What are the good neighborhoods in williamsburg va for families?? (crime, homes)

[colebennett]

We are considering a move to Williamsburg, Va and are interested in getting some feedback in regard to:

- Neighborhoods (in the mid 500 - 600 range)
- Schools (public vs private)
- Rec leagues and activities for kids
- traffic
- golf courses
- anything else that may be important when considering a move.

Thanks so much for any advice sent this way!!!

[Azile]

Need help!! Moving to Williamsburg

That thread should help you with some of your questions.

The golf courses there are supposed to be very good. Ford's Colony has one of the highest, top rated golf course in the us that's inside a community. Kingsmill has a good one and it's more of a public golf course. I don't know all of them, but those are a few that I can remember when we were looking in the area.

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know

[williamsburgfan]

We are considering a move to Williamsburg, Va and are interested in getting some feedback in regard to:

- Neighborhoods (in the mid 500 - 600 range)
with this price range you can get housing most anywhere, maybe not governor's land. defintely in kingsmill & ford's colony if an older property. newer property in stonehouse. Those are 4 communities with on-site clubs for golfing. plenty of other courses, but if you want a golf course community look at these. someone mentioned fords colony highest rated and kingsmill is public - not quite accurate. Kingsmill is top-rated, has the LPGA tournament on the best course for hundreds of miles(used to be PGA) 3 courses and is a semi-private club. Open to resort guests and the public, who pay fees upwards of 100/round. Ford's colony also open to public, courses not as good as Kingsmill, price a little less. governors land is private, you can join without living in gov land - much more expensive, links type course that is excellent. no public allowed. If you own property in kingsmill joining the club is discounted and a bargain if you have active golfers.

all four communities have separate homeowner's associations which are mandatory and cover the community pools, community tennis, trash, security, etc. In gov land you must be at least a social member of the country club if a resident. In kingsmill and fords's colony no club membership is mandatory. kingsmill is a full resort with a superb tennis center also - besides like the others having 2-4 community courts, no pro, programs, etc. kingsmill has a full tennis program that is especially known for developing juniors - as well as adult leagues, etc. all neighborhoods have websites you should explore. for active families who golf and play tennis kingsmill should be looked at hard. gov land and kingsmill also on water and have a marina, i saw on another post someone thought stonehouse had a marina and was on the water - it is not.

public courses abound from the national to the city park in newport news. harder to get on in season, good value for the $$ and most offer memberships. public recreation is plentiful and so is water access if that is important to you.



- Schools (public vs private)
public schools rated high - like all places crowded and behind schedule on buildings and capital improvements. They serve most students well. the private schools also excellent. visit them all if you want - visitors welcome.


- Rec leagues and activities for kids
LOTS - what specifically are you interested in? Some leagues fill early and are hard to access. Pool time in short supply.

- traffic
those of us who have lived here a long time think it is geeting bad - whgich means 5 minutes at a traffic light!

- golf courses
see abpve

- anything else that may be important when considering a move.
cost of living is high. we are desirable and the housing prices reflect that.
jobs - will you commute, and if so to where?

Know that "williamsburg" is a very small city and most of these places are in Jmaes City County (JCC)- most of which has a williamsburg address. you can also have a willimasburg address and live in york county (YC) or charles city county (CCC). some other areas in JCC that do not have a "Burg address are toano, lanexa. lightfoot. everything is no more than 20 minutes apart as JCC has about 50K people. Taxes in "the city" are cheaper. The city and county share a school system (known as W-JCC) and library and courthouse. separate governing bodies (in VA by law cities have councils, county has a Board of Supervisors) and tax bases. "Colonial Willimasburg" is physically in the city of willimasburg - it is a separeate entity - known as the living history museum, a big tourist draw. other attractions are busch gardens (in JCC) and wtaer country (in YC). Kingsmill is also by Busch - so residents get discounted passes and access.

so in saying "willimasburg" most people mean JCC and surrounding area. Cost of living les in the "upper county" such as toano. A wonderful place to raise a family if you have a decent income. Most police, teachers, etc, have a hard time finding affordable housing. Plenty of retirees and the College so the education level is high, crime minimal and weather moderate. surrounded by water and quaint rural areas.

[williamsburgfan]

if you do not want a golf course community in your price range consider:

Holly Hills, may be tight at 500-600 but has a fair number of kids

windsor forest - much older so will need renovating but way below your price range, always has been wonderful for kids, wooded, across from from lafayette high school. people forget this nice subdivision and shouldn't.

maybe something on the city off jamestown road - depends on ages of your kids, may not be many around, close to the college so you may have town & gown issues like parking, but not so much. wonderful older homes, cheaper taxes, but no amenities, if that is important.

queen anne - in YC, on water, older, seeing a revival, bigger lots and kids coming and going.