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Old 05-22-2017, 11:38 AM
 
16 posts, read 36,183 times
Reputation: 42

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I just returned from a vacation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I stayed in Norfolk and I drove into Hampton while I was there, too. From what I could see in one week, here are my impressions of the area.

Virginia Beach is dominated by the strip of time shares along the Atlantic coast which runs north and south for several miles. It is not restricted to only tourists and beach shops, residents must enjoy the ambiance, too. There are nice restaurants where you can sit and relax and look out at the ocean along the boardwalk (which is really a wide, long concrete walkway with many wooden benches).

The sandy beaches are clean and wide. If you hunt a bit, there are small, free parking lots with easy access to the beach, mixed in with residential areas. Otherwise, parking closer to the time share strip is reasonable, costing $2.00 per hour by credit card meters.

The fighter jets circle the beach skies and the city all day long. If you like aviation, this will feel like heaven. If not, then the jet noise will annoy you somewhat as they fly constantly. The channel at the south end of the strip offers a public parking lot which costs $7.00 per day. You can access the beach there or sit on the benches and watch the boats come and go. There is a nice, shaded children's play area there, too.

The city feels a lot like Los Angeles beach communities, to me. I lived in Los Angeles for 11 years. The residential neighborhoods offer a mix of condos and homes. Block by block, the price and condition changes. It is dense with shopping and residences, which gives it its big city feeling. There is nothing very laid back about this area, but it is clean and pleasantly livable, from what I can tell. There is a lot of trees and landscaping which soften the city feeling and make it very pleasant.

I would move to VB eagerly, if another move was possible for me. It is very much a beach community. When you get tired of the beach or in the off season, there are cultural amenities, like the aquatic center, zoo, art museums, etc. as you would expect in a big city.

Norfolk and Hampton have a much more industrial feel. The same type of housing, meaning a mix of homes and condos. Density and traffic which are not softened by the beach vibe., but it is all only 30 minutes to get from one city to another, so you are not trapped anyplace. On the other hand, these cities all run together, so it makes it a large city, not separate cities, just like the maps show.

The down side (if you see it that way) is the military predominates, obviously, but it's part of this section of the east coast lifestyle. And there was a major fuel spill while I was there. It was on the news. 94,000 gallons overflowed into the London Bridge water ways before the mistake (a switch left on overnight) was discovered. The residents were most unhappy and rightly so, of course, due to intense fuel odor and wildlife die off. It was an event which I had not even considered until I heard about it. It tempered my concept of living there.

And the hurricane season runs from August to October, so that is a factor to consider. I kept it in the back of my mind, since I was there in May and the heat and strong weather had yet to build significantly.

The worst part of living there on a part-time basis for a retiree, like me, is a drive from the Midwest to Virginia Beach. It means a tedious and possibly dangerous 11-13 hour drive, twice a season, through West Virginia. There is one west-east freeway through the state. It is a several hour long drive on constantly twisting, hilly freeway, sometimes on just one lane which then opens up to two or three lanes, which is exhausting as it snakes through the mountains. There are many tractor trailers sharing this freeway with you, so you can not relax. Warning you, it is a big negative, if you are a seasonal resident. The mountains are beautiful, but that is almost all there is of West Virginia! I suddenly understood why the Shenandoah Valley is famous. It is a relatively wide open expanse tucked into in a state of MOUNTAINS!
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Old 05-22-2017, 11:50 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
918 posts, read 1,691,173 times
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Wrong forum ?
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Old 05-22-2017, 04:48 PM
 
Location: Queen Creek, AZ
7,310 posts, read 12,246,576 times
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I always thought that Virginia Beach can somewhat be considered the Long Beach of the East Coast, both large suburban coastal cities.
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Old 05-22-2017, 05:38 PM
 
6,293 posts, read 10,554,423 times
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Ha! Boy I guess the tourism guys do a great job!

Traffic-I'm not sure how you made it anywhere in 30 minutes.

Density-653.6 people per person means it's not crowded at all.

I personally love living in VAB and all it has to offer, but I don't think your representation of the area is at all correct.

