Did you miss Virginia Beach after you moved? (Norfolk, Hampton: oceanfront, crime)

[MaskedRacer]

I ask this because the answer for me was "Yes!". I did not realize how good we have it here until we left. Think about it. Any restaurant, store, grocery, hospital, clinic, school is close and easy to find. And there are lots of them. Especially in VA Beach. Granted VA Beach is not the most exciting city out there. There is plenty of recreation opportunities in the daytime when it is warm yes. But by night time, all you really have is the oceanfront (which can be seedy at times) and the town center which is not that big and gets repetitive. Busch Gardens is too expensive to get for a single day pass, and traffic to get there is too bad to make a season pass worth while.


But you have the awesome recreation center system which is unmatched anywhere else. I missed it so much after moving to NOVA. I was able to find employment in Va Beach again and very quickly head back. Accepting the financial loses.


If you wish to leave Va Beach. Think hard about it and know what you are getting first before the move. Which is ok if you do the research. Sometimes you don't know what you have until you leave it.

[Oduengineer88]

I too moved away to accept a promotion in Raleigh as a communications engineer (cellular) awhile ago. Raleigh is a great place, and has character in ways that Virginia Beach doesn't, but I missed the water so much. I'm not even a native of the area, but when I first came down here from a very nice area of NJ (suburban NYC) to play baseball and study engineering at Old Dominion, I knew that I wanted to call the area home.

My previous work (I am now a physics and calculus teacher) brought me to suburban Chicago, Raleigh (north.... Millbrook area), Las Vegas, Asheville NC, and Charlottesville in 15 years. I have been back for 20 years and am happy to be here. Home prices are reasonable, crime is low, there is a ton to do, jobs are decent, pay is ok for my area of employment, traffic is better than any comparably sized area I have visited (I don't go through the HRBT though).

Its not for everyone I guess.

[Serenity2019]

I am a Native of Va. Beach, grew up there, went to University of South Carolina (after Old Dominion U) and moved to Charleston, SC. I still have family in Va. Beach.
Yes! I miss Va. Beach and Norfolk. Charleston is nice, great weather much of the year (not the summer!), and the beach is here. But, Va. Beach is cleaner, lower crime, better infrastructure, great recreation programs and centers, beautiful parks.

I was very sad to see on my visit this Labor Day weekend to VB that Lynnhaven Fish House has closed! Just another one that disappoints me...

[CrazyInEastNC]

I moved away from Virginia Beach in 1995 when my father was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. I was 9 years old and absolutely hated the move. I missed Virginia Beach terribly. By comparison Jacksonville, NC doesn't have anything at all. It's mall was nothing like Lynnhaven or Pembroke and there was no awesome park like Mount Trashmore or Princess Anne.

Now, though? It's been more than 20 years. When we moved Independence Boulevard was being widened to a 4 lane road. Looking at some of the pictures on Google StreetView I hardly recognize some areas, although my childhood home looks exactly as I remember. I think it would feel very odd to visit Virginia Beach now especially Lynnhaven and Pembroke Malls. I am sure my mental image of those malls is nothing like how they are now.

[The Dissenter]

OP, I get what you are trying to do. Virginia Beach is just like any city at the end of the day, works for some, not for others, not always forever. Mind you my perspective is more Hampton Roads in general since I’m from the Peninsula. My mother decided to stay put when she retired from the military rather than go back to Texas because Hampton Roads in the late 90s was on of the most affordable areas on the East Coast and the schools (Yes even Hampton City Public Schools) were miles better than East Texas/West Arkansas. The 757 served a need for a few years.

Like with everyone else, our needs changed after a while and she decided for her career mobility and my access to opportunity, Hampton Roads was not a good fit any longer and we headed to NoVA. Nothing wrong with Hampton Roads just our needs changed. I visit home twice a year and while I usually have fun, especially in VA Beach, it is just not the place for me now. That is no reflection on Hampton Roads as a place to live.

[petsandgardens]

Originally Posted by Oduengineer88

I too moved away to accept a promotion in Raleigh as a communications engineer (cellular) awhile ago. Raleigh is a great place, and has character in ways that Virginia Beach doesn't, but I missed the water so much. I'm not even a native of the area, but when I first came down here from a very nice area of NJ (suburban NYC) to play baseball and study engineering at Old Dominion, I knew that I wanted to call the area home.

