VA Beach vs. Chesapeake...Can't Decide (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: custom home, neighborhood, movies)

[docjjohn]

Hello,

My family and I are relocating from Toronto, Canada this coming July. We have 2 kids, ages 10 yrs and 2 yrs. My husband is a physician and will be working in Norfolk. We have talked to two different realtors who recommend different areas for us. One says Chesapeake is 'perfect' for us...the other says VA beach is 'perfect' for us. I don't know if it has anything to do with where the houses they have in inventory are located.
Bottom Line: We are looking for a 5 bedroom house, approx. 3500 sq ft., in a GREAT public school district of all levels (elem, middle, & high school), safe, family-friendly neighborhood, great resale value (in case we were to move)...and most importantly must be within 30 mins MAX travel time to Children's Hospital in Norfolk (according to his contract).
We would be willing to pay up to 800-900K...but would really prefer not to pay more than 800K unless we have to.
We like having restaurants nearby, shopping, things to do. We don't want to live out in the middle of nowhere, but at the same time we don't want to be overwhelmed with gridlock traffic. That is the problem with where we live now...takes 30 mins to go 3 miles in heavy traffic.

Please give me your recommendations. Maybe compare/contrast them in general and then in terms of how well it seems it would fit our desires.

[stltova]

Do you want to live by the water, like the Bay or the Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay? Do you want good restaurants, good schools, good shopping? Biking? If so, VB is for you. If we had listened to a person who thought they knew what was "perfect" for us, we would be in Chesapeake. And Chesapeake isn't BAD, in fact, it's fine. But with a budget of 800K you could get all you want in VB. (the resale, the schools, the commute). My DH works in Norfolk, not far from the hospital you mentioned, and he is at work in 25/30 minutes. We live in Great Neck.
There are some new homes in Chesapeake, way south- Edinburgh and "Hickory", a few other subdivisions. But gosh, the area around it is getting filled with Targets, Home Depots, Wal Marts, Gas stations and strip malls. Hardly the quiet area it used to be. There are not many good locally owned restaurants in Chesapeake or shopping areas. The commute may or may not work, depends how close the the bypass you are (rt 168). Be sure to maqquest/google map and most importantly do the drive yourself. You wouldn't want someone telling you"oh you can make it no problem, and then it becomes a problem". Especially if your hubby is under contract to be less than 30 min away.

I would look at Baycliff, Broad Bay, Broad Bay Greens, Chelsea, Cape Story by the Sea, alanton, baylake pines, middle plantation (in little neck) which are all located in Virginia Beach. There are other subdivisions too, I just can't recall all of them in your price range!!!

I think most of those areas in VB will work for his 30 min time/contract. Is that in rush hour or middle of the night???

Also, why not Norfolk?? The schools are not as good as VB/Chesapeake, but you can do private. Larchmont (a neighborhood in Norfolk) has a good public school.

Really, given a choice, VB is a better place in that price range when you have children.

Good luck with your search. Have you visited here yet?

[Mark Sr.]

Would you be interested in something like new construction, one house from the bike path into the state park and 10 or so houses away from the Chesapeake Bay? 20-25 minutes from CHKD (where both my boys were born).

4 Bedroom, 3 Bath and 3000+ square feet custom home.
Schools are Cox High, Great Neck Middle, and John B. Dey Elem.

-Mark

[docjjohn]

Originally Posted by Mark Sr.

Would you be interested in something like new construction, one house from the bike path into the state park and 10 or so houses away from the Chesapeake Bay? 20-25 minutes from CHKD (where both my boys were born).

4 Bedroom, 3 Bath and 3000+ square feet custom home.
Schools are Cox High, Great Neck Middle, and John B. Dey Elem.

-Mark

No...too small. We would really prefer 5 bedrooms plus an office (ideally). We would like 3500-4000 sq ft. Being on the water doesn't matter at all to us...we're not really 'water people'.

[docjjohn]

Originally Posted by stltova

Do you want to live by the water, like the Bay or the Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay? Do you want good restaurants, good schools, good shopping? Biking? If so, VB is for you. If we had listened to a person who thought they knew what was "perfect" for us, we would be in Chesapeake. And Chesapeake isn't BAD, in fact, it's fine. But with a budget of 800K you could get all you want in VB. (the resale, the schools, the commute). My DH works in Norfolk, not far from the hospital you mentioned, and he is at work in 25/30 minutes. We live in Great Neck.
There are some new homes in Chesapeake, way south- Edinburgh and "Hickory", a few other subdivisions. But gosh, the area around it is getting filled with Targets, Home Depots, Wal Marts, Gas stations and strip malls. Hardly the quiet area it used to be. There are not many good locally owned restaurants in Chesapeake or shopping areas. The commute may or may not work, depends how close the the bypass you are (rt 168). Be sure to maqquest/google map and most importantly do the drive yourself. You wouldn't want someone telling you"oh you can make it no problem, and then it becomes a problem". Especially if your hubby is under contract to be less than 30 min away.