FYI hurricane season is June 1st to November 30th. However there has already been a named storm this year.
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Old 05-25-2017, 11:03 AM
 
189 posts, read 193,993 times
Reputation: 474
Va Beach has a great network of recreation centers that is affordable to local residents. That is a big plus. The sand beach itself can get repetitive after a while for locals I think. Living in Va Beach is very convenient but not the most exciting. My favorite Hampton Roads city is Williamsburg, but don't think about living there or on the peninsula if you work on the southside. Another downside is that any weekend roadtrips will take effort. Western Va (Blacksburg, Roanoke, Moutains) is a 4 hour drive. Wash DC is a 4 hour drive, so is Raleigh, NC.
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Old 05-26-2017, 11:11 AM
 
998 posts, read 1,240,952 times
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When we were deciding where to locate in either VA, NC or SC we chose VA. One of the main things that swayed us was the LA Beach cities vibe we picked up in VA Beach as the OP mentioned. After living in LA for years our favorite area was Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan beaches/South Bay. VA Beach's built environment of strip malls, subdivisions and wide boulevards very much reflects the built environment of the Beach Cities. The diversity of the people here, the salt air, ocean and sun made us feel a lot less removed from the West Coast/LA.
A few months ago I had the top down and was sitting in a parking lot near the Oceanfront. I sat there looking and grooving and had a powerful deja vu of doing the same thing as a 16 year old growing up in LA many moons ago, like Beach Boys long ago.
The VA Beach/Hampton Roads metro is as close as you get to an East Coast version of the Beach Cities/South Bay/Long Beach.
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Portsmouth, VA
6,514 posts, read 8,408,752 times
Reputation: 3822
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaybeesan View Post
I just returned from a vacation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I stayed in Norfolk and I drove into Hampton while I was there, too. From what I could see in one week, here are my impressions of the area.

Virginia Beach is dominated by the strip of time shares along the Atlantic coast which runs north and south for several miles. It is not restricted to only tourists and beach shops, residents must enjoy the ambiance, too. There are nice restaurants where you can sit and relax and look out at the ocean along the boardwalk (which is really a wide, long concrete walkway with many wooden benches).

The sandy beaches are clean and wide. If you hunt a bit, there are small, free parking lots with easy access to the beach, mixed in with residential areas. Otherwise, parking closer to the time share strip is reasonable, costing $2.00 per hour by credit card meters.

The fighter jets circle the beach skies and the city all day long. If you like aviation, this will feel like heaven. If not, then the jet noise will annoy you somewhat as they fly constantly. The channel at the south end of the strip offers a public parking lot which costs $7.00 per day. You can access the beach there or sit on the benches and watch the boats come and go. There is a nice, shaded children's play area there, too.

The city feels a lot like Los Angeles beach communities, to me. I lived in Los Angeles for 11 years. The residential neighborhoods offer a mix of condos and homes. Block by block, the price and condition changes. It is dense with shopping and residences, which gives it its big city feeling. There is nothing very laid back about this area, but it is clean and pleasantly livable, from what I can tell. There is a lot of trees and landscaping which soften the city feeling and make it very pleasant.

I would move to VB eagerly, if another move was possible for me. It is very much a beach community. When you get tired of the beach or in the off season, there are cultural amenities, like the aquatic center, zoo, art museums, etc. as you would expect in a big city.

Norfolk and Hampton have a much more industrial feel. The same type of housing, meaning a mix of homes and condos. Density and traffic which are not softened by the beach vibe., but it is all only 30 minutes to get from one city to another, so you are not trapped anyplace. On the other hand, these cities all run together, so it makes it a large city, not separate cities, just like the maps show.

The down side (if you see it that way) is the military predominates, obviously, but it's part of this section of the east coast lifestyle. And there was a major fuel spill while I was there. It was on the news. 94,000 gallons overflowed into the London Bridge water ways before the mistake (a switch left on overnight) was discovered. The residents were most unhappy and rightly so, of course, due to intense fuel odor and wildlife die off. It was an event which I had not even considered until I heard about it. It tempered my concept of living there.

And the hurricane season runs from August to October, so that is a factor to consider. I kept it in the back of my mind, since I was there in May and the heat and strong weather had yet to build significantly.

The worst part of living there on a part-time basis for a retiree, like me, is a drive from the Midwest to Virginia Beach. It means a tedious and possibly dangerous 11-13 hour drive, twice a season, through West Virginia. There is one west-east freeway through the state. It is a several hour long drive on constantly twisting, hilly freeway, sometimes on just one lane which then opens up to two or three lanes, which is exhausting as it snakes through the mountains. There are many tractor trailers sharing this freeway with you, so you can not relax. Warning you, it is a big negative, if you are a seasonal resident. The mountains are beautiful, but that is almost all there is of West Virginia! I suddenly understood why the Shenandoah Valley is famous. It is a relatively wide open expanse tucked into in a state of MOUNTAINS!
I've always said that Virginia Beach is a miniature, poor man's, Los Angeles. It will never be laid back quite like Los Angeles is, but it is definitely laid back in comparison to other cities on the East Coast. Some would say it is more of a San Diego, or Long Beach. It is probably cleaner than your older, run down areas of Los Angeles.

