Anyone live near one of these Navy bases?

[Sabine]

My FI is a med. student who is also in the Navy. He has one more year of school here in Hershey, and then he will do his residency. Although it''s not 100%, it''s pretty likely that he will do a Navy residency, so we will be relocating to one of the Navy bases. I had been holding on to the hope that he would have a large number of the bases to choose from, as I was really hoping for Newport (I fell in love with it when I visited him there during his basic training) or Hawaii (because, well, it''s Hawaii). But he found out today that the only hospitals that offer programs are San Diego, Ca, Portsmith, VA, and Bethesda, MD. That means we''ll be moving to one of these areas next year. I know I''ll be doing tons of research on the areas, but I thought I''d throw this out there to hear about some first-hand experiences. So do any of you live in these areas? Do you like it? Do they have nice suburbs nearby (I am SOOOO not a city girl)? How is cost of living? Anything else I should know?

 

[sumbride]

Bethesda, MD is right outside of Washington, DC. It''s a very pricey area to live in if you won''t be provided housing. Bethesda is actually considered a suburb to DC, but there are suburbs around Bethesda as well, although it''s all pretty "city" in that you will have tons of amenities but it''s also relatively safe. Oh, and the traffic? Nightmare, but the Naval hospital is on the Metro (Red Line).

 

[Molly1024]

I''m sorry I don''t have any information for you right now, but my H is in the Marines and we are going to be moving at the end of the month, and our top choice is San Diego. Here is what my friend (her H is in the Navy)had to say:
We loved San Diego!!
We lived in Carmel Valley (about 15 minutes North of Miramar) when we first moved there. It''s really nice there, close to the beach, Del Mar, etc. but about 20-30 minutes from downtown (with traffic).
We then moved to Mission Hills, right by the airport, downtown, near Little Italy and LOVED IT! It was a fabulous area, accessible to everything, we could walk down to the harbor, etc. I highly recommend Little Italy, Mission Hills, Hillcrest and Bankers Hill (all near Balboa Park). So much character and fun! THe drive to Miramar would be probably 25-30 minutes in the morning but I think it''s worth it!

You might get some more responses if you post the city name- from what I understand, the bases are very close to San Diego so it''s not a separate community (except for base housing).

 

[sumbride]

Portsmouth, VA is near Hampton Roads, close to Virginia Beach. I personally didn''t like the area much when I visited. Norfolk, VA isn''t exactly a happening town, but I do know lots of people that do like the area. Will you get the chance to visit any of them before he makes his decision?

Personally, I love San Diego and would chose that in a heart beat, but I''ve lived near DC for almost 9 years now, so I obviously like that enough too. I would choose either of those places over Portsmouth myself.

 

[ImpatientOne]

Well, my husband is active duty Army, and my son is active duty Marines and I've traveled to a few bases. If it were me, I would go for either San Diego or Portsmith. Bethesda is too crowded and too high cost of an area for my likes. As for housing, the BAH (housing allowance) will be based on the cost of living in that area.

Do you have a preference for East coast or West coast? Basically that's what it will come down to. San Diego will definitely have milder winters!

Best wishes!

 

[surfgirl]

Sabine, I live in SD, have for going on 16 years. It's changed a lot in many ways and in others not so much. It's an easy place to live in terms of weather if you're not keen on harsh winters, though in the last several years winter has gotten a lot colder (we heat our home with our fireplace every night in winter). Compared to many places the traffic isn't that bad but then again, I dont commute anywhere and if you do I suppose it's not so great, but better than say the NY/NJ metropolitan area. Without traffic issues, everything you'd want to get to is about 20-30 minutes drive to beach, mountains, desert, etc. You can get snow in the mountains just outside the city if you have a snow craving. Beaches are numerous and everyone has their favorite. What I will say is that it is a very conservative city in its thinking, and very corrupt. But that really isn't here or there if you're not here long term. As for cost of living, it is extremely high in all ways. Gas prices are the highest in the country. Rents are very expensive, and the median home prices are very high compared to what you're probably used to. That said, I dont know what prices for rents or buying are like father inland. God knows they keep on building and building and building so I'm sure at some point you can find something more affordable. As a reference point, a friend recently moved into an apt. in Mission Hills area (very central location) - I think its a 1br/1ba in an old Spanish style four-plex, and he's paying $1200/month + utilities. That said, I think if you're FI was in a Navy program, you'd probably either have Navy housing provided on base, or a housing stipend. You should check into that and see if it applies to him. Most people really like SD when the move here...I will say the mentality - if you're from the east coast, which I am as well - is quite different. I find it difficult to make good friends here. People seem nice on the surface but without a lot of substance, so the only people I've become close friends with out here are folks who hail from the east coast...I'm not sure if it's because there are a lot of temporary people who come out here for a few years and then leave, that causes this phenomenon, or if it's just the age I'm at now...But for what it's worth...You'll probably like it a lot, especially if it's not a long term commitment...that way you can see how much, or not, you like it out here and then decide if you want to stay on. Not sure that helped or not...Ask any more specific questions if you have any!

