va beach, good for relocating young single professional? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: movers, neighborhoods)

[Lablover3899]

I moved here a year and a half ago. I'm single and twenty five and haven't made any friends. I'm a young professional who moved here for work and tried going out, but I didn't make any lasting relationships. It is very cliquish because of the military. There's a lot to do, but not many to do it with. If you moved here it's a challenge to meet people.

[TheJagMan]

For the folks who are having social issues...Time to open up your wallet and join a group fitness place, eg crossfit, hot yoga, spin class, running club, MMA, etc.

[thesolution]

Compared with DC? In my opinion, absolutely not. But then again, it's really what you are looking for. There are no big club type of venues out here. You're not going to find a place like Park, but maybe that's a good thing. The ethnic variety is also limited to primarily white and black. I do see some "cliqueyness" but I think that exists anywhere.

Another big issue, especially with me, is if you don't live in Ghent or certain parts of VB, good luck going out and having anything more than a couple of drinks. In DC, I would just hop on the metro or ride the bus. Then again, if you don't currently live near a metro line, you won't experience much of a difference.

[TheJagMan]

Originally Posted by thesolution

Compared with DC? In my opinion, absolutely not. But then again, it's really what you are looking for. There are no big club type of venues out here. You're not going to find a place like Park, but maybe that's a good thing. The ethnic variety is also limited to primarily white and black. I do see some "cliqueyness" but I think that exists anywhere.

Another big issue, especially with me, is if you don't live in Ghent or certain parts of VB, good luck going out and having anything more than a couple of drinks. In DC, I would just hop on the metro or ride the bus. Then again, if you don't currently live near a metro line, you won't experience much of a difference.

To stay on topic on the OPs city of Va Beach...Va Beach has a lot to offer in nightlife; are there biggest places? Without a doubt; such as DC like you mentioned, also L.A., NYC or Miami...However, there's a lot of nightlife in Va Beach...For the oceanfront you got a dozen great places; I'll point out IMO which places are the best for an average joe trying to meet people...Catch 31, CP Shuckers, Peabodys and calypso...For town center, Keagans and for chick's area, Chick's Oyster bar. In regards to thesolution, the quoted poster, I can assure you they're better off not having more than a drink or two if they're having problems building a social circle. Being a drunk isn't very valuable...lol...And if they're striking out with the relaxed, $2 happy hour beer, va beach lifestyle, they will surely do worse in the higher class DC area.

To expand and include other cities, (Norfolk) ghent and downtown has even better nightlife than Va Beach yet it tends to be a very young college crowd.

[thesolution]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

To stay on topic on the OPs city of Va Beach...Va Beach has a lot to offer in nightlife; are there biggest places? Without a doubt; such as DC like you mentioned, also L.A., NYC or Miami...However, there's a lot of nightlife in Va Beach...For the oceanfront you got a dozen great places; I'll point out IMO which places are the best for an average joe trying to meet people...Catch 31, CP Shuckers, Peabodys and calypso...For town center, Keagans and for chick's area, Chick's Oyster bar. In regards to thesolution, the quoted poster, I can assure you they're better off not having more than a drink or two if they're having problems building a social circle. Being a drunk isn't very valuable...lol...And if they're striking out with the relaxed, $2 happy hour beer, va beach lifestyle, they will surely do worse in the higher class DC area.

To expand and include other cities, (Norfolk) ghent and downtown has even better nightlife than Va Beach yet it tends to be a very young college crowd.

I guess I should have clarified, even though I thought it was apparent enough, I was simply comparing nightlife between DC and HR. Never said there was no nightlife in VB. Never said you had to get drunk to have a good time. Not all of us are trashed after 2-3 drinks, but even still, 2-3 drinks alter your BAC. But thanks for your input.

[TheJagMan]

Originally Posted by thesolution

I guess I should have clarified, even though I thought it was apparent enough, I was simply comparing nightlife between DC and HR. Never said there was no nightlife in VB. Never said you had to get drunk to have a good time. Not all of us are trashed after 2-3 drinks, but even still, 2-3 drinks alter your BAC. But thanks for your input.

