Top 10 cities America's veterans call home

[OakRidgeStars]

And how many of these 10 cities are in Virginia, you ask?. Read the article below to find out.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/slidesh ... call-home/

[SHMIV]

6 out of 10... And all 6 near me. Yet, I'm surrounded by damn hippies. WTF.

[skeeterss0]

one of the reason hampton roads has so many of these cities is because a lot of the veterans get jobs with defense contractors who happen to be near the military bases.

[rustyshack11]

Veteran here in hampton, for now.

Moving to bridgewater at the end of the month, can't wait.

[Kreutz]

I've never been to the eastern part of Virginia, but I've heard VA beach, hampton roads, and newport news have serious crime problems, is that true?

[SHMIV]

Virginia Beach has a problem with douche-baggery, according to my cousin who lives there. I suppose that the crime rate there is relatively high, when compared to Williamsburg. Crime is worse in Norfolk, though.

Hampton and Newport News also have high crime rates. I have two sisters in Newport News. One is always armed, as is her husband. The other lives on a college campus, so she cannot be armed; I worry about her.

[OakRidgeStars]

Virginia Beach has a problem with douche-baggery, according to my cousin who lives there. I suppose that the crime rate there is relatively high, when compared to Williamsburg. Crime is worse in Norfolk, though.

Please explain

[SHMIV]

Virginia Beach has a problem with douche-baggery, according to my cousin who lives there. I suppose that the crime rate there is relatively high, when compared to Williamsburg. Crime is worse in Norfolk, though.

Please explain

According to my cousin, who has resided in Virginia Beach for the past 30+ years, the the area seems to have acquired an increase in the douche-bag population. That's all that he said on the subject last I spoke to him, and I did not press for further information. I figure that he spends his week filming the news in the area, so I take him at his word. This is not to imply that all, or even most, of the Virginia Beach populace consists of douche-bags, mind you, I was simply passing on the view point of one resident of the area.

As to the crime rate comparisons, I should have stated that this is only my take on it. I could be mistaken.

[rustyshack11]

I've never been to the eastern part of Virginia, but I've heard VA beach, hampton roads, and newport news have serious crime problems, is that true?

very true

[justsumstuff]

I think "serious" is a relative term. VA Beach is a large tourist area, so I'm sure the crime goes up quite a bit during the tourist months. It is also a huge city by land mass. Several local counties in the area incorporated when the cities of Portsmouth & Norfolk tried to annex one to many times. VA BEach used to be Princess Anne County, etc.
IMHO, Norfolk & Portsmouth, are similar to any City. There are "good" sections & "bad" sections of the city. and there are sections for daytime travel & others no time is travel time.
I wouldn't want my kids in any public schools but VA Beach schools, & I'd live closer to the NC line & Suffolk than anywhere else. It is still very rural there. The horse farms are located out there.

As for Veterans living there, I went to college at Old Dominion University with many retired vets. They were getting their degree on the VA bill to pay for their children's college, supplemental retirement income, etc. There are private contractors, but many also get jobs as civilian employees for the govt. This was the "double dipping" scandal about 15-18 years ago.
Lastly, there are too many to name military installations, hospitals, etc. there. & there is the ship yard. I knew several vets that retire & stay in the area because of the many medical facilities available.

GUN FREE ZONES! The ODU protest by VCSL last week is part of the crime problem in that section of Norfolk. If ODU would lift the ban oF guns on campus then, IMHO, the local thieves would know that there are lots of armed veterans walking around & that would "clean out the riff-raff" from that area FAST! As it is, no matter how many veterans are on campus or commuting to & from, they are vulnerable because of the "GUN FREE ZONE".

[Kreutz]

I want to clarify the first time I heard of the crime problem was when I called to set up my home owners insurance for the house I was about to buy outside of Roanoke, the agent happened to say, "Welcome to Virginia! I see you'll be living in Roanoke, that's a nice place, I'm over in Virginia Beach" to which I replied, "Oh, how is it over there?" and she said "Really bad actually, its dangerous here and I can't wait to move".

Then I've heard mention of it here and there from other people, so, figured I'd ask here. Again I've never been to the Virginia coastal area...can't say I care to go there either but I know when the kids are older on threat of death from my wife I have to take my family to Colonial Wiliamsburg....yay. Not sure where that is precisely but i know its east of here a few hours away.

