Fewer than two-thirds of Hampton Roads residents say life here is excellent or good.

That’s according to the 14th annual Life in Hampton Roads report by Old Dominion University.

Tancy Vandecar-Burdin runs ODU’s Social Science Research Center, which conducted the survey. She said this year, feelings about the economy and cost of living especially influenced people’s opinions on life in Hampton Roads.

Fewer than half — around 40% — of the residents researchers talked to said the economy was doing well. More than 70% said things like affordable child care and housing were hard to access in the region.

That’s in line with December’s State of the Commonwealth Report, also put out by ODU.

That report said housing prices haven’t dropped after their pandemic spike. In turn, rents have risen, and vacancy rates are at a 30-year low.

Many respondents in the survey indicated that they were worried about making rent or mortgage payments in the past year.

Associate Professor of Political Science Jesse Richman said affordability isn’t just a challenge in Hampton Roads.

“Various factors that make life in Hampton Roads less affordable and lower quality for people do seem to push them towards wanting to move,” he said. “At the same time, there's the question of whether there are greener pastures. I think we're tapping partly into nationwide problems here.”

Health care worries

In last year’s survey, 73.6% of residents said health care in Hampton Roads was excellent or good. This year, that number dropped to 63.5%.

Vandecar-Burdin said there wasn’t an obvious reason why. But she said anecdotally, she hears of many baby boomer-aged doctors retiring, forcing patients to try and get into other practices.

Although opinions on quality of life, health care and affordability were low, about 73% of respondents said they planned to stay in Hampton Roads for the next five years.

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