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Old 01-07-2011, 08:46 PM
 
10 posts, read 19,336 times
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I have been living in the area for almost 5 years. This area is okay, summer time is my favorite because of the nice weather and the beaches. Go out there, meet people and have fun. I usually go away for the Holidays since there's nothing fun to do here. The job market really sucks, but that's another topic.

Try to make the best of it for now until you can move to a better place.
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Old 01-07-2011, 11:27 PM
 
148 posts, read 369,416 times
Reputation: 109
The job market sucks depending on your field I guess.

As far as things to do, I guess that depends on what you like to do.

What makes New York better than here? That there's more things to do? I would have to agree in that regard, but how many of those things are truly different from around here? I can give you the fact that there's probably nothing comparable to the live shows and all of that other cool stuff. But as far as clubs go and things younger people do, it doesn't seem like most people on this forum are really into that scene anyway, because I find Granby Street to be a blast.

To each his own though. I'm not telling anyone to change.
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Old 01-08-2011, 12:03 AM
 
17 posts, read 41,932 times
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The Navy brought my family to Norfolk in the 1950’s, so I am a native of the city and grew up in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. As a gay man, I found the area too socially conservative and bible thumping, so I left for greener pastures in California. Twenty-five years later, I find myself living in San Francisco, one of the most beautiful (and expensive) cities on the planet, and I still miss some things about the area. I can attest that Norfolk and Hampton Roads is not all bad. Here are a few of my favorite things I enjoy about the area with each annual trek I make home to visit family.

Compared to our icy cold and dirty beaches out here in San Francisco, the beaches are beautiful. The water is so warm you can actually swim in it. You can’t do that in California without a wet suit.

Housing in general, while I admit it is overpriced in downtown Norfolk, is reasonably cheap. You can still buy a little 1950’s ranch house in Norfolk for about $200k, while I just sold my tiny “starter” condo in SF for $750k.

Income and sales taxes in Virginia are half of what we pay in California.

I love shopping the well-stocked, uncrowded grocery stores. Our stores here are small, dirty, expensive and do not offer much variety (although we do have better produce in the winter). Most do not offer any parking, so you end up carrying your groceries home on the streetcar or bus.

I love the wide streets and large parking places. You may have some slow drivers in the area, but you haven’t experienced our recent Chinese immigrant drivers out here in SF (no offense meant to the Asian community), which have no equal as far as I am concerned. Bad freeway traffic seems to be universal to all cities.

Virginia has a budget surplus!

I love the southern BBQ sandwich with hot sauce and cold slaw. You can’t get anything close to good BBQ out here.

Granted, these are simple things, but they make the area special to me. I wish the area was more open minded and valued creativity. If it did, I would relocate the tech company I have built out here in Silicon Valley to Norfolk tomorrow, but it is what it is.
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Old 01-08-2011, 10:26 AM
 
3,848 posts, read 9,283,972 times
Reputation: 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyinSFCA View Post

Virginia has a budget surplus!
The surplus is nothing but smoke and mirrors (as well as federal government funding)


Quote:
What makes New York better than here? That there's more things to do? I would have to agree in that regard, but how many of those things are truly different from around here? I can give you the fact that there's probably nothing comparable to the live shows and all of that other cool stuff. But as far as clubs go and things younger people do, it doesn't seem like most people on this forum are really into that scene anyway, because I find Granby Street to be a blast.
Tremendous amounts more of museums, culture, restaurants, shopping, night life, public transportation, live events, access to major airports, diversity, educational opportunity, economic diversity, progressive thinking, more advanced medical care, the list goes on and on.
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Old 01-08-2011, 12:58 PM
 
17 posts, read 41,932 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coconut1 View Post
The surplus is nothing but smoke and mirrors (as well as federal government funding)
Perhaps so, but those of us living in CA would love to trade that smoke and mirrors surplus for our unfunded billions and billions in deficit spending. VA's 4.0% sales tax and 5.75% income tax sure do look nice compared to our 8.75% sales tax and 9.3% income tax. I suspect the Fed will bail out CA with some loans via printed money, so it probably doesn't matter anyway in the long run.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Coconut1 View Post
Tremendous amounts more of museums, culture, restaurants, shopping, night life, public transportation, live events, access to major airports, diversity, educational opportunity, economic diversity, progressive thinking, more advanced medical care, the list goes on and on.
NYC compared to Norfolk is apples (pun intended) to oranges or perhaps more like apples to prunes. It is like comparing Norfolk to a small town in the deep south, which makes it look like NYC in comparison. The HR area offers a lower cost of living and slower paced lifestyle, which some prefer, depending on their stage in life. After living in one of the most expensive and crowded cities in the world with lots of those amenities you list, affordable and relaxing sound very good to me right about now.
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Old 01-08-2011, 01:20 PM
 
148 posts, read 369,416 times
Reputation: 109
Coconut1 is such a hater.

