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I have accepted a job offer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. Moving from St. Louis, MO area. My wife has also found a job in the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake. I know it isn't ideal to have jobs so far apart but it is what it is.
About Us:
-Married in early 30s with 2 kids (2 and 6)
-Mixed race couple (if that still matters)
-Hobbies include kayaking, volleyball, swimming, and casual bike rides. Also interested in learning to surf
-Both college educated professionals
-My job is somewhat flexible, I can work early/late and have telecommuting options so traffic is not a huge concern.
-Have electric car which, as I understand it, should let me ride in the HOV lanes anytime provided I purchase a special license plate.
Wants:
-good schools
-low crime
-good parks/recreation activities
-enough restaurants to go out once or twice a week for dinner. Not anti-chain but would like some variety.
-Suburban environment that is reasonably close to the highway and daily needs, not urban and not mcmansions out in the boonies. $300k budget is our target. Less is always better and we could afford more if we needed to.
I am here visiting now, plan to check out parts of York County, VB, and Chesapeake. Those seem to be the areas that check most of our boxes. Prefer VB on paper given the schools, parks, and proximity to beach but am open to other 2 cities as well. Any thoughts? Recommendations? Concerns?
Concerns: Traffic, traffic, traffic. One of you must use one of the tunnels or the James River Bridge twice a day. That's bad.
Restaurant options --- at least decent ones -- on the peninsula are limited. There are some good restaurants, But many are not-so-good and even many of the chain restaurants are substandard here when compared to their properties located elsewhere. You'll have plenty of restaurants to choose from wherever you live. But on the peninsula, I've had more bad and mediocre meals here than anywhere else I have lived. Too often a place that has been recommended as being great turns out to be average or evenf bad. The restaurant bar in Newport News has been set low.
If you wind up on the peninsula, York County has the best public schools.
There are some nice parks in Newport News & Hampton. There are plenty of recreational things to do.
If your job has flexibility for hours/times and hers does not, then I'd recommend living on the southside of the HRBT since you could better time your commute around the worst of the traffic. So, Virginia Beach or Chesapeake. You should be able to do fine on your budget. We purchased our suburban VB SFH less than a year and a half ago for $320-something, and I was being super picky about a lot of things. We're in a pretty quiet neighborhood but less than 10 minutes to Walmart, Target, grocery stores, etc.
Honestly, I think your best bet as a win-win scenario is probably northern Suffolk (Harbour View, Burbage Grant, Creek View) or the Western Branch section of Chesapeake (which borders Northern Suffolk). Sleepy Hole Park is pretty cool, too. Also, in Suffolk, you're really not that far from Norfolk provided you're open to getting an E-Z pass for the tolls where they have some great restaurants... and you're also a quick trip to Old Towne Portsmouth, which has some cool stuff, too. They also have a lot more restaurants out there than they used to as well.
With a commute to Hampton, I'd probably toss VB out personally unless I absolutely loved it over my other options (and I like VB - but I am also not anti- every other city in Hampton Roads). I guess I just think I would focus on the middle ground between the two.
It is probably the most central to both jobs (in Suffolk, a huge plus is using 664 over the HRBT in commuting to Hampton) where no one is really winning or losing on those days where you both have to physically be there at standard hours.
Concerns: Traffic, traffic, traffic. One of you must use one of the tunnels or the James River Bridge twice a day. That's bad.
Well, realistically I would be working from home a couple days a week and when I do come in it'll probably be a 6-230 kind of situation. So I can't imagine the traffic would be particularly bad at those hours. I guess this probably means we should live closer to Greenbrier and cross off York County.
If your job has flexibility for hours/times and hers does not, then I'd recommend living on the southside of the HRBT since you could better time your commute around the worst of the traffic. So, Virginia Beach or Chesapeake. You should be able to do fine on your budget. We purchased our suburban VB SFH less than a year and a half ago for $320-something, and I was being super picky about a lot of things. We're in a pretty quiet neighborhood but less than 10 minutes to Walmart, Target, grocery stores, etc.
I think that is probably the best move to live on the ocean side of the tunnel and let my wife have the easy commute.
I went around today exploring the area, the drive from Hampton to VB at 9am wasn't bad at all and having 2 routes is nice with the HRBT or MM so I went up one way and came back the other. Went to first landing Park, it was really nice with good trails and stuff. Saw the North End of the beach, really enjoyed that. The "resort" area seemed a bit hit or miss. The northern part looked really nice but the areas around 22nd street by the interstate were a little rundown looking. There was a good deal of construction going on though so maybe it is up and coming.
As far as neighborhoods go, based on my searches on here, I checked out near VB Town Center, Kempsville, Hickory, Great Bridge, Greenbrier, and then Harbor View on the way back over the other tunnel.
I think Hickory and Great Bridge are a nice but a little far from things for me and the commute to Hampton would be tough.
VB Town Center was convenient but the traffic seemed pretty bad in the afternoon and I don't think my wife would have a good commute from there to Greenbrier. The 264/64 interchange seemed like a bit of a mess as it was backed up during off peak hours with no accident that I could see.
Greenbrier area looked like a traffic mess as well though there were some nice areas. It just seemed like that big shopping area is too close to the highway.
Kempsville and Harbor View were by far my favorites.
