Monday, May 17, 2010

I Need Your Help!!!!



Yes thats right...I'm in dire need of your help ladies!! So I know I've mentioned before that my hubby is deployed and that i will be moving to Virginia very soon and without my hubby. Heres my problem: every apartment I can find in our price range is a dump! I have checked the crime watch statistics online for both Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and I must say I am terrified to move here! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not so naive as to think that there is no crime in this world, but moving from a relatively safe suburban city in southern California to a place like Norfolk is completely frightening to me! I also checked an apartment ratings website so i could get some feedback on some of the apartments i found that looked relatively decent, and I was horrified to learn that seriously all of them received terrible reviews! There were horror stories of being robbed at gun point as they were walking up to their apartment, drug dealers everywhere, break ins, cockroaches, mold, and horrible office and maintenance staff among many other things!!! Now since were trying to save for the move while he's deployed I can't exactly afford to fly all the way to Virginia, get a hotel and spend a few days looking for a "diamond in the rough." I know I'm not going to find anything decent in our price range since I have been searching since February when we found out thats where we were being stationed....so my only other option seems to be base housing. So to all my Mil spouses living in Va please, please give me your two cents! Should I keep looking for an apartment or just do base housing? Is base housing any safer than just living in an apartment? I am still new to all of this ladies and this will be our first move with the navy....so I'm really stressing! I desperately need your help and advice!!! So please let me know what you all think!! Thanks for listening!!

XOXO,

The Navy Wife

7 comments:

  1. Where in So Cal are you from? I grew up in Torrance :)

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  2. Sorry...we were at Quantico. I don't know anything about Norfolk. Have you checked into living on base there? You should! You'll have amazing support for other milspouses...and it's FREE!!!!! You could find out how long the wait is?

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  3. We live in base housing here in Norfolk, and it's actually pretty good! Crime is not a big deal outside of Little Creek base. Over by Norfolk Naval Station, i've heard a few stories.
    The only decent apartments we have lived in (we have lived here 3 years) would have to be Mariner's Cove in Virginia Beach. It's a 5 minute drive to the little creek base, and a 20 minute drive to Norfolk base.

    DO NOT MOVE TO ST CROIX APARTMENTS!
    They are not good at all. I am not a picky person by any means, but when I see bad, its bad!

    If you need anymore help, I'm in the area. Just let me know.

    Samantha

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  4. Ohh if I wasnt about to have a baby I would totally go and check out apartments for you (I live just over an hr away) I have definitely heard some stories about crime in that area but who doesnt hear them, esp when it comes to military towns? Honestly I think base housing might be best and then once you are there and know the town you can always choose a neighbourhood that you like and move there after. If you call base housing they can be honest with you and tell you which places to avoid if you get someone helpful

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  5. Sespi: Im from Redlands, Ca! The Citrus capitol of the world!! Lol!

    Amber: Yes maam! My first choice was to do base housing, but my hubby is stubborn and didn't wanna give up our bah...lol. So it took me having a mental breakdown and telling him all the crap I found out before he would finally agree with me on base housing. We submitted our application already and I need to call today and see how long the wait is. :) I'm thinking we should be fine cause we still have two months before I move, so I'm hoping thats plenty of time for them to find us a house. :) Thanks for the advice!

    xoxo

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  6. Samantha: Thank you so much for the information! Heres my dilemma...my hubby is stationed to a ship and when he returns home it will be in the ship yards. I'm trying to decide whether to move to base housing in Norfolk near the naval base or to move to the Little Creek installation. Would it be that far of a drive, cause one of my other mil spouse friends Christina, has warned me about traffic since my hubbys ship will be in the ship yard. I just dont wanna be too far away and have the hubbs be angry that he has to fight traffic everyday. So which one do you think is better: one of the Norfolk installations or the Little creek installation? Also since we dont have any kiddos yet we only qualify for the 2 bedrooms and in the norfolk installation there are only 2 communities that offer the two bedrooms, and neither of which are actually on the base...they are both a few miles away. And neither of them come with garages and we would have to park on the street, which frightens me if were not livng on base! lol. What do you think? Thanks for your help!!

    Expat girl: Awwww you are so sweet! i would never expect you to do something like that for me!! But I am very flattered :). We for sure are gonna do base housing I think, and like you said we can always stay there for six months and then try and move elsewhere if we want. I just think base housing makes the most sense for our situation and the area were relocating to. Wish me luck and thanks for the advice!!

    xoxo

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  7. Traffic is bad, but it's bearable. When my husband was in the shipyards we still lived over by little creek. It wasn't bad at all. It's much better in Virginia Beach than in Norfolk. He may get off as early as 3pm most days. I'd stick with Little Creek.

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