 

[Hera]

I live in San Diego and my husband is in the Navy stationed out of Camp Pendleton (Some Navy work on Marine bases). I''ve been here in San Diego since I came here to attend San Diego State in 1992. Although I do love it here, I plan on eventually leaving here because the cost of living is just too high for some of those same reasons Surfgirl posted. Some good news for those in the military is that BAH is actually being increased quite significantly (it started jan 1, 2008 but you won''t see t til jan 15) helping to afford homes in the area. You can actually go on a website that lets you know what he''ll be paid and you can check Craigslist to find out what you can get in the area. Here it is: http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bah.html

I actually find San Diego to be pretty urban but it does have some more country like areas on the outskirts (well according to my unqualified city mouse point of view). I just would be careful for the areas you look into though as there are quite some unsavory areas out here. You''re always welcome to post the areas later and get some input. I find this website helps too. Just put the city into the search bar. http://www.city-data.com/

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi,

I''ve never been to VA or MD, but have been to San Diego two times in the last six months and LOVE it there! After going there in the summer, my husband and I contemplated moving there! The houses are very pricey, however, and that is a turn off to us. A relative of my husband who lives there has a tiny bungalow and the neighbors next to him sold his house for $1 million and the house is no more than 1500 square feet. Surely there are cheaper parts of the city so it''d be worth checking out. Also the people are amazingly friendly there compared to where I live now! It was very easy to strike up conversations with people.

Ooops, you know I just remembered I have been to Virginia!!! lol That''s how forgetable it was!

I went there when I was in my early 20s and stayed for a week and all I remember is that there were loads of Salt Water Taffy shops!

 

[perry]

I was stationed in Norfolk & Portsmouth for about 5 years when I was in the Navy (except for boot camp and A school).

The area is not as pricy as San Diago or DC.

If you and your FI are American history buffs Portsmouth is the place to be of your three choices. Jamestown is like an hour away (first European settlement). Tons of revolutionay war and civil war history in the area. Kitty Hawk is close by (the Write Brothers first airplane). I spent many weekends touring all kinds of stuff. For weekends you can go to DC or Philidelphia with ease.

The winters are mild - but you may get an occasional snow (which usually melts off in a day or so).

The general population (natives who grew up there) are not quite as freewheeling accepting of things as people in California; but, once out of the city proper you will find a general respect for military personnel that you will not find in California amoung the old families in the area. If you act decently you will be treated very decently in return.

Virginia Beach is not as nice as the beaches of southern california. But, I found the culture and history to be of the area to be far more interesting than better beaches (but you may choose differently).

One thing you should know. In the general Norfolk area there is a lot of military (especially for the population of the immediate area). As such, it is more common to find locals that are not the happiest with the military - or with service members. You will find less of that in California. I do note that I just learned to tolerate those people and associate (and patronize businesses) that were neutral or supportive of the military. I did not find it a problem. Just an observation.

I wish you and your FI well.

For the record: I have had surgury in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital; and had a fingertip mostly reattached there as well. I have good memories of the place.

Eddited to add: After reading the other post - traffic is much better at Portsmouth & Norfolk than either DC or San Diago. You can actually drive to work if you want in a reasonable amount of time. I would look to live on the Portsmouth side of the river though. No reason to have to drive through the tunnels except for trips.

Perry

 

[matildawong]

Wow. Surfgirl and Perry and SDLady said it all. Of course I still have to chime in...

