Review of Hampton, Virginia


Hampton has too many gangs.
Star Rating - 11/2/2008
I am a military dependant. I took my son to Langley this year to check out the base to see if we may like a transfer. I was shocked when we got off the plane and everyone was extremly rude. I am fro Florida so we are used to polite and home town people. I was shocked to get off the hwy ramp exit to the base and stop right in the middle of gangland. It scared me to death. I had to wait until they got out of the road and hold my breath we weren't threatened. I am not used to that we don't have gangs here. The gate gaurd warned me about not leaving the base at night and get back before sun down. We went to Williamsburg and Busch gardens and it was great except the gangs were hanging around the parking lot waiting for the sun to go down. I couldn't stand the unsafe feeling anymore and we changed our tickets to head home a week early. I can't believe how bad the people have it there. I pray we never get orders there. If you do have to move in the area live in Williamsburg and commute. The local news frightened me the most. The murders rape, and general crime every night was something I had never seen before. People you don't have to live like that! Get with local law enforcement and make some changes. Take your city back. Its dirty and delapetated. I never saw a police officer. A junkie terrified us on the highway when traffic was stopped in a jam. He kept yelling at us and banging on the window. We were stuck. I never ever want to go to Hampton again as long as I live. I will stick to the South!
IDaveZ | Niceville, FL
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2 Replies


I've been reading a lot of posts about various cities. I saw so many negative opinions about different places I began to wonder whether these opinions were really accurate. I decided to check the comments about a place I am very familiar with. I was raised in Hampton from the age of 11 to 24, so I know of what I speak. When I saw the post of "Hampton has too many gangs," I had to laugh. My first thought was well this is obviously a person who isn't used to diversity...but I wanted to check further. You never discuss the city of Hampton in your comments. The "airport near the base" is Norfolk Va which has a HIGH crime rate. Bush Gardens is in Williamsburg and like you say, it is a great place to stay. The "gangs" in the parking lot are probably just black teenagers visiting the park lol. The crime rate of Hampton is 5/5 and has 146000 people. Niceville Fl has a crime rate of 2/3 and has...12,000 people. Niceville also is 87% white, so I can understand how seeing a group of black people might alarm you. Hampton is diverse and is a good place to raise a family. It's also cheap by comparison and has a good educational system. I can't vouch for Williamsburg also...which you would probably feel more comfortable in since it's much less diverse. I completely understand your point of view. If I moved to Niceville I would probably feel uncomfortable as well. I guess that's just a product of our media programming lol. Anyone interested in moving here I urge to look at ALL the comments and not rely ONLY on this website in making your final moving decision. For example U.S. News lists the crimerate in Hampton as Average, as well as Williamsburg. The only places with low crime rate in this day and age are places like Niceville that have no people. Once you get to over 100000 people you'd be hard pressed to find many U.S. cities with low crimerate with that many people. We have the beach, theaters, shopping, and plenty of good eats. If you get bored there is Williams Shopping Outlets, Bush Gardens, Water Country, D.C.(3hrs)Md(3hrs) Charles town WV Casinos(3hrs) Va Beach(45min) ODU girls basketball, events at the Hampton Coliseum, VaBeach Ampitheater....man I could go on and on. The only reason I left was because I was tired of constantly meeting people I knew and having to say hi (apparently they never wanted to leave lol).
HRoads007 | Newport News, VA | Report Abuse

i live in hampton, and i agree that there are bad places and good places. but the post titled" hamtpon has too many gangs" is ridiculous and misleading. next time, try leaving the airport. i'd love to make friends in the area, mother- military wife, photographer, advocate of legalizing marijuana ;) in that order. email free2bkati@yahoo.com
kathryn | Hampton, VA | Report Abuse
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