[Spliff]

There was an education career fair at my university the other day and there was a booth that was looking to hire teachers for Virginia Beach. The guy gave this whole spiel about how great Virginia Beach is and how affluent it is, etc, etc.

What I want to know is why they're looking for foreign teachers? Aren't there enough teachers in the US who would want to teach in Virginia Beach if it is as amazing as this guy said it is?

[lavar78]

It's not bad. It's easily the largest city in Virginia. Obviously, traffic sucks. It's definitely not as affluent as Northern Virginia.

[Paco500]

I lived there for about a year in the early 90's. I don't know how much it has changed, but at the time, it was a cesspool with pockets of affluence and beauty. Small pockets.

It's pretty much a big Navy base next to a big shipyard. If you are in to check cashing joints, pawn shops, sleazy strip clubs, crooked "buy here, pay here" used car joints, fighter jets cruising loudly over head at all hours and gun crimes, you might like it.

Just don't count on a picturesque beach front, decent shopping or hint of culture.

On the plus side, it's not far from some nice places. And, of course, my intel is over a decade old. Things change.

[turtle777]

Pfff, VA Beach is totally overrated. It's a place where the less affluent kids go for spring break.

Let me ask you this: How old are you ?
If you are younger than 25 and single, yeah, you might get a kick out of it.

I live "on the other side of the water", in Newport News. I don't care too much for this area. Lot of military here (Navy, Army, Coast Guard, AirForce), but that's really it. In Williamsburg, you have some good historic sites, so there is *some* stuff to do around here.
In general, you do have a lot of people live here in Hampton Roads, but still, it is not even close to being a city in any sense.

-t

[wdlove]

I haven't been there in years, but remember it to be a nice beach.

[macforray]

I was there in the early 80's and attached to the naval base. I lived on the Newport News side which I liked better than VB. The traffic was horrible even back then. As a sailor I was not fond of VB due to the attitude to the navy personnel. Signs like " dogs and sailors stay off the grass" were seen. NN on the other hand was more friendly, cheaper to live and if I recall, had one of the largest city parks in the country. You could rent a horse to ride, a canoe to paddle or just walk around. Great place. Probably sacrificed for housing now. Northern Jefferson Ave was still rural. The Yoder farm was still there. I think it is a Mickey D and housing tract now. We always found enough to do to stay out of trouble.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by wdlove

I haven't been there in years, but remember it to be a nice beach.

Yeah, well, it's the people there that make it aweful.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by macforray

NN on the other hand was more friendly, cheaper to live and if I recall, had one of the largest city parks in the country. You could rent a horse to ride, a canoe to paddle or just walk around. Great place. Probably sacrificed for housing now.

NN Park is still there.

Peninsula > Southside

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by macforray

NN on the other hand was more friendly, cheaper to live and if I recall, had one of the largest city parks in the country. You could rent a horse to ride, a canoe to paddle or just walk around. Great place. Probably sacrificed for housing now. Northern Jefferson Ave was still rural. The Yoder farm was still there.

Yeah, around Yodder farm and Jefferson, there have been a lot of new buildings. It's really more of a city now than rural. It's nice, but nothing spectacular.

Originally Posted by lavar78

NN Park is still there.
Peninsula > Southside

The NN park still exists. But the Mariner's park is much nicer. After Katrina, it took them more than a year (!!!) to clean up NN park. You couldn't do any of the trails for 15 months. I stopped going there.

-t

[His Dudeness]

The whole of Hampton Roads is pretty nice. They can't drive worth a **** here, and the traffic sucks much of the time, but there's plenty to do here if you can stomach the traffic. I've been here since late 92 and it's like home to me.

The houses are so overvalued it's not funny. The house I'm in now in Seaford has probably gained 30k in value since I bought it in April last year. I paid 230k for it.

And yes, there's a ton of military people here. The largest Navy base in the world is here and the second largest military shipyard is here, in Newport News.

But if you can stomach the traffic and terrible drivers, you'll like it here.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

The whole of Hampton Roads is pretty nice. They can't drive worth a **** here

That's normal. I was born and raised here, but I've lived in quite a few places and visited many more. My observation is that no one can drive well anywhere. This is a country filled with bad drivers.

[His Dudeness]

Yeah, that's true. But I've driven in many many states, and these turds here are the worst. And I have been to Naples, Italy. If anybody here has been there too, you'll know that they don't obey traffic laws there. The stop signs are there for suggestive purposes only!

The best ten bucks I spent in Italy was in a cab fare from Fleet Landing to the Navy base not too far from there. I looked like John Candy and Steve Martin in Planes Tranes and Automobiles!

[hickey]

the last time I went to VB was when I was abotu 12, and i think I liked it. My brother might end working there after he graduates this spring. I was never crazy about beach towns anyway though, I think they suck.

[wolfen]

From what I heard, it has undergone a revitalization and is not what it was 20 years ago. They are working hard to make it a great place to live.

I have gone there twice on vacation and absolutely loved it. But tourism does not equate living there.

[jonasmac]

The traffic sucks there. Other than that, it's OK. Saw DMB there at the Verizon Amphitheatre this past summer.