This is just an out of the blue thought...but I'm interested in knowing if this is worth considering. I'm presently an inside sales engineer with a boiler feed systems manufacturer here in the Triangle, but have entertained the thought of doing something different. Are mechanical engineering jobs hard to get in this area? Cost of living? Etc?

Any thoughts on the matter are appreciated.

7/21/2011 11:19:29 AM

Northrop Grumman is always hiring engineers in that area

[Edited on July 21, 2011 at 11:33 AM. Reason : I never worked there, only interviewed]

7/21/2011 11:33:31 AM

If this were chit chat,

I realize this thread is about working/living in Norfolk/Hampton Roads area, which I do not

Seeing as it is the lounge, nearly every mech eng I know in the area works for the shipyard in some form. There seems to be quite a few jobs based on the number of grads that I know who went to the shipyard, but I'm not sure if most openings are for the less experienced.

COL is a bit higher if you want comparable safety/neighborhoods to the Triangle, and you will have to deal with a lot of military people in the area whether you work directly for them or not. There are some nice areas but you definitely need someone with better knowledge of the area before you would start looking for housing.

7/21/2011 11:33:34 AM

My dad lives in Chesapeake and I can say that the roads around there drive me bonkers.

Like many places there's cool places like Ghent, that run right up against shady broke-ass places.

7/21/2011 11:48:08 AM

don't get hammered drunk in norfolk and walk around past 2am.

you will get abducted by the police.

7/21/2011 11:49:56 AM

Quote :

"Like many places there's cool places like Ghent, that run right up against shady broke-ass places."

Interesting that you say this...we ate at No Frill Grill in Ghent Sunday morning. Definitely cool, definitely good.

7/21/2011 2:21:47 PM

Norfolk/HR is cool because it's only 3 hrs from Raleigh.

As far as living there is concerned, try and find a cool place that's close to work. Traffic is a bitch, and passing through those tunnels is ranked as something like the 18th worst commute in the country.

7/21/2011 3:36:28 PM

Ghent is the name of a real place? Sounds like some broke ass town from Fallout

7/21/2011 3:39:31 PM

you can't go anywhere without some squids being there.

if you can't some leg at bar norfolk, you are just not able to get leg

you can definately get up with some "westpac widows" even though it's second fleet when their man is on deployment

hrbt and mmmbt suck donkey nuts in the morning and afternoon

ngnn parking sucks and be prepared to never have your cell phone with you if it has a camera

virginia beach is a tourist trap hole

i64 runs east west, but in the opposite direction for a while. example, the highway runs from cheese-a-peek to norfolk (west to east) in the eastbound direction until it gets to the hrbt. then it turns west. have fun navigating that.

newport news and hampton are like detroit's younger, just as violent brothers.

DO NOT EVER FUCKING SPEED IN EMPORIA as you get off of 95 to get on 58.

[Edited on July 21, 2011 at 4:41 PM. Reason : ,]

7/21/2011 4:30:22 PM

Quote :

"DO NOT EVER FUCKING SPEED IN EMPORIA as you get off of 95 to get on 58."

+1

7/21/2011 4:38:10 PM

^

7/21/2011 4:43:19 PM

I have a house in Chesapeake, VA. Its not too bad. The housing market is pretty high for the area, but its something you have to deal with i guess.

Traffic fucking sucks in the morning and the afternoon...good luck if more than one carrier is at the piers.

As for jobs as an engineer, the shipyard is your best bet. always hiring!

Ghent has a bunch of great places to eat, but as for living there, its overpriced and bumps up against the ghetto part of norfolk.

Quote :

"if you can't some leg at bar norfolk, you are just not able to get leg"

That place was a shit hole and closed nearly 3 years ago along with have a nice day cafe

^^amen

[Edited on July 21, 2011 at 4:45 PM. Reason : yea]

[Edited on July 21, 2011 at 4:46 PM. Reason : mj]

7/21/2011 4:45:06 PM

it closed? shocker, i mean, there are always plenty of young squids who want to get liquored up and fight.

