Best Place to Live/Work in Virginia

ankmama · Nov 10, 2009

I have lived in the Winchester area all my life. I personally love the area. It is close enough to the city that if you got a job there you could commute. Most of my inlaws live in Winchester and they work in Reston. Also many people also work in West Virginia. The hospital over there has better employment and benefits. The VA hospital is also very close. I think if you were looking for a place that isn't a city but have been used to that city life it would be nice to be close enough to go to the city. Hope you find a place that works for you.

Pokytrokyt · Nov 10, 2009

I've lived in Virginia and Maryland off and on as a kid, and for the past 20 years solid in VA. Here's my take on a couple issues when living in the Metro DC area:

Cost of living: Yeah, it's high. But higher than what? It's more than East Wahoo, Nebraska, and less than NYC or Honolulu. I suggest you look at the cost of living relative to the salaries that are being paid for nurses in this area. And remember that cost of living isn't the only thing to consider when choosing where to live.

Schools: Fairfax (VA), Loudon (VA) and Montgomery (MD) counties have awesome, nationally ranked schools. IMHO, it's the single biggest reason to live here. Every locale says they have great schools. But look at their HS graduation rates, 4-year college entrance rates and SAT scores. I moved here specifically to put my kids in Fairfax County schools and have never regretted it. And the instate tuition for schools like UVA, William&Mary, Va Tech and James Madison is a relative bargain.

Continuing education: if you have an interest in pursuing an advanced nursing degree, there are many local schools to choose from. You can attend part time or full time, often with financial assistance from a hospital employer.

Culture: all work and no play gets pretty boring. There is a wealth of cultural stuff to do here, a lot of it free.

Traffic: can be a *****. So try to live close to where you work, or live and work close to public transit. I live in Alexandria and go to nursing school at Georgetown. My community has a shuttle bus (free) to the nearest Metro. Door to door: 45 minutes. If I tried to drive that route during rush hour? Probably 90 minutes for the same commute.

So if you're a homebody whose idea of fun is macrame, no kids and you hate to commute, then the DC area is probably not for you. But if you're into the arts, hardcore about education, and don't mind commuting, then DC might be a good fit for you.

:cool:

smn2010, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2009

as for housing, try www.craigslist.org (hampton roads area of virginia). under housing (apts/homes). many of the apartments/homes have photos. this will give you an "idea" of how housing compares to your current city/state.

if you have children, try greatschools.net. this will give you ratings for schools in the area you are thinking of moving to.

if you want the opinions of "locals" in any city/state, try www.city-data.com/forum (select virginia...or your state of interest....and your city of interest may have a sublink within the state of interest). this site answers questions about crime/safety, neighborhoods, schools, things to do/places to go, great restaurants, etc. if you don't see a question being asked, just ask and someone will respond in no time.

for cost of living comparison, try sterlings best places. www.bestplaces.net/col

for an up-to-date listing of hospitals in any area try www.theagapecenter.com/hospitals select the state of interest. here you will find an alphabetical listing of hospitals in the state. the listings contain a link the the facilities website. you can easily read about the facility and begin applying for jobs online.

good luck! :up:

2bTraumaRN2008 · Nov 25, 2009

Personally I think Winchester is a nice area. I only work there, live in WV, but I haven't had any issues/concerns working there either... Based on my location, I have Winchester or Rockingham to chose from...everything else is to dang far...and I wouldn't work at one of those 30 bed facilities out here in WV either...b/c most of them get transferred out anyways...I would not live in Winchester though...to much traffic/city like for me. I'm from NJ and all those cars, shops, etc...annoy the heck out of me. I love when I get in the car after work and head back into the mountains/backwoods of WV....

theveepmc · Dec 4, 2009

I suggest Norfolk. You've got EVMS and several large hospitals in the area. Downtown Norfolk apartments are popping up like daisies, so there are some deals to be found.

laughoutloud8 · Dec 7, 2009

I am tired of the "city life"...therefore the DC...Northern VA area does not appeal much to me. I have done some research and I am almost sold on Richmond..anyone from there..been there?