I spent my childhood in San Diego and then have lived here on and off since college. I also lived in Virginia Beach for a year with a Navy bf.
I love San Diego, it''s my first home and I have lots of connections here. But the cost of living is depressing to me. I am currently attempting to move my native san diegan bf (who works for the DOD) back east when he finishes his master''s program.

Still, San Diego is considered a paradise by many and if you get a housing stipend or can live on base, it''s totally worth considering. In San Diego you can drive to the mountains, the desert, to cool cities and out into nature -- San Diego has everything. It''s a super-neat town. And you''d be here for a residency -- so can''t you transfer again if it''s too expensive or not your thing or whatever once the residency is done?

We pay $1350/mo. for a one bed, one bath condo with one parking spot in Hillcrest (cute, trendy and LBGT-friendly neighborhood) ... it''s pretty nice but tiny.

I love Norfolk -- I haven''t really visited the Portsmouth area a lot but my first impression is that I think I''d opt to live in a cute ''hood in Norfolk if possible. Norfolk is no San Diego, but it''s nice and we could actually afford a house there. :>

And I just have to say, I''ve spent a lot of years on the east coast (NC) and surfgirl, I''m always trying to explain the difference in attitude between socal and east coasters to my bf. I''m pretty sure he thinks I''m making it up.

Oh my. This is a sprawling reply; all over the place! I''m sorry!

 

[diamondfan]

Maryland can be nice, would you be near the Chesapeake? We like the area down there, not sure about cost of living etc, but cannot imagine it more than So. Cal. I know nothing about VA.

 

[nicolejrx]

Date: 1/8/2008 7:04:03 PM
Author:Sabine
My FI is a med. student who is also in the Navy. He has one more year of school here in Hershey, and then he will do his residency. Although it''s not 100%, it''s pretty likely that he will do a Navy residency, so we will be relocating to one of the Navy bases. I had been holding on to the hope that he would have a large number of the bases to choose from, as I was really hoping for Newport (I fell in love with it when I visited him there during his basic training) or Hawaii (because, well, it''s Hawaii). But he found out today that the only hospitals that offer programs are San Diego, Ca, Portsmith, VA, and Bethesda, MD. That means we''ll be moving to one of these areas next year. I know I''ll be doing tons of research on the areas, but I thought I''d throw this out there to hear about some first-hand experiences. So do any of you live in these areas? Do you like it? Do they have nice suburbs nearby (I am SOOOO not a city girl)? How is cost of living? Anything else I should know?

My husband is a Navy doctor in his third year of training at Naval Medical Center San Diego and we love living here! We are both from the west coast initially so the cost of living is unfortunately normal for us. My husband did his one year internship at NMCSD and then did a 2 year general medical officer (GMO) billet in 29 Palms before heading back to his residency. That is one thing to keep in mind that many navy programs now are having the doctors do a GMO billet before finishing their residency which can be hard if you don''t get a GMO billet in the San Diego area. With the military if someone above(either in rank or points) your FI wants his residency position and they can apply and they can take it which results in the GMO billet. This is becoming quite common and many general practitioners are going back to do further medical training as a residency results in a non deployable situation. Some doctors also chose to do a GMO billet before continuing on in their residency. My husband deployed to Iraq two times during his two years in 29 Palms, earning a Purple Heart on his first deployment after being in a very forward location...

As far as where to live, we live downtown which makes is super easy for him to get to the hospital, less than 10 minutes and only about 2 freeway exits away which is very nice for him. He enjoys not having much of a commute! There are lots of suburbs of San Diego but we just love the downtown lifestyle personally (walking to dinner, coffee, taking nice long walks on the bay). Hillcrest is another great area which we love to hang out! Good luck to you and if you have any questions feel free to ask

 

[~*Alexis*~]

OK well....

As a MD girl, I would have to say Bethesda. It is a DC suburb but its not all that bad. The cost of living is higher but not that much different from SD from what I have read. Plus if you get a part of town to live in, its decent. Plus its cultural.

In the future you can always relocate near Balitomore and John Hopkins is a great place to start his career off....there is also George Washington Hospital and some smaller community hospitals in the area...depending on his specialty.

