What is Chesapeake like? (Norfolk, Newport News: YMCA, school districts, quality of life)

[GypsySoul22]

Just wondering about the jobs opportunities? How about quality of life, raising a family there? Thanks.

[tvpirate05]

For the most part suburban (Greenbrier, Western Branch, Great Bridge). You have some rural areas in Hickory, Great Bridge, and Deep Creek, but a lot of those areas are rapidly turning suburban as well.

I'm looking at jobs, and I see a lot of stuff in the Greenbrier area, in various fields. There's quite a few industrial parks nearby, and Dollar Tree's headquarters are there, so depending on what you're trying to do, you could find a decent variety of jobs.

The city is known for having pretty good schools, and the quality of life is cool. Out of the all the cities in the area, I prefer Chesapeake and VB for the suburban lifestyle. The only drawback I would say is that the city grew faster than it could develop, and the roads have become a bit crowded as a result (take Greenbrier Parkway for instance). A minor thing, but can be a headache while driving. :-P

[Tattinzaza]

The taxes are high, the people are not friendly, and the roads suck. stay away unless you are forced for here for work like 60% of the Hampton Roads area.

[crashEHC]

I think tvpirate hit it spot on. The only other point I'd make is that Great Bridge/Hickory/Deep Creek can feel a bit isolated at times. You'll find everything you need within the area as well as a couple of mom 'n pop restaurants. However, it can be quite a drive if you ever wanted to go to downtown Norfolk, Old Town Portsmouth, or the Town Center in VA Beach.

[schwindhomes]

I need to disagree with Great Bridge being isolated. We are all of 3 minutes from the freeways (64 and 464), and it takes all of 12 minutes tog et to downtown Norfolk, and only about the same to get to Greenbrier. We LOVE Chesapeake.

Raising a family in Chesapeake is GREAT. We have 4 young kids. The school districts are awesome, and a lot of private school options close by as well. Tons of city sport leagues and opportunities and am amazing YMCA (actually we love both the Greenbrier Y and the Great Bridge Hickory Y).

Another benefit, you don't have to deal with 264 which can be a nightmare with traffic

I am a Realtor down here, and a number of my clients come thinking they want to love in Norfolk or VA Beach, but when they see what Chesapeake has to offer their families they decide to come to Chesapeake.

Hope this helps!

[ShadowBat]

Just to add to what's already been said, Cheaspeake isn't a real city in my opinion. It use to be a county that was rebadged as a city back in the 60's. So nowadays, while having a sizeable population, it is utterly suburban. No significant downtown either if any. Ditto on Suffolk and Va Beach. Though Suffolk does have a nice downtown, and Va Beach is building one. Norfolk and Portsmouth are the two most dense real cities in the area, with Newport News and Hampton not far behind.

But if suburban is what you're looking for then that's great! Just thought I'd clarify what kind of city it is before you got here. Good luck!

[Videographer]

You want to really SEE what Chesapeake is like? Here is an unbiased view of a few things in Chesapeake.

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