Suffolk

Suffolk is the part of Hampton Roads where the subdivisions thin out and the peanut fields start, the western frontier where commuters who gave up on Virginia Beach traffic ended up. Downtown has done the slow reinvention thing, with a handful of decent restaurants and the Suffolk Center carrying the culture load, and you get actual yard space for actual money. The catch: the dating pool is thin, married, or both, nightlife wraps early, and any serious date probably means driving toward Norfolk or the oceanfront. Best for couples already paired up, less so for the still-looking.