Portsmouth? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake: best city, apartment complex, rent)

[katerina03]

I am moving to Va this spring if I can get a teaching job. So far I am looking into Suffolk and Portsmouth. Are these safe areas with low crime? I am coming from a tiny town in Ohio and I am very apprehensive about relocating because I have lived in such a safe area my entire life. Someone, please let me know about the safest places in the Suffolk and Portsmouth area. Thank you so very much.

[htlong]

I Know That Portsmouth Has A Very Nice Historic District ,but I Have Heard That The Town Is Full Of Strip Bars And Crack Heads, This Is All Heresay But I Will Tell You What I Know. Suffolk I Think Would Be Your Best Bet, Of Course I Have No Real Knowledge Of These Cities

[wagsette]

My sister-in-law lives in Suffolk and really likes it there. She's from a small town in Maryland and took to it very quickly. She lives alone, except for her toothless dog, and has always felt safe. There's an apartment complex there called Harbor Breeze, it's really nice. Good Luck!!

[maminel]

I currently live in Hampton Roads. Portsmouth is a nice city if you stay in certain areas. Downtown portsmouth is nice, though housing is a little more costly (though still cheap). P-Town does have a lot of crime considering how small of a city it is. Suffolk on the other hand is very country. Not much going on there socially. No malls, few restaurants (only downtown). Homes are pretty big and kinda cheap..but can we say BOOOORING. Just across the tunnel is Norfolk and Chesapeake isn't far from portsmouth at all. Those cities are a little better.

[Sundaybreak]

Portsmouth is absoulutely the worst city in the Tidewater area on the southside. They have 2 High Schools ( IC Norcom and Wilson ) and they are both troubled and well behind the rest of the school districts around here.

Housing is cheap, except a few spots ( historic ).

I'm currently Va Beach and would would reccommend Cheaspeake. You would probably get the most bang for your buck their.

Really consider a move to the Portsmouth area. Good Luck

[BonitaMamiChula]

I am from Portsmouth and I graduated from I.C. Norcom in 1996 and we were not behind then I can not say what is going on now but we were an advanced school when I left. Portsmouth is actually coming up. I have been in a fairly good neighboorhood for 20 years so I can not agree with your review of portsmouth. All citys have their trouble even Virginia Beach. And it is not filled with strip clubs and crack heads. Again these are things that are found in every city. This area has a lot of military because we have the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and there are also a lot of port workers (i.e. Longshoreman) because we have Portsmoutmouth Marine Terminal and Virginia International Terminal and Lamberts Point here.They tore down both the major mall and strip mall and it is being replaced with new items. There are several communities that are being built where old housings were torn down. There is a community college in the area and it is not far from suffolk and chesapeake. Most people would say that Norfolk is the worst city in the Tidewater area, but I say you can find good and bad points in every city. All of the cities have their share of crimes and violence. Virginina Beach is home to a few strange crimes... A husband killing his wife with an bow and arrow. Just do a little more research all of the cities as I said before have their good points and bad points.

[nbrndl]

I live in Portsmouth and I love it! We are out in the Churchland area. We have a quiet, safe neighborhood and everyone is really friendly. Portsmouth has a lot of old areas that are rebuilding. The area we live in is kind of "townie". You always run into someone you know from the community or schools. We currently have 3 elementary schools, a middle school and our own high school ( that would be the 3rd high school in Portsmouth, to correct a previous poster) I have recently heard that there is talk of building a new elementary school in our area and also that there may be an annexation in our future, making Churchland its own city ( or town). Portsmouth is a small city compared to its neighbors, Norfolk, Suffolk & Chesapeake. Presently, we have no malls and no national chain department stores although the plans are in the making.However, we have very easy access to all these things thanks to our neighboring cities. Moving to Portsmouth was a great thing for us
If you want more info, feel free to email me

[DBassett]

Originally Posted by katerina03

I am moving to Va this spring if I can get a teaching job. So far I am looking into Suffolk and Portsmouth. Are these safe areas with low crime? I am coming from a tiny town in Ohio and I am very apprehensive about relocating because I have lived in such a safe area my entire life. Someone, please let me know about the safest places in the Suffolk and Portsmouth area. Thank you so very much.

