peggy01

I'm trying to get an idea of the cost of living in Williamsburg, VA. I have never lived with humidity before. I'm presuming air conditioning must run constantly during the summer months. How big is your house and what is your average monthly electric bill in the summer?

What is the current price of gasoline?

emd

peggy, there is a poster here, obxgirl, who lives in Williamsburg, and I hope she will respond. (If not, she is probably in the Outer Banks, her favorite place, so keep sending this to the top til she gets back!)

bostongirl84

I used to live there- My husband was stationed in the area when he was in the military. It is a very nice area, but not very expensive. Houses there go from the low 120's to high 350's depending on what you are looking for.

Rents there are in the 900's to 1200 for a decent apt-

There are alot of historical homes there and many B&B's for sale.

It's not that humid and the spring is wonderful there- the temp is pretty mild as well as the winters- you might get 2 inches of the white stuff if you are lucky- and then everything shuts down- even the military.

We lived there for 4 years. It was very nice and a beautiful area.

Hurricanes do come through and you have to be prepared for that -

Other than that- it is a very nice and affordable place to live.

girlonthego

Hi My parents live there now and it is very humid in the summer months. I live by Richmond, just an hour west. Central VA is humid in the summer. The best time of year is fall. We have had hurricanes come through, and it does effect the area, but for short periods of time. Fall lasts very long (up till Christmas). Then we get cold and some ice. Once in a blue moon, we get a snowstorm and it shuts everything down for a few days. Spring is nice and we were lucky to have an extra long one this year. Summer came late.
Housing runs the entire spectrum. There are cheaper houses and there are million dollar ones too. The area of Williamsburg is growing rapidly. There is much new housing and there are some new schools in the area.

My house (Richmond area) is about 3200 sq feet and our electric bill costs about 250. per month in the summer, but we have a pool running too. So, that is not a completely fair estimate.
Air conditioning runs a lot. To be fair, if you are from a northern territory, you will pay less for heat in the winter.
Gas is pricier in Williamsburg because it is a tourist town. Over here, it was 2.95 today for regular.
You should plan a visit in the summer to see if you can stand the heat!
It is a nice town. Hopefully some of the Williamsburg locals will chime in.
Good luck

emd

ttt for obxgirl, as I see she is online here this morning.

obxgirl

Thanks emd!

I agree with girlonthego's assessment. We pay about the same ($250/mo) for AC in the in summer months for approx the same square footage. No pool though.

I just paid $2.94 a gallon this morning for gas. I saw $2.99 and $3.02. It is, as girl noted, a little higher in Wmbg because it's a tourist destination. You can usually get it for up to 10 cents less a gallon a few miles down the penninsula in Newport News or Hampton.

peggy01

Thanks for the help. Bostongirl mentioned hurricanes. How often do you get them in Williamsburg? My husband seems to think they are usually downgraded to a tropcial storm by the time they hit that area, although I do seem to recall Richmond having severe damage a couple of years ago.

emd: What does "ttt" mean? Thanks!

obxgirl

Williamsburg is humid in the summer. Make no mistake about that. It can be brutal here in July and August. It's unpleasant but we've all learned to live with it. And the payback is gorgeous springs and falls as well as generally mild winters. I'd strongly suggest you spend a couple of weeks here in mid summer to see for yourselves.

The potential for hurricanes is a fact of life for most of the eastern seaboard. Wmbg is no more of a target than anywhere else. In the 10 years I've been here, two storms have caused some real damage, Floyd in 1999 and Isabel in 2004. You are right that storms that come ashore near Norfolk/VB tend to weaken when they get as far inland as Wmbg.

I would give hurricanes the same credence I'd give another region's tendency toward wildfires, tornadoes or earthquakes, i.e., a consideration but not a determining factor.

Bostongirls housing costs are a little out of date. I'd double her numbers to get a more accurate pictures. That's still less than many areas of the country.

