Montgomery Square/Old Towne Portsmouth or VA Beach (Norfolk, Chesapeake: apartments, renting)

[cryscee]

I will be relocating to VA in about a month. I'm 28 and have a school-aged daughter. Based on reading the posts here, I had pretty much decided to live in VA Beach because from what I understand the schools are better and crime is lower?

Well while looking for apartments online, I pretty much fell in love with Montgomery Square in Old Towne Portsmouth. It's brand new and reasonably priced. I also like that there are things to do in walking distance. But I've read some negative things about the Portsmouth area on here. Do you think this is a safe bet? I telecommute for my job; so commuting to work is not a problem.

Any feedback is appreciated. I won't make a final decision until I visit up there again next month. Just trying to get a list of places that I want to check out. Thanks!

[stacylee926]

If it was just you, I would say it is fine. However, the schools are not the best over there. Churchland area of Portsmouth has better schools for the city.

[Videographer]

I think you are missing out by not counting Chesapeake in the running for your places to live. The scenery is allot better, the schools are top notch and depending on where you will be working, you won't be messing with the TUNNELS!


(click on the photo to see more pictures of Chesapeake)

[emeraldgirl]

I agree with stacylee.... Olde Towne is great if you don't have kids. Schools are pretty rough around that area. If I had kids, I would look for a better suited location as far as school districts are concerned. Va Beach and Chesapeake have decent schools.

[cryscee]

Thanks everyone! That's the type of feedback I was looking for. I will definitely check out Chesapeake too.

[shaneandlauren07]

Portsmouth has a lot to offer, and the private schools in this region are much cheaper than up north.

[tvpirate05]

Olde Towne is a nice area, but like others said, the schools might be better in Chesapeake or VB.

That, and to get out of Portsmouth, you usually have to take the tunnel, and traffic there is unpredictable!

[lojack1976]

Just to demonstrate the enormous bias from people who don't live and probably never have lived in Portsmouth you should take a look HERE on the Portsmouth Public Schools website at what occurred last school year. All of Portsmouth schools passed the SOL's and are stated accredited. HERE's a PDF from the Virginia Department of Education with a list of the fully accredited school divisions. Look HERE at this article and you will see that only half of all schools in the entire area meet federal guidelines right now, and that includes the so-called much better schools in Va. Beach and Chesapeake.

Also keep in mind that like most urban school systems the drop out rate is higher in both Portsmouth and Norfolk which is big reason why the pass rate is lower in both cities. The fact is you can get a good education in Portsmouth Schools just like the so-called better school systems in neighboring cities. Good parenting is and always has been the biggest key to success. Unfortunately urban districts have a higher number of young and in many cases bad parents. That doesn't necessarily mean that the schools aren't performing.