 

[Clio]

My husband works as an IT contractor at the Naval hospital in Bethesda, and we live in Rockville, which is the next town north of Bethesda. It''s all generally part of the DC area, but each suburb has its own personality, so you could find a place that is more suburban than urban. Bethesda is an older, "inner ring" suburb. Very nice, very expensive. Kensington is cute, less expensive, and offers very easy access to the NNMC.

Downsides - the cost of living is heart-stoppingly high and the traffic is horrible (though my husband''s door-to-door commute is only 15 mins). There is a Metro station right across the street from the hospital, but Metro is expensive and increasingly unreliable (which is not so great for me, since I commute into DC).

Upsides - I really like the DC area - there''s so much to do, and I find the climate and landscape to be congenial. We can drive 20 minutes south and be at my sister''s apt. in the heart of DC or 30 minutes north and be in farm country. We have kids, so the great schools in Montgomery County are a factor as well. We''ve met lots of very interesting and smart people in this area, though it is a fairly transient area so sometimes people move away just as you''re getting to know them.

 

[laine]

I lived in Norfolk and worked in Portsmouth for a few years. The tunnels can be a pain, but you learn which ones to take and avoid when, and living in Norfolk, my commute was opposite the rush hour traffic. Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampton, and Newport News are all considered part of Hampton Roads, and are really like one giant spread out city (they all more or less run together). Its isn't really a very city like city though--its more like a giant suburb. There are good areas and bad, and it does have some city type downtown areas, but there are lots of cute areas I loved living in.

Virginia Beach has lots of the standard culdesac type suburb neighborhoods, if you like that sort of thing, but the oceanfront area is awful (lots of really trashy tourists)--don't go to the beach there! Try Chick's Beach (Chesapeake Beach--and actually more bay than ocean) or Sandbridge.

Norfolk has some cute historic neighborhoods like Ghent. Lots of old, big houses and old buildings split into just 4 or 6 apts. Its walking distance from a number of restaurants and close to the Waterside/harbor area, where they have lots of events in the summer, and near the nice mall in the area. Its really close to the midtown tunnel (the one to Portsmouth that has less traffic). Yes, I'm biased as this is where I lived and I really liked it.

The whole area has lots of city conveniences, but not a city feel because its so spread out. That can make for a bit of driving, but with the exception of the tunnels and a few other spots at rush hour, traffic isn't bad at all (nothing like DC area traffic!) The surrounding area is fairly rural, which I like. Bethesda would definitely have a more urban feel than the Portsmouth area.

ETA: Cost of living isn't bad there at all, while you can find crazy expensive stuff, there are lots of reasonable options that are still quite nice. I'd guess this would be the most reasonable of your 3 locations.

 

[Sabine]

Thank you so much Sumbride, Molly, ImpatiantOne, Surfgirl, heraanderson, MC, Perry, SDlady, Matildadawg, diamondfan, nicolejrx, alexis, clio, and laine! The reason I''m asking about these places now is because we are creating his 4th year schedule this weekend, and he can fit in 2 Navy rotations, and he was actually hoping to do both at the hospital he wanted to do his residency at, but now we''re thinking of doing them at 2 different locations so we can spend time checking them out. So we''re trying to narrow it down to our top, or top two, choices. It won''t be a permanant move, most likely only during residency as right now we both have our hearts set on coming back to the Pittsburgh area near our families. I have to say, San Diego intrigues me. It makes me nervous though because of the cost of living, and because we would consider starting a family during those years, and I think it would be hard to be across the country from our families. Both Bethesda and Norfolk would be in driving distance.

Clio: Is traffic horrible all around the area, including all through the suburbs, or only actually in Bethesda and near the Navy base? One of my bridesmaids just moved to Rockville, and I don''t think I knew it was so close to Bethesda...that may be a major selling point!

nicolejrx: I''d love to hear more about your husband''s GMO. We''re having a hard time getting definite info. on these. First we heard that they thought of doing away with them. Then we heard that it would be really smart to try to do one before residency to try to pay back the time owed right away. But then we were also told that during the GMO, the chances of him being stationed somewhere overseas and DANGEROUS was not all that likely, and that it would be possible for me to travel with him (and we actually liked the sound of this because we would both like to do some traveling). So did your husband have any choice about going to Iraq? If not, it sounds like I am sorely mistaken about what the GMO would entail. And if you wouldn''t mind, how long was your husband in Iraq each time, and where was he during the GMO if he wasn''t in Iraq? I hope I don''t sound selfish here...we both know that serving in the Navy is a commitment that might require him to be serving in a dangerous place, and I am so awed by those who risk their lives to do so, but of course we would love to avoid him going to Iraq if it is possible.

