Looking to Move to VB/Commute Times? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: for sale, oceanfront)

[firedancermom]

Hi,
I've spent quite a bit of time reading the posts in this forum - think I have a pretty good feel of the good/bad related to living in VB - lots of great info here!

I am looking to relocate from Northern Virginia to VA Beach by the end of the summer or so. Have two teens, want to live where we could be really close to one of the beaches, a good hospital (one has chronic illness), good high school, and be safe. Also want to work and not spend an hour each way commuting like I do now working in DC. (sometimes spend more than an hour and my commute is about 15 miles)...

So am used to crazy traffic and keep reading about bad traffic in this area. Have a couple of job leads in Chesapeake and in Norfolk. Anyone have insight on commute times? Looks manageable when I look on Mapquest but if I Mapquest my current commute it's only supposed to take me 20 minutes. Would love some local insight on doable (30 minutes or less) commutes when living in VB.

I don't know where in VB will live yet - will rent first - and it depends on how much my new job pays. Would love to live in Chic's Beach from the reviews but don't know yet how all that will work out. It's overwhelming trying to piece all this together!

Thank you for any advice!

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by firedancermom

Hi,
I've spent quite a bit of time reading the posts in this forum - think I have a pretty good feel of the good/bad related to living in VB - lots of great info here!

I am looking to relocate from Northern Virginia to VA Beach by the end of the summer or so. Have two teens, want to live where we could be really close to one of the beaches, a good hospital (one has chronic illness), good high school, and be safe. Also want to work and not spend an hour each way commuting like I do now working in DC. (sometimes spend more than an hour and my commute is about 15 miles)...

So am used to crazy traffic and keep reading about bad traffic in this area. Have a couple of job leads in Chesapeake and in Norfolk. Anyone have insight on commute times? Looks manageable when I look on Mapquest but if I Mapquest my current commute it's only supposed to take me 20 minutes. Would love some local insight on doable (30 minutes or less) commutes when living in VB.

I don't know where in VB will live yet - will rent first - and it depends on how much my new job pays. Would love to live in Chic's Beach from the reviews but don't know yet how all that will work out. It's overwhelming trying to piece all this together!

Thank you for any advice!

There are 3 beaches; one in Virginia Beach, Hampton, and Norfolk. In Norfolk the neighborhood would be Ocean View; was good in the 50s, went into some serious decline, but is not gentrified. In Virginia Beach the resort area is called the Oceanfront; there are condos in that area but on one end you have detached homes, not sure if any of those are for sale. Closest actual neighborhood would probably be Hilltop. In Hampton the beach is called Buckroe; neighborhood seems okay, at least on the surface anyway.

Hospitals are everywhere, hard to go more than 5 miles without hitting a hospital around here; none of the hospitals are particularly big, with the exception of those in downtown Norfolk, I wouldn't base my decision on proximity to a hospital doubt that will be an issue.

Cannot guarantee that you won't spend an hour commuting though; even if you live in Virginia Beach and work in Virginia Beach, because the cities are just that big. City and county lines are often one and the same around here, so the cities are pretty big. DC is a city-state, but it is a planned city so it isn't that big. Here, the independent cities might be 400 square miles. In comparison to DC, which is only 68 square miles.

Short answer; Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach are your largest cities by land mass, the Northern parts of those cities are populated, the Southern parts, not so much (downtown Norfolk is the urban core). It actually should take an hour to drive from the Southernmost reach to the urban core at the Northernmost reach of these cities.

[firedancermom]

Thank you so much! All of this helps with that overwhelmed feeling of trying to figure things out from 3 hours away. Will be visiting soon, but will have to have some things narrowed down by then.
Thanks again!!

