spoke to was a tourist or a "player" trying to pick up a tourist...If you're a guy and wanted one night stands vs making friends, this seemed to be your place for you.
VB Chic's Beach / Chick's Beach is a locals beach. You cannot legally drink alcohol on the oceanfront but can on Chick's beach. Fun bars and restaurants but you better either enjoy drinking or at least enjoy socializing with drinkers. Most people will be in beachwear, I went to a popular bar last night and I was the only guy wearing a collar (polo), every other guy was wearing a tshirt or a tank. Most everyone knew each other and they were extremely friendly to my girl and I. They said it's a fairly tight knit community, often have parties and bbqs.
Norfolk, Ghent area: most the action is very condensed into a small area with some very cool bars and restaurants. Odds are you'd find a bar with a good band playing, usually not overly loud so you can still socialize with friends. Will include all sorts of people but the college is close to this area so lots of students. They also have all sorts of festivals and even close down the main road, colley for some of them.
Norfolk Granby St: While there are some chill bars, this is where the loud boomy dance clubs are which is just how gorgeous girls like them, too loud for loser guys out of their league to talk to them...lol...Lots of people get dressed to the nines. Long story short, as far as the clubs go, if you and/or you're S/O are attractive you'll fit in a lot easier than if you're not attractive.
With Norfolk there's more year round stuff with concerts and minor league games. Both the good Ghent area and the good Granby area are just over 2 miles from eachother or a $5 cab ride. To get to these events it's probably too far of a walk from Ghent and even from Granby is pushing it. Either chicks beach or the VB oceanfront is 15-30mins from those norfolk areas depending exactly where and traffic...
My advice is spend the big bucks on a VB oceanfront hotel and stay a week or two. Your first Friday check out either a bar or club of your choice at the Oceanfront but end at Chicks Beach"s Chick's Oyster Bar. Saturday night start at Ghent's Red Dog Saloon and end at Granby's "Granby Theater".
I have spent a week here with my girl, we are social butterflies and have collected the insights of about 100 people mostly in the 20s or early 30s...Here's our insights:
Just about everyone nailed it.
We can probably narrow it down to four spots where there's things to do...
You need to spend some more time here LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJagMan
VB Oceanfront / boardwalk / resorts is a touristy beach...It's near dead as far as activities other than summer...Some people enjoy hanging out with tourists some don't...Plenty of summer concerts & festivals during the warm months. Consists of both beach bars and trendy clubs...We spent the least amount of time here, seemed like everyone we spoke to was a tourist or a "player" trying to pick up a tourist...If you're a guy and wanted one night stands vs making friends, this seemed to be your place for you.
Okay, you're sort of on track. The Oceanfront is a big tourist area in the summer and the winter is pretty dead, but as for trendy clubs you'll have to enlighten me- where? Peabody's? Lunasea? Sky Bar?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJagMan
Norfolk, Ghent area: most the action is very condensed into a small area with some very cool bars and restaurants. Odds are you'd find a bar with a good band playing, usually not overly loud so you can still socialize with friends. Will include all sorts of people but the college is close to this area so lots of students. They also have all sorts of festivals and even close down the main road, colley for some of them.
There are restaurants, some with large bars in Ghent, but there's no bands that play in Ghent and I can't remember the last time Colley was closed for a festival. The only place you might be able to find a musician would be Kelly's or possibly the Tap House. Red Dog, no, Luna Maya, no, No Frill, no Bella, no, YNot, no, Green Onion, no, Pho, no, Azar's, no, I could go on but the point is no place in Ghent has live music on a regular basis nor are there all sorts of festivals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJagMan
Norfolk Granby St: While there are some chill bars, this is where the loud boomy dance clubs are which is just how gorgeous girls like them, too loud for loser guys out of their league to talk to them...lol...Lots of people get dressed to the nines. Long story short, as far as the clubs go, if you and/or you're S/O are attractive you'll fit in a lot easier than if you're not attractive.
Oh goodness. LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheJagMan
With Norfolk there's more year round stuff with concerts and minor league games. Both the good Ghent area and the good Granby area are just over 2 miles from eachother or a $5 cab ride. To get to these events it's probably too far of a walk from Ghent and even from Granby is pushing it. Either chicks beach or the VB oceanfront is 15-30mins from those norfolk areas depending exactly where and traffic...
You'd be better off to mention that so long as a person is willing to walk a little they can easily take the Tide from EVMS/Ft. Norfolk (Ghent) to Downtown and get off either at Monticello or MacArthur and be pretty much right at Granby.
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To the OP- come first and stay for a week or so. Don't just play tourist at the Oceanfront, explore the neighborhoods. Print listings of apartments or homes you would consider moving to and see what they and the area around them looks like.
Hampton Roads in general is a giant suburb. Norfolk is the urban core but it's a very small area and still has a long way to go in terms of revitalization.
