Has anyone moved back into the city? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: oceanfront, new construction)

[goofy328]

Tired of the 15 - 30 minute commute from Virginia Beach to downtown Norfolk I figured I would actually move into Norfolk and just deal with the inconveniences. I should have done so a long time ago. The Beach is okay if you actually work there, and like to do what there is to do in the Beach, or you're a fan of the Oceanfront, but aside from that unless you like the school districts and have kids I don't really see the point. It isn't quite as suburban as it used to be, but even still, unless The Tide comes rolling through I don't see much point. It just doesn't seem suited for the majority of us that are stuck in the rat race.

I do like the new construction at the Oceanfront, and as I understand, Phase 5 of Town Center will be built soon. I'm even looking forward to the sports arena, if and when that goes through, but aside from that Virginia Beach is just too spread out for me. Plus it feels like I'm waiting for a downtown that is in perpetual beta, when Norfolk's downtown is already built up, matured, and is in the second or third stage of development, not the first.

If the traffic is good and there isn't any construction on I-264 I can actually get to work on time. I wouldn't suggest that anyone that lives in Virginia Beach that does not know (or is not willing to learn) how to get to work without the help of I-264 into another city like Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth or Suffolk live there. Unless you're willing to wake up an hour early you're wasting your time. Plus the price of gas is a joke, sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down.

Sometimes the commute is an hour in the snow, routinely, it is 45 minutes during rush hour. Just not worth it IMHO. Bus service is intermittent, and at best, you'll wait an entire hour for a bus. Even if The Tide is built there unless they run it every 15 minutes it'll be a waste of time. The decentralization of the area makes it very difficult. Tidewater Community College is way over here, Whole Foods way over there, one decent sized shopping mall, etc.