Sulfolk/Norfolk, VB, Newport News, VA Area?

[Narwhal]

We are looking at purchasing a home in the Sulfolk, VA area.

We are originally from Boston, lived in Chicago/DC and Baltimore areas. We have been looking for a home with land to have a little hobby farm, where its warmer and nearish water. Through ruling out Eastern Shore of MD due to lack of conveniences near by, we ended up investigating this area. We went and visited, looked at houses, found one that FITS!

We are working on the loan/offer process. But nothing is set in stone yet.

But i was wondering if any PSers had any comments about the area. I tried posting on city data and didn't get a response.

Sounds like people are not a fan of the area if they love city life. Even though we have lived in big cities, we have always wanted more space. I rather drive 15 mins-30 mins to something than deal with public transit. But we can't be hermits out in the boonies. I need my retail therapy, and it needs to be more than a Walmart. So i was excited to see Macy's, Nordstrom, etc all in the area.

 

[aviastar]

I'm not super familiar with the area, but I did go to school down in Richmond so have a passing familiarity. If you're willing to drive a bit, Norfolk and VA Beach areas are pretty built up. Williamsburg has GREAT outlets, plus all the really fun historical stuff to do there. Richmond is not a hard drive away, up to 2 hours depending on traffic and where you start from, but it's a simple straight shot and gets you to a fairly large airport, several malls, etc.

Sounds like a blast!

 

[taovandel]

I'm from Virginia Beach. I love the area and we easily drive to Norfolk and Williamsburg for attractions out there. Suffolk is definitely not as built up (to my very limited knowledge), but you are definitely within driving distance of fun stuff (the beach, Busch Gardens, Outlet Shopping, etc.)

 

[Narwhal]

Thanks for the replies. Just need reassurance we aren't missing anything. We definitely are more car dependent people. So driving is not an issue.

It seems like a good fit for us, but all we read on city forums are complaints. But people tend to rather complain than praise online...

We did visit during spring break week (we didn't realize until down there) and traffic was nonexistent to us. Was that because it was spring break? Or was that week a good idea of what the traffic is like? We heard the tunnels etc were nightmares, but a couple times we took them during 5-7pm and had no issues.