Williamsburg, or elsewhere? (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News: real estate market, apartment, how much)

[Mystagic]

For personal reasons, I decided a while back I wanted to leave Alabama and be closer to my Virginia friends. I've travelled in Virginia quite a bit, but I don't really know much about it. I'm sure it's more expensive than backwoods southeast Alabama, but that's about all I can guess at. But where to go...?

--Most of my friends are in the area of Virginia Beach, Hampton, Newport News, and Chesapeake, and I don't want to be too far from them, or more than a couple hours from the ocean.

--I'm tired of living in redneck backwoods. I'm not much of a city person (though I did spend a year in a suburban Pittsburgh apartment just fine), but I DO want to live fairly near a large/major city where I can have better chances of finding work, experience more culture, have a great variety of shopping opportunities (I do a lot of Asian cooking and importing, but we don't even HAVE an Asian market within two hours of me)...where I live right now is isolated farmland, with our nearest neighbours a good quarter-mile away. Which is fine and quiet, except we can't get anything like cable Internet, DSL, or even decent cell phone service out here.

--I'm willing to drive an hour or more to work because I already pretty much do that here to go anywhere, and long distances don't bother me.

--Most of my friends who I've spoken to have recommended Williamsburg, though from what I gather it's a MUCH smaller town than even the one I'm coming from (Williamsburg estimated population 11,465 compared to my town's 61,287? =@_o =) If it's cheap to live there and it's near-ish a big city, I'm fine with small-town living, though. But I'm open to all suggestions, of course. I just need to be able to AFFORD it, on what will probably be two part-time job salaries if I don't luck out on transferring in my current job with the postal service. My current living situation has me and the past 27 years of my life crammed into an 8.5' x 11' room, so just about anything will seem roomy next to that. Especially since half of my current room is taken up by my rabbit's hutch. =P~ (And yes, he's coming with me.)

--I guess what I'm looking for is small-town living with big-city access and advantages. =3

Sorry for the dragging list, but I've never done this before, and I want to make this move the right move! Thank you so much!

[htlong]

williamsburg is pricey,anywhere in the hampton roads area is pretty expensive, you might want to check out glouster (sp) on the middle peninsula

[Jennifer Parschauer]

You might check the thead "what's bad in richmond" - toward the end of the thread there's some info for something resembling what you are looking for. I've looked at real estate listings in Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties and found it cheaper than Williamsburg and more to offer near richmond... but we're still wondering and looking ourselves. Hope this helps.

[Mystagic]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Parschauer

You might check the thead (snip)

Thanks for the advice!

[maggiekate]

I really liked Williamsburg, however it is traffic heavy. The housing is also expensive. I found Newport News which is not too far away to be less so. You should take a visit and look it over before you decide.

judy

[htlong]

maggiekate,
i work in news and live in richmond and i find the traffic in news/hampton very congested, i-64 is an outdated road ,it needs 4 lanes from va beach to richmond.
if i were younger i would surely check out the middle peninsula , if you need to go to news or norfolk there is a toll bridge across the york river you pay only from yorktown to glouster (sp) the ride south is free.
prices are going up like a rocket over there too!....so much for the real estate balloon popping down here!!
also there is a cute little town called west point about half way between richmond and hampton roads, it has a paper mill, when you arrive there you ask how can anyone live with this stink (from the mill) but within 5 min you are unaware of any odor whatso ever . va has just about any kind of community you could think of from mts. to the sea its here.... come on down,or up!!!!!!!!

[Williamsburger]

The town with the paper mill is called West Point. It's supposed to be a great place to live and the locals can't smell the mill anymore. (You get used to it.) The other place to look that is cheap(er) is Gloucester. Williamsburg is growing very fast but the real estate market has topped out and it's now a buyer's market. You could probably get some good deals right about now.

Here are the MLS listings where I live:
removed

Good luck to you!

[Hyperion623]

Mystagic, I laughed aloud as I read your post about wanting to move from a redneck part of Alabama.

I've been here a year and I look forward to the day I can escape! I lived in VA for many years before moving west to AZ, which I enjoyed immensely except for the brutal summer heat and the exceptionally high cost of living. However, because of family obligations, I was compelled to leave Arizona and return to this part of Alabama, which I left many years ago without looking back.

I'm stuck here in Redneck Central another 6 years in order to retire, but once that day arrives I'll be selling this house as quickly as possible and moving back to VA. I'm considering both Charlottesville and Williamsburg and will travel back to VA several times before making a decision about where to live.

It has been 10 years since I moved from VA, and I still remember vividly how much I enjoyed visiting Williamsburg, especially at Christmas. I lived in Midlothian, which is a 45-minute drive from Williamsburg, and I really enjoyed it there, too. However, I'm single now . . . no kids . . . and I'm not looking for the family atmosphere that Midlo offers.

Those of you who live in the Williamsburg or Charlottesville areas . . . are these cities good places for a single retiree? I'm very active . . . don't want to sit in a rocking chair on the porch, so I intend to work part-time during the school year as a substitute teacher.

I like to take day trips during the summer, and I remember that the areas surrounding both cities offer many delightful places to visit.

Best of luck, Mystagic, in finding your next home.

[GradVT06]

Originally Posted by maggiekate

I really liked Williamsburg, however it is traffic heavy. The housing is also expensive. I found Newport News which is not too far away to be less so. You should take a visit and look it over before you decide.

judy

Absolutely not. The traffic there is very, very good. I lived there for 9 years and have spent the last 6 in Roanoke, where traffic really is bad because of all the hills and truckers, especially on I-81. Do not give a second throught to traffic as a problem in Williamsburg.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by htlong

maggiekate,
i work in news and live in richmond and i find the traffic in news/hampton very congested, i-64 is an outdated road ,it needs 4 lanes from va beach to richmond.
if i were younger i would surely check out the middle peninsula , if you need to go to news or norfolk there is a toll bridge across the york river you pay only from yorktown to glouster (sp) the ride south is free.
prices are going up like a rocket over there too!....so much for the real estate balloon popping down here!!
also there is a cute little town called west point about half way between richmond and hampton roads, it has a paper mill, when you arrive there you ask how can anyone live with this stink (from the mill) but within 5 min you are unaware of any odor whatso ever . va has just about any kind of community you could think of from mts. to the sea its here.... come on down,or up!!!!!!!!

sorry I meant less expensive, not traffic