You only have to go through West Virginia if you're going someplace like Central or Southern Ohio. Maybe Kentucky, Missouri, etc. Not that the Pennsylvania Turnpike going up to Northeastern Ohio is much better. One has to remain alert. And of course I always have to deal with Washington DC traffic going up that way, which for some would also be a negative. I highly recommend flying if possible.

I love your idealism though. I would never accuse Virginia Beach of being cultural. Although that is slowly changing. It is definitely further along than Chesapeake. Most of your amenities are going to be in the surrounding cities, which have the type of grit, poverty, and other socioeconomic challenges that inspire artists. Virginia Beach is more of a suburb, than anything.
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Old 05-28-2017, 01:58 AM
 
998 posts, read 1,240,952 times
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[quote=goofy328;48300863]I've always said that Virginia Beach is a miniature, poor man's, Los Angeles. It will never be laid back quite like Los Angeles is, but it is definitely laid back in comparison to other cities on the East Coast. Some would say it is more of a San Diego, or Long Beach. It is probably cleaner than your older, run down areas of Los Angeles.

The term "laid back" is a loose term at best. IMO Los Angeles is NOT laid back. There are tens of millions of people in greater LA, traffic is beyond congested, the COL is astronomical, the wage differential is staggering and the quest for water puts a damper on the collective high/laid back feeling. Los Angeles WAS laid back fifty years ago but you would be hard pressed these days to find that so.

Equating VA Beach with older, run down areas of Los Angeles and stating that it is probably "cleaner" is kind of stunning to me. Have you ever been to LA? Have you been to the run down areas like Pico Rivera, Compton, South Central, Lynwood, Montebello, El Monte etc.?

I respect your opinion Goofy and mostly enjoy your posts but sometimes I feel that your broad stroke generalizations can be pretty far off base.
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Old 05-28-2017, 07:01 AM
 
Location: Portsmouth, VA
6,514 posts, read 8,408,752 times
Reputation: 3822
[quote=Poquoson7;48307107]
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofy328 View Post
I've always said that Virginia Beach is a miniature, poor man's, Los Angeles. It will never be laid back quite like Los Angeles is, but it is definitely laid back in comparison to other cities on the East Coast. Some would say it is more of a San Diego, or Long Beach. It is probably cleaner than your older, run down areas of Los Angeles.

The term "laid back" is a loose term at best. IMO Los Angeles is NOT laid back. There are tens of millions of people in greater LA, traffic is beyond congested, the COL is astronomical, the wage differential is staggering and the quest for water puts a damper on the collective high/laid back feeling. Los Angeles WAS laid back fifty years ago but you would be hard pressed these days to find that so.

Equating VA Beach with older, run down areas of Los Angeles and stating that it is probably "cleaner" is kind of stunning to me. Have you ever been to LA? Have you been to the run down areas like Pico Rivera, Compton, South Central, Lynwood, Montebello, El Monte etc.?

I respect your opinion Goofy and mostly enjoy your posts but sometimes I feel that your broad stroke generalizations can be pretty far off base.
People think in broad stroke generalizations. So you have to address them in kind so that people have a clear understanding as to exactly what they're saying because that is all that some people know, what to do with it. Easier to talk to people where they're at than to get them to see things your way from the perspective you've come to understand them through. People think that the only thing that is being communicated, is what they've typed. But there's so much more.

I'm confused as to what your position is; that undesirable parts of Virginia Beach are indeed cleaner than ran down parts of Los Angeles or that ran down parts of Los Angeles are cleaner than undesirable parts of Virginia Beach.

No I haven't been. This is why I stated that "It is probably", not that it was definitively.

Laid back is a loose term. But the OP implied it "There is nothing very laid back about this area". The OP implies a lot; from a Midwestern perspective which I can somewhat understand because I was coming from a similar perspective when I first moved here. I was ignorant.

Yes, I am aware of Los Angeles' urban suburbs that people often mistake for being part of the city, that are probably worse than the actual city of whoever is making the observation. No different than a place like East St. Louis. Very similar; so I saw no harm in making that generalization. If anything that is in defense of Hampton Roads, not against it, so I'm not sure what your issue there was.

Some threads just belong in City vs. City. But the real question is why they aren't posted there to begin with. That's all I'm saying.
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Old 05-28-2017, 12:49 PM
 
998 posts, read 1,240,952 times
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Umm Goofy, I think you need to actually go to a place and feel it before you can really try to monitor it's degree of laid backness and verve, just sayin man, it's not a thing.
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