Military Families
Options
Anybody from Langley?
Hi, I'm new to this site. I've been using parents.com and was getting bored. Anyways...we are transferring (again) to Langley AFB in 4-6 weeks. I am getting excited but know nothing about the area. Was wondering if anyone could give me advice on where to rent...or anything really. Thanks 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Anybody from Langley?
I work in an after school program in Hampton. Many of our kids are from Military families and a few have parents stationed at Langley. If you want a city kind of environment I'd go with Hampton. If you want a bit quieter more small town feel then I'd go with Yorktown. Between the 2 I would pick Yorktown. Personally I wouldn't want to live in Newport News or Poquoson. But that's just me.
ETA: Someone mentioned checking out the DC/NOVA board. That's not really our region so you probably won't find people who currently live here, maybe several that used to.
How long do you expect to be there? If it's a few years, school district will be important, and there are some not so good schools in the area.
Hampton can be very hit or miss. We were stationed here back in 02 and are here again. The first time we lived in Hampton and we were young and didn't have kids so it wasn't a big deal. There are some very nice parts, but they are expensive, and some very scary parts which are obviously the more affordable areas. A rental in Hampton is going to run you anywhere from $1200 to $1800 on average. York County is significantly more expensive. You would be hard pressed to find a rental property for less than $2200. Newport News is a good option but you need to stay north of Mercury. Anything south is awful. A really good option might be looking into the Kiln Creek townhouses and seeing what they have available. Also www.militarybyowner.com has local rentals as well as homes for sale. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more info. We are living on base because we still own a home in FL and didn't want to pay over our BAH.
I definitely prefer a quieter, small town environment. I saw a lot of rentals w/in 10 miles of base that were in a woodsy kind of area. Everyone is telling me Hampton is the best choice. Yorktown sounds nice, but if that's the same thing as York County, another bumpie said that is expensive. Our BAH is a little under $1400. And I have heard the same thing about Newport News and Poquoson, thanks for comfirming!
I definitely prefer a quieter, small town environment. I saw a lot of rentals w/in 10 miles of base that were in a woodsy kind of area. Everyone is telling me Hampton is the best choice. Yorktown sounds nice, but if that's the same thing as York County, another bumpie said that is expensive. Our BAH is a little under $1400. And I have heard the same thing about Newport News and Poquoson, thanks for comfirming!
We will be there hopefully at least 3-4 years. DD is 6 months old. I figure since we are renting, we could move if we had to to find a good school district. It's not like we haven't done it a lot before! haha...but really it's complicated. We own a home in LA and would like to sell that and/or buy another house, probably in VA. I don't see us renting for several years...but you never know w/ the military.
That is great to know! In a couple weeks, I'm going to need advice on rentals that I'm considering renting. I will have to repost or message u then. Is your husband military? If so, it's good to know you have been stationed there for 10 yrs! I hear PSC's last at least 4 yrs, but I've heard nightmare stories too. My husband has been retrained into a new field so we don't really know what to expect! He was PCSed at his last base for over 6 yrs. I'm looking for a house, not a condo. We have two dogs, so I need a backyard. And I prefer hard wood floors, but that's getting kind of picky! Hopefully the realty companies will take me serious now that it's only wks away until we move.
Well I googled Kiln Creek and it looks nice! Probably way out of our BAH ($1400). Good to know about the realty companies. I was getting the same vibe. I will try to stick to militarybyowner.com and I also found a site through USAA. Thanks for the advice! Have you joined any spouse groups on base?
Yay that's good to hear! I love spending time on base. Everyone is usually so friendly, and everything is cheaper!
I was told we can't live on base b/c we have a German Shepherd...hence all of this rental stress! But that was some very good advice, thank u! I wish you could be our personal realtor! I need to ask my husband to get a sponsor so someone can help us out over there. That's what so scary about renting blindly...the hit or miss thing w/ the neighborhoods. I have noticed the price range, and am willing to go a little over our BAH if it puts us in a safe neighborhood. I saw some decent rentals for about 1300-1400, but pictures are often misleading (-: Since I got such good feedback here, I will probably repost in a few wks when I have it narrowed down and need to make a decision...and see if yall can help! Thank you!! And have u had any experiences w/ spouse groups on base? They finally started a good one here at Goodfellow right before I am getting ready to leave. Bummer!
We couldn't find anything here for less than BAH that compared to the new housing on base but your dog is on the list of dogs they don't allow. We still own our house in NJ so I feel your pain.
I belong to the Langley Enlisted Spouses Club. You can find them on facebook. There is also an officer spouse club if that applies to you. I also belong to PeninsulaMommies. They are a great resource and have boards for all age groups, towns and a military board. There are lots of local playdates and activities.
I was pretty upset when I found out about the dog. It wasn't like that at the last two bases we were stationed at. This is the one time I talked DH into living on base, too! haha...oh well. She's an elderly dog, so when she passes we might think again about moving on base. I feel bad saying that, but it's true.
Good to know about the Langley Spouse group, we are enlisted. The spouse groups here at Goodfellow go by squadron, not by rank (unusual, I know). I will look into attending the one you are in, we will probably meet soon! (-: I've joined some mom groups in the area on meetup.com, but since I dk where I'll be living, I dk if I'll be attending them. I'll have to look into PeninsulaMommies. We go to 09/10/11 playgroups here and Zoey LOVES being around the other babies. She is in awe with other babies. And it gets us out of the house, which I think is important. Thanks for the info!