VA Beach Oceanfront: Unique? (Norfolk, Hampton: movies, luxury, to live in)

[CNI]

I like the fact that VA Beach oceanfront is not just an isolated beach area. A tourist could relatively quickly travel from the oceanfront to stand-alone cities such as Norfolk, Hampton, etc. They can also attend a major theme park.
Is it my lack of extensive beach visits or is this a somewhat unique characteristic of VA Beach?
Whenever I consider vacationing in NC I can never find a beach area that would allow for any urban/city alternatives. It seems that with NC beaches you have to plan on spending the entire trip in the beach community. No beaches seem to be close to Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte.
Ocean City, MD is pretty far from Baltimore.
Myrtle Beach, while very developed, does not allow a visitor to get away from the beach area.
The only other beach areas I know of with this type of setup are Miami Beach/Miami and Atlantic City.

[stacylee926]

When I came here to Va Beach (Sandbridge actually) as a teen and young adult, I always thought it was really cool that we could do the beach during the day, and go to the movies or the mall at night. We were not stuck with playing putt putt every night.

As a 45 year old who lives here now, I still think it is fun to live in a totally suburban area then go over to the boardwalk on a Saturday afternoon and take a mini vacation for a few hours! However, we usually head to the Va Beach oceanfront in the off season to avoid the crowds.

[janeannwho]

I grew up going to the Jersey Shore, and we had the luxury of both beach and/or city depending on which beach you chose for that vacation. Seaside Heights, Atlantic City, Long Beach Island, Wildwood, etc and each had a different thing to offer. As a kid, probably my favorite was to stay in Stone Harbor, typical beach, small town and then drive over to Wildwood at night for the amusement piers, rock concerts and dancing.