If you could leave HR, where would you go and why? (Virginia Beach: homes, living)

[Erma]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

That may not be a bad idea. Jacksonville always stood out to me for some reason. It looks like a nice city.

I work there quite a bit, just got back from there. They are suffering and feel the economy just as we are. They also said they had an "unseasonably" cold winter. Everybody got it and that is just mother nature's way of saying she's the boss. I do like going there to work, I live at the beach when I'm there, but as far as moving there, I'd choose St. Augustine before Jax, but not until I decide to retire.
You have to remember, that HR is on the cusp of the bible belt. For whatever reason you think people follow their churches, or their beliefs in God, it's what suits them best in living their lives.
I find different things as I travel and certainly not my forte nor my agenda to tell people how they have to live. As for calling them non-independent thinkers, that would be something that makes the world go round.

Now, with that being said, maybe Tucson or Phoenix would suit those who want more independence from life in general, if you can stand the heat.

[rtandc]

If I could leave Hampton roads and live somewhere else?.......That is the million dollar question for me and as of yet I dont have the answer.....Now I have to look at this question in a retirement type of life style as that is the next step in my life

The left coast is awesome in its beauty, from northern California to Washington state but too far left to live there as far as its political beliefs for my liking. The Rockies are my favorite area of the US to visit, with Montana and Wyoming being at the top..... but to live there...well I cant see myself living some place where winter is the dominate season...Arizona and New Mexico has some great areas but it can change so much just within a 10 minute drive....and much of Colorado is just LA at 6000 feet........Nothing in the central US does anything for me so that just leaves the East Coast...........Maine is another great state for outdoor activities and NYC is my favorite big city in the US but again to far north to live there year around. The gulf coast and Fla has some very nice areas and would seem like the best area for me but I dont want to be chased from my home every year with the threat of hurricanes so that puts us back to the mid Atlantic states.....

I love the mountains and would love to live somewhere in the western part of NC or eastern part of Tenn but the wife is a beach girl at heart and trying to get her further then an hour or so from the ocean....well why start a fight I would never win.....LOL

So somewhere along the Atlantic coast is where we will end up next, now Va Bch has been a great place to call home but we both agree Va Bch is not the place we want to spend our retirement years at.... so most likely either the coast line of NC or SC will be the next place we call home. My wife loves the outer banks of NC and would live in Hatteras year around if I would agree but there is just not enough down there to spark my interest 12 months out of the year. .........So I guess we will end up somewhere in SC between Charleston and Savannah but where that exact place is I dont know yet......Yeah I know it puts me back in the hurricane threat area again but it will give us a little longer summer season but still allow us the taste of all 4 seasons which is something I am looking for..........

[Randomdude]

Indianapolis, IN

[stacylee926]

I certainly do not dislike this area!!! I do really enjoy living here. I lived in NoVa for 41 years and could not WAIT to get out of that mess. I have been in HR for almost 6 years now, but I know I don't want to spend the rest of my life here. Our youngest graduates HS in 2010 and I am glad we moved here for his Middle and HS years. He really loves his HS - Churchland HS in Portsmouth.

So once DS graduates, we will probably be moving on (or maybe when he finishes college if he choses that before the military). Florida is probably our final destination. However, we will be visiting Phoenix and AZ in 2 mo and that is one area I researched before our move here and it was top on the list.

Wherever we go, I will always look back at my years in HR as enjoyable. We never tire of places to explore and really enjoy the milder winter weather.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by telemonster

It's changed a bunch. All through Great Bridge are $700K+ McMansions. I grew up in Great Bridge as well. Across the street from where I grew up is a neighborhood of $700K+ homes where all the woods used to be. Down the street is high $600K+ neighborhood. The other open field is a mixed housing development (high priced townhomes, then the $500K to multimillion dollar homes).

Virginia Beach is pretty much all filled in. Where independence is, is this kinda fake downtown. It's working though. At the current rate Virginia Beach will beat Norfolk in terms of tall buildings. They are mostly filled with Law Offices and perhaps financial types I think.

Traffic has picked up a good bit. The tunnels back up. Norfolk has a bunch of construction going on downtown for a new light rail line, which is neat except for the fact that HRT is running it. HRT has a history of poorly managing things (Someone spilled a bunch of beans about them a while ago on Pilot's Talknet, haven't looked at them the same since).