Let me tell you a little about Portsmouth. Loooong ago, Portsmouth use to be a really high crime area due to the over population of the city for how small it is. We use to have numerous of housing projects. There are only about 4 left out of about 10 (give or take). And we are about to reduce that to 3 because one is getting ready to be torn down. Portsmouth is probably the BEST city to live in right now because it's being rebuilt back to it's historic life. THERE ARE NOT crack heads and bars here like that. YOU WILL FIND THEM IN NORFOLK OR NEWPORT NEWS MOSTLY. However, there are crack heads and bars in EVERY city in the tidewater/peninsula area. Portsmouth has the fewest. There are 3 high schools here. All are great. I've substituted at ALL of them and had no problems, even at the alternative school. No more problems than you would have in any other school district unless you go to a private school. And even they can be bad. I worked at one of those too. Suffolk!!! My husband grew up in Suffolk and he can tell you that there is where you can find the most troubled areas. Suffolk is a HUGE city. In fact, it's the largest city here. This is why people mistake it for not being a problem area. I WILL live in Suffolk, but I will stay away from ALL of the apartments and either buy a home or rent someone's home. And to do this, you will have to go to what we call deep Suffolk, kinda pass the downtown area. So to sum this all up, Portsmouth is NOT the worse city..I grew up here and can tell you it use to be, but now it's the better city I think. Very small city. Anything you want to do surrounds the city of Portsmouth and you can get there in about 20-30 minutes top. Be careful where you go in Suffolk unless you plan to buy or rent a home.
Good Luck

[BWSun]

Wow, how did you ever come up with those two school districts? I'll admit Portsmouth is trying to revive the city, and the downtown area is getting nicer, but overall the city is the worst in the area. Highest crime rate per capita, and those housing projects account for a great deal of Portsmouth population. It is hard to consider Churchland part of Portsmouth. It is on the edge of the city and is basically part of the Chesapeake - Western Branch area.
Portsmouth and Suffolk rank at the bottom of the SOL ranks for elementary and High schools. Try this web site for some SOL scores comparisons:

http://home.hamptonroads.com/schoolzone/schoolsol/search.cfm (broken link)

2003 data, but not much has changed since then. Wilson HS in Portsmouth ranked 290th in the state, and were only 303 high schools in Virginia at that time.

Suffolk is a nicer and cheaper place to live, but they pay their teachers far less than the other school districts. Their schools are also ranked at the bottom in the state.

If your breathing and have a teaching license, then Norfolk, Hampton, and Portsmouth will give you a job. Not sure about the Suffolk job market for teachers. Chesapeake schools are the hardest to get into. Virginia Beach schools are hard to get into because of declining student enrollment. The population of Virginia Beach is getting older and fewer kids. Virginia Beach does have the top schools in the area by far. Chesapeake schools are either at the top or at the bottom. Great Bridge and Hickory HS are toward the top. Deep Creek and Western Branch are top/mid level schools. But schools like Oscar Smith and Indian River are among the worst in the area. Chesapeake schools are also grossly overcrowded. 30% of the students are in portables and their class sizes in the elementary schools are sometimes over 30 students.

Overall the area's teachers in the area are under the national average for pay. The teacher's unions in the area have no power.

Good luck in your serch.

[tichel]

I will be reloating to work in Portsmouth and I am looking at Churchland to live. Can anyone tell me how the traffic is on that bridge. It seems like the only way across the river. Also, does anyone know where is a good place to live in Churchland. Is there small towns to kep away from (crime, ghetto, etc)? I have 2 kids so I wanted to be near the Western Branch elementary schools. Thanks!