Looking for Semi Rural Hobby/horse property in COOLER/lower elevations-Help!? (Virginia Beach: low crime, how much)

[HatesFlordia]

Ok let me TRY to make this as direct as I can so yall can help me.

I am looking for an area in VA that is either mostly flat or rolling hills.

Must be quaint, low crime even a "good ol boy" town but not a 20 mile hike to a feed store or a Wally World. I Dont mind seeing chickens in the front yards, Christmas lights in July or even cars up on blocks but dont want to be in or near any white trash/high drug areas. And I cant afford to be with plantations or estates. Im just average middle to a smidge above middle class, and dont want to be with the "snooty".

I stay at home so I Dont need any big city life nearby, but it would be nice to have a town that has the basics, walmart, doctors, hospital, pizza.

Ive been in FL ALL my life (born in Norfolk be relocated very early) and have visited family in PA once and I stayed 4 mo. My ears NEVER adjusted and either I couldnt hear or they were popping all the time. Im trying to search in an elevation range of 800 ft or less to avoid that from happening again.

Here is the biggie for me! Ready?!?! Now Ive been googling and researching but avery site give you "averages" and I know those avereages are SO WRONG even for where I live (its usually 5-7 degree's hotter than any website will tell you) and I want to hear from the people who live there. Please tell me where you are and what the summer where you are is REALLY like. Now I know places can have unually hot spells or cold snaps lasting about a week so I dont count those. What are your July and August average high temps (what I can really expect in that location on a normal daily basis) and what are your Jan.Feb lows. And how often does it snow? Also, very important to me...what are your dew points in the summer months (how humid is it?) Would be great if you have the average dew points. Anything over a 70 dewpoint is miserable. I looked up Charlottesville and from what I can google the elevation is about 600ft, the summer high in July average about 85 and evening low in the high 60's, but I can find nothing about the humidity/dew points. This would be my ideal climate. And if this is true can you tell me what areas/towns surrounding Cville would be a good place for a semi rural life??

And do you get afternoon storms like we do here in FL??? Whats the Worst weather you expereince?? Is the ground sandy or clay or mud?? And do you have 4 seasons (could I watch leaves change?)

Im in FL between Tampa and Orlando and as Ive gotten older I can no longer deal with the heat and humidity (I live inside even tho Im on a farm and can do nothing till after dark due to the heat, I cant even drive out in it, and I can only enjoy my horses in the wee hours) and hope to be relocated to SOMEWHERE in VA with my ponies by this March. Here our average summer highs (and summer lasts from April till mid Oct) are 90 to 100 with about 95 being average. Our dew points run 72-77 (feel like trying to move and breath in hot jello)

Thank YOU SO MUCH for helping me find my new hopefully forever home!

[BrianLMA]

Here's a site that may be helpful:

Weatherbase - Records and Averages for Virginia, United States of America=

While it does only have averages, it also mentions elevation, dew points, snow amounts, etc. Be sure to click on the "All Data" tab to see all of the categgories. I am in the Hampton Roads area (Southeastern VA) and most of this area is going to be close to sea level. We do have seasons here, but you will find it rather humid in the summers. Not sure if that will be a deal killer. Just like Florida, we do get the occasional threat of hurricanes, but certainly not to the extent of Florida. This was a very quiet summer in terms of hurricanes. No daily showers to speak of, just what I would consider a normal amount of occasional showers and thunderstorms in the spring and summer. We used to get a few snows each winter, enough to close school a few times a year, but in the past few years it seems to be much milder...maybe global warming...

Lots of areas here for horses, even in the heavier populated cities like Virginia Beach as some are on the outskirts of the cities. Just to get an overall idea about this area, click on Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Virginia Beach or Williamsburg. Several other cities/counties are not of this site for some reason, but they will have similar temps. Some of those areas are Suffolk, Gloucester County, Isle of Wight County, York County, and James City County. A lot will also depend on how much property you are looking for your horse(s), size of house, purchase/rent price range etc.