I stayed in Va Beach during my teenage years and did my first two years of College at VCU in Richmond. Richmond is not the nicest area especially downtown. I lived there from Fall 2002-2004 summer and remember gun fire coming through one of the rooms in the Cabaniss hall on the MCV campus my freshman year. Ha my roommate had never heard gun shots until then, lol. I remember walking with a friend and hearing gun fire and running back to my apartment my sophmore year. Not sure how much has change in the five years I have been gone. I strictly lived downtown because I attended VCU. Downtown is getting rebulit place because they completely let it run down into the pits. They were really buliding the Short pump area up and was looking really nice. I drove through the Richmond area exactly one year and short pump is really growing. Would I ever live there again, NO. I

As for Virginia Beach, the cost of living is high as well as Cheasapeake. The pay is horrible for the cost of living. Healthcare workers fare better. Food and things like that are not as cheap as Florida is. I have also stayed in Florida for a number of years 4 in Tampa and 7 in Jacksonville. Can you tell Im a miltary brat yet lol. Va Beach is okay nothing to write home about IMO but remember I was a rebellious teen lol. Many folks like it there that have never been. The traffic is bad, tunnels suck, and just not enough culture for me.

Not trying to dissuade you from Richmond, but crime is at a high level there. Charlottesvill has very, very low crime.

They don't call it the Murder Capitol for nothing!

Cost of living: Yeah, it's high. But higher than what? It's more than East Wahoo, Nebraska, and less than NYC or Honolulu.
Schools: Fairfax (VA), Loudon (VA) and Montgomery (MD) counties have awesome, nationally ranked schools. IMHO, it's the single biggest reason to live here. Every locale says they have great schools. But look at their HS graduation rates, 4-year college entrance rates and SAT scores. I moved here specifically to put my kids in Fairfax County schools and have never regretted it. And the instate tuition for schools like UVA, William&Mary, Va Tech and James Madison is a relative bargain.

DC cost of living is higher than NYC and LA.

Higher edcuation tution seems to have sky rocketed since I started school in 2002 in VA. The instate tution is high IMO especially Geroge Mason which is like 322 per credit hour for INSTATE OMG!.

delvenia · Dec 8, 2009

The cost of living in Chesapeake is now where near high. I currently live there and most nice houses range from $150k to $250k. I personally purchased a foreclosure for only $84k and put $14k in it and it's like a brand new 3 bedroom house. Im and RN but i am also licensed as a Real Estate Agent for Hampton Roads. Nice areas in this area would be VA Beach (high cost of living), Newport News (Oyster Point/uptown area), Chesapeake, Hampton. Hampton has a relatively low cost of living and they have recently built many new neighborhoods. They are doing the same in the uptown area of Newport News and the cost in both areas are pretty good....

laughoutloud8 · Dec 8, 2009

The cost of living in Chesapeake is now where near high. I currently live there and most nice houses range from $150k to $250k. I personally purchased a foreclosure for only $84k and put $14k in it and it's like a brand new 3 bedroom house. Im and RN but i am also licensed as a Real Estate Agent for Hampton Roads. Nice areas in this area would be VA Beach (high cost of living), Newport News (Oyster Point/uptown area), Chesapeake, Hampton. Hampton has a relatively low cost of living and they have recently built many new neighborhoods. They are doing the same in the uptown area of Newport News and the cost in both areas are pretty good....

I was thinking more along the lines of an apartment in Chesapeake. If you want a decent apartment or condo its gonna cost you. Well from what I been told. Home ownership is something I never looked into because I am only 25 with no kids lol. Va Beach use to be reasonable about a decade ago. My dad bought a home in the Chimney Hill subdivision for like 80k in 1997 and now a home in that same subdivision was selling for $220-270k, some folks were even asking for more crazy.

McSweetiepie · Dec 8, 2009

Sorry disregard this- I moved the post to somewhere where it was more relevant