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Old 02-27-2015, 01:16 PM
 
Location: Sterling, VA
2 posts, read 3,752 times
Reputation: 10

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I have recently been offered a job in the area that only requires me to commute 1 day a week. I have 2 young kids so good schools are a top priority. We are coming here from Central Ohio (Columbus area) and are clueless about the whole region. My friend used to live in Chesapeake near Greenbrier Mall. Any info on nice suburbs and the shopping mall seen would be greatly appreciated. If you could, tell me about the shopping malls in the area also.
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Old 02-27-2015, 01:19 PM
 
3,848 posts, read 9,324,090 times
Reputation: 2024
Commute to where?
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Old 02-27-2015, 02:50 PM
 
94 posts, read 154,746 times
Reputation: 89
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwoodson View Post
I have recently been offered a job in the area that only requires me to commute 1 day a week. I have 2 young kids so good schools are a top priority. We are coming here from Central Ohio (Columbus area) and are clueless about the whole region. My friend used to live in Chesapeake near Greenbrier Mall. Any info on nice suburbs and the shopping mall seen would be greatly appreciated. If you could, tell me about the shopping malls in the area also.
Chesapeake has 2 nice regional Malls, Chesapeake Square and Greenbrier. Chesapeake, Suffolk are nice family oriented
Communities. VA Beach is the "Big City" in that region and it has the best shopping, chain restaurants, entertainment and also
Tons of traffic. Norfolk has a nice downtown but it has a seedy side as does Portsmouth. Newport News, Hampton don't get much
respect other than the fact they are close to Williamsburg, Busch Gardens. It's a widespread freeway laced region, it is called
Hampton Roads which means nothing to the outside world. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in your car and get used to aggressive drivers. The area is transient since so many of our finest citizens are from somewhere else, due to the Navy.
There are tons of things to do, it's just hard to do much because of its far flung size. VA Beach is so built up now it is almost
impossible to see the beachfront unless you stay at an oceanfront Hotel. Good Luck !!
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Old 02-27-2015, 03:07 PM
 
Location: Hampton Roads, VA.
867 posts, read 1,397,999 times
Reputation: 660
If you don't know what youre talking about...sometimes it would be better to say nothing. If youre into the Mountain side of the state please stay over there and speak on what you know and are more familiar with.

Last edited by 757Cities Southsider; 02-27-2015 at 03:34 PM..
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Old 02-28-2015, 01:47 AM
 
998 posts, read 1,249,966 times
Reputation: 1118
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountain Living View Post
Chesapeake has 2 nice regional Malls, Chesapeake Square and Greenbrier. Chesapeake, Suffolk are nice family oriented
Communities. VA Beach is the "Big City" in that region and it has the best shopping, chain restaurants, entertainment and also
Tons of traffic. Norfolk has a nice downtown but it has a seedy side as does Portsmouth. Newport News, Hampton don't get much
respect other than the fact they are close to Williamsburg, Busch Gardens. It's a widespread freeway laced region, it is called
Hampton Roads which means nothing to the outside world. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in your car and get used to aggressive drivers. The area is transient since so many of our finest citizens are from somewhere else, due to the Navy.
There are tons of things to do, it's just hard to do much because of its far flung size. VA Beach is so built up now it is almost
impossible to see the beachfront unless you stay at an oceanfront Hotel. Good Luck !!
Newport News and Hampton don't get much respect? From who, you? What does that even mean?
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Old 02-28-2015, 05:56 AM
 
Location: Roanoke, VA
1,812 posts, read 4,222,175 times
Reputation: 1178
I agree that Newport News and Hampton don't get much respect. And there are reasons why they don't get much respect starting with the perception that their school systems are inferior to York County.
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Old 02-28-2015, 07:54 AM
 
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,742,544 times
Reputation: 41381
Quote:
Originally Posted by TN Lily View Post
I agree that Newport News and Hampton don't get much respect. And there are reasons why they don't get much respect starting with the perception that their school systems are inferior to York County.
^ This. Perception is reality, in Hampton's case particularly.
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Old 03-01-2015, 06:06 AM
 
Location: Roanoke, VA
1,812 posts, read 4,222,175 times
Reputation: 1178
I have a child in the Newport News public school system. NN's schools are mediocre at best. I would not recommend this school system to anyone. The good teachers my child has had do not overcome the bad and so-so teachers and the self-serviing bureaucracy that runs the schools.
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Old 03-03-2015, 05:40 AM
 
979 posts, read 1,776,057 times
Reputation: 661
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountain Living View Post
Be prepared to spend a lot of time in your car and get used to aggressive drivers.
I had to laugh at this coming from NOVA. Drivers here are so much more laid back, and, aside from tunnel traffic, I've been amazed at how easy it is to drive around the area (at least in Virginia Beach and parts of Chesapeake).

OP, where is the job? That could impact your decision on where to live even if the commute is only one day per week. In addition to the two malls in Chesapeake, there are the Lynnhaven and Pembroke malls in Virginia Beach and MacArthur (more upscale) in Norfolk. If you like malls, I think you'll be just fine. I have two toddlers and have taken them to both malls in VB to burn some energy in the play areas.

As for schools, VB and Chesapeake are your best bets, from what I understand. Although some elementary schools in Chesapeake are harder to compare since they are only K-3, so they don't get the same standard ratings and such as regular K-5 elementary schools. We just moved here in the late fall, and I noticed lots of the elementary schools in Chesapeake just said N/A on GreatSchools (not that I put much stock into GreatSchools ratings, but it's what almost every real estate site pulls from). The most highly rated schools are in the Strawbridge, Red Mill, North Landing, and Princess Anne areas in Virginia Beach, but you'll also pay a premium for housing in those areas because of it.

We ended up choosing a pretty good vs great (by GreatSchools test score ratings) school pyramid in the Salem area of Virginia Beach, but I have two nieces in the VB school system who are both in gifted programs whereby they do not attend the schools for which they are zoned (high schools have "academies," and younger children also have access to gifted programs), so I know the system has options for kids who need them even if you're not living in the a specific part of the city.
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Old 03-03-2015, 02:14 PM
 
184 posts, read 245,116 times
Reputation: 80
I would agree with Jilly
I think there are very nice areas in each of the cities that make up Hampton Roads and there are a variety of Malls. Some with very upscale stores (Nordstron) to malls where JC Penny, Sears etc. are the anchors. In Williamsburgh(30-90 minutes drive depending on where you live in the area) there are outlet malls You can find a great deal of information on line about the schools to include which ones have passed their various accredidation to class size average etc etc.
If you share with us where you job is, I think the good folks on this thread will be happy to add additional thoughts that you might consider.
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