Langley info

[ForgotPassword]

Getting PCS'd to Langley. Single JO with no responsibilities. Would like to keep the commute to under 45 minutes knowing that traffic can snarl. Open to buying a house/condo/townhouse or renting. Seems like buying something worth while might be out of my price range after a little bit or searching.

Any insight/tips for me? Has anyone lived west of Norfolk/portsmouth and commuted across the bridge? Seems like a gamble.

Edited July 15, 2014 by ForgotPassword

[ThreeHoler]

Hampton Roads is nice and also very close.

Avoid having to use any tunnel and you'll avoid most of the traffic.

Norfolk (pronounced Nawfuck) is cheap enough you could buy a place and become a slumlord later in life...but that requires crossing tunnel(s).

[Vice]

Hampton Roads is nice and also very close.

Avoid having to use any tunnel and you'll avoid most of the traffic.

Norfolk (pronounced Naw######) is cheap enough you could buy a place and become a slumlord later in life...but that requires crossing tunnel(s).

Did this when I was an SrA. Nice little retirement plan. VA loan will cover any building up to 4 units, if you're interested PM me and I can give you the contact info of someone who can help you find a place.

As a single guy I would reccommend you live in Norfolk/VA Beach, but the bridge tunnel traffic will occasionally get you. If you leave early enough in the morning there will be a handful of cars, followed by a flood of cars 20 minutes later.

About an hour and ahalf north you have Richmond, cool place to hang out. VCU is there and there's a great college scene there. They tend to lean to the more hippie side of things.

Williamsburg is about 45 minutes north and has Busch Gardens, not as good as Tampa's BG, but still fun. Colonial Williamsburg is a great place to bring a date, and the College of William and Mary is integrated into the area. GREAT place if you want to meet very intelligent young ladies.

Newport News has the Mariner's Museum and the Viginia Living Museum, and there is also Christopher Newport University, which I think has the best looking ladies. Pretty intelligent too, and the campus is beautiful in the winter. Stay away from south Newport News (pretty much the numbered streets) since that's the hood. There's a running trail next to the school, and there's also a little bridge that you can watch Ospreys hunt for fish about 20 feet in front you you.

Hampton sucks. Crappy, flat beach. The only redeeming place is the country bar/club near the power plant area, forgot what it's called.

Norfolk has Old Dominion University, your run of the mill college. Mediocre downtown nightlife, but Miami has spoiled me. Great place to buy rental property. Huge naval presence, ensuring a constant stream of tenants. The Chrysler Museum of Art is pretty sweet, and they have constant events there. There's also a few cool art galleries scattered throught Norfolk. There's also a naval museum with a battleship you can go aboard to remind yourself why the Navy wasn't for you.

Virginia Beach is the best IMO. There's almost always some kind of event going on, and you can surf all year round. If you buy a house there, the commute will suck, but if you keep it as a rental you will always have the option of returning to the area. Great bars, clubs, and places to eat out there.

The whole area is heavily infested populated with the Navy, so being an Airman is sort of a oddity. Get used to people assuming you're in the Navy. PM me if you want more details.

[Welcome Thrillho]

I'm at Langley now. I live in Newport News near the airport. If you want to limit your commute to 45 min and under, I would highly suggest avoiding anything south across the water... unless you travel before 0600 and after 1900.

[slackline]

What about the best schools?

[11F]

Yorktown has the best schools. If you live in the privatized military housing off base, your only bills will be Internet and cell phone and they mow your grass for free and you are in the Yorktown school district. All of those houses were built 2008-2010. If you have school-age kids there, that's a great place to live. YMMV

[DUNBAR]

Minor clarification: York Country School District has the reputation for great public schools. York County is comprised of several systems, including Tabb, Grafton, York and Bruton. You can procure details from websites like greatschools.org/

Some other good school districts are in Poquoson, Williamsburg (some) and then if you want to endure the commute, VA Beach and Chesapeake have some reputable schools as well.