There are a few new buildings in downtown Norfolk. Harbor Heights (Condos, $400K studio to multimillions for the bigger ones IIRC, 30% unsold) and a business building for Dominion Enterprises. Not to be confused with the power company, they are part of what was trader publishing. Used to be a very high turnover place, not sure about now.

Some 1000+ new apartments coming online in downtown Norfolk and Ghent. Be prepared to drop around $1600-$1700 a month for a two bedroom unit. Totally retarded, you can rent a much much MUCH bigger full house with two car garage in VaBeach for the same price. Greedy elite looks to stick it to the people once again. I'm all for young people protesting the cost of housing in Hampton Roads by the way, and I'm not talking about looking for gov't handouts I'm talking about exposing the fraud that led to driving up the prices to where they are now.

I can't think of any really impressive job gains. Stuff like Dominion is just them reshuffling jobs from Virginia Beach, and the Cox half of Trader is moving or moved to Atlanta. Gov't contractors of course, but that's just wealth redistribution (taxes used to fund silly DOD waste that winds up in the hands of contractors that pay people and take a huuuuuge cut), and often the projects could be done with less people that are better.

*Shrug*

Vegas has a Fry's electronics. Vegas has a Ham Radio Outlet (or similar). Vegas probably has music stores where you can get more than school band instrument stuff. Vegas has more than 3 arcades (they have a pinball museum even!). Granted, Vegas is a sweltering desert that was one of the top sites of the housing bubble, but oh well. I'd say ground zero. BTW, the Smithsonian Atomic Bomb museum there in Vegas is nice. Quite a fancy place.

Thanks for all that info. Sounds like it did get quite expensive there. I left right before the first shovel hit the ground on the McArthur Mall which was just about the same time they begun the Great Bridge Bridge project. Those 2 things alone make me want to go back just to see what they are all about.

Once again......I read some of your complaints. I stop by to see what's happening in my old hometown. The Tidewater area is a pretty damn nice place. I been around a bit and of all the places I lived I would go back to Chesapeake in a heart beat if I could.

But telemonster dont compare it with Las Vegas. Vegas is nothing but a crime infested sheet hole. There is much more about LV that you will never read about in the news. I spent 9 year there and just left last Sept. I will never ever go back there.

[xGrendelx]

Originally Posted by symptomatic

I just wanted to know where people would like to live since I see so many people complaining about hampton roads.

Let me just start by saying I don't complain about living here in HR. I like it here, but because of what I'm trying to study, HR doesn't have the resources I need - VA, in general doesn't. California does, on the other hand, so I've set my sights on San Francisco. I should be out there by this February.

[Erma]

Originally Posted by xGrendelx

Let me just start by saying I don't complain about living here in HR. I like it here, but because of what I'm trying to study, HR doesn't have the resources I need - VA, in general doesn't. California does, on the other hand, so I've set my sights on San Francisco. I should be out there by this February.

Good luck in your journey! I'll always love it here in HR, no matter how many complain. The way I look at it is, just like the song "big paradise," you don't know what you've got til it's gone.
You have to get out there to see it all before you can say this place stinks.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by Erma

Good luck in your journey! I'll always love it here in HR, no matter how many complain. The way I look at it is, just like the song "big paradise," you don't know what you've got til it's gone.
You have to get out there to see it all before you can say this place stinks.

Statistics can give you much of the information you need to say this place stinks. I dont need to step foot in Indianapolis to know its more affordable, and has more opportunities for accountants. Nor do I need to go there to know it snows more, is colder in the winter, or has more crime.

With the internet, you can tell pretty much everything about an area outside of the traffic and the prevailing attitude of the people before stepping foot in the area.

[Erma]

Originally Posted by Randomdude

Statistics can give you much of the information you need to say this place stinks. I dont need to step foot in Indianapolis to know its more affordable, and has more opportunities for accountants. Nor do I need to go there to know it snows more, is colder in the winter, or has more crime.

With the internet, you can tell pretty much everything about an area outside of the traffic and the prevailing attitude of the people before stepping foot in the area.

Statistics are bogus. They are made up from an non-existant population of nothing.

[twilight61108]

When the hubby and i moved here to va, i wasnt sure i would like it. Surprisingly i did! The weather is nice and the people I have met are friendly (atg least around my neighborhood anyway) We are planning to move back up north to Mass/r.i area but thats mostly because thats where are family is. As nice as it ids down here in va it just isnt home. Plus i would definitely like to live somewhere smaller than norfolk. Too much hussle and bussle for me.