Hampton, Virginia is the closest major city to JBLE. Hampton is an independent city of about 137,000 people. Hampton is on the Virginia Peninsula, and the only other notable nearby community is Newport News, a city of about 183,000. Both of these cities are part of a larger metro area with about 1.7 million.

It is about 7 miles from downtown Hampton to JBLE; this takes about 20 minutes to commute. Hampton is a fairly congested city and travel times can vary significantly. The average commute in Hampton is about 22 minutes. A commute from Newport News would be about 20 minutes.

Local Housing Rental Prices: The average apartment rent in the Hampton area ranges from $800 to $11100 per month, with a median of about $950 per month.

Local Housing Purchase Prices: The average price for a house in Hampton is about $220,000, compared to $330,000 for Virginia.

Short Description of the Area: Hampton is a mid-sized city on the coast of Virginia, on the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Historically, Hampton was one of the guardians of the approaches to Baltimore, Richmond, and Washington DC. Hampton was one of the earliest American colonial settlements in the US and has a great deal of history.

Climate and Weather: The area has a temperate climate, winter temperatures of the low 50s to low 30s and summer temperatures from to the high 80s to low 70s. The area has fairly moderate weather; most major storm tracks are north or south of coastal Virginia, and moderate rainfall is fairly steady year-round. Summers warm and humid with more frequent rain. Winters cool and mild with slightly less rain and occasional light snow.

Cool Features Around Post: Hampton, and the Hampton Roads metro area, is full of activities and local features, and only some of them follow.

There are several Virginia Peninsula historical military locations from the Revolutionary War and Civil War, and more fairly nearby, including Fort Monroe, Fort Wool, Fort Story, and several historic battles, most famously the Battle of Hampton Roads. The Revolutionary War Yorktown Campaign, ending with the ultimate clash of the War, the Battle of Yorktown, was fought in this area. The Civil War Peninsula Campaign was also fought in the area, including another Battle of Yorktown.

This area is also the site of some of the oldest colonial settlements in the USA, including Jamestown, Elizabeth City (now Hampton), Newport News, and Williamsburg, as well as many other settlements now part of other cities.

Virginia Lighthouses: Virginia has many miles of coast, with lots of navigational hazards, and historically has had a large number of lighthouses. Someone looking for a road trip or photographing project should be able to find plenty of lighthouses on wind-swept coast with a little web research.