You don't still live here do you? You seem like a really bitter person as well. Nothing tremendously wrong with this area; I've seen ALOT worse. Beyond NoVA, this would be the only other area I'd really even consider living in Virginia.

I do hope the light rail brings some interest further into this community. Talk of transients riding it seems to scare a lot of people for some reason. Not going to be any different from the buses honestly. I love BART in the bay area and would hope they could implement something like this here to reduce the congestion on the roads. I'd ride it!

Where do you live Coconut1? And it it's here, why do you still live here?

GuyinSFCA: I've worked out in SF as an IT engineer for a solar panel company out there in downtown. I'd have to say; that's my favorite city in the U.S that I've had the pleasure of working at. I was based out of Sacramento but unfortunately, the contract ended and I got layed off out there. Funny enough, I was getting multiple job offers to work out here in Virginia Beach for pretty good pay so I took the move back. What kind of tech business do you have if you don't mind me asking?
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Old 01-08-2011, 02:13 PM
 
3,848 posts, read 9,283,972 times
Reputation: 2023
Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyinSFCA View Post
Perhaps so, but those of us living in CA would love to trade that smoke and mirrors surplus for our unfunded billions and billions in deficit spending. VA's 4.0% sales tax and 5.75% income tax sure do look nice compared to our 8.75% sales tax and 9.3% income tax. I suspect the Fed will bail out CA with some loans via printed money, so it probably doesn't matter anyway in the long run.




NYC compared to Norfolk is apples (pun intended) to oranges or perhaps more like apples to prunes. It is like comparing Norfolk to a small town in the deep south, which makes it look like NYC in comparison. The HR area offers a lower cost of living and slower paced lifestyle, which some prefer, depending on their stage in life. After living in one of the most expensive and crowded cities in the world with lots of those amenities you list, affordable and relaxing sound very good to me right about now.
I suppose so, but it's not like the rest of the US is going to take a saw, cut CA off the mainland and send it out to sea because they're in financial trouble.

Besides, considering VA used fed money to have this "surplus," it really isn't much different than CA, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Apples to oranges, maybe, I was simply answering a question asking what NY had that HR doesn't, and the answer turned out to be "a lot."

Quote:
Originally Posted by Upsilon View Post
Coconut1 is such a hater.

You don't still live here do you? You seem like a really bitter person as well. Nothing tremendously wrong with this area; I've seen ALOT worse. Beyond NoVA, this would be the only other area I'd really even consider living in Virginia.

I do hope the light rail brings some interest further into this community. Talk of transients riding it seems to scare a lot of people for some reason. Not going to be any different from the buses honestly. I love BART in the bay area and would hope they could implement something like this here to reduce the congestion on the roads. I'd ride it!

Where do you live Coconut1? And it it's here, why do you still live here?

GuyinSFCA: I've worked out in SF as an IT engineer for a solar panel company out there in downtown. I'd have to say; that's my favorite city in the U.S that I've had the pleasure of working at. I was based out of Sacramento but unfortunately, the contract ended and I got layed off out there. Funny enough, I was getting multiple job offers to work out here in Virginia Beach for pretty good pay so I took the move back. What kind of tech business do you have if you don't mind me asking?
I'm not a hater, I simply tell it like it is

There is a lot wrong with the area, it's just nobody seems to want to do anything about it, or they complain of "no funding." Look at the traffic/tunnel problems, look at the public transportation problems, take a drive in Portsmouth and look at the homeless problem, look at the disagreement between the cities, I could go on and on.

I would love nothing more than to hop on the train and head into downtown Norfolk or out to VA Beach. The truth of the matter is though that 1) the light rail project was opposed so heavily by VA Beach that they stunted any possible growth into their city for 10 years, 2) They complain about how much it costs and how nobody will ride it, 3) With the recent HRT scandals you know this just gives them more ammunition to shoot down future rail projects (not to mention the Feds probably aren't looking kindly on us now, either) and 4) The current line will be a failure because it doesn't serve many people. We're not going to be progressing for at least 20 years or so.

