Freemason, Granby, St. Pauls, or Ghent (Norfolk, Hampton: for sale, apartments, rental)

[brooklynbarker]

I am moving to Norfolk in a few months and am starting to research neighborhoods, I've found a few that look interesting, can anyone tell me about these a bit more (listed below)? If you've lived there, what the neighborhood is like, and what you pay in rent for your place, and what kind of place you rent. Thanks!

Freemason Historic District
The Granby District
St. Paul's Neighborhood
Historic Ghent

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by brooklynbarker

I am moving to Norfolk in a few months and am starting to research neighborhoods, I've found a few that look interesting, can anyone tell me about these a bit more (listed below)? If you've lived there, what the neighborhood is like, and what you pay in rent for your place, and what kind of place you rent. Thanks!

Freemason Historic District
The Granby District
St. Paul's Neighborhood
Historic Ghent

Ghent is basically a fun funky neighborhood that has many professionals. Its safe and has a lot of historical housing. Expect to pay around $1000 for an apt.

[PaperTrail]

I lived in Freemason until about three years ago. It was billed as the safest community in Norfolk, with Ghent being a close second.

I loved Freemason. It was right along the water with brick streets and clean sidewalks. I felt like I could go for a walk anytime, and working second shift within five minutes away, I walked a lot. Many of houses in FM were historic, but even the new condos that were built on the edges of the neighborhood didn't strike me as aggressively modern.

It was cool being close to downtown and the mall, but I found myself going to Colley Avenue in Ghent for a lot of things. Freemason doesn't have a grocery store that you can walk to, though Ghent does. That was probably the community's biggest detractor.

My apartment in Freemason was just over $1,000/month, and it was also lots bigger and nicer than most of my friends' places who lived in Ghent. Really, FM and Ghent are two places where you really can't go wrong.

[gator girl]

Hi,

The Freemason area does have a grocery store now. It is a beautiful upscale Farm Fresh "Market Place". It's right across the street from the Nauticus/ cruise ship harbor.

A friend of mine moved to that area and lives right near the cruise ship dock. She said it's a great view, but when the ships come in, the people disembarking for the day walk right by her balcony and she doesn't have much privacy. All in all, she loves living there.

Best wishes for your move.

PS, There are a lot of places for sale that have been on the market a very long time in Ghent. You may want think about whether you would be interested in asking the owners to rent or "rent to own". We know several people that have given military officers 3 year leases, hoping that the sales market would improve in that period of time. Meanwhile, their property is maintained and their mortgages are getting paid. Good luck!

[soshamim]

papertrail, what's the name of the apartments you lived in, and did your rent include utilities?

[telemonster]

I live in Freemason.

It's okay. I don't walk to the grocery store, but there is a Farm Fresh near. I drive to the Wal*Mart in Suffolk and Costco near Janaf.

I'd rather have a house elsewhere but people are still stupid about housing prices, and now it's got me questioning staying in Hampton Roads.

There is 1000+ new apartments coming online in downtown Norfolk. The problem is 2bedroom asking rents are going to be like 1600/mo. A portion of those are in ghent, a huge chunk in freemason and a some in the new Wachovia tower.

The company I rent from has a few properties in Freemason, and are ... less than honorable. They've tried to cheat friends I referred to them, and what not. That might be par for the course with rental companies in Norfolk though as they've always had fresh people to cheat. The internet is messing up the formula though since people leave bad comments.

There is the Hauge tower, the Botetourt, a bunch of stuff along Bute street. Lots of construction, they are putting in a light rail track on the edge of the neighborhood.