[Nebat]

Hi there! I don't live in Charlottesville but I do work there. To me the average temps in the summer seem to range around 85-90, +/- a few degrees. It does and will get into the upper 90's but it does not stay there long. It might reach 100 on some days but that is unusual and will not last long either. Be prepared, this is still the east coast, so it will be hot and humid all the way up into New England in the summer. In VA we do have 4 distinct seasons that arrive on schedule, our leaves do change color and fall off in the winter. Snow is not as regular as it was while i was growing up(global warming?), it is not unusual to get at least one storm to bring 6 in. or more during the winter. Richmond received nearly a foot last March. To me the average winter temps seem to hover around 40-45 +/- a few degrees. It does and will dip into the 30's and sometimes the 20's. (BTW these are all high temps) A few years ago I was returning home and it was 4 degrees at one point. The year before last I was coming back from Roanoke and at one point it was 0 degrees. We also have been having some 65-70 degree days in the winter. So temps in VA can be totally schizo. As a rule the closer to the coast the warmer it gets. I don't know enough about dew points to give any information. In the C-ville area look into Crozet or Ruckersville. Maybe Palmyra. Hope this helps.

[Stpattylady]

I moved to the Charlottesville area from the Sarasota/Bradenton area in September 2008, so I can speak to both. Central Virginia can be extremely humid in the summer, most July and August. This past summer and spring here were the coolest on record in like 70 years or something...I read that somewhere recently. I grew up in suburban Richmond, and I remember the summers being much hotter than what I experienced this past summer. Generally, September feels like a summer month in central Virginia, just not as humid and the nights are cooler. The falls here are lovely with the color changes. The winters in central Virginia are very volatile; you never know what you are going to get. Although infrequent, you can have a 70 degree day. Richmond did have a freak big snowfall this past March; it was interesting because Charlottesville at the foot of the Blue Ridge further west only got a dusting. The next weekend after the big snow in March 2008, Richmond had 70 degree weather. I remember as a child in Richmond always having at least one or two really good snowfalls. However, central Virginia usually just gets a few dustings each year and some annoying ice storms. So when it REALLY SNOWS, it is big news. Schools shut down with the very first snowflake. Springs here tend to be on the cool side...and rainy. Seems as if it goes from being cold to hot with very little ideal weather in between. I think this is a cyclical change; I remember thinking the same thing before I left Richmond.

I know what you are talking about with the p.m. storms in Tampa Bay; there's no "rainy" season here with consistent afternoon showers and storms. Storms are isolated here associated with the weather patterns that happen to move in and out, usually just spring and summer. You won't see the same type of wicked lightening as you do in Tampa Bay, hence the lightening capital. Very few real "electrical storms" here.

I actually liked Florida better than my husband, except for the economy and dismal job market. My husband says there are two seasons there...hot and hotter. I think November through say March or April is perfect down there. The only time weather wise I hated Florida was September and October because I was ready for the cool down and as you know, it doesn't happen until November. I think the entire east coast is humid June - August anyway.

Sounds like you may like Crozet. Plenty of gentle rolling parcels, with a nearby view of the Blue Ridge. The mountains really start to change in Crozet, so it is a lot more picturesque than Charlottesville. You will see everything in Crozet; chickens, cows, an old "town" area, affluent subdivisions, a master planned community called Old Trail with commercial and residential development, new restaurants, and a brand new Harris Teeter (yippee!). Crozet is in the overall expensive county of Albemarle, so a four or five bedroom house with acreage will cost at least high 400s, if not 500k, even in a depressed market. What's nice about Crozet is you can still have a rural lifestyle, if that's what you choose, but still have the conveniences you speak of. If you hop on I-64 right off of 250 in Crozet, you can get to Waynesboro in about 15 minutes, at the most. There's a super Walmart, super Target, Lowes, etc. there. Or, alternatively, the town of Charlottesville is about 15 - 20 minutes away the other direction on I-64 for conveniences as well.

Good luck finding a new location. If you don't have to worry about schools, you may want to check out Fluvanna, Goochland and Louisa counties. All of these counties are between Charlottesville and suburban Richmond.