Retiring in Virginia Beach, VA

Many times received the ranking of one of the best places on the East Coast not just in Virginia state but in the country, Virginia Beach VA is ideal for retirees. Life is affordable in Virginia Beach and it has a low crime rate and many health and medical care facilities of top calibre.

Virginia Beach Boardwalk has been split, informally, into a north end and a south end, which areas got to be then called South Virginia Beach and North Virginia Beach. The southern end is a busy area, with most hotels and condos and award-winning restaurants, and popular with the younger crowd.

Northside on the other hand is mostly homes, with a hotel or two. It’s thus quieter, less rowdy and more family-friendly around a 15-minute drive from the restaurants and shops in South Virginia Beach, this is also ideal for retirees who are looking for a peaceful area.

It has cafes and fine dining restaurants, pubs, and bistros serving international fare. It has the Pembroke Mall anchored by world-famed brands, big-name shops and boutiques catering to a wide spectrum of people, from military retirees to young professionals.

Why Retirees Should Consider Retiring in Virginia Beach

To further pique your interest, here are big-time reasons for retirees to consider buying a real estate in Virginia Beach neighborhood as their retirement place.

  • Among the most beautiful beaches on the East Coast, having both the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay as its borders, one has easy free beach access!
  • There are several award-winning medical and healthcare facilities located all over the neighborhoods in Virginia Beach, from the Norfolk area to the Hampton Roads area.
  • The Norfolk International Airport and other airports are close by, conveniently just minute’s drive away.
  • Taxes are low comparatively with the northern areas of the US
  • It has pleasant weather with mild winters. There’s very little snow, if ever.
  • The cost of homes is reasonable and affordable in the best neighborhoods, and there are various home styles to choose from, whether apartments, luxury condos, stately houses, single family homes to beautiful waterfront homes.
  • Countless recreational opportunities and historical attractions to access, with state and city parks in proximity to the best neighborhoods in Virginia Beach.
  • Many dining options and performing arts venues for a day/night out of entertainment and fun.

Best Neighborhoods for Retirees

Here are some of Virginia Beach’s best neighborhoods ideal for retirees, not just from the armed forces, but other professions as well. Communities that would cater to different personality tastes and preferences.

Ashville Park

Ashville Park is a master planned community that sits on a lush landscape of 15 lakes and 30 acres of preserved trees, all the elements of a community are blended to complement each other. Sweeping parks and welcoming open spaces. Retiree homeowners step out of the front doors of their cottage or custom or estate homes to nature’s bliss.

Additional recreation to the many lakes is a fitness center, a salt-water pool, a basketball court, a dog park and a kids’ adventure park. All inhabitants of this community have a great outdoor life surrounded by the best of nature.

Chic’s Beach

Chic’s Beach is actually the neighborhood surrounding the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. This was the first area on Chesapeake Beach that was developed into a community, with older beach bungalows, smaller but with yards, newer style homes of three-story duplexes and million-dollar houses closer to or on the water. A bit more inland is more affordable housing, still within biking distance to the beach, bars and restaurants. Imagine a retiree’s lifestyle of watching the sunset to the sound of waves washing onto the beach’s shore!

Chic Beach, Virginia Beach, VA

Thoroughgood

Thoroughgood, situated between Chic’s Beach and the Lynnhaven River, is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in North Virginia Beach, for its quiet streets, diversity and large treed lots of various home styles, including 1960s brick ranch houses to waterfront homes with access to the deep waters of the bay. The elementary school is a safe walking distance of anywhere in the neighborhood. The neighborhood itself has easy access to the highways, the beach, and whatever you need or want to purchase.

Kempsville

Kempsville is a historic section of Virginia Beach going back to US colonial times, a community of row homes, condominiums mostly with off-street parking, and some single-family houses, with reasonable property values within the urbanized part of the city. It is near commercial establishments, hospitals and universities and less than 12 miles from the beach and has quick access to the Hampton Roads area, Beltway and the Norfolk Expressway.

Nature lovers would enjoy walking through 156-acre Mt. Trashmore Park, dotted with picnic shelters, volleyball courts, a skate park, outdoor fitness stations, licensed fishing and a playground. The Kempsville Recreation Center is for indoor action – there are two gymnasiums, a fitness centre and a leisure pool with a water play centre and an indoor track. And, an 18-hole course for professional and student golfers!

14 miles away is the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center exhibiting marine life in various water habitats, boat tours, an IMAX theatre and zip lining. Finally, there are clubs, pubs, pool halls and the 20,000-seat Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater for nights of entertainment.