[Spazkat9696]

There are several beach areas in VA Beach. Sandbridge, the resort area (avoid), the area north of the strip (very nice but houses really close together), Croatan (just south of rudee inlet) and the area around shore drive (I'm sure I'm leaving some out). If I could afford it I would live in Croatan, but alas I'm not in that income bracket. If you are going to work in VA Beach I would cross Hampton off your list because the commute will be over an hour with traffic (Plus Hampton is going downhill fast, the medical care is not that good compared to the south side, and the beach is on the bay not ocean). Norfolk schools are not as good as the schools in VA Beach, and the "beach" there is on the bay not the ocean, but it might work for you. Just be careful because Norfolk (and VA Beach) both have areas to avoid. If I were you I would figure out where you are going to be working nd your budget first. This is not a cheap are to live in, and your pay here will most likely be less than what it is in DC.


FYI-Hilltop isn't the closest neighborhood to the beach.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by Spazkat9696

There are several beach areas in VA Beach. Sandbridge, the resort area (avoid), the area north of the strip (very nice but houses really close together), Croatan (just south of rudee inlet) and the area around shore drive (I'm sure I'm leaving some out). If I could afford it I would live in Croatan, but alas I'm not in that income bracket. If you are going to work in VA Beach I would cross Hampton off your list because the commute will be over an hour with traffic (Plus Hampton is going downhill fast, the medical care is not that good compared to the south side, and the beach is on the bay not ocean). Norfolk schools are not as good as the schools in VA Beach, and the "beach" there is on the bay not the ocean, but it might work for you. Just be careful because Norfolk (and VA Beach) both have areas to avoid. If I were you I would figure out where you are going to be working nd your budget first. This is not a cheap are to live in, and your pay here will most likely be less than what it is in DC.


FYI-Hilltop isn't the closest neighborhood to the beach.

Good points. Thing is though, do the other neighborhoods in between Hilltop and the Oceanfront offer the same amenities? Seems as though one might want to go into Hilltop to do their shopping, etc. as it has options some of the other neighborhoods don't. Though Laskin is going through some major renovations. I'm just not seeing a whole lot of shopping plazas, etc. in between those two areas.

I also thought that Shore Drive was more parallel to the Oceanfront, or somewhat adjacent, to Atlantic Ave. I'm thinking of the Oceanfront as out to Rudee, where the grid is disrupted and the look and feel of the area changes. The definition might be a bit loose and I'm not sure what the official definition of the Oceanfront is; whether it is just Pacific and Atlantic or includes those areas out towards Little Neck Creek and Crystal Lake.

[firedancermom]

This is all really helpful - thanks so much!! My hope is to get comparable pay to what I make here - maybe a little less - but the cost of living seems to be lower than DC area. Not by a huge amount but enough to make it worthwhile if I can land the good job.

I also think it would be better to be able to live where we could walk to shopping/so my teen boys could walk to work like one does here. So that would probably trump walking or a short distance to the beach. I actually saw a couple of rentals near Sandbridge last night when searching so this neighborhood info is awesome. I really appreciate this insight - so many different aspects of making this move and definitely do not want to have the same commute I have now. Love good music but am tired of spending so much time to/from work.

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by firedancermom

I also think it would be better to be able to live where we could walk to shopping/so my teen boys could walk to work like one does here. So that would probably trump walking or a short distance to the beach. I actually saw a couple of rentals near Sandbridge last night when searching so this neighborhood info is awesome. I really appreciate this insight - so many different aspects of making this move and definitely do not want to have the same commute I have now. Love good music but am tired of spending so much time to/from work.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're headed in the wrong direction.

If you want walkability, you need to head further into DC, not SE VA. This is a car dependent area (car, not bus, not train, CAR- private vehicle) Sandbridge is exceptionally car dependent. You guys won't be able to walk anywhere but the beach.

There are only a few pockets that are walkable and it is going to limit your sons so much that you're going to wish daily you didn't make the move.

Finding a job around here is not that easy, either. I almost guarantee that whatever leads you have will fall through. People around here are notoriously fake.

You have a job in DC, try and move closer into the city. Moving to an area with worse health care and practically zero walkability will really degrade your quality of life.