Need to know a nice place for my family to move... (Norfolk: apartment complex, renters)

[ihatega]

Hi everyone, i need some help with this. Me, my husband, and 2 year old son will be moving in a few months and are trying to start over and try out someplace completely different. i don't really know anything about the area, never been to VA. I found Hampton and Norfolk on the internet and liked what I heard. My husband will be working at the Walmart Distribution Center in Williamsburg so we probably need somewhere closer to Hampton/Newport News. We don't make a lot of money (around $55k) so we need to be somewhere where we can afford to live. I also love to go to parks with my son, spend time on the water, and do outdoor activities. where is a good spot somewhere around the penninsula that is affordable, near the water, and maybe has plenty of things for children or lots of families in the area. Any advice is helpful. Thanks.

[dvcgal]

Williamsburg is a nice area but expensive to buy a house in and Yorktown is also very nice. Gloucester is not bad but kind of a hassel with the Coleman Bridge. You may also want to consider West Point or New Kent. What is your husband's title at the DC? Mine works there too!

[ihatega]

He's an order filler. he was recently promoted to shift supervisor, but turned it down. He loves order filling and he gets awesome pay for the shift that he works.

We were thinking about Williamsburg, but I was immediately attracted to "the penninsula" b/c of all of the city parks and closeness to the water. Would I be missing out on all of this in Williamsburg? The main reason we are moving is b/c we live so far away from everything and want to be within walking distance or a short drive away from water/parks/recreation.

[dvcgal]

Williamsburg has a lot to offer any family that moves here. We have several state parks close by many of them are on the water but we also have Busch Gardens, Water Country, Colonial Williamsburg~which is why many of the tourists come, Jamestown Settlement and there are places to swim and fish all along Colonial Parkway, which is gorgeous! I'm not sure if you all would be interested in buying or not, but there are several great areas around town for you to purchase a home and still be close to everything. Yorktown is also a nice area to live. Great schools, close to shopping and Yorktown Beach. Again, there are some reasonable places to buy there as well. I would stay away from Newport News in my opinion. There are areas that are really nice and then there are areas that are really bad! You don't have that as much in Williamsburg and Yorktown. Both areas are close to the DC, it takes my husband about 20 minutes to get to work, but you have to remember that he is traveling through the town of Williamsburg to get to work, he is not on the highway or anything. Williamsburg and Yorktown are very safe areas to live in as well. I mean, it's different strokes for different folks, but we love the area and have NEVER run out of things to do here and we have lived here for 5 years!

[ihatega]

Thanks for the advice. We are considering williamsburg, I guess it just depends on what we think of it. We are planning on driving up to take a look in a few months. Are there any apartments that you would recommend in that area? What about in Yorktown? Thanks for your help!!

[dvcgal]

In Williamsburg, there are several nice apartment complexes that house many families, some that are building new homes or waiting for the market to drop a little more. Many of the apartments also house college students and military men and women so you get a good mix of people living near/around you. One of the more popular apartment complexes is Spotswood Commons. It's a gated apartment community with a pool so there is a lot of appeal there for families. Also, you may want to check into Monticello at Powhatan. I have known several people to reside there and seem to like it but check out the website Williamsburg Apartments for Rent with Ratings & Reviews by Williamsburg Renters at ApartmentRatings.com. This website allows people to rate the complexes in the area so it has some descent feedback on it.
Also look over in NewTown at Oxford Townhomes. There was another member on here that lives there and he/she loves it! The townhomes seem extremely nice and well taken care of by the community AND you can walk to the moveis, restaurants, shopping, and so on! New Town is a great little area to live especially if you prefer to walk to everything!
In Yorktown, Grafton Station is where my hubby lived for about a year and he really liked it there and felt like the complex was secluded enough that it was safe. There is another apartment complex off Hwy 17 near McDonald's and I cannot think of the name of the place to save my life, but we have known several couples from the DC to live there and really like it! I can give names to you all once you decide on an area, but many of the employees at the DC have resided in an apartment complex around the area for at least a year! There are so many people that move here and aren't sure about the area so instead of buying they rent, so some of the best advice that I can really offer is to make your husband ask around! Everyone has an opinion so you are sure to hear the pros and cons to almost every area surrounding the DC!
Good luck and if I think of the name of that other apt. complex I will send you an IM.

DVCGAL

[JBrock]

Howdy, welcome to Hampton Roads. I just moved here about 3 months ago from upstate NY. I can share a little bit of info from what I've been told and experienced.

I work in western Chesapeake at a private company as a software engineer, my pay is normal for starting out, but it will go up substantially over the course of 3-5 years... over double actually in 5 years. (To show an example of my pay at 40k/yr to what you will be making at 55k/yr you are doing well for most of the area. I live off of 17 north, this road leads directly from my house (couple side streets) to my work--10.4 miles to be exact. I love the area I'm in; the area is very quiet and is a good mix of country and city. I am 10 minutes from famous Smithfield, VA... 15 minutes from Chesapeake (Western Branch), and 20 minutes from Portsmouth Blvd. and the mall. My house is in Carrolton, VA which is in the Isle of Wight County just over 3 bridges. We got a large house for the same price an apartment would cost living in Hampton or the better parts of Norfolk. I did not buy yet, as I am patient and will wait a few years until I can purchase a larger and newer house in the HR area.

Google map where I live and see that it is close to Williamsburg. I know a few of my neighbors work in and around Williamsburg, so it is doable. It's around 36 miles, depending on what time you leave for work it will take around roughly 45 minutes depending on traffic. If you want to avoid a headache(again depending on time of day) avoid living in Norfolk to avoid the HRBT. Constantly in 6 mile backups.

Just another option to look at. Also, look around Gloucester Point. I almost had a job working around there, nice coastal living.

Good luck,

Joel