Is Tidewater overcrowed now? In the last few years (Virginia Beach: oceanfront, house)

[Serenity2019]

Where I live , there have been a massive amount of people (mostly from the North) moving here to the point where it is overcrowded. The roads are full of cars, the infrastructure did not keep up with the amount of people that moved here. Is it like that in Tidwater, particulary Va. Beach / Norfolk / Chesapeake?

[HRVT]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

Where I live , there have been a massive amount of people (mostly from the North) moving here to the point where it is overcrowded. The roads are full of cars, the infrastructure did not keep up with the amount of people that moved here. Is it like that in Tidwater, particulary Va. Beach / Norfolk / Chesapeake?

Hampton Roads has mostly grown at a snail's pace over the last few decades though there are pockets that have grown pretty quickly. Where are you referring to that is overcrowded (Charleston I'm guessing?)? While HR isn't what I would call "overcrowded", they're getting left behind by more prosperous areas like Raleigh, Charlotte, and even Richmond (Richmond isn't going to catch HR anytime soon in population but does beat HR in a lot of other ways).

[Serenity2019]

Originally Posted by HRVT

Hampton Roads has mostly grown at a snail's pace over the last few decades though there are pockets that have grown pretty quickly. Where are you referring to that is overcrowded (Charleston I'm guessing?)? While HR isn't what I would call "overcrowded", they're getting left behind by more prosperous areas like Raleigh, Charlotte, and even Richmond (Richmond isn't going to catch HR anytime soon in population but does beat HR in a lot of other ways).

Yea I live in Charleston, SC , way overcrowded! I lived in Tidewater, Va. It was not Hampton Roads, when I lived there, so I still call it Tidwater. I lived in Va. Beach, mostly spent time in Va. Beach, sometimes Norfolk and Chesapeake. Thanks for the information.

[HRVT]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

Yea I live in Charleston, SC , way overcrowded! I lived in Tidewater, Va. It was not Hampton Roads, when I lived there, so I still call it Tidwater. I lived in Va. Beach, mostly spent time in Va. Beach, sometimes Norfolk and Chesapeake. Thanks for the information.

So I would say it depends on how long ago you lived in HR and how long it has been since you've been back. If you're saying the area was "Tidewater", and we're talking back into the 80s, then yeah the areas by the Oceanfront are and north of 264 are quite crowded. The infrastructure is decently equipped in VB, but it's getting strained (and the HRBT is a nightmare, though in theory the expansion which should be done in a few years will help).

That said, we moved to the NC Triad from Va Beach about 7 years ago, in part because of how expensive the VB area was (we got far more house in the Triad for considerably less money than we had budgeted to pay in Hampton Roads). As you go west, there's a bit less crowding though last I've seen there's a lot of growth happening in Suffolk. You could also try North Hampton Roads. Hampton/NN have held fairly similar in population over the last 30 years or so (though York County has grown). Traffic isn't terrible for the most part anymore there though as I-64 has been expanded (for years, it used to bottleneck horribly around Jefferson Ave).

I can't speak for Charleston as I've only been once and spent all of 18 hours there (half of which was sleeping) before getting onto a cruise and then driving out of town. But my guess is that you'd consider HR to be overcrowded.

Note: Just noticed you said 1999 in another thread. It's a bit more crowded... but not horribly so. The area has been pretty stagnant growth-wise for quite a while. But depending on the parts of Virginia Beach/Chesapeake, there will be pockets that you will likely find unrecognizably dense.

[Serenity2019]

Originally Posted by HRVT

So I would say it depends on how long ago you lived in HR and how long it has been since you've been back. If you're saying the area was "Tidewater", and we're talking back into the 80s, then yeah the areas by the Oceanfront are and north of 264 are quite crowded. The infrastructure is decently equipped in VB, but it's getting strained (and the HRBT is a nightmare, though in theory the expansion which should be done in a few years will help).

That said, we moved to the NC Triad from Va Beach about 7 years ago, in part because of how expensive the VB area was (we got far more house in the Triad for considerably less money than we had budgeted to pay in Hampton Roads). As you go west, there's a bit less crowding though last I've seen there's a lot of growth happening in Suffolk. You could also try North Hampton Roads. Hampton/NN have held fairly similar in population over the last 30 years or so (though York County has grown). Traffic isn't terrible for the most part anymore there though as I-64 has been expanded (for years, it used to bottleneck horribly around Jefferson Ave).

I can't speak for Charleston as I've only been once and spent all of 18 hours there (half of which was sleeping) before getting onto a cruise and then driving out of town. But my guess is that you'd consider HR to be overcrowded.

Note: Just noticed you said 1999 in another thread. It's a bit more crowded... but not horribly so. The area has been pretty stagnant growth-wise for quite a while. But depending on the parts of Virginia Beach/Chesapeake, there will be pockets that you will likely find unrecognizably dense.

Thank you, I left in 1999/2000 after living there 28 years. I was born there. I don't know when they started saying Hampton Roads. I remember I grew up and hung out on the Southside of Tidewater.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by Serenity2019

Thank you, I left in 1999/2000 after living there 28 years. I was born there. I don't know when they started saying Hampton Roads. I remember I grew up and hung out on the Southside of Tidewater.

I think we may have talked about this in an older thread.. so forgive me if this is a rerun, but.. I noticed the move from Tidewater to Hampton Roads in the mid thru late '9os. I really noticed it when the bus system went from T(idewater)RT to HRT (Hampton Roads Transit). And at some similar point, the Tides dumped Tidewater and became Norfolk Tides.
I moved back and forth out of the area for a while, and eventually asked an older co-worker (who grew up near Pembroke) about the regional name change, thinking what was wrong with Tidewater. He said "they paid some Yankee consulting firm to elevate Tidewater's image". And the name Hampton Roads is what they came up with. I fact checked him online, and he was basically right.

[HRVT]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

I think we may have talked about this in an older thread.. so forgive me if this is a rerun, but.. I noticed the move from Tidewater to Hampton Roads in the mid thru late '9os. I really noticed it when the bus system went from T(idewater)RT to HRT (Hampton Roads Transit). And at some similar point, the Tides dumped Tidewater and became Norfolk Tides.
I moved back and forth out of the area for a while, and eventually asked an older co-worker (who grew up near Pembroke) about the regional name change, thinking what was wrong with Tidewater. He said "they paid some Yankee consulting firm to elevate Tidewater's image". And the name Hampton Roads is what they came up with. I fact checked him online, and he was basically right.

I believe the Tidewater --> Norfolk Tides switch happened with the move to Harbor Park (1993).

[Serenity2019]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

I think we may have talked about this in an older thread.. so forgive me if this is a rerun, but.. I noticed the move from Tidewater to Hampton Roads in the mid thru late '9os. I really noticed it when the bus system went from T(idewater)RT to HRT (Hampton Roads Transit). And at some similar point, the Tides dumped Tidewater and became Norfolk Tides.
I moved back and forth out of the area for a while, and eventually asked an older co-worker (who grew up near Pembroke) about the regional name change, thinking what was wrong with Tidewater. He said "they paid some Yankee consulting firm to elevate Tidewater's image". And the name Hampton Roads is what they came up with. I fact checked him online, and he was basically right.

That's a shame! I will always call it Tidewater, been gone since 1999.