Virginia Beach has made an attempt at a "downtown" by creating the Virginia Beach Town Center, but it's a paltry attempt.
Ahh, Belmont, yes, I'll add that to the occasional list. Taphouse, Belmont and Kelly's occasionally (more at Belmont) have live music. Plaza del Sol will sometimes have a DJ but I'm not sure I would consider that live music.
Last time I ate at Belmont they were slamming furniture down upstairs and dirt from the second floor (for those unfamiliar with Belmont the first floor ceiling is just exposed floor boards from the second floor) sprinkled down all on top of my head and food.
Hampton Roads in general is a giant suburb. Norfolk is the urban core but it's a very small area and still has a long way to go in terms of revitalization.
Virginia Beach has made an attempt at a "downtown" by creating the Virginia Beach Town Center, but it's a paltry attempt.
Take those sentences to heart OP. Hampton Roads is pretty much a suburb and though Norfolk is the only core in the area, people who live here wouldn't consider it such since the area consists of 7 independent cities all trying to compete against each other(ie Virginia Beaches "downtown") which takes away from the areas potential.
Virginia Beach is far from boring. It is the most happening city in Hampton Roads. If you compare VA Beach to New York or even DC, then yea it's boring. But take it for what it is, VA Beach is NOT a major city. It's a suburban beach town. In the summer there are endless events along with many happening local bars, restaurants, and clubs that aren't tourist traps. There's plenty of shopping as well, VA Beach doesn't have the trendiest stores but it does have every big name big box store within a 15 mile radius. If you're looking for a more hip urban experience you can drive 10 mins to downtown Norfolk. Virginia Beach is a great suburb because it doesn't lie in the shadow of a major city like Northern VA and DC. It's its own self sustaining suburb that doesn't rely on the economic activity of a major neighboring city. It's far from being New York but it's also far from being the boring boonies.
Octa: Richmond and Virginia Beach are two very different cities, I wouldn't say one is better than the other because each caters to different tastes. Richmond is more catered to urbanites who seek to live the city life while VA Beach is more catered to families who seek more of a suburban setting. Richmond does have better local resturants over VA Beach though. BUT VA Beach has the Oceanfront which is way more appealing in the summer over Belle Isle and the dirty river water.
Virginia Beach is far from boring. It is the most happening city in Hampton Roads. If you compare VA Beach to New York or even DC, then yea it's boring. But take it for what it is, VA Beach is NOT a major city. It's a suburban beach town. In the summer there are endless events along with many happening local bars, restaurants, and clubs that aren't tourist traps. There's plenty of shopping as well, VA Beach doesn't have the trendiest stores but it does have every big name big box store within a 15 mile radius. If you're looking for a more hip urban experience you can drive 10 mins to downtown Norfolk. Virginia Beach is a great suburb because it doesn't lie in the shadow of a major city like Northern VA and DC. It's its own self sustaining suburb that doesn't rely on the economic activity of a major neighboring city. It's far from being New York but it's also far from being the boring boonies.
Octa: Richmond and Virginia Beach are two very different cities, I wouldn't say one is better than the other because each caters to different tastes. Richmond is more catered to urbanites who seek to live the city life while VA Beach is more catered to families who seek more of a suburban setting. Richmond does have better local resturants over VA Beach though. BUT VA Beach has the Oceanfront which is way more appealing in the summer over Belle Isle and the dirty river water.
VA Beach is far from self-sustaining. It relies on the same thing NOVA does for it's economy.
And yeah they are very different. One is a urban area that is very pedestrian friendly and compact while the other is a spread out suburb competing with the city next door to it. And though I don't really care for it, Richmond does have Short Pump near the suburbs which is a far more appealing and compact lifestyle center area than anything Virginia Beach has.The type of person looking to move to VA Beach would be a married couple who's interested in having and raising kids. From what the OP describes, it sounds like she's looking for a hip and vibrant place and is probably young. VA Beach and Hampton Roads in general has a problem with keeping young people from leaving with most of the young being transients in the military. That should automatically tell a young person something about the area. I'm not trying to knock the area, but I'm young and would never recommend the area besides Ghent in Norfolk to a young person unless they were looking to buy and settle down.
And FYI, most of the bay and VA's river water near the bay quality index falls in the 20-40% range. Makes sense since by the time it's that far downstream it's carrying tons of sediment which people on the oceanfront are swimming in. It's not dirty containing tons of chemicals or whatever you might be thinking of.
It's its own self sustaining suburb that doesn't rely on the economic activity of a major neighboring city.
So relying on the federal government is better?
It always cracks me up how VA Beach always goes red in elections and the GOP is so opposed to big government, yet if it weren't for big government, VA Beach would be a ghost town. But that's a whole 'nother issue.
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