[SHMIV]

I want to clarify the first time I heard of the crime problem was when I called to set up my home owners insurance for the house I was about to buy outside of Roanoke, the agent happened to say, "Welcome to Virginia! I see you'll be living in Roanoke, that's a nice place, I'm over in Virginia Beach" to which I replied, "Oh, how is it over there?" and she said "Really bad actually, its dangerous here and I can't wait to move".

Then I've heard mention of it here and there from other people, so, figured I'd ask here. Again I've never been to the Virginia coastal area...can't say I care to go there either but I know when the kids are older on threat of death from my wife I have to take my family to Colonial Wiliamsburg....yay. Not sure where that is precisely but i know its east of here a few hours away.

If you are doing CW, then you may as well do Jamestown and Yorktown, while you are at it. Be sure to try the gingerbread, but other than that, don't waste your money on the CW restaurants. They charge way too much and feed you way too little. But, this is off topic, so I'll be quiet now

[wylde007]

I don't see a problem with Virginia Beach aside from the summer months when the hordes of yankees descend on our fair city and the town becomes a "for profit" venture.

A lot of people forget that 9 months out of the year the RESIDENTS of this town support their businesses and don't appreciate getting gouged while the interlopers are here.

And without getting into it, just like in most metropolitan areas there is a certain demographic which is responsible for the majority of crime. A lot of our crime is from Norfolk and Chesapeake hoodlums "visiting" because there aren't enough criminal opportunities in their own towns.

The real estate agent you spoke to, Kreutz, is a blithering buffoon. I have lived here my entire life and while not the pinnacle of safety, it sure beats the heck out of a lot of other places.

Hampton is pretty bad. Norfolk is so-so. Chesapeake is so-so. Parts of Portsmouth are downright scary after the sun goes down.

But that's why we carry, gents (and any ladies).

[mamabearCali]

Having lived in Hampton Roads and specifically VA beach for 10 years and norfolk for 2 years I can speak to some of what goes on in VA beach/norfolk. VA beach crime generally has a case of the stupids. Dumb 18-21 year olds at the beach and new sailors at the bases doing stupid stuff. Mostly you are ok in VA beach most of the time. Just don't get drunk and stay away from those that are drunk. Now Norfolk is an entirely different ball of wax. There you have pockets of truly dangerous neighborhoods. You really can get yourself into trouble in a hurry there. The only two times I have truly been in fear for my life was in Norfolk. We used to have a game in our dorm--count the cop cars as they chased someone down our street. One was nothing--two was common--even five cop cars chasing a criminal was a weekly occurrence. That said, keep your head up and stay aware and you will likely be ok.

[gtommec]

I have to laugh when I hear people say how bad the crime is in Norfolk and Portsmouth. I have lived in this area all of my life and while there are some areas that have more crime than others I have never once 'feared for my life' and can't think of any areas that I wouldn't walk down the street at night (this excludes the peninsula as I am not familiar enough with that area) I was born in Portsmouth (and most of my family still lives there) and spent my early childhood in Churchland and have lived in Norfolk for a little over a year now. I work out of Chesapeake but as an electrician I work in all sections and cities of Hampton Roads as well as having family and friends in these areas. My wife works in Portsmouth and I am over there on a daily basis. When people find out I live in Norfolk the comments are always the same "OMG are you scared" and "you live in the ghetto" I have to laugh about this because I have worked all over this country and have seen some scary "urban areas" and the people that live here (even the thugs who think they are 'hard') have no idea what a ghetto really is.

[DWinter]

Uncle Sam and the US Navy were kind enough to station me in Va Beach in 1984 and I'm still here. And unlike many retired veterans, I got out of the govt thing and have a great job in Chesapeake at Volvo Penta. I married a beach girl in 87 and just kinda became part of the area. Now I was a country boy from the hills of PA and while I love to go back and visit, especially around trout and pheasant seasons, But I like Va Beach. It isn't perfect, no city is, but I've seen enough other cities in my travels to know we ain't too bad. Crime?? Yes we have it, like anywhere else. But there have been very few times in close to 30 years that I felt uncomfortable in the surroundings. Your results may vary...