Kempsville just seemed like a great balance of things with schools, parks, shopping, and the interstate right there. It's also reasonably close to the beach... according to google it is less than 20 minutes which is easy to do on a weekend morning. Kempsville was also nice because of the proximity to Downtown Norfolk, VB Town Center, and the Greenbrier area. Despite being in different cities, Kempsville and Greenbrier are actually very close to each other. I especially liked the "Homestead" and "Farfield" communities in Kempsville. They are right off the highway and I was surprised the see the variety of ethnic restaurants in the nearby shopping centers. Along with grocery stores, a hardware store, and your standard chains, I saw Indian, Thai, Greek, Itallian, Japanese, Mexican, and Filipino mom and pop restaurants all within a mile of there. It is a well established neighborhood with mature trees, well maintained yards, kids out playing, and solid looking brick houses.
Harbor View is a beautiful community and would basically give both of us a reasonable commute. It was a little pricey but nothing ridiculous for considering the size of the homes. I'm not sure I want my wife to have to drive that far though since she works pretty standard hours and I have read on here that the highway near the "high rise bridge" can get bad in the afternoon. But its definitely on the short list.
Anyone know anything good or bad about Kempsville or Harbor View?
Honestly, I think your best bet as a win-win scenario is probably northern Suffolk (Harbour View, Burbage Grant, Creek View) or the Western Branch section of Chesapeake (which borders Northern Suffolk). Sleepy Hole Park is pretty cool, too. Also, in Suffolk, you're really not that far from Norfolk provided you're open to getting an E-Z pass for the tolls where they have some great restaurants... and you're also a quick trip to Old Towne Portsmouth, which has some cool stuff, too. They also have a lot more restaurants out there than they used to as well.
With a commute to Hampton, I'd probably toss VB out personally unless I absolutely loved it over my other options (and I like VB - but I am also not anti- every other city in Hampton Roads). I guess I just think I would focus on the middle ground between the two.
It is probably the most central to both jobs (in Suffolk, a huge plus is using 664 over the HRBT in commuting to Hampton) where no one is really winning or losing on those days where you both have to physically be there at standard hours.
Thanks for the info. That is definitely a consideration... although given my flexible hours and telecommuting I think I would definitely lean towards giving my wife the easy commute. It would be rare that I have to work "standard hours" while she would pretty much every day and also want to be close to the daycare. Harbor View area is very nice though, definitely something to consider.
Anyone with any experience in Kempsville in VB or Harbor View in Suffolk for a family? I am going to check both out again today, I think we will rent in one of these two areas for a while before purchasing anything. Also curious what the 830am traffic looks like from Kempsville to Greenbrier and Harbor View to Greenbrier. About to hit the road and find out.
Got a few positive PM's about Kempsville area and my return trip today was another positive one. Although, whoever times the stoplights on Kempsville Rd needs to be fired, I swear every time my light turned green I saw the one ahead of me go yellow.
Today I drove from Hampton down 664 to see what the AM traffic (left just before 8am) would be like for my wife from Harbor View to Greenbrier. Aside from a little backup at what I am assuming the the "high rise bridge" (went over a river with marshland and some industrial uses) things went really smoothly, that said it was almost 30 minutes to Greenbrier. That is a pretty long commute for her under basically ideal conditions. I read in some old posts that the traffic can be much worse in the summer so I don't want to do that to her.
Also made it to downtown Norfolk. Parked my rental at the "military highway" station and took the train into town. I thought it was kind of a weird place for a train stop, it was single family homes and industrial uses. Just got the day pass so that I could go around a bit. I actually really liked downtown although it is small. Town point park was nice, Granby street had a good selection of restaurants and bars, the giant boat by that Nauticus Museum was really cool, and the neighborhood with the brick row houses was attractive. Went to the end of the line which also seemed like kind of a weird place for a train station. I guess there is a medical school there so maybe that's why. Had a great view over there though with a bridge over the water and the museum in the background. All of the water makes for an attractive city. I did have a couple questions though?
1) Why is the area adjacent to the baseball stadium vacant and rundown looking? That seems like prime waterfront property.
2) Why is that huge building next to the park downtown empty? Is it being condemned or something? It also seemed like a great location I can't imagine why it wouldn't be used for something. I saw some signs about the waterside district, is it being redeveloped?
I noticed a ferry boat when I was wandering around town point park and turned out I could use my day pass to ride it across the river to Portsmouth. So I walked around there for about 30 minutes, seemed like a quaint area with some restaurants and shops. All together it was a pleasant morning, which I'm sure was helped by the near-perfect weather.
Did spend some time around Kempsville and Greenbrier at lunch taking the surface streets. Greenbrier is pretty crazy at lunch time, definitely not getting anywhere quickly. Had lunch at an Indian buffet called coastal spice.... it was really good, I was surprised to see a place like that in a neighborhood strip mall. I was talking with the staff and apparently they are from the south west coastal part of India so there food is a little different than you see at most places. Nice folks.
I think I am pretty set on the Kempsville area after a couple days of exploring. It seems to have everything we need, is in budget, and is a short drive from where my wife will be working with multiple routes for her to take. There were parts of Chesapeake and Harbor View that seemed nice too but I think the convenience to Norfolk, the beach, and the interstate sealed the deal for me. They are also apparently building a brand new rec center this year in Kempsville according to the city webpage which would be great for our family.
Thanks again for the help and especially to those that sent me private messages with more detailed info.
Although, whoever times the stoplights on Kempsville Rd needs to be fired, I swear every time my light turned green I saw the one ahead of me go yellow.
Lol! You noticed that too, eh?
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Also, in Suffolk, you're really not that far from Norfolk provided you're open to getting an E-Z pass for the tolls where they have some great restaurants... and you're also a quick trip to Old Towne Portsmouth, which has some cool stuff, too. They also have a lot more restaurants out there than they used to as well. 