[pcola]

Newport News has great schools. Just ask Michael and Marcus Vick and Allen Iverson. Esteemed grads of the Newport News school system. There's also a pretty sweet dog-fighting club you can join, if you're into that sort of thing.

[slackline]

Anyone have any experience in Carrollton or Smithfield? Thinking about building out that way. I PCS in July. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of great houses on the market yet.

[DUNBAR]

Housing around Langley can definitely be tough for families with kids in school. Smithfield and Carrolton are viable options; you will definitely get more bang for your housing dollar out there. You will have to commute across the James River bridge, which can be annoying but it's manageable.

Take a hard look at the public schools out there. I don't know much about them, but I think they are pretty good and getting better every year.

Happy hunting.

[kaputt]

I grew up in 757 area. There are some nice housing developments that have sprung up right across the Monitor Merrimack bridge in Suffolk. Riverfront, Harbor View, and a few others are the names I think. It's about a 25 min drive to Langley from there, and traffic at the MM bridge is usually less terrible. Not sure which school system you end up in out there though, but there are lots of private schools in the area that plenty military families end up putting their kids in.

[KWings06j]

Zombie thread time...

Just got word I'll be getting orders to Langley. Looking for advice on where to live. I'd like to be under 45 minutes on the commute. I'm also married with two elementary school age kids so looking for advice on good private schools in the area.

[kaputt]

3 hours ago, KWings06j said:

Zombie thread time...

Just got word I'll be getting orders to Langley. Looking for advice on where to live. I'd like to be under 45 minutes on the commute. I'm also married with two elementary school age kids so looking for advice on good private schools in the area.

Damn, I can’t believe I posted my response above 5 (edit: 6*) years ago now. 
 

My family still lives in the area and the Suffolk area I described is still very nice, and again the commute on 664 (Monitor Merrimack bridge) isn’t as terrible as the I-64 HRBT would be. If you want to avoid the tunnels you’d have to do something up on the Peninsula: Newport News, Hampton, or Williamsburg. I’m not as well versed on good areas in the Hampton-Newport News area, but I’m sure there are some. Kiln Creek is nice I’ve heard, but there are also some really sketch areas in Hampton and “Bad Newz”. Williamsburg is very nice but also more expensive and a lot of old people. Norfolk and Virginia Beach probably have the best options for places to live, plus schools, but I think the commute through the tunnel on I-64 would be hell every day. Plenty of people do it though. 
 

There is a pretty large amount of private school options. Nansmond-Suffolk is in Suffolk, Hampton Roads Academy is in Newport News, and Walsingham Academy is in Williamsburg. There are even more in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Look up TCIS Conference and you’ll get a list of all of them. 
 

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. I actually went to one of the private schools in the area from 1st-12th grade back in the day. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by kaputt

[GreenRoger]

My kids aren’t school age yet, so that wasn’t a huge factor for us. It sounds like York county has some pretty solid schools though. Good areas to live around Newport News/Yorktown: Coventry, Running Man, Kiln Creek. Seems like you can get more bang for your buck in Hampton, though I think the schools are worse and many of the nice houses may or may not be in established neighborhoods. A lot of new builds popping up in random areas in Hampton. 
 

Norfolk seems like a cool place to live but that tunnel can be the worst. Carrollton is across the James River and that bridge is typically better than the other two in the area. Nice places out there but you’ll kind of feel like you’re in the boonies. 
 

Williamsburg is great too, probably a 35 minute commute from the south side, increases as you go north. 
 

The BAH around here seems below average, especially since they dropped it last year and even more so now that the market is exploding. 

[jrizzell]

Currently stationed at Langley. York County has best schools for elementary age kids. If you want to avoid a long commute, don’t live across a bridge or tunnel. Williamsburg is nice, but looking at 40-45 minutes depending on construction or accidents. Personally, I think this is one of the best locations I was ever based. Lots of outdoor and historical things to do.