1 carrier in port sucks
2 carriers in port telecommute
3 carriers in port grocery stores are out of food
4 carriers in port is a national emergency
4 in port and 1 in the yards would only happen again if i was in Hampton Roads

7/21/2011 4:51:43 PM

We had 4 carriers in port at one time, that was by far the worst I have ever seen. It took me 2 hrs to get from Battlefield Blvd to base.

Shortly after that, we went on tropical hours....


yea apparently too many underage tickets and the city of norfolk shut them down.

7/21/2011 4:57:16 PM

The Norva is an awesome place to see a show. I really like the area.

7/21/2011 10:56:38 PM

^ I saw Flava Flav at the Norva...(under the title of being a Public Enemy concert), so yes for this.... +1


I also lived in Ghent, named for the fact that HR has always been a staging area for naval ships since the British arrived. A high ranking Naval Officer Lord Drummond (same guy for whom Lake Drummond in Norfolk is named) returned to the area and built a neo-classical mansion with a framed copy of the Treaty of Ghent (1814) framed over his mantle. I know it's absolutely ridiculous that a dude was obsessed with a copy of something, but he named the mansion Ghent, and then other people were inspired to build around him in the same style. So goes the name of the neighborhood and eventually the whole suburb.

Additionally, Ghent is the oldest suburb in Norfolk and most conveniently located, IMO. Near the end of my time there, my favorite thing to do was get a six dollar cab ride to the downtown area, catch the $1.50 water taxi across the Elizabeth River to do a pub crawl in Portsmouth and then get home on another $7.50. The water taxi across the Elizabeth river is really cool and a nice novelty that will impress a chick. Additionally, the same luxury would take 45 mins by car and you couldn't drink. Most people don't know or employ this awesome formula for success.

If you do it right, HR (esp. Ghent) can be awesome, but women are ALWAYS in short supply, so you have to import them. Now that I am in an area where the m/f ratio is normal, I feel like I am in pussy heaven.

7/21/2011 11:23:14 PM

Oh yea, NORVA is pretty awesome...i saw Jay-Z and another concert there...cant remember who, I got free tickets...but it was pretty awesome. Malls are pretty nice there also.

7/22/2011 1:19:03 AM

Quote :

"DO NOT EVER FUCKING SPEED IN EMPORIA as you get off of 95 to get on 58."

I have noticed this...even at 7:00 in the morning on a Wednesday.

Quote :

"hrbt and mmmbt suck donkey nuts in the morning and afternoon"

Yeah, I've noticed.

In all reality, I seriously doubt that this will happen, especially with my lovely credit post-divorce and post-last-money-sucking-fiance...I'd be considered a security risk if considered for an engineering position. Unless some of you tell me otherwise.

7/22/2011 9:29:21 AM

Quote :

"If you do it right, HR (esp. Ghent) can be awesome, but women are ALWAYS in short supply, so you have to import them. Now that I am in an area where the m/f ratio is normal, I feel like I am in pussy heaven."

Just head east, to Gloucester or one of those smaller towns. There are available women who are more or less dying for a big-city guy to swoop them out of the purgatory they have (usually) live in for all of their lives. I have encountered great success in establishing relations with women from that geographical location.

[Edited on July 22, 2011 at 12:09 PM. Reason : I actually mined Urbanna for some poo nanny. They gave me my baller card back after that.]

7/22/2011 12:08:25 PM

traffic sucks but you'll probably be fine if you don't have to cross a bridge. I worked at NGNN shipyard and lived in Hampton, then Newport News. Both had short, traffic free commutes. Even during Snowmageddon 05 the traffic jam didn't reach me.

Overall, I don't like the area and I would not move back there. The city is run down and choked with military. Imagine Fayetteville on the coast, but with traffic jams.

A lot of the jobs are shipyard related, so your credit issues will hurt you. You need a security clearance for a lot of them. Don't know about contractors though.

7/22/2011 2:29:37 PM

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7/22/2011 2:31:18 PM

So i guess i'll be the one to say it...

It will be one of the areas most affected by sea level rise

7/25/2011 10:08:29 AM