May get transferred to the area, what would be the best areas to look in? (Norfolk: apartment, for rent)

[ohioaninsc]

Hello, I currently live in the Charlotte, NC area, and my company may want me to transfer to work onsite at one of their customers in Williamsburg, VA. I'm someone that has always lived in bigger cities (Cleveland, OH grew up in, Columbus, OH went to Ohio State, and now Charlotte, NC). Anyways, I noticed Williamsburg only has about 15K people, so that will be way to small for my liking. How long of a commute is Norfolk, or Hampton/Newport News, and what are the neighborhoods like. I'm a young single guy, and will look for a place that is near some good nightlife, and is still in a pretty nice and safe neighborhood. I definitely prefer to be in a good walkable neighborhood as well, so I feel safe walking my dog, and can get to a few places w/out having to drive. Also what type of rates can I expect to pay for rent in these type of areas. I've looked on a couple of apartment websites, and I was shocked to see rates that are higher than most rates here in the Charlotte area.
Also, compared to Charlotte, how is the weather? That is one thing I really like down here, I don't miss the snow at all from Ohio, and generally, deal w/ sunny weather w/ temps in the 50s/60s in the winter here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Mr Williamsburg]

First of all the population in the area is more like 70,000 + when you include the James City County and upper York County areas which are all contigous. We are still a small town though. You might want to visit before you rule it out. I would suggest the Oyster Point area of Newport News if you want a younger hipper crowd. It would be about 35 minute commute. Norfolk would be about an hour commute when traffic is good, the tunnel can be a bear. Our temps are probably 10 degrees cooler than Charlotte in the winter. Snow is rare. A nicer one bedroom apartment will be around $900 + monthly.

[ohioaninsc]

I will check out the Williamsburg area too, but thanks for the info on Newport News. How are newcomers generally treated? Is the area similar to the Charlotte, NC or Charleston, SC areas in that there are a lot of northerners moving into the area? Also, are their any other good areas to look at that may have more of a younger vibe? Also, is this an area like Charlotte in the fact that you pretty much have to drive everywhere, or are their decent public transit options around. Also, what about walkabiity? Are there good areas around that say, where you could live, and be able to walk down to the corner store/supermarket, and maybe be able to walk to some restaraunts and bars, or does everyone basically drive everywhere?

[irisheyes13]

My son graduated from William and Mary which is in Williamsburg and my daughter is a student at UNC Charlotte now so I am a bit familiar with both areas and what younger folks (or at least my 2) may think of them. Williamsburg is a great city but night life is not it's major attraction. You can safely walk around most areas and you can find places to live where you can walk to what ever you want. I am not sure what is going on in the New City exactly these days but that is a new area of Williamsburg that may be worth checking out. Another area you may want to consider is the City Center area of Newport News. I know when I lived down in that area a lot of younger folks I worked with really liked that area.

[irisheyes13]

I did mean to add that the Hampton Roads area has a large military community so the population is very open to new folks. We also lived in Charleston which has a pretty good military community as well but we did not find it to be as open to new folks.

[Mr Williamsburg]

Originally Posted by ohioaninsc

are their decent public transit options around. Also, what about walkabiity? Are there good areas around that say, where you could live, and be able to walk down to the corner store/supermarket, and maybe be able to walk to some restaraunts and bars, or does everyone basically drive everywhere?

New Town in Williamsburg and Oyster Point both offer many Restaurant/ bar choices but neither one has a large grocery market yet. New Town will have a Trader Joe's Market but it is at least 9 months + away from being built. Although there bus routes thru both most people drive since everything is scattered about.

[dvcgal]

I would stick with Mr. Williamsburg's choice of Oyster Point. It is close to CNU (a local college) and many of the students live in that area. Also, the night life is much better! You have Cheers (bar) Manhattan's (bar), Schooners (bar) plus the new restaurants that have just been built in that area. There is alot to do in the area but if you get bored, take a quick drive down 64 (east) and you'll run into Saddle Ridge (which is a young, hip bar) or go to Norfolk-Waterside Drive (all bars)!!! Williamsburg, has a lot to do for families, not singles.

[fittmom]

I worked for the Williamsburg Chamber on a contract last year and honestly I do think you'd prefer the Newport News area. William & Mary definitely has the college vibe, and Williamsburg is growing, but it still has that small town feel. Oyster Point may be where you'd like to be and the commute going North won't be that bad for you. Living in Norfolk would be great as well, but your commute could be quite long. There's a saying here that a good day is when you make it through the tunnels both ways!

Williamsburg does have a grocery store called UKROPS and it's close to New Town, just about 2 miles up the road. New Town is a section of Williamsburg where they've put everything in one convenient location. Shops, restaurants and movie theatre. The shopping is your basic run of the mill mall stores, i.e, Barnes & Noble, Pac Sun etc, but there are a few novelty shops as well. City Center/Oyster Point in Newport News is the same set up.


Good luck!

[emailvasally]

I used to live in newport news and agree with the people about city center/oyster point area. I would stay away from downtown newport news if you are worried about crime. I have not been out there in about 6 mos but I cant imagine it changing much. Norfolk is awesome but I had to laugh at the comment about the tunnel. I lived about 10 min. from williamsburg and going to norfolk sometimes took 30 min and many times took one and a half hours! I would always give myself 2 hours to be safe!

[Ebediel]

If you go from Charlotte to Williamsburg you will experience quite a culture shock. Williamsburg though very nice in many ways definitely is smaller than you will like. Newport News is much better but still smaller. Before you go to Norfolk I would look more towards Richmond, VA. The commute would be a little longer but there would be no tunnel. Although if I64 backs up you could have quite a wait. Richmond would definitely give you more nightlife but also more crime although probably not too much more than Norfolk. You're talkin 30-45 mins to Norfolk in good traffic and 45-60 to Richmond in good traffic (but all interstate 65-75mph). Driving will be a must either way.

You might even consider some areas in Hampton but I don't know much about Hampton's nightlife either.