Perry: I''m surprised to hear that people living near the Navy base in VA would be anti-military. That''s something I would have never even thought to expect, so thanks for the heads up!

heraanderson: Thanks for the links! I still feel so clueless when it comes to most of this Navy stuff.

Surfgirl: You definitely gave me a lot to think about...especially hearing about the difference in East coast and West coast mentality. I''m definitely an East coast girl...

 

[KimberlyH]

I have lived in San Diego for 3 years and am married to a local yocal (he''s a rare bird, that''s for sure!). If you''re looking for suburbs Hillcrest, Mission Hills and Bankers Hill are not the place for you, although they''d be the most convenient. The cost of living is quite high, everywhere. If your husband will be a Lt. during his residency and you opt for military housing you''d likely be placed in Serra Mesa. It''s a middle class area in San Diego; it''s considered central city but is mostly residential. I don''t know anything about grocery shopping and schools in the area but my wedding photographer lived there and it''s a nice place; when we drove through the housing I thought it was cute.

When I was talking to DH (I asked him because he''s involved in real estate) about your thread he said "There''s no such thing as a middle class housing in San Diego." His only suggestion, that would suit your needs, was Eastlake in Chula Vista. I''m not a fan of the city, but the neighborhood is nice (I have a boss that lived there). And as he walked out of the room he said "I can''t imagine anyone opting for San Diego over The National Naval Medical Center." That probably means more to you than it does to me, I''m not up on hospitals across the country.

As for lifestyle, I really enjoy living here. We live in a rural area (it wouldn''t be covenient for your FI), but we are 30 minutes from the city so have access to restaurants, entertainment, etc. It''s definitely not as cultured as New York or Chicago, but you can find such things if you seek them out. There are museums and local theatres along with beautiful beaches and access to both Los Angeles (if there''s not enough city stuff for you to do here), the mountains, and lots of great coastal cities that make for great day trips.

Personally, I think the traffic is miserable (especially on the 15 at rush hour!).

Regarding the comment about people of substance in CA, I believe every place contains people of all kinds. The two most intelligent, thoughtful, interesting people I have met live in San Diego. I''ve met my fair share of dolts here and many other places, including the east coast, too. I think that''s just a part of life, in all cities.

Good luck to you. Deciding where to live is no easy feat. We''ve had the opportunity to move to both Chicago and New York and it was a very hard decision to make (being close to family has won so far, but I''m not so sure that will be the case forever).

 

[perry]

Sabine says:

Perry: I''m surprised to hear that people living near the Navy base in VA would be anti-military. That''s something I would have never even thought to expect, so thanks for the heads up!


That is not quite it. You will find some anti-military people everywhere. What I noticed in Norfolk was different. The major industry in the area is the Military. Period. The result is that the city and many suburbs tend to take positions of support and doing things for the Military that many other locations do not.

There is a group of people who feel cheated by this - and who feel that they are entitled to more and not getting their fair shake.

Now, everyplace with Military installations (and even places that do not have them) have some degree of that. People, afterall are people. Some of them will blame whatever for what they percieve to be the reason they can''t get what they want.

I believe it is more pronounced in the Norfolk area becasue of just how large the Military is as part of the local economy. As an example. If the Military left San Diago it would not make much of a difference to the general area economy. Same with many other places. If the Military left the Norfolk area (2 major naval bases, 1 naval shipyard, 1 large civilian shipyard, and a dozen or so smaller bases from various branches) the economy would crumble and about 1/2 of the jobs would vanish.

Now that does not mean that their arn''t a lot of people who appreciate the Military. Just that you are more likely to run into the malcontents than in most other places. Most people deal with it just fine (just ignore them). I am sure you and your FI will do the same.