My previous work (I am now a physics and calculus teacher) brought me to suburban Chicago, Raleigh (north.... Millbrook area), Las Vegas, Asheville NC, and Charlottesville in 15 years. I have been back for 20 years and am happy to be here. Home prices are reasonable, crime is low, there is a ton to do, jobs are decent, pay is ok for my area of employment, traffic is better than any comparably sized area I have visited (I don't go through the HRBT though).

Its not for everyone I guess.

Virginia Beach is a place we think about moving to or at least having long stays there in the future. What are among the tons of things to do? Thanks.

[goofy328]

Well, for a large city Virginia Beach is a quiet, comfortable existence. Reminds me a lot of Akron, which is probably a third of the size but a similar pace.

Honestly if someone is missing Virginia Beach they can probably find a similar situation in the suburbs or the exurbs of wherever they're from. Suburbs of Akron, or any city up in Ohio, give a similar vibe. The only real differences are the lack of military installations and the fact that there is no beach. Only real beaches up there are off Lake Erie. One may find smaller beaches elsewhere, due to the rivers in the state, but nothing comparable to what Virginia Beach has with the Oceanfront. So Virginia Beach I give accolades for being a large city with a small city feel, and a decent resort area, and a cosmopolitan area elsewhere in the city. Most cities the size of Virginia Beach; look at it this way, compare Virginia Beach to Oakland, a "real" city. Compare it to Minneapolis or Miami. Similar sized cities with criminality people in Virginia Beach rarely have to deal with.

[randomlikeme]

Originally Posted by Silver-Fox

I am a Native of Va. Beach, grew up there, went to University of South Carolina (after Old Dominion U) and moved to Charleston, SC. I still have family in Va. Beach.
Yes! I miss Va. Beach and Norfolk. Charleston is nice, great weather much of the year (not the summer!), and the beach is here. But, Va. Beach is cleaner, lower crime, better infrastructure, great recreation programs and centers, beautiful parks.

I was very sad to see on my visit this Labor Day weekend to VB that Lynnhaven Fish House has closed! Just another one that disappoints me...

When I went to Charleston for the Hootie and the Blowfish show, every single Uber driver talked about how low the crime was in Charleston. One dude even said Charleston had NO major crimes and I had to remind him of the Dylann Roof thing seeming pretty major.


Lynnhaven Fish House was pretty overpriced to me, so I'm not surprised they took the money and ran.

[randomlikeme]

I will also say our parks and recreation system in Virginia Beach is underappreciated. They have a lot of offerings. I take body pump classes there a few days a week.

[HRVT]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

I ask this because the answer for me was "Yes!". I did not realize how good we have it here until we left. Think about it. Any restaurant, store, grocery, hospital, clinic, school is close and easy to find. And there are lots of them. Especially in VA Beach. Granted VA Beach is not the most exciting city out there. There is plenty of recreation opportunities in the daytime when it is warm yes. But by night time, all you really have is the oceanfront (which can be seedy at times) and the town center which is not that big and gets repetitive. Busch Gardens is too expensive to get for a single day pass, and traffic to get there is too bad to make a season pass worth while.


But you have the awesome recreation center system which is unmatched anywhere else. I missed it so much after moving to NOVA. I was able to find employment in Va Beach again and very quickly head back. Accepting the financial loses.


If you wish to leave Va Beach. Think hard about it and know what you are getting first before the move. Which is ok if you do the research. Sometimes you don't know what you have until you leave it.

We moved about two years ago and frankly don't regret it. Sure, there are things about Virginia Beach we do miss (mostly related to the people we met there). We moved to the Greensboro, NC area where it's just less expensive to live in general (we moved for other reasons as well). We were able to buy a house in the Greensboro area that we would not have been able to dream of considering in Virginia Beach (or frankly, anywhere in Hampton Roads).

Of course, it's also exciting to see other things to do and explore besides the same things all the time in Hampton Roads. And we love having Charlotte and Raleigh within a stone's throw, putting us closer to professional sporting events (as well as all of the college sports in the Carolinas and of course the Hokies being two hours away), a larger volume of bigger concerts, really nice restaurants, etc.