Chesapeake, Virginia

Vert354
10mo ago
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Can't go wrong with Chesapeake Schools, (VB's are alright too I guess ;)

As for where you choose to live in Chesapeake a lot depends on your appetite for commuting and what you're looking for in a property.

If you want lots of land you'll need to look at the southern part of the city (Hickory, Ballahack, Fentress). However if you live south of the intercoastal waterway, you (and everyone else) will need to cross it to get to the major employment centers. There's a finite number of crossings so when one goes out the whole system can't grind to a halt (happened this last summer when some jag-off hit one of the bridges with a barge)

Western Branch, Deep Creek, and Great Bridge are pretty much pure suburban and will stay that way for the foreseeable future. (Not that there won't be development, but it will stay suburban) So look there for that lifestyle

South Norfolk and Indian River are built on urban street grids but are suburban density. South Norfolk is the historic center of the city (a large part of it is on the historic register, so if you own one of those homes you've got to get special permits to make changes) The presence of industry along the river and railroads peppered throughout can make it less desirable, but the city has been pushing for urban renewal, especially around Pointexter St.

jamieboy05
2y ago
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My husband accepted a job in Chesapeake in Oct 2020 and his company relocated us to VB in Nov 2020. We relocated from the Midwest. It was single handedly the hardest decision we have ever made in our lives. His family is from Chicago and and mine is from the just north of Houston. We both grew up in the Midwest all our lives and it was difficult leaving them behind.

That being said… DO IT! TAKE THE PLUNGE!!!! It was the best decision we ever made. No Hampton Roads is not as big as DFW area. But we have everything Dallas has here in Virginia Beach, just a smaller footprint. The beach’s are clean and there is so much history in your back yard. Virginia Beach schools are good as well. One thing that’s unique about VB is they have an Out of Zone process that allows children to remain in the same school if they happen to move zones There is some paperwork to fill out, but that stood out to me when looking into schools.

There are tons of family oriented things to do. Busch Gardens is about 50 minutes away in Williamsburg and there’s tons of things going on at Oceanfront during the on season. There’s a small aquarium. If your wanting a quieter beach to go than Ocean Front, I recommend checking out other local beaches like ocean view. Much quieter more locals. People are friendly here as a whole, and tend to keep to themselves. The job market, especially for middle class incomes is competitive and there are plenty of openings.

Significant-Plenty51
7mo ago
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Ok here is a history lesson, Chesapeake, Va Beach, and Suffolk only exist to tame Norfolk & Portsmouth growth. Norfolk & Portsmouth both have downtowns and traditional built neighborhoods. Yes Portsmouth has a downtown the 2nd best in Hampton Roads by a long shot. I digress, during the 1960s, the counties of South Hampton Roads didn't want to be annexed by Norfolk and Portsmouth. So the state basically passed laws that wouldn't allow any city to annex another city initially, so the beach town of Virginia Beach merged with Princess Anne County making the city of VA Beach. Chesapeake is in the same situation, the city of South Norfolk merging with Norfolk County. The funny thing is Chesapeake had a downtown in South Norfolk, but Chesapeake also didn't invest into South Norfolk because it was a majority black area. All in all a lot of racist things happened that even allowed these cities to come into being. The real eff up thing about Hampton Roads is our suburban cities have done nothing to drive culture, or help the region economically. As you've mentioned Chesapeake has nothing that helps the area economy it's just an area where tax money is held hostage behind city lines,same as Virginia Beach, and Suffolk. Can you believe Hampton Roads had 200,000 less people than NoVa in 1990. Hampton Roads was bigger than Raleigh, Charlotte, and Nashville. Within the last 30 years our area has barely grown. NoVa now has close to 4 million, and all those other metros are as big or bigger than ours. That should put into perspective how eff up Hampton Roads and its cities are.

Obizzle9
7mo ago
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Chesapeake has a large city planning meeting scheduled for the 22nd. I personally believe they are going to address some of the issues/ comments mentioned here. I feel that if Chesapeake wants to make a plan to move forward in building “up” it starts with Greenbrier. There is so much wasted space that the city has self imposed over the years. The major plans I’d recommend:

Walking/ bike access: Wholeheartedly I despise bike lanes, and that is not my suggestion (just to get that out of the way). However Chesapeake does have a number of great ways to make the city more accessible for pedestrians and for cyclists. An extended greenway from S Battlefield to the convention center could be a great start. A natural path already exists near the railway and additional trails would not be conceivably difficult to build. One example of an extension could be to Stumpy Lake. Utilizing the City Park as the “hub” would make for a happier and enticing environment, imho.

Greenbrier Mall: We need not say more, the Mall is failing and presumably close to shuttering its doors in the next two to five years, if not sooner. My suggestion is to capitalize on not only the land here but the situation found in Norfolk. The Scope is also failing with the city spending far more than it’s worth to keep the place afloat. If Chesapeake was smart they would build an entertainment district complete with stadium. Capacity would depend on anticipated venues, however hockey seems to be constant so no less than 7500 likely 10k to target. If they wanted to drive Scope entirely out of business they could build a small theater to accommodate the theater crowd as well. Plenty of bars, restaurants, and spit use property, similar to what is on Volvo. While I think this would be a huge win for Chesapeake I don’t think it will ever happen.

Infrastructure: Yikes, where to begin. While not necessarily every major artery is bad, most seem to have their problems. When I drive through Chesapeake I notice that the planning is almost nonexistent or comically bad. I mean is it possible that everything was an afterthought? At a certain point someone had to realize this city wasn’t getting any smaller, in fact it’s still growing despite 7% interest rates. A major traffic survey needs to be completed and identify the areas where the problem is worst. In some areas I doubt much, if anything, can be done but it’s worth analyzing the data and coming up with a solution.

PROS AND CONS OF LIVING IN CHESAPEAKE VA