Perry

 

[nicolejrx]

Hello again,
Please forgive me if this is too much information but I will try to address all of your questions! Anything to help you out, the military can be a scary unknown (at least it was to me when I started dating my now husband back when he was midway through his internship).

Also it is my understanding that they are changing the way interns are matched to specific programs so some of this may not apply...

To start, my husband did not have a choice about going to Iraq. He obviously understood that it was a possibility but it kinda came upon us quickly. He was all set to go straight through his program when in early April of 2004 he was informed that a GMO wanted his position in his residency so he therefore would have to do a GMO billet because his position in the residency was given away. At that time all of the "good" GMO billets were already taken so he was chosen to go up to 29 Palms (a marine base by Palm Springs, CA) to be the assistant battalion surgeon for a battalion of infantry marines. In July, he had started his training for GMO''s when on the 4th of July (literally on the holiday) received an email stating he would be deploying in August for 7 months. After the 7 months in Iraq (in a VERY FORWARD dangerous spot) he spent 11 1/2 months back at 29 and then redeployed again for 3 1/2 months, this time in a more safe location but in Iraq nontheless...

As far as the information that your FI received about the likely hood of being placed in a dangerous location as being very low, I would, unfortunately, have to disagree with that. Almost every GMO I have met that is now currently in residency training, has been deployed to Iraq, if not once but twice like my husband. Obviously you have time on your side that the current situation over there may be different but I have been thinking that it would be changing for sometime now and it is still the same... Also there are very few overseas awesome GMO billets, I have personally never met anyone who has done one so I don''t even truly know if they exist. We would love to go overseas but they typically save the great Europe billets for more senior doctors who have already done their time and don''t owe the Navy time. So they dangle those kind of billets to entice doctors to stay in the Navy for a little longer.

With the GMO billet it is true that you pay back some of your time that you owe the military but in your residency you both pay back and accrue time. For example, my husband owed the Navy 4 years after his internship. He paid back 2 years with his GMO billet and after he is done his three year residency will owe the Navy 3 more years.

An important point to note (that I had no idea about when I started dating my husband) is that the Navy provides ALL medical services for the Marines both overseas on deployments and well as on Marine bases. So alot of the GMO billets are with the Marines and not the Navy.

In closing, my husbands deployments were difficult for us but in the end made us stronger! I have a way better perspective on life and hardships now that I have been through both of those during such a short time frame. It was obviously extremely difficult when he was wounded and received his Purple Heart, I have never been so scared in my life. But the best day of my life was the day he came home from that deployment! Our wedding day was special and so was our engagment day (we have no kids yet so I know those days will be special too), but that night he came home was the best. I don''t think you are selfish for saying you hope he doesn''t deploy, heck I am hoping that he doesn''t have to deploy again when we are in the middle of starting our family in 2009! Those are very normal feelings to have. Anyways, I am sorry if I am rambling. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and best of all good luck with everything!
Nicole

 

[ImpatientOne]

Date: 1/8/2008 8:33:52 PM
Author: heraanderson

I live in San Diego and my husband is in the Navy stationed out of Camp Pendleton (Some Navy work on Marine bases). I''ve been here in San Diego since I came here to attend San Diego State in 1992. Although I do love it here, I plan on eventually leaving here because the cost of living is just too high for some of those same reasons Surfgirl posted. Some good news for those in the military is that BAH is actually being increased quite significantly (it started jan 1, 2008 but you won''t see t til jan 15) helping to afford homes in the area. You can actually go on a website that lets you know what he''ll be paid and you can check Craigslist to find out what you can get in the area. Here it is: http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bah.html

I actually find San Diego to be pretty urban but it does have some more country like areas on the outskirts (well according to my unqualified city mouse point of view). I just would be careful for the areas you look into though as there are quite some unsavory areas out here. You''re always welcome to post the areas later and get some input. I find this website helps too. Just put the city into the search bar. http://www.city-data.com/

Hey, heraanderson, is your hubby a Corpsman? My son is with MCAS Camp Pendleton, H&H Squadron. Marines love their Corpsman

 

[Clio]

Clio: Is traffic horrible all around the area, including all through the suburbs, or only actually in Bethesda and near the Navy base? One of my bridesmaids just moved to Rockville, and I don''t think I knew it was so close to Bethesda...that may be a major selling point!

