Hampton, VA

[Cinco de Maya]

I was just accepted to Hampton university for graduate school. Never been there or to Virginia. I plan to live off campus. Where is a good place to find an apartment? Do I need a car? 

Any advice would be nice!

[Teaching Faculty Wannabe]

23 hours ago, Cinco de Maya said:

I was just accepted to Hampton university for graduate school. Never been there or to Virginia. I plan to live off campus. Where is a good place to find an apartment? Do I need a car? 

Any advice would be nice!

Congrats. I have lived in the Hampton Roads area (Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, VA Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk) for several years, so I have give you some advice on the area. I don't know about living Hampton so I sadly can't tell you much about apartments, but it is a really pretty area. Most of the places in Hampton Roads have various beaches and rivers that go through them. Some advice/pointers with living in this area:

1. You will most likely need a car. You might want to check Hampton's public transportation to see how it is. I have only taken public transportation in Norfolk, and it is okay. However, if you want to visit other towns and city, I think you would want a car. Just as a warning, VA requires you to get an annual inspection of your car.

2. When you drive, you will probably run into tunnels. If you live in Hampton and drive North, you won't have to go through a tunnel, but you if you drive south, you will have to go through at least one tunnel. Since the Hampton Roads area is surrounded by water, there are many underwater tunnels to help get to different cities and towns. The worst one with the most traffic is sadly the HRBT (Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel), which connects Hampton and Norfolk. So, if I were you, I would I'd live in Hampton or Newport News, so you can avoid this tunnel when driving to school. Additionally, some of the tunnels have tolls. They are horribly priced, but something useful to know.

3. There is so much to do in Hampton Roads. Since there are so many towns and cities in one big area, there are many events and activities going on. A lot of concerts are held in Hampton, Norfolk, and VA beach. Busch Gardens, which is an amusement park, is in Williamsburg, which also has a lot of US colonial history. First Landing is a state park in VA Beach with a nice beach area and also places to walk and ride your bike. Norfolk has a beautiful botanical garden, a new IKEA, and also an outlet mall. Williamsburg also has an outlet mall. A lot of these places also have museums. Portsmouth has a Kid's Museum, Norfolk has a navy/naval science museum with a big navy ship you go on, and I believe Hampton has a science museum and also NASA Langley close by. I am missing some things for sure, but it is a cool area where you can constantly explore and will never get bored.

I hope this helps and congrats on your acceptance!

[Cinco de Maya]

Im moving to Hampton, VA for grad school (Im attending Hampton university). Where I go to school currently there is an off campus roommate finder Facebook group that everyone uses. Is there anything like this for Hampton? I plan on living off campus and I'm having trouble finding a roommate.