Williamsburg

[Bound for Williamsburg]

I lived in Williamsburg while attending school in Southside in 2002 after living in NN for a bit. It was a horrible commute, but I chose to live in Williamsburg because I loved it and even interned with the city. I moved to DC after school, and live in Alexandria now, which is a pretty great urban environment. I am a single mom who is getting married this summer, and we are planning to move to Williamsburg next year because we want a great community we can afford to raise our children.

Looking for a safe home - I wasn't exactly living in the best area as a single girl on a college student, but I never felt unsafe. I struggled a lot working several jobs to pay my way through school. I am by no means wealthy. But try buying a home in N. VA. We are moving to Williamsburg because it is an affordable place for us to have a yard and room for a family. And I understand there has been a considerable housing boom since 2002, but that's everywhere. New townhouses start in the 670's here. It's next to impossible to find any decent single family home under $500k, and that's with the market down. We are looking forward to the fair selection of homes that we have seen in Williamsburg under $300k, which is affordable for us as middle income. Plus there are cheaper places a little further out in York, Gloucester, NN and Toano/Lightfoot and even Charles City.

Williamsburg has a few too many retirees, and relies on tourism a lot, which suffered some after 9/11, I remember, and yes, I was one of the food servers depending on tourism. Without a degree, these low-paying tourist dependent jobs are what a lot of the poor has. I doubt Williamsburg has the homeless problem DC has though. Williamsburg city limits has about 12,000 people, and half are college students. Half of what is left are retirees, so yes, that makes the middle class look small. The city and county have been trying to work with economic development partnerships like New Town, Imogen, and High Street to help create more of a middle class.

I am concerned over the job market because it is not as robust as DC, which is one of the draws that helps counteract the exorbitant cost of living. In the end, we are willing to take some of a pay cut to live in a place of cheaper cost of living.

Williamsburg is not perfect and has pros and cons. But it has a lot of good things that is causing its growth. There will be growing pains, but that is part of the community process to sort those out. If you don't like it, it may not be the right place for you, but I would argue it is is considerably better and safer than the areas surrounding it such as Hampton and Newport News and even Richmond, which has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. If you're looking for a safe home in a small, but vibrant town on the VA peninsula with a lot of great offerings, Williamsburg is a smart option.

[Penny_Wise_Nickled2Death]

I was born and raised in Williamsburg, I am also still pretty young, I think I can offer a more balanced point of view on the subject of Williamsburg Good/Williamsburg Bad.

Williamsburg is a town where you can leave your doors unlocked at night. The town is nice and clean, senior-friendly, I have always heard mixed reviews about whether it is child-friendly or not so I will just throw that out.

In terms of public services, Williamsburg is lacking. The public transportation consists of a small bus system that serves the usual tourist spots; it is great if you want to save a one or two mile walk between shopping spots, but many people in the county would have to walk a long way along dangerous roads to reach the closest bus stop. For example, I used to live on Raleigh St. near Jamestown, the closest bus stops are the intersection of Jamestown Rd. and Route 199, and the one at the Target shopping center. If anyone thinks that this is a nothing walk, I invite you to walk the route with me. On the way to Jamestown and 199 you face being struck by a car because there is no shoulder, the police will stop you at least once a day when walking and suggest that you didn't take that route. Walking to target consists of walking mainly through a muddy ditch, then sinking up to your ankles in goose poo and muddy water once you get up the hill near Powhatan. The side walks in the area start near a neighborhood, extend for 30 feet in either direction, and then end. Lastly, and anyone who lives there knows this (even if they won't admit it), have fun getting anything done; you usually have to take a nice long drive to Richmond or Norfolk to buy what you need, etc.

The local economy in Williamsburg consists of sleeping and eating. Go down Richmond road and look: hotel, restaurant, hotel, restaurant, hotel, restaurant... Night club? Oops, no wait, that burned down. As it turns out you can have two of the three permits in Williamsburg: ABC, Music, and Dancing. You can have fun thinking up various combinations of two of the three.

Litering in Williamsburg is a strange creature indeed. The locals do a great job at training people not to litter. As a result the streets are mostly clean and everything is nice.

Since I did mention eating and sleeping, think about this: where do the people who work for $6.25/hr. live? They live 4 or 5 in an apartment or house, or they still live with their parents. I really don't want to hear anyone flame me for this, but most jobs in Williamsburg put a full time worker at POVERTY level. There are no affordable apartments in Williamsburg, and well um, all of the apartments that aren't GRANDFATHERED actually exist in either York County or James City County (unless they slapped on the condo label and trippled the already doubled price), they are still kinda trashy though. $800 a month for a one bedroom? Dream on dude!

Wierd fact: I work for a contract security firm. I was making $8.00/hr. at a
timeshare site. I was paying $860 dollars a month for a 1 bedroom duplex on Raleigh St. Then one day I got a transfer to Richmond, and now I make $18.80/hr. sitting on my rear in a office headquarters behind 4 inches of bulletproof glass typing replies on forums... I am also renting a 3 bedroom house for $60 dollars a month cheaper than my 1 bedroom hole in Williamsburg. My neighborhood isn't crime infested, it is rather quiet, exept for the local youngsters meeting to play basketball at the end of the road. If they did that in Williamsburg someone would call the police.

I-64 East: The peninsula's parking lot; need I say more about that? Oh, yes your state taxes DO help fight traffic in Norfolk...

Most homes in Williamsburg are very expensive, a lot of people that actually work in the city live in Newport News or Hampton.

If you love trees and greenieness, you will love it in Williamsburg. The city will not cut down a tree that blocks a stop sign at an intersection, no matter how many people crash into it a die. The only thing that will cause the city to cut down a tree is if someone from Newport News crashes into it and dies while on their way to Busch Gardens or Colonial Williamsburg.

Have everything done by 6:00 pm, the side walks roll up and the town closes.

This last one doesn't have to do with Williamsburg as a town, just the people who like to pump it up and sell it to you. Nothing is close to Williamsburg. Both Richmond and the peninsula claim Williamsburg as their "area". Richmond is an hour away and you will spend at least 45 minutes in the car trying to get to the good stuff on the peninsula.

Ok, good life-advice in general. Real estate agents have so much to gain by pumping you full of fluff and rainbows. They want to sell you a house, or refer you to a friend (and collect a percent) who will sell you a house. A lot of times these people don't live in Williamsburg, they live in James City County or York or Richmond; or they inherited a house, or were just rich to start out with. These people aren't looking out for you, it is a known fact that all kinds of filth and low life bottom feeders dwell in the real estate market. Of course they are going to say life is peachy and that [insert local here] is a wonderful place. BTW dude... The people at CNN or wherever, don't live in Williamsburg. Also, I may be only 27 years old, but I have had more life experience than most. I went from being thrown out when I was 18 because my parents couldn't afford an extra mouth to feed, to being homeless, to being the working homeless, all in Williamsburg so do not take my advice lightly.

All in all Williamsburg is a great place to live honestly. The town is full of friendly people, but you will end up feeling cheated if you don't have all of the facts. Williamsburg takes the cake if you love life, love people, love geese, and the outdoors. If you do not have a job that pays at least twice the average rate in Williamsburg, you cannot exist there.