Traffic in the entire DC area is wretched. There are ways to work around it, of course, but I tend to pretty much assume that going anywhere beyond Rockville is going to take 30+ minutes. Of course, each suburb tends to have its own stores, offices, etc. so I can do most of my errands in Rockville/North Bethesda without dealing with really bad traffic. It''s mostly the main arteries (495, 270, 355, 66 in Virginia) that are bad, especially at rush hour. The closer you can live to work, the better.

 

[laine]

RE: anti-military in Norfolk/Portsmouth

I didn''t really notice this at all. I was living there during 9-11 and the following years, and the pro-America, pro-military attitude was overwhelming. I was actually really shocked when I went to Seattle and saw signs and protests against the war--nothing like that could have come close to existing in Norfolk!

Among people my age, I did notice some dislike of the military, but I think that was 100% a response to drunken, obnoxious navy guys hitting on girls at bars, and was not generalized to the military as a whole.

 

[sumbride]

There is a lot to be said for choosing the National Naval Medical Center over the others... that''s where the President gets his check-ups. If your FI is into politics at all, it would be interesting. And it is a big facility, plus DC has so much else going on that really everybody in this country should experience if they can.

And ditto on the traffic... it is just WRETCHED in the WHOLE area. And not just during rush hour. Rockville Pike is one of the circles of hell. But you could live north of Bethesda and FI could take the metro to work unless he works overnight hours. Of course, the metro has just raised rates AGAIN and the service is in rapid decline.... But I''m reminded of the saying "when have times not been hard and money not been scarce..." There are drawbacks everywhere.

 

[Sabine]

Kimberly, thanks for the additional info.!

Perry, thanks for the clarification. I guess finding some people with those attitudes is going to happen...some people will find problems no matter what the situation.

nicolejrx, thanks for elaborating! It really sounds like we''ve been getting the sugarcoated version of info. I''m really having a hard time dealing with not getting straight answers about exact requirements, but I guess I just have to be flexible and have faith that everything will work out. You must be so proud of your husband for his commitment, and I"m so glad to hear that the experience didn''t break you but instead made you stronger!

Clio and Sumbride, thanks for the traffic update!

 

[decodelighted]

I grew up in Norfolk but haven''t lived there since 1992 ... about 1/2 of my family lives around there (but not in Portsmouth) & half is up by DC.

Agree with Laine''s assessment. Probably the most economical of your choices but, um, less glam than the other two.

Let us know which you choose!

 

[:)]

Has your husband actually matched yet in his specialty and definitely has those three choices? I ask to make sure you are not making choices too early in the game only to have them changed on you down the road... when I was in med school (although it was quite a while ago!), some of the people with military obligations had trouble when it actually came time for residency and ended up with quite a shock (despite assurances from the military that they would have no problem and despite having gone to, and done well in, a well respected medical school) The main example that comes to mind is a guy who was not allowed to do a residency in the area he desired (uro I think, but I cannot definitively recall), b/c they ended up not taking anyone that year in that area due to overpopulation in that residency program (they made him do FP instead if I recall) - I don't know what happened to him in the long run. My general impression has been that trouble with matching and completing residencies in the military is a gigantic headache no matter what specialty you choose or where you get your training.

That said, I had another friend who finished Med School a couple of yrs before me - the Navy initially wanted him to do his nsg residency with them, but allowed some kind of waiver for him to do his nsg residency at a top notch 'civilian' program and then he returned and did his payback time (plus extra for the waiver if I recall corrrectly) at the Naval Hospital in San Diego as an attending (they ultimately moved back to the East Coast to be near family) - he was deployed once or twice on USNS Mercy I believe - or perhaps it was the Comfort (sorry, I can't recall, I just remember both names being discussed!).. I am not sure if part of the waiver permission was due to him having a wife in a path residency at the same civilian hospital but I know they had to push really hard for it. He and his family were very happy in SD (his wife is a pathologist and they have two daughters). I also lived there for a few yrs and enjoyed it too. Great city with friendly laid back people (had to get used to the laid back thing at first, but now I adore it!). The Naval Hospital there has an excellent reputation.

I hope this is helpful - Good Luck to you!