I would look at Baycliff, Broad Bay, Broad Bay Greens, Chelsea, Cape Story by the Sea, alanton, baylake pines, middle plantation (in little neck) which are all located in Virginia Beach. There are other subdivisions too, I just can't recall all of them in your price range!!!

I think most of those areas in VB will work for his 30 min time/contract. Is that in rush hour or middle of the night???

Also, why not Norfolk?? The schools are not as good as VB/Chesapeake, but you can do private. Larchmont (a neighborhood in Norfolk) has a good public school.

Really, given a choice, VB is a better place in that price range when you have children.

Good luck with your search. Have you visited here yet?

Yes, we came 2 weeks ago for the interview and got to tour Norfolk and VA beach, but did not have time to do Chesapeake. Actually, that was with a realtor who said that Chesapeake traffic was too bad and that we would be much happier in VA beach. But since then, we have had 2 different people tell us to try Chesapeake because it is close to the hospital.
It is our understanding that you get 'more' house for your money in Chesapeake, although we've also been told the property tax is higher in Chesapeake which offsets some of the savings you get.
I love the idea of getting 'more house' for my money, but don't want to end up somewhere where there is nothing to do but sit on the porch (more or less) or end up in endless traffic.
Why does everyone seems to say Chesapeake 'isn't bad' but then doesn't recommend it over VA beach. How are VA beach and Chesapeake different??

[docjjohn]

Originally Posted by Mark Sr.

Would you be interested in something like new construction, one house from the bike path into the state park and 10 or so houses away from the Chesapeake Bay? 20-25 minutes from CHKD (where both my boys were born).

4 Bedroom, 3 Bath and 3000+ square feet custom home.
Schools are Cox High, Great Neck Middle, and John B. Dey Elem.

-Mark

We do like a 'newer' home. We don't want an old home that we have to fix up. No time with his work schedule and the kids...plus we are not at all handy.

[docjjohn]

Originally Posted by stltova

Do you want to live by the water, like the Bay or the Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay? Do you want good restaurants, good schools, good shopping? Biking? If so, VB is for you. If we had listened to a person who thought they knew what was "perfect" for us, we would be in Chesapeake. And Chesapeake isn't BAD, in fact, it's fine. But with a budget of 800K you could get all you want in VB. (the resale, the schools, the commute). My DH works in Norfolk, not far from the hospital you mentioned, and he is at work in 25/30 minutes. We live in Great Neck.
There are some new homes in Chesapeake, way south- Edinburgh and "Hickory", a few other subdivisions. But gosh, the area around it is getting filled with Targets, Home Depots, Wal Marts, Gas stations and strip malls. Hardly the quiet area it used to be. There are not many good locally owned restaurants in Chesapeake or shopping areas. The commute may or may not work, depends how close the the bypass you are (rt 168). Be sure to maqquest/google map and most importantly do the drive yourself. You wouldn't want someone telling you"oh you can make it no problem, and then it becomes a problem". Especially if your hubby is under contract to be less than 30 min away.

I would look at Baycliff, Broad Bay, Broad Bay Greens, Chelsea, Cape Story by the Sea, alanton, baylake pines, middle plantation (in little neck) which are all located in Virginia Beach. There are other subdivisions too, I just can't recall all of them in your price range!!!

I think most of those areas in VB will work for his 30 min time/contract. Is that in rush hour or middle of the night???

Also, why not Norfolk?? The schools are not as good as VB/Chesapeake, but you can do private. Larchmont (a neighborhood in Norfolk) has a good public school.

Really, given a choice, VB is a better place in that price range when you have children.

Good luck with your search. Have you visited here yet?

Norfolk houses just seemed to old for us..and a bit on the smaller side. We are looking into private school though.

[emeraldgirl]

There are good aspects of VA Beach and Chesapeake, I have lived in both including Norfolk. What kind of activities do you and your family enjoy to do? Since being by the water is not a priority...what are your interests? I am only inquiring because being by the water is one of the biggest draws to the area. If you could just narrow it down as far an ideal atmosphere for you and your family....people might be able to respond more in depth regarding the different locations.

[citydweller]

Chesapeake is a small suburban city but in my opinion does not offer the kind of entertainment, shopping or restaurants as VB. It does however have very good schools and a slower pace than VB. VB is probably more diverse than Cpeake but I can't say for sure.

[docjjohn]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Chesapeake is a small suburban city but in my opinion does not offer the kind of entertainment, shopping or restaurants as VB. It does however have very good schools and a slower pace than VB. VB is probably more diverse than Cpeake but I can't say for sure.

What does that mean?: "VB is probably more diverse than Cpeake but I can't say for sure?"

We are coming from a large, urban city (Toronto) and are used to having many different restaurants to choose from. We absolutely LOVE ethnic restaurants. We love to go to plays, movies. My husband likes to golf, play soccer and go to sporting events (although I guess professional sports is out of the question). My husband and I like to have 'family fun' but we also LOVE getting a babysitter for the kids and having 'date nights'.
My daughter likes history and she is also involved in soccer and gymnastics, loves to swim. We usually like to keep her enrolled in something thru the year, so this would be important to have some place close by.

Having a gym nearby, and shopping (regular kind...I'm not a high end kind of shopper).