Look at the "Patriot's Crossing" plan... no to both a dedicated bus lane and no to rail lines on it. That's not a solution, that's more problems for us.

I've said it once, I've said it twice and I'll say it again, HR has a lot of potential, but until people here wake up, smell the coffee and quit with their nonsense, we will not prosper.
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Old 01-08-2011, 02:35 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
492 posts, read 1,021,784 times
Reputation: 419
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coconut1 View Post
I suppose so, but it's not like the rest of the US is going to take a saw, cut CA off the mainland and send it out to sea because they're in financial trouble.

Besides, considering VA used fed money to have this "surplus," it really isn't much different than CA, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Apples to oranges, maybe, I was simply answering a question asking what NY had that HR doesn't, and the answer turned out to be "a lot."



I'm not a hater, I simply tell it like it is

There is a lot wrong with the area, it's just nobody seems to want to do anything about it, or they complain of "no funding." Look at the traffic/tunnel problems, look at the public transportation problems, take a drive in Portsmouth and look at the homeless problem, look at the disagreement between the cities, I could go on and on.

I would love nothing more than to hop on the train and head into downtown Norfolk or out to VA Beach. The truth of the matter is though that 1) the light rail project was opposed so heavily by VA Beach that they stunted any possible growth into their city for 10 years, 2) They complain about how much it costs and how nobody will ride it, 3) With the recent HRT scandals you know this just gives them more ammunition to shoot down future rail projects (not to mention the Feds probably aren't looking kindly on us now, either) and 4) The current line will be a failure because it doesn't serve many people. We're not going to be progressing for at least 20 years or so.

Look at the "Patriot's Crossing" plan... no to both a dedicated bus lane and no to rail lines on it. That's not a solution, that's more problems for us.

I've said it once, I've said it twice and I'll say it again, HR has a lot of potential, but until people here wake up, smell the coffee and quit with their nonsense, we will not prosper.
I agree with all that you posted. Sometimes you do come off as a 'hater', lol, but you do know what you're talking about as far as Hampton Roads overall. But doesnt the bolded just make you MAD Coconut? Its like the area has so much potential and all the ingredients to become a great metro on a national scale, but for various reasons there hasnt been that spark to get things started. Its like the area is stuck in neutral or sometimes in reverse and never forward.
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Old 01-08-2011, 03:46 PM
 
Location: Bronx, NY
4,515 posts, read 9,661,379 times
Reputation: 5636
Quote:
Originally Posted by VA7cities View Post
I agree with all that you posted. Sometimes you do come off as a 'hater', lol, but you do know what you're talking about as far as Hampton Roads overall. But doesnt the bolded just make you MAD Coconut? Its like the area has so much potential and all the ingredients to become a great metro on a national scale, but for various reasons there hasnt been that spark to get things started. Its like the area is stuck in neutral or sometimes in reverse and never forward.
I think coconut is saying the truth. VA will not prosper. When I used to go to Portsmouth it was only one way in and one way out... Smh.... VA needs more highways.
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Old 01-08-2011, 06:26 PM
 
17 posts, read 41,932 times
Reputation: 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by Upsilon View Post
GuyinSFCA: I've worked out in SF as an IT engineer for a solar panel company out there in downtown. I'd have to say; that's my favorite city in the U.S that I've had the pleasure of working at. I was based out of Sacramento but unfortunately, the contract ended and I got layed off out there. Funny enough, I was getting multiple job offers to work out here in Virginia Beach for pretty good pay so I took the move back. What kind of tech business do you have if you don't mind me asking?
It is a technology audit and compliance firm. We perform IT audits in support of the financial audits of publicly traded companies and perform other related security/internal controls work. We also do a lot of work with collocation facilities, working with some of the largest in Silicon Valley.

If HR were a more progressive place, I would have probably located my company there instead (we also do a lot of work in the DC Metroplex), but instead have chosen to stay here despite the high taxes and congestion. HR isn't too keen on wanting gay people in the area (very socially conservative), hence my company and the jobs it creates will stay here in CA where I suppose they need those tax dollars to pay down some of that state debt.

I am surprised you were able to find work in VA Beach. Whenever we have looked for clients there, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of a technology industry. You were very fortunate to get offers there, especially in this economy.
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