Occasionally Commuting from Williamsburg to ODU (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: oceanfront, how much, neighborhood)

[HamptonRoads_Relocation]

I was recently offered a faculty position at ODU. Post-covid, I would likely need to be on campus 2-3 days a week during the semester but never in the summer. After doing some googling, Williamsburg seems like a very nice place to live. I found posts on here that suggested against commuting from Williamsburg to Norfolk, but the posts seem to be aimed at those with a 9-5 position that would be commuting 5 days a week throughout the year. Would it be crazy to consider living in Williamsburg if I only occasionally needed to physically be on the ODU campus? Depending on some of the job's details, I would be making the drive 60-70 times over the course of the year.

[VA Yankee]

I would suggest you practice the drive during the anticipated hours to judge for yourself. A certain time frame can normally be reasonable but realize it only takes a small accident to turn it into a bumper to bumper crawl that can last hours.

Good Luck...

[in_newengland]

My BIL is on the faculty at ODU but he lives in Virginia Beach.

I only drove from Virginia Beach to Williamsburg once and I hated that drive. What is the highway--rte 17 or something? I didn't like that drive, felt it was kind of scary. Of course to me, all the traffic all over Hampton Roads was scary and just not my thing.

My BIL lives in a nice area of Virginia Beach--there are some nice areas, boringly suburban, but nice.

[HamptonRoads_Relocation]

What part of VA beach does your BIL live in? I haven't visited the area yet, but it sounds like jet noise can be an issue there. Is it really as bad as some people make it sound? For what it's worth, boringly suburban is exactly what I would be looking for, and out budget would top out around 1.2m.

[springfieldcollegealum]

Also if you are driving from Williamsburg to Norfolk and back, you'd have to go through the tunnel which can be severely backed up. If there is an accident in the tunnel it could take a very long time to get through. I would much rather do VA Beach to ODU.

[HamptonRoads_Relocation]

So where would you recommend living in VA beach? Or Chesapeake? I don't want to deal with jet noise (I lived under a flight path in DC. Not doing that again), and I would like to avoid areas that flood consistently.

[jobber123rd]

Originally Posted by HamptonRoads_Relocation

So where would you recommend living in VA beach? Or Chesapeake? I don't want to deal with jet noise (I lived under a flight path in DC. Not doing that again), and I would like to avoid areas that flood consistently.

For VB, start with this map and turn the AICUZ layer on to see how jet noise impacts certain areas of the city.

In short, you'll be fine (as far as noise goes) in the following areas:
- Anywhere along the Shore Drive corridor
- North End of Oceanfront
- Top half of Great Neck
- Little Neck
- SE corner of the city (Sandbridge, Lagomar, Courthouse & Kellam HS area, Pungo)
- Anywhere west of Rosemont Road

You can spend most/all your budget and get something spectacular with a nice water view, or go for a perfectly fine suburban neighborhood away from the water for third of your budget or less (e.g. Salem Woods). In either case, you wouldn't have to put up with the jets.

The jet noise does hit hard in the place most tourists visit (south end of the Oceanfront), as well as two of the major nearby shopping areas (Lynnhaven Mall and Hilltop), but VB is big city, and you can certainly pick a nice area away from that.

[HamptonRoads_Relocation]

Originally Posted by jobber123rd

For VB, start with this map and turn the AICUZ layer on to see how jet noise impacts certain areas of the city.

In short, you'll be fine (as far as noise goes) in the following areas:
- Anywhere along the Shore Drive corridor
- North End of Oceanfront
- Top half of Great Neck
- Little Neck
- SE corner of the city (Sandbridge, Lagomar, Courthouse & Kellam HS area, Pungo)
- Anywhere west of Rosemont Road

You can spend most/all your budget and get something spectacular with a nice water view, or go for a perfectly fine suburban neighborhood away from the water for third of your budget or less (e.g. Salem Woods). In either case, you wouldn't have to put up with the jets.

The jet noise does hit hard in the place most tourists visit (south end of the Oceanfront), as well as two of the major nearby shopping areas (Lynnhaven Mall and Hilltop), but VB is big city, and you can certainly pick a nice area away from that.

Thanks. I couldn't get the link to work. Is this (https://www.vbgov.com/government/dep...uz_Streets.pdf) the same map? Any thoughts on VB vs Chesapeake? I saw some other threads on here last night about Chesapeake having traffic issues because of being "below the locks," but it wasn't clear from the discussion how much of an issue that was.

[ctousley819]

I am one of the few who lives in Williamsburg but commutes to Chesapeake from work. I don't have to do it every day, maybe 2-3 times a week like you mentioned you may need to. For me, I have no problems with it, but it is not for everyone. When anyone asks me why I do it, my answer is simply this...I love my job and I love where I live. If it is not both of those things, the commute,even 2-3 days a week, will get old VERY quickly.

[HamptonRoads_Relocation]

Originally Posted by ctousley819

I am one of the few who lives in Williamsburg but commutes to Chesapeake from work. I don't have to do it every day, maybe 2-3 times a week like you mentioned you may need to. For me, I have no problems with it, but it is not for everyone. When anyone asks me why I do it, my answer is simply this...I love my job and I love where I live. If it is not both of those things, the commute,even 2-3 days a week, will get old VERY quickly.

Good to know. About how long does that take you?