Williamsburg VA or West Neck Area VB for retirement

[petsandgardens]

Originally Posted by Nicholas1

We retired to St. Augustine. I thought the city was beautiful. I was wrong. The bugs, gekkos, alligators and huge poisonous snakes sunning in my driveway, not to mention the caliber of the people, the hurricanes and tornadoes, blinding rainstorms...am I forgetting something? Two years later we moved back to Connecticut. Mistake. Cold, Cold Cold. Now looking for relatively inexpensive small home in a good retirement area in Va. Looked at Colonial Heritage and were warned to stay away because you pay too much for what you get. Now I'm wandering around the internet looking for a nice not too expensive place. Mountains are out. I live in a very developed community and 2 huge black bears ran right by my house when I was sitting on the front porch. Bottom line: are there any nice communities in VA near water that are not military camps?

What are military camps?

As far as near water there are a few lakes in Virginia with communities around them of houses and condos and townhouses. Like Smith Mountain Lake. The upper side allows rentals and the lower side of the lake is stricter about that, maybe doesn't allow them but not sure. It's near Roanoke, which is kind of a bigger city. We toured historic towns like Lexington, Lynchburg and Appomattox and went up to Charlottesville which is maybe 2 hours from Smith Mountain Lake. There are another couple of lakes at the middle bottom of Virginia.

[Piney Creek]

Originally Posted by Piney Creek

I don't know much about VB, but we recently retired to Williamsburg, so I can comment on that.

My apologies for a long post, but retirees usually have a ton of questions so I'll try to cover all the pros and cons I can think of. Pros first, cons in the next post. And I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

FWIW, I think it's an excellent place for retirees. It's beautiful, it's very safe, and there are lots of retirees moving in (so the area is geared for your needs and you'll find it easy to make friends).

A few more pros about WBurg:

1. For a small town, there are a high number of museums, libraries, and cultural events. It's easy to find something going on most days of the week. Naturally, a lot of the events and concerts are colonial, but there are also plenty of things like Greek festivals, jazz festivals, blues festivals, symphony & operas, salsa dancing classes, boat parades, car shows, W&M games, etc. Look up the Williamsburg library and check out the events they have. Also events at Williams and Mary. It's pretty easy to find something to do.

2. Lots of bookstores, lectures, and classes to stimulate your mind. WM has the Christopher Wren series of classes especially designed for retirees (topics are a lot more fun than typical college classes). The local community colleges let seniors audit classes for free.

3. Friendly neighbors. A large number of your neighbors have also moved there for retirement, which I think may be one reason people are very friendly. I'm not sure if every neighborhood is like this, but where I live in Ford's Colony people are very social.

4. Good health care. The two hospitals have both won a good share of awards recently. They're not at the level of the Mayo clinic, of course, but for hospitals in a small town I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality of care I've had so far. You get the advantages of small town living, but also a medical facility you'd find in a larger metro area. And since there are lots of retirees, they are good at dealing with the needs of the elderly.

5. Plenty of trails, parks, places to kayak. The Capital Bike Trail is scenic and goes all the way to Richmond, and some of the parks have impressive bike trails as well. The ocean is 50 minutes away, and there are 3 nice river beaches right here (Yorktown Beach, Jamestown Beach, College Creek Beach). Colonial Parkway has lots of places to park and enjoy doing things outdoors. Plenty of places to fish. The only thing lacking, as far as exercise is concerned, is a relative lack of sidewalks. It's not practical to walk to the store from most of the neighborhoods.

6. Speaking of exercise, if you're visiting the area be sure to check out James City County Rec Center to see all the things you can do when the weather is bad. Williamsburg gets high marks for fitness, and I suspect these are some of the reasons why. In my neighborhood (Ford's Colony) there are miles and miles of walking trails and you always see people out on them. I was surprised with how active I became after moving here, but it seems to be the thing to do. Especially if you like Pickle Ball, LOL.

6. Lots of good grocery stores, and lots of interesting stores. The outlets, the Pottery Factory, and antique malls are fun places to go when the weather is bad. Publix has just opened a store, adding yet another grocery to the mix. No indoor malls, though (Patrick Henry is the closest, about 45 minutes).

7. Lots of volunteer opportunities.

8. Taxes are low. $0.57 property in Williamsburg, compared to $1.27 in my old neighborhood in Nova (and a lot higher than that in places like NJ). There's a fairly high meals tax in the tourist area, but if you go to restaurants in James City County you avoid that. New Town, for example, is in JCC.

9. Some local favorite things to do: There is a free ferry across the James River. It's fun to go to the little Williamsburg airport to see unusual small planes flying in from all over the country. (Plus, the restaurant on the runway serves awesome food while you watch the planes). The Amtrak station is an adorable from another era. It's fun to take the train to nearby towns (you can also go to NYC or DC but it's a long trip; you're better off driving).

10. The crime level is very low. Compare crime stats to other VA cities to see what I mean. The crime that exists is mostly in the tourist area, and there are a few lower income streets that you might want to avoid (petty crime, mostly, even the Grove really isn't that bad). I don't know why, but Williamsburg sometimes seems to be in a bubble, especially when it comes to low crime. I frequently walk home from parties at night and feel perfectly safe doing so. (Note: I live in Ford's Colony; not sure I would do this in every neighborhood.)

I'm bumping this post because there seems to be a lot if interest recently in retiring to Williamsburg. This thread has a lot of good pro/con lists, including the above. If you're thinking of retiring here, there are some good points in this thread.

[Piney Creek]

Also, here's a thread about retirement in Williamsburg that includes a lot of photos, plus detailed info on Colonial Heritage, Kingsmill, and a few other places.


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