Good are for family to move (Norfolk, Richmond: 2014, apartment complexes, foreclosures)

[renrenbri]

My husband, daughter, and I currently live in Northeastern PA. The area that we are in is very quickly going downhill....a lot of drugs, gangs, increasing crime. We are looking to move somewhere within a 5-6 hour drive so that we can still come home to visit family on holidays, occasional weekends, etc...That puts us in the New England area or Virginia. I have heard great things about VA, although we have only driven through the state. I am not at all familiar with the different areas. I have read some things about the cost of living in the state possibly rising in the near future? We are looking for a SAFE area for families, decent schools (my dd is going into 11th grade next year), and within driving distance of a beach would be an added plus! My husband is an electronics worker with the federal govt, and I have pretty much been a stay at home mom, taking occasional jobs here and there. I have been doing seasonal data entry work from home, and have an OLD degree in medical office assistance, which I did some updating to. The one good thing about our area is I was able to afford to stay home...I realize down there, I will not be able to , and that is fine. I am eager to get back into the workforce! We could probably swing a 200K home at the absolute highest. My husband commutes around 40 min to work right now, and would ideally like to cut that down a bit if at all possible. I love the feel of quaint small towns....definitely would not want to be in a city. Any advice you have would be extremely helpful. I am trying to get a few good ideas on areas in VA and some new England states so that we can visit them come early spring 2014, then start avidly job searching. Thanks!

[novanwbie]

Well, my family moved here from PA years ago, and we love it here in VA! Richmond is an hour and a half to two hours from the water, depending on where you're going, and within driving range of many great beaches. We're also less than two hours from the mountains. It's a very manageable city, but from your description, especially needing a good school, I'd recommend looking at the counties. Look up Hanover, Henrico and Chesterfield County Schools. In your price range, you can get into a decent neighborhood in Chesterfield or Hanover Counties. It would be tough to find something in a good part of Henrico, but maybe in the Tuckahoe/Freeman area. I'd recommend renting for a while, anyway, so you can really learn the neighborhoods, and the rental market is pretty reasonable. Hanover, like the Mechanicsville area, would put you right off 95 and on the eastern side of Richmond, with faster access to the coastal part of the state. You might also look at Woodlake in Chesterfield County. There are some foreclosures in there still in very nice condition, but in your price range, and would get you into excellent schools. I think you'll find the public education in this area is excellent, for the most part. We are also a regional center of medicine, with multiple hospitals, a medical school and dental school, in addition to medical research and pharma, so it may be a good job market for you. That being said, we're just like everywhere else, we're definitely not booming. Hope this info helps, and good luck!

[renrenbri]

Thank you! I have heard that the Hampton area is declining as far as crime goes. Does this trend seem to be spreading throughout the state at all?

[novanwbie]

You mean the city of Hampton, over in Tidewater? I'd avoid it. Tidewater is its own microcosm, with a very unique population and dynamic. There is a lot of crime in Hampton and Newport News, in particular. My sister lived there for years and a friend is a police officer there. There are safe neighborhoods, but you really have to know the area. With changes in federal funding, as well, that area could face a huge slump -- there's a massive military (meaning very transient) population, too, especially in Norfolk. Virginia's a very diverse state, at this point. Northern VA is very different from Richmond, which is very different from Hampton Roads (Tidewater) which is very different from the rural areas. Richmond has crime, but any large city does, and the suburbs really are very safe. Most of the city is safe, as well. So if you look at national crime stats it can be very misleading and scares people off. But that's one reason you'll see most Richmonders on here recommend Western Henrico and not mention eastern Henrico -- there's a lot of blight over there, it abuts the city and houses some really rough public housing developments, and has a much poorer population. The same with parts of Chesterfield just south of Richmond. If you look on a map, you'll see how the counties are laid out -- western Henrico and northwestern Chesterfield have excellent schools and family neighborhoods. Hanover does, too.

[renrenbri]

Do you have any idea of how the job market is in this area? Someone over in the Hampton Roads board said the state is really declining as far as jobs go. Thanks!

[novanwbie]

You really can't generalize Virginia anymore -- there are multiple distinctly different zones, if you will. Northern VA, outside DC, has one of the best employment markets around, but it's also an extremely expensive and competitive area to live in, and many of the jobs are highly specialized--there's a lot of tech work and government support work. Having just left that area after 10 years, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but a lot of people love it. I don't miss the traffic or the bidding wars for houses, or the expensive food and gas and daycare. Richmond's job market is probably more like the rest of the country's. Not great, but there are jobs to be had. We do have a large medical community, and several large academic institutions. We used to have a great financial services industry, but firms have consolidated or disappeared over the years, so those jobs are harder to come by. Several large corporations have recently announced layoffs. I would hazard a guess it's better than PA, just because it's a much cheaper state for companies to work in, but I could be wrong. I don't think Tidewater has as strong a job market, and the military cuts have really hurt them, but I haven't looked at any economic data recently. All that being said, I'd never move without a job in this economy. Things are just too uncertain, and there are a lot of people everywhere looking for jobs.

[renrenbri]

Thank you very much for all of the information. I definitely agree....we would never move without finding a job first. First, we are trying to narrow down our areas so that we can come visit a few places in the spring. This whole process is so stressful! I am not even sure of how it will happen! When your family moved, how did you do it? I mean we would first find a job....but after that, things would have to happen VERY quickly. We have a house to sell here, then we would have to very quickly find a house there. We wouldn't do either of those things until we were secured a job, but an employer would not be willing to wait to long to have someone start working. An issue with us is that it will be difficult for us to rent because we have 2 medium sized dogs.

[novanwbie]

Well, if you come see Richmond in the spring, you'll want to move here -- it really is a beautiful city! Drive down Monument Avenue, go to Maymont or Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, or walk along the James River. There's so much to do here!

We were very lucky -- my husband was able to find a job here, and we rented an apartment that weekend. But we waited a long time to move back, and watched the job market very closely. Luckily, Richmond has a lot of nice apartment complexes and they almost all take dogs, so you could find a place quickly if you needed to. An apartment isn't always ideal, but it does seem to be the fastest option. And you're right, it is really stressful! My husband actually moved down before us, which was hard, but we had a house to take care of, too. Spend the time now to learn about neighborhoods and schools, and figure out where you want to be, so you're prepared to move quickly if you need to. Good luck!!

[renrenbri]

So far, I am going to concentrate on the Midlothian/Chesterfield area. We may also take a trip up to NH and CT, but the cost of living seems to be really high up there! Thank you very much for all of the information!

[snatale1]

Midlothian is nice, but also check out Western Henrico. Screw New England (I'm from there), if you want to throw money away, give it to me! There are MANY people from PA living here.