I understood everything, there was no need to clarify and I agree with you. I was providing some directions for the folks who are having difficulty meeting people.

[thesolution]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

I understood everything, there was no need to clarify and I agree with you. I was providing some directions for the folks who are having difficulty meeting people.

Got it.

[SEAandATL]

I live in VA Beach now, and from my observation, it does seem very cliquish as others mentioned. It's the typical suburban American way of life. I'm just not the social type so I'm not very comfortable here. I also don't like the lack of public transit (I wish the Tide ran to the beach), hence the bad traffic and the nightmare to find parking. I made the mistake of driving to the beach on 4th of July weekend, and I had to be careful not to curse (since you can actually get fined for that at the Oceanfront).

There are a lot of cute girls here, and they have a certain look to them, like the plain-Jane girl-next-door types. They seem to have warm and nice personalities, but a lot of them are probably taken. Since the HR area is a major military area, I imagine the male-to-female ratio is very high. I do go to a church in the area, but I noticed almost all the women are married. I'm just not the social type so I'm not very comfortable here.

[Geork]

SEAandATL:

Not sure if this thread is dead. I currently live in Newport News. We (small family, I'm 33 with 2 kids) were going to move to Ghent (despite the 45 minute commute I would have) a couple months back, but I have to second your assessment. No offense intended, but VA beach is VERY similar to NN, I don't feel this community offers much of anything to anyone unless you are a very SPECIFIC type of person, or perhaps a retiree?

I'm not sure, I've thought about it a great deal over the past 6 months. I'm not military, but I've lived in 4+ places in the past 10 years and this is by far the worst for reasons best elucidated elsewhere (suburbanish, lack of transport, regressive, etc) Our small family is leaving in 2 months (for Denver, CO BTW a great place for pretty much everyone!) at great financial expense.

We've made lots of friends in the area... you know what they are doing?

Moving.

Had friends from Atlanta we met 3 months back, moved after 2 years, just weeks ago.

I actually feel really bad for the 30 yr olds starting families here that have family in the area or a particularly strong financial reason to stay here and watching everyone with a choice leave.

I'm really sorry man, read my past posts, I've struggled with this. Its gonna cost our family well north of 10-20K to relocate AGAIN, but you're too young, if you've seen the rest of this country, you won't be happy here.

Sorry.

[TheJagMan]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

I live in VA Beach now, and from my observation, it does seem very cliquish as others mentioned. It's the typical suburban American way of life. I'm just not the social type so I'm not very comfortable here. I also don't like the lack of public transit (I wish the Tide ran to the beach), hence the bad traffic and the nightmare to find parking. I made the mistake of driving to the beach on 4th of July weekend, and I had to be careful not to curse (since you can actually get fined for that at the Oceanfront).

There are a lot of cute girls here, and they have a certain look to them, like the plain-Jane girl-next-door types. They seem to have warm and nice personalities, but a lot of them are probably taken. Since the HR area is a major military area, I imagine the male-to-female ratio is very high. I do go to a church in the area, but I noticed almost all the women are married. I'm just not the social type so I'm not very comfortable here.

Every place you go to is very cliquish, most places have zero public transit. HS or College forces interactions; many people struggle to build a social circle after school. Social circle is the best way, and in many cases the only way to meet quality women. The thing about here is it isn't just the military, you have the Navy Seals and Marine Fighter Pilots here and many military folks lie and say they're a seal or pilot. Most the military guys are fit so a lot of times if you're not in shape you're really fighting an uphill battle to attract a quality female. I always preach (and did already) to connect with a lot of people here join some sort of group workout (again crossfit, yoga, mma, spin, etc). Take the workouts seriously and chit chat with the your class mates. It's possible you'll meet a girl there, but more valuable is going out to the bars with 3 attractive girls from your fitness class and using them as your wing women. Furthermore, if you do find a girl and go out on a date in public and encounter a get approached by a few group fitness friends, it shows you're popular and will increase her attraction to you.

The other option is sign up for a class at ODU; any class, even ballroom dancing (lol, not sure if they have it) but you now interact with girls on campus and tell people you're a student there.