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Hi. My wife & I are looking to move out of the Northern VA area and close to a beach. We have decided on either the Wilmington area or VA Beach.
We are looking for a small but clean apt close to the ocean and to spend not more than $850 / month. ( for nothing smaller than 650 sq ft)
VA Beach looked nice until we read a bunch of reviews for places within our price range. Crime & filth. Crowded and full of traffic.
We have lived in NOVA for 20 yrs and cannot imagine any place being worse than 66 or the beltway traffic here... Yet, I hear Wilmington has serious traffic issues.
Are we living a pipe dream? Any insight is much appreciated.
Thanks~
actually, VA beach was just named the 2nd best place to raise a family. I don't know much about the area though. job situation has got to be much better in VA beach than it is in wilmington, both in compensation as well as in opportunity. wilmington's better days are behind it. lived her in the late 90's and have been here for the last couple of years. I actually moved here from NOVA. I like it better than NOVA, but it's not much better. traffic here is different. will you be in your car for an hour like you are on 66? no, but it can take you 20 minutes to get 2 miles sometimes because of all the stoplights. the traffic issues in wilmington is due to poop city management and city planning. you should be able to rent something in that price range about 15 minutes from the beach.
I'm still waiting to see all this traffic everyone is talking about. I work up near Market and College and live in Monkey Juncion which is about an 8 mile drive down College. So far it takes me 15 to 20 minutes each way. There was one evening where there was an accident near Oleaner and that day took 20 minutes to get through that corner as one lane was totally closed off, but other than that one evening, minimul delays. I will agree that the timing of the lights around here is poor. (I don't think a morning goes by that I don't get stopped by the light at New Centre) I'm driving home at 5:00 so can't imagine it being much worse. Last weekend we drove down to Fort Fisher, both Sat and Sunday morning, saw little of any traffic to speak of. I'd imagine this weekend would be about as bad as it get's but so far traffic is a non-issue. Saturday afternoons I think is worse than daily rush hours, but even then never taken me more than 20 minutes to drive that same distance or 7 or 8 miles.
Virginia Beach is nice in some areas but the closer you get to the beach the worse the neighborhoods. The beach area itself is very commercialized. The traffic in VA BCH is pretty bad most of the time. I like the VA BCH area but I wouldn't want to raise a family in the neighborhoods near the beach but there are other neighborhoods in the VA BCH area that are very nice. Virginia Beach is quite built up and growing all the time if you are interested in lots to do. Virginia Beach is a good place also the schools get a pretty high rating. I can't really speak to Wilmington because I haven't spent much time there. I live in Moyock just across the NC/VA border. I do spend a lot of time in the VA BCH area though.
the key is also knowing how to avoid traffic. I know all the side roads. the worst traffic is going into wilmington from leland during rush hour. military cuttoff has become better since they widened the road. that only took how many years? lunch traffic kind of blows here. there is no lull time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by West_ny
I'm still waiting to see all this traffic everyone is talking about. I work up near Market and College and live in Monkey Juncion which is about an 8 mile drive down College. So far it takes me 15 to 20 minutes each way. There was one evening where there was an accident near Oleaner and that day took 20 minutes to get through that corner as one lane was totally closed off, but other than that one evening, minimul delays. I will agree that the timing of the lights around here is poor. (I don't think a morning goes by that I don't get stopped by the light at New Centre) I'm driving home at 5:00 so can't imagine it being much worse. Last weekend we drove down to Fort Fisher, both Sat and Sunday morning, saw little of any traffic to speak of. I'd imagine this weekend would be about as bad as it get's but so far traffic is a non-issue. Saturday afternoons I think is worse than daily rush hours, but even then never taken me more than 20 minutes to drive that same distance or 7 or 8 miles.
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