29-year-old single female considering moving to Norfolk (Virginia Beach, Hampton: living in, military)

[mikeas]

Originally Posted by EMERALDGIRL

Not really. Jillians closed it's doors yesterday and is moving to Chesapeake. I think Hooters is the only thing left in Waterside. It is a great location though right on the water to open up some nice restaurants or other businesses. What a waste....

Upstairs of waterside is empty now I believe. Downstairs has an Outback, Hooters, Joes Crab Shack, 2 or 3 fast food places (burgers, chinese, something else), and a couple of kiosk and stores.

The city has a survey out for what the public wants them to do with the building if you want to fill it out: The City of Norfolk, VA

I say sell it someone who knows how to lease commercial real estate... The city owns to many properties downtown as it is.

[Spazkat9696]

We walked through waterside this past weekend (we went to beerfest) and it smelled HORRIBLE!!!! They need to tear it down, and let a developer (or someone who knows how to manage that type of property) come in.

[emeraldgirl]

Originally Posted by mikeas

Upstairs of waterside is empty now I believe. Downstairs has an Outback, Hooters, Joes Crab Shack, 2 or 3 fast food places (burgers, chinese, something else), and a couple of kiosk and stores.

The city has a survey out for what the public wants them to do with the building if you want to fill it out: The City of Norfolk, VA

I say sell it someone who knows how to lease commercial real estate... The city owns to many properties downtown as it is.

Wow, I would have thought those downstairs businesses would have shut down by now. Well, except Hooters and Outback of course. I remember when Dixie's Tavern was there. I hated BAR and Have a Nice Day Cafe......

[Coconut1]

The Irish store is still upstairs. I guess that's the lone store up there now.

Waterside always had a smell to it.

I don't think they need to tear it down, I think they need to remodel. The building itself is solid and downstairs is nice where they tore out spaces so you can see the water now and how it lets natural light in.

I think if they put in giant sliding/folding glass panels downstairs by the water so they could be opened in warm weather, put the shops and restaurants in the middle and redid the floors, ceilings, lights, etc. it would be just fine.

The only way I would be in favor of tearing it down is if the first two levels of the new structure remained public.

[emeraldgirl]

Tear that piece down...

[Spazkat9696]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

The Irish store is still upstairs. I guess that's the lone store up there now.

Waterside always had a smell to it.

I don't think they need to tear it down, I think they need to remodel. The building itself is solid and downstairs is nice where they tore out spaces so you can see the water now and how it lets natural light in.

I think if they put in giant sliding/folding glass panels downstairs by the water so they could be opened in warm weather, put the shops and restaurants in the middle and redid the floors, ceilings, lights, etc. it would be just fine.

The only way I would be in favor of tearing it down is if the first two levels of the new structure remained public.

Not a smell like this. It was the smell of mold and mildew. It was soooo gross!!! I wouldn't be surprised if it was full of mold due to the leaky roof. It will cost more to remove it than to start over.

[bellevue_Man]

Norfolk is a fun place to visit for a day, but the place to live is Willaimsburg. The vibe there is awesome. It's laid back, quiet, and full of history. I lived there two years and miss it big time. I can't wait to move back one day.

[Adele18k]

I relocated to Norfolk for a job and ended up staying there for 3 years. I worked downtown and while Ghent was very close and several co workers lived there, I found it to be too overpriced for my budget.

I ended up settling in Willoughby Spit on the north end of the city. Willoughby is a little jut of land that some consider to be part of Ocean View. The east side of Ocean View was one of "rough" neighborhoods, but I never had any problems on the west side, in Willoughby. The rent was reasonable, there were lots of other working class families and there actually were grocery stores and restaurants within walking distance.
I enjoyed having super easy access to the airport, hamptonroads bridge tunnel, and public transportation. I know their bus system isn't the best, but I was able to use it regularly to commute to work.
Overall, Norfolk was an interesting city. The good and bad neighborhoods are usually right next to eachother so the lines easily blur. (Ghent backs up to Park Place and thus usually has more theft as a result) The city seems to be trying to improve block by block by raising rents, but this causes the poorer people to be pushed into smaller and smaller areas. Resulting in very poor, very angry people. Never a good combination.

Also, I think b/c of the large transient community (the military) people are only willing to "invest" so much in it. (not just money, but community, pride, goals, etc)
I am big on the "feel" of a place, the unexplainable sense one gets in a place.
I found Norfolk to have a tense/angry atmosphere/feeling.

[Lawyer82]

S-Derkins12 -----

Did you end up moving? How are you liking it if so? I am a 29 year old female considering the same thing, so I'd like to know what you think about it!

[pandora999]

Originally Posted by Lawyer82

S-Derkins12 -----

Did you end up moving? How are you liking it if so? I am a 29 year old female considering the same thing, so I'd like to know what you think about it!

Me, too! I've just noticed this thread. I am a single white female working at ODU looking for a very clean and well-maintained one-bedroom apartment in a decent neighborhood in Norfolk-- need to move from my current apartment on June 30th. I got some recommendations but they are very expensive, so I keep looking. I am trying to make sure that apartment expenses, including utilities, do not exceed 1200.

My current apartment (managed by leasing company, not private owner or realtor) around Granby St/Wards Corner/E. Little Creek has cracks and holes and is infested with house centipedes, and some other kinds of bugs which invade the apartment all summer which scare the heck out of me-- can't sleep at night or walking around in summer prepared to get startled by a bug any time. :-( The supposedly central air keeps getting stuck and there are moisture problems. Safety is somewhat questionable-- recently there has been break-ins to other apartment units which made the news.
I was first going to move out at the end of May, but had to extend my stay in my current apt, since I wasn't able to find another desirable apt yet. But I definitely don't want to spend the month of July (the hottest month in Norfolk) in my infested apt.

I've been checking ODU's off campus housing site, craiglist, a realtor's website, and any other site I could find, but not found what I'm looking for so far. I was hoping for a studio in Ghent Village but they have nothing available for me. A few apartments that I scheduled a viewing of (from the results on various web sites) in the Ghent areas or downtown were dissappoinments. For example, the first one was priced around 900 and had cracks/wholes/mold building up on the bathroom ceilings-- I am sure it will have bugs. :-( Windows/doors were so old looking. I wanted to try a supposedly luxury building-- it was so expensive (1150) and yet the hallways looked weird, like long tunnels-- I just didn't feel safe and was not sure of paying so much money for some place that doesn't make me feel so positive. I keep looking, but every time I find something that might be promising I am disappointed with the apartment community's or realtors' bad reviews-- which say they are not maintained well enough, etc. I mean that is why I am trying to move from my current place in the first place. :-( I am really worried about signing a 12-lease with somewhere, paying all that money, and then having the same or maybe worse problems :-((

I'll be forever grateful if I can find a decent enough apartment with no bugs and in a decent neighborhood here (nowhere is perfect, but something at least not in the middle of crime-ridden areas).