Bay Colony

Bay Colony, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Virginia Beach, lies between Crystal Lake, Linkhorn Bay, First Landing State Park and Cavalier Drive. House styles make for an eclectic bunch of the 1930s-60s ranch styles to 2-stories to modern updated 20th-century styles, quietly tucked away but those living here find they’re just blocks from the ocean beaches, and it is perfect for retirees who want a peaceful living area.

A closely-knit wooded community with a small town ambience, it could turn out to be the best neighborhood to live out your retirement years – waterfront living at its best with winding streets and private driveways but also with lots of opportunities for outdoor activities.

Alanton

Alanton neighborhood is an older, upscale community in the northern part of the Virginia Beach area, giving it a lot of character, the site of varying home styles from single-family homes to waterfront palaces. It has tree-lined streets, especially on North Woodhouse and a neighborhood boat ramp, ideal for retirees.

Reputed to be among the best neighborhoods in Virginia Beach VA, Alanton started as a community in the 1960s. Turnover is very low, the repopulation is due to the young families of the now-grown-up youngsters moving back.

Schools here are great, similarly, beautiful neighborhoods are nearby, a good number of parks and meet-up places, safe and secure, shopping and recreation venues are conveniently accessible, it has a lot of character, there is a wonderful and strong sense of community. The “sense of community” is not that simple to explain, but is easily felt by the older crowd or parents-with-children. Long-time inhabitants, i.e. more than one generation, proclaim theirs is the best Virginia Beach neighborhood and who can fault them for having all those features!

Croatan

Croatan neighborhood is near the Virginia Beach oceanfront, right on the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Rudee Inlet and north of Camp Pendleton. It is also on the shores of Lake Wesley and Lake Christine.

Set apart from the action and commotion of the boardwalk, the entrance to the Croatan neighborhood is south of the Rudee Inlet, of three-story single-family homes a couple of blocks easy access to the beach. In another part are larger lots within a walk or bike ride to the beach. Not many tourists come to this part of Virginia Beach VA, a plus factor for the retiree’s homeowners.

Privacy of the community makes houses here sought after, thus, costing more than in other neighborhoods in Virginia Beach. However, there are larger lots of single-family homes a bit farther from the beach, still within walking distance and costing less. If you want the best of both worlds – the beach lifestyle in traditional housing, this could be the best neighborhood for you!

Christopher Farms

Christopher Farms in Central Virginia Beach is a beautiful planned community developed in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Homes are relatively new but the neighborhood is replete with mature trees, wide streets, many sidewalks and cul-de-sacs, ideal for families and retirees.

Plenty of green spaces and man-made lakes in the middle of the neighborhood, granting residents relative privacy and a peaceful environment. The Christopher Farms Elementary School is right in the middle of the neighborhood, kids can safely (traffic is just mostly the residents’ cars) and easy walk to school and back home, a welcome convenience to parents.

Homes surrounded by trees or lining sidewalks, kids playing in the streets, bike trails to bike to the farmers market, the sports complex, the supermarket, even to the courthouse, Friday evening or weekend meet-ups with neighbors or friends on your house deck, what more can one ask!

Sandbridge

Sandbridge, on the coast of the Currituck Banks Peninsula, is sought after among the best neighborhoods in Virginia Beach VA. Despite being just minutes south of the tourist traffic of the Boardwalk area, it is reputed to be a quiet community. Most houses are single-family homes, along with some condos.

There are many seasonal rentals among the houses in this neighborhood but the regular residents enjoy living three of the four seasons for a walk through the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, kayaking and other watersports in this quiet and safe neighborhood fronting the ocean. The Princess Anne Recreation Center is nearby too, with a Forever Young Senior Center offering exclusive Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 am t 12:30 pm.

Virginia Beach Town Center

Town Center District, encompassing the Central Business District, Pembroke, lies in the heart of Virginia Beach and is the go-to for a fun family day outing or a romantic dinner and drinks, and live entertainment, topped with a relaxed end at any of the luxury hotels.

Conclusion

This article is just to give you a bird’s eye view for retirees to settle in a Virginia Beach community, regardless of whether on the Atlantic Ocean side or the Chesapeake Bay side, in any of the best neighborhoods in Virginia Beach. Choosing the “right neighborhood” will not be a problem for you, with top real estate agents like Barry Jenkins – Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate | Real Estate Agents in Virginia Beach, VA to help you every step of the way, to get your retirement living desire!

Virginia Beach has amazing neighborhoods for young professionals, families, and retirees. Growing from a beach resort “playground” for the Norfolk and Richmond upper class and agricultural land into a planned coastal city, upon the establishment of the port and bases servicing the different armed forces. Having lived in the area for most of their work life, military retirees usually prefer living their retirement years in the same area.

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