VAB vs Baltimore??? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake: oceanfront, low crime, house)

[sotodog]

I live in a north eastern suburb of Baltimore (Harford County). I am married with 2 early elementary school children. I can't say I'm thrilled with where I live but at this point DH is unwilling to move. I have ‘virtually’ moved all over the country and my latest destination is Virginia Beach. While looking into schools (k-12 as well as public colleges) the VAB school district popped up as a good one. It has piqued my interest. There seem to be a lot of magnet and specialty programs for the kids in k-12 certainly much more than where I am now. There are several excellent public colleges in the state (great for tuition and admission). The area seems reasonably priced as far as housing goes. I lived in NoVa for a while and taxes seem to be less in VA than MD. There also seem to be good amenities (libraries, rec centers, etc) in the area. There also appear to be good farmers markets and other eat local places. We spend our weekends going to museums, festivals and other events and there seems to be an abundance of that in the area. Is there anything you can tell me about things which might be different or the similar in VAB to a Baltimore suburb?

[wjjbward]

I grew up in Maryland, but north of Baltimore County, and live in VA Beach.

Aside from there being an oceanfront tourist area and a huge Navy jet base, there is a lot around here and Chesapeake that reminds me of Howard County, MD. Neighborhoods everywhere with lots of stores and shops all around. Good schools and restaurants. Traffic, though. Once you live here long enough, you learn the best routes and when to not even try to go out.

Norfolk, VA is a tiny version of Baltimore City. It's a city on the water with a smaller Harbor Place type of area.

I enjoy living here very much. I can go to the beach whenever I want. The boardwalk and beach here is much larger than Ocean City's, but I don't go there much during tourist season unless we have company who want to go. The off season is the best time to go, though. In the Summer I use the beach at Dam Neck (hubby is retired Air Nat'l Guard so we have base access) or Sandbridge Beach.

My sister came to visit one time and told me living here is like being on vacation all year because there is so much to do! There are museums all over the place, no shortage of shops, the ocean, parks, wildlife refuges, North Carolina is a short drive yet so is Williamsburg! Best of all, the winters are much milder. It gets cold, yes, but we get way less snow. We left our snowblower up north when we moved here.

Just be warned that if you move here, you can't find crab soup (the veggie kind) at any restaurants (lol), they sell She Crab soup instead of even Cream of Crab soup, there are no sno-ball stands around, restaurants don't steam shrimp with Old Bay on it (they sprinkle it on after steaming), but crabs are REALLY cheap to buy by the dozen! (You can get 1/2 a bushel for like $65 at a local place here) And the Ravens games don't come on down here unless you have NFL Sunday Ticket with DirecTV (which is $$$) or go to a bar/restaurant to watch the game.

[Goingback]

I agree with the previous poster.

I had to laugh when he/she brought up the seafood because as someone who grew up in Baltimore County, and lived in Hampton Roads for 6 years and now returning, I second you won't find awesome seafood down there like you can in Maryland. There are a lot of seafood restaurants (and decent ones too) but the style is very different.

And while I agree that there isn't any major league sports here, I quite enjoy going to Tides and Admiral games and not feeling like I spent my savings on tickets.

I think on the things to do front, it is comparable, but Hampton Roads,while a good sized area, is still smaller than Baltimore area. Therefore, while you have a zoo in both places, Baltimore's zoo is more "fabulous", aquarium is bigger and more of it, and Baltimore city is just bigger than Norfolk, even though you can find good nightlife, shopping, festivals, events etc. I'll call it Baltimore light.

[jaimiem]

I'm in the reverse situation. I currently live in Chesapeake, VA (neighbor city of VAB) and I will be relocating to Bmore for a job. The Hampton Roads area (Chesapeake, VAB, Norfolk, Hampton, etc) is great. Each city is different and when viewed as a whole, Hampton Roads can't be beat. As other people have mentioned, VAB is superior to Ocean City, but most locals take a 45 minute drive to North Carolina (Nags Head or Outer Banks).

Places I'd recommend to live: In Chesapeake: Greenbrier (the most commercially developed area of Cpeake, pretty much any kind of store you'd want. Lots of neighborhoods, low low crime, not very walkable but HR really isn't that walkable anywhere. One thing I can honestly say is that I've never felt unsafe in this area), Great Bridge (a little further from VAB, a little less developed but still popular), Hickory (this is if you're looking to buy a house with more land).

In VAB: Lake James area (intersection of kempsville and indian river road), Ocean Lakes, near Princess Anne High School (I believe this is the magnet school). Really you can't go wrong with the beach. Most of it has been recently developed.

In NC: The new town of Moyock. Great place to buy a house with some land. There isn't much there but if you don't want to live somewhere too crowded, this little town over the state line is great.

In Norfolk: Ghent. Awesome shops and restaurants, lots of charm. It's the nice neighborhood near Downtown Norfolk. It's a more "gentrified" neighborhood. If you're gonna live in Norfolk, live in Ghent. A great private school, Norfolk Academy, is nearby.

Places to avoid: Indian River neighborhood of Chesapeake (unless you live on the Elizabeth River. Naturally these neighborhoods are ritzier), anywhere in Portsmouth, anything off of Campostella Road.

Highlights of living in Hampton Roads: Lots of summer festivals, lots of boat festivals, public crabbing pier, Great Dismal Swamp, Northwest River Park (great for hiking, kayaking), Sandbridge Beach (less developed, less touristy beach in the south part of VA beach). Lots of great fruit picking in Pungo (the less developed, mostly farm section of VA Beach) in the summer time. 45 minute drive to Williamsburg, where you can do historical stuff or go to the Prime Outlets or eat Pierce's BBQ.

As someone else said, the weather can't be beat. It's humid in summer, but where on the east coast isn't? Hampton Roads is a very clean area and actually has lots of interesting people--the military presence means that we have residents who hail from all over the country. To my mind this all means we have less unemployment problems, too--the military is always hiring and many of our young people not ready for college choose the military for a career.

Hmm what other things can I say about Hampton Roads... we have theme parks nearby (water country usa and busch gardens). The downtown is humble but safe. Many great venues. Check out the NorVA for concerts.

I hope this helped! If you can't tell, I'm really going to miss HR!