housing options

[mrs.ckr]

my husband and i are about to move to the Norfolk base and we received our packet yesterday on the different housing options. i was excited at first because the housing options seemed really cheap for the amount of bedrooms they offered ( about 1,200 and lower for 2-4 bedrms). im from California so that's really cheap to me. but now im hearing from people on this website that base housing is not cheaper than the city and that some of them are far from the base and that they take all of your BAH no matter how much your living expenses are. i really want to here from someone LIVING ON BASE IN NORFOLK who can give me some advice. should we pick a place on base and if so which are closer to the base as possible? please help me. thanks

[dartangion]

I live here, ima male and the city of Norfolk and Portsmouth are full of roberrys, rapes, murder, so on, so on...I live in va beach and its no problems here, traffic is terrible in the morning at about 6-8 am. traffic is backed up miles daily to get in the base, I have never seen a work day when there was no traffic. I have to move next month and I'm staying in va beach but moving away from the beach and closer to Norfolk. don't choose Hampton because the bridge traffic sometimes takes a he to get through. chesapeake and va beach are the best choices, Yall can hop on the hov and pass all the trafiic until you get to 564 which takes about 10 minutes from there to get on base with the traffic. navy housing is really nice, but read up on apartment ratings.com so you don't end up in the hood. and Google maps to make sure you don't get to far away from norfolk, good luck. o yea check out the rpp program where they take the rent directly from your check but you pay a lower monthly rent and no deposit

[dartangion]

va beach, Hampton. and chesapeake also have the best schools if you got kids

[mrs.ckr]

thank you so much. as u can see your the only person who responded and all your info was alot of help. so do they have military housing in VA beach and Chesapeake? or is that why your saying look at the website because i would have to choose an off base apartment? were u live is it on or off base housing and how expensive is it?

[AlwaysReady]

Most housing isnt on base. Its done by Lincoln Military Housing. You can look them up on their site. They do have a lot of housing in VA Beach and Chesapeak. I love living in Va Beach. Lots to do for the kids and for the adults. What size house you need would affect my answer on which way to go. Housing the best way to go if you need more then a 3 bedroom place. Under that and you can sometimes do better by renting in town. We living in housing in VA Beach and love it.

[duhhuh58 Ship 10/Div 267]

my daughter is stationed at norfolk naval and she lives in nc. i live on the outer banks of nc and she lives 1/2 way between home and work, elizabeth city. there are alot of families (and singles) that live in nc. she lives right off of highway 17 so it doesn't take her long to get to work in the morning.

carol

[Miranda Nicole]

We live in Downtown Norfolk and we like it. Our neighborhood is really quiet. We looked into living on base when we first got here but the waiting list was somewhere in 3-6 months and we just couldnt wait that long. I've heard that they take all your BAH when you live on base housing too but im not sure if thats true. We haven't ever actually lived on base. We live about 15 mins away from base. Traffic always gets backed up in the tunnels so we chose a spot where we dont have to go through the tunnels unless we need to go to hampton or chesapeake for some reason. Deffinatly take a good look at the neighborhoods especially if you have kids. Your still going to want them to be able to go out and play. Virginia Beach is nice but even it has its rough spots and lots of tourist traffic close to the waterfront. It all depends on what you want. But I hope you can find someone to tell you about on base housing I dont know much but I think I still have the housing centers number if you want it let me know.

[Allura'smom]

I live on base housing. I live in the Willoughby Bay Community through Lincoln Military housing. I came into VA from St. Louis so I had no clue about the area. I moved here while my husband was deployed. So we moved into military housing so we could be surrounded by other military families. They do take the entire BAH. All your electric, gas, water, trash and sewage usage is included. If your hubby is low ranking like mine I think it's a good way to save money. I didn't have much luck finding a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a good area with utilities included for under 1200 a month. However if anyone knows anything....I'm always on the look out for a better place to move to. After six months your lease is month by month. As for the crime rate, I've been here since May. I haven't had any problems. Our community has a new security company so we'll see how that goes. I think the biggest thing anyone has had to worry about is someone breaking into a car, but that could happen anywhere. I just don't let my husband leave anything in his car. The beach is a 30 mintue walk away. The elementary school has a good reputation but the Middle School and High School aren't reported to be the best. My daughter is only 1 so I have yet to experience that first hand. Hope that helps!

[Smoke]

Living on-base is not a great time advantage for us. There aren't many roads leading into the base, and all of them get clogged in the mornings. We didn't have time to experiment with the best route, but one involved diving onto the highway and driving south until we encountered the road with a northbound entrance.

[KYmom]

Bringing this discusion to the top for those looking

[Andrea2789]

This is a late reply..but I live in Willoughby bay housing outside of gate 4 at NOB. I love it here. I've been here a year and a half.
When my friends and I compare to where they are living, my husband and I actually save more money. I feel really safe here also. VA is like a new world to me (being from Ga)..but living here is like my little home now.
Some of the housing is sketchy..and some are really small. But I have no children and have a 2 bedroom and it's perfect.
There are problems everywhere you go..reading city-data and everyone comments is a bad idea. That's what I did before I moved here and I was scared for 6 months!

[Monni]

Anyone here live in the Oceana housing - or know anyone who does? We're also coming in next month and are looking into housing. Military housing works for us because we need a 3 bedroom but I have a child in school and want to know about the area before I come in. Wish I'd known more about the DC area before we moved here.....

[Tabitha-ET3 wifey]

this is late but I live in Wadsworth. I love it here. The schools are great and so is the area and close to everything