Weespxx

Just adding my $.02 - we paid $300 K for our house in - town 2 years ago. It was a bargain. Gas is very expensive here, as obxgirl states but you can get great deals just 30 min down I64. Williamsburg is not the bargain that it may have once been, although the property taxes are a steal! Summer is HOT - there are no two ways around it. Afternoons often produce thunderstorms, as happened today. Spend some time here before making your decision.

alamedadan

We just moved here from California last fall. Yeah, I know, culture shock--that's what everyone tells us. Actually it's not too bad. The "shock" of people waving when driving through any neighborhood, much more courtesy while driving, CW a ten minute drive away, a beautiful new house for less than 400K--I can get used to that kind of shock. Now the sweet tea...that's another story. And the humidity, especially at night. Every bone in my body wants to open the windows at night and let a cool sea breeze blow through our house. I tried that once and our hardwood floors got as sticky as scotch tape. It will take awhile to get used to it but we love our new home. Last month's elec bill for a 2 story, 2600 sq ft house (AC set at 78 day, 82 at night) was $120. This month should be a bit higher.

Peggy, where are you moving from?

peggy01

Alamedadan: Sorry for the slow reply. We have been out of town. We currently live in Temecula. We've been here for 17 years. It's been a wonderful place to raise our children, but know we won't live here forever. It's simply getting too congested and too expensive. My electric bill last month was $500.00, and rates are going up again in the fall. We will definitely retire out of state. We have already bought a "retirement" home in Windsor Forest, which we are currently renting out.

How did you discover Williamsburg?

nytraveler

ROFL at the people complaining about $2.95 for a gallon of gas. Here you're happy with anything under $4.00

And as for electicity - for a 3 bedroom apartment our Con Ed bill is almost $500 per month in the summer (but the whole apartment does face south with lots of windows).

obxgirl

No complaining, just answering the question posed by the OP.

I fail to see any value in your post other than another chance to pump up your exaggerated sense of self importance.

Neopolitan

nytraveler, where do you live again? I just ran both NewYorkgasprices and Connecticutgasprices and the HIGHEST I could find was $3.59 -- mostly 10 to 15 cents below that. Where are you that you really pay over $4 a gallon?

rb_travelerxATyahoo

The newspaper serving Williamsburg and the Virginia Peninsula is the (Newport News) Daily Press. I think it has on-line ads for rentals and 4-sale.
http://www.dailypress.com

I spent almost 4 years in the area. 3 great seasons! Love those mild winters, but at OBX stated, some beautiful spring & fall weather.

alamedadan

peggy01--we discovered Wmbg due to a job transfer. We knew we wanted out of the Bay Area and my employer (Trader Joe's) was opening a store in Newport News, half an hour down the interstate. We looked at homes in NN and York County, but ended up here and am very happy with the decision. You'll like Windsor Forest btw, we looked at a couple of homes in that neighborhood. We live in Powhatan Secondary not far from Ukrops and Target.

bettebet

Hi,
What is the cheapest way to get from Norfolk airport to Williamsburg (downtown)in mid September?
THanks
Brooke

rb_travelerxATyahoo

CHEAPEST way? I assume you will want to get back to the airport. Car rental is probably your most effective way.

The cheapest would probably be to take a taxi to a bus route (1 to 2 miles) then take HRT bus to a Greyhound station.
http://www.hrtransit.org/ or call 757-222-6100
http://www.greyhound.com

or just take taxi to directly to greyhound station

Amtrak provides bus transporation from Norfolk to Newport News, where you travel by rail to the rail/bus station in Williamsburg.

HRT Route 61 can get you to Newport News from a few miles from ORF, but then you STILL must get to Wbg. You could get to Newport News/Williamsburg International, where there is shuttle service, but seems like a big waste of time.

HRT route $8 can get you from Norview Ave (the road ORF is on) & Tidewater Ave to downtown Norfolk where you can find the Amtrak bus stop ( Monticello Ave & Virginia Beach Blvd - not a station )or Greyhound STATION @ 701 MONTICELLO AVE ) or take #8 to Little Creek, where you can transfer to Bus 61 to Newport News

Greyhound Norfolk to Wbg is $13-16
Amtrak Bus/Rail is about $27 with VERY FEW departures

Norfolk Airport Express http://www.norfolkairportexpress.com/ or 1-800-643-2197 or (757) 857-5950 can get you to Williamsburg too. Don't know the price. 2004 Fare was $40 each way/$70 round trip.

Do you have other airports you can fly into? Even Newport News/Williamsburg or maybe DCA or BWI?