What do you love & hate about the hamptom roads area? (Virginia Beach: oceanfront, crime)

[crazylilkelly]

Just curious about all your opinions on the area. Thanks!

[Erma]

I love that no matter where you go, there's a 7-11 for coffee! I love the versatility of the area, the little shopping centers, all the thrift stores and life.
I hate the personal property taxes!

[crazylilkelly]

Originally Posted by Erma

I love that no matter where you go, there's a 7-11 for coffee! I love the versatility of the area, the little shopping centers, all the thrift stores and life.
I hate the personal property taxes!

thanks!
how about the ppl & weather?

[Rita Mordio]

I love the diversity of the area. Being a tourist area has the advantage of many fun things to do, lots of interesting festivals and such events, and a variety of food to choose from. We're also the Seven Sister Cities, so getting from one city to another is not that difficult. There's plenty of housing options available that can please (almost) anybody.

I hate the traffic. The way that the interstate entrance and exits are set up is absolutely stupid. The roads are pretty bad and can be darn confusing to try and explain to visiting people. Imagine trying to explain to somebody that Military Highway goes through 3 cities in a 2-3 mile stretch because their GPS system is freaking out!

I hate the attitudes that many people in this area have - that "I'm better than you because I have more stuff".


As far as the weather, it's yucky. It's not just overly hot, but overly muggy as well!

[crazylilkelly]

Originally Posted by Kuharai

I love the diversity of the area. Being a tourist area has the advantage of many fun things to do, lots of interesting festivals and such events, and a variety of food to choose from. We're also the Seven Sister Cities, so getting from one city to another is not that difficult. There's plenty of housing options available that can please (almost) anybody.

I hate the traffic. The way that the interstate entrance and exits are set up is absolutely stupid. The roads are pretty bad and can be darn confusing to try and explain to visiting people. Imagine trying to explain to somebody that Military Highway goes through 3 cities in a 2-3 mile stretch because their GPS system is freaking out!

I hate the attitudes that many people in this area have - that "I'm better than you because I have more stuff".


As far as the weather, it's yucky. It's not just overly hot, but overly muggy as well!

Thanks! I've heard about the muggines. I'm from central IL & it gets pretty muggy out here too....which i hate!

I've been reading between this site & SD. A big complaint they have over there is the "I'm better than you b/c I have more stuff." Hearing all that was really turning me off....but now you said it too. I've lived in towns in the midwest where that mentality was staunch as well. So, I think I'm just accepting it as mentality you'll find all over the country.Many Americans seem to have a keepin up w/ the jones' way of thinking....the important thing is to not let that change my values wherever I go.

[stacylee926]

I love the fact that we are near the water - I rarely ever go to the beach, but it is THERE if I want to.

I love that I can go to Olde Town Portsmouth and walk among historical buildings and then go to McArthur and shop at Nordstroms.

I love that there is real country and farmland nearby and people are friendly - just like in the old days.

Traffic is tolerable at the Monitor Merrimack and 664 - which is where I travel everyday. Hubby goes thru the mid-town tunnel and he rarely has any trouble either.

Most of all, I love the mild winters

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by crazylilkelly

Just curious about all your opinions on the area. Thanks!

what i loved about my hometown of Hampton that it was a mid-sized city that felt like a small town. The military experience was very unique. Most of the folks there had working-class values.

what i hated was the overhyping of crime. While crime is untolerable in some pockets, HR is no more dangerous than any other metro area with over 1 mill people. Now i live outside DC and HR crime is a cakewalk compared to here.

[Wi_Girl]

I love the closeness to DC, the mountains, NC, and especially Busch Gardens and Water Country! I also like meeting people from different parts of the country and here you get alot of diversity, especially with the military.

I hate the city crime (NN has gotten alot worse in the past 8 years that I've been here), the public school system, the cost of living, the hot summers, the personal property tax, the food tax, the nasty Virginia Beach oceanfront (its just dirty and gross and the water is nothing like southern or western U.S. beaches) and the congestion of people and traffic.

My husband was born and raised here, I have been living here for 8 years. We're hoping to move out after we graduate with our college degrees (job pays for them, so we dont want to leave until we have them). Its just not for us, some people love it here, some people hate it here. I dont think its the worst place on earth to live, but my personal opinion is that there are alot better places for us to raise our family. Just my opinion.

[darzz1]

Originally Posted by crazylilkelly

Just curious about all your opinions on the area. Thanks!

Hate:

The Crime
Traffic/Congestion
Humid Weather
Over Priced Homes/Generic Homes
Strip Malls on every corner
lack of Character (in most areas)
Lots of rude People (not all)


Like:

Close to Busch Gardens
Beach/Boardwalk (off Season)
Winters
Location/ DC/BG/Water Country
Down Town Portsmouth/Childrens Mues.
My Daughters Pre-School

Just a few things right off the bat I thought of. Not ment to offend anyone.
Just an opinion.

[chesapeakesim]

Dislikes:

- High Cost of Living
- High Cost of Homes
- Generic Neighborhoods and Houses
- Lack of character in most areas (every neighborhood and section of the city feels the same)
- No "true" nice down town areas
- Many people have the keeping up with the Joneses attitude where they think they are better cause they have more stuff.
- Feeling like an outsider if you are not in the military.
- Weather, the winters are mild which is great, but it is generally too cold to do much outside. The summers are hot and humid (this week has had highs in the 100s) so it is hard to enjoy a lot of the summer unless it involves water. We usually only have a short period of time when the temps are a nice 60/70 degrees, usually about a month on each side. That is just me though, many probably like the hotter weather.
- Same strip malls with the same stores every few miles.
- Lack of any small town feel / Lack of big city feel. Most towns have one or the other, Hampton Roads seems to fall in the middle. You would think that would mean the best of both worlds, but it ends up being you don't get any of the advantages of either.
- No pro sports teams / no major college teams.
- Crime
- No real sense of community, especially with the military people are always coming and going so you don't get the community feel as much as other cities.

Likes:
- BG / Williamsburg.
- People overall are friendly compared to many other cities.
- If I want McDonalds / Taco Bell I have like 5 to choose from within 5 miles. That is also a dislike, but it comes in handy .
- Mild winters.

As with the previous couple of posts, these are just my opinions. It is not meant to trask this area, I just think there are many better places to raise a family and live and I would love to move out of this area. But everyone is different and many on this board love this area so it just depends on who you are.