Jake’s Insider Neighborhood Guide: North End, Virginia Beach

Posted by Jake Maines on November 12, 2025

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Author: Jake Maines | Virginia Beach Realtor | Updated October 2026

The North End is the stretch of oceanfront above the resort strip, the numbered streets from 42nd at the Cavalier up to 89th at Fort Story. There is no boardwalk here and no hotels. Every street runs east to a dune crossover and west toward Holly Road and Linkhorn Bay, so you either walk to the sand or you keep a boat on the bay side. Houses run from 1950s cottages on 50-foot lots to new builds on pilings, and detached homes have mostly sold around $1.6 million over the past year based on recent sales, with the smaller places and condos well below that. First Landing State Park is at 64th Street, Fort Story is 10 minutes away and Oceana about 15. Below you’ll find the beach access, the restaurants, the schools and what to check before you buy up here.

Table of Contents

Life in North End, Virginia Beach Community Overview
Map of North End, Virginia Beach
Jake’s Top Things to Do in North End, Virginia Beach
Jake’s Local Favorites & Best Restaurants in North End, Virginia Beach
Local Health Care
Shopping Centers Near North End, Virginia Beach
View Properties In North End, Virginia Beach
Top Reasons To Live In North End, Virginia Beach
Ask Jake: Your Insider to North End, Virginia Beach
Frequently Asked Questions About the North End, Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach Neighborhoods
Contact Jake Maines Today!

Life in North End, Virginia Beach Community Overview

The North End runs north from 42nd Street, where the Cavalier sits, to the Fort Story gate at 89th. Atlantic Avenue is the spine, and which side of it you buy on changes the purchase. East of Atlantic you are paying for dune frontage and a walk to the sand. West of it the lots get deeper, the trees get bigger, and some back onto Crystal Lake or Linkhorn Bay with a dock.

What is not here matters as much as what is. No boardwalk, no hotel towers, no resort district, so the traffic on Atlantic Avenue thins out north of 42nd and the beach in front of your street stays quiet outside July. The trade is that there are no public parking lots either, so the streets themselves are the parking, and the city tightens the restrictions in summer.

First Landing State Park takes up the north end of the neighborhood at 64th Street, which is why the blocks above it are only a few hundred feet wide. The resort strip, with its restaurants and the boardwalk, is a five-minute drive south. The best Virginia Beach neighborhoods guide puts the North End next to the other beach options.

Map of North End, Virginia Beach

Jake’s Top Things to Do in North End, Virginia Beach

Most of what there is to do up here is the water, on one side or the other. The ocean is at the end of your street, Linkhorn Bay and Crystal Lake are behind you, and First Landing State Park closes off the top of the neighborhood. Here is what I would start with.

First Landing State Park

First Landing State Park starts at 64th Street, so the houses on the top blocks have 2,888 acres of cypress swamp and maritime forest as a back fence. It is named for the 1607 landing of the Jamestown colonists, it is the most-visited state park in Virginia, and it carries about 20 miles of trails, a mile and a half of Chesapeake Bay beach, 20 cabins and a campground. The bay side is calmer and warmer than the ocean, which is why a lot of people here swim there instead of across the street.

North End Beach

The beach up here is the same public sand as the strip, reached a different way. Every numbered street ends at a dune crossover, so there is no single entrance and no boardwalk tying them together. Some crossovers are planked and some are not. In summer the lifeguard stands run up this way and the crowd thins the further north you go, and from September the beach is mostly dog walkers and surfers. A house by the 60th Street crossover and one three blocks west are two different daily routines.

Boating

The boat ramp at the end of 64th Street, inside First Landing State Park, is the Narrows launch. It opens onto the water between Broad Bay and Linkhorn Bay, with trailer parking and restrooms, a launch fee and no swimming at the ramp. From there you can run down Linkhorn to Rudee Inlet and out to the ocean. Some of the houses on the bay side of Atlantic Avenue have their own docks, which is the other way people here keep a boat.

Local Health Care

Nothing medical sits inside the North End. The places you would use are on Laskin Road and at Hilltop, 10 to 15 minutes south, and the nearest emergency room is Sentara Virginia Beach General on First Colonial Road. Here is the short list.

Sentara Primary Care & Therapy Center

Sentara Primary Care and Therapy Center on Laskin Road is the closest everyday option, about ten minutes from most North End addresses. It combines primary care with physical therapy in one building, which is the reason people here use it. For an emergency it is Sentara Virginia Beach General on First Colonial Road, a few minutes further.

Fort Story Army Health Clinic

The Fort Story Lighthouse Clinic sits at the top of the neighborhood inside Joint Expeditionary Base Fort Story, about ten minutes from 89th Street. It is part of the McDonald Army Health Center and serves people with base access, so it is worth knowing about if that applies to you rather than a general option.

Great Neck Veterinary Clinic

Great Neck Veterinary Clinic is at 2248 Ebb Tide Road, off First Colonial, about ten minutes from the North End. It is a small animal practice doing routine care, dentistry, surgery and diagnostics, with evening hours on weekdays.

Questions About Buying North of 42nd Street?

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Shopping Centers Near North End, Virginia Beach

There is no store in the North End, so everything is a short drive south to Hilltop, where Laskin Road meets First Colonial. Three centres sit within a few blocks of each other there and between them cover the week.

The Shops at Hilltop

The Shops at Hilltop, about ten minutes down Laskin Road, is the closest thing to a main street for this end of the city: The Fresh Market for groceries, Ethan Allen and Athleta among the national names, and a row of independent jewellers, gift shops and restaurants around them.

Harris Teeter

The Harris Teeter on Arctic Avenue at Laskin Road is the grocery run for most of the North End, with a pharmacy counter and the usual pickup and delivery. It is the closest full supermarket to the numbered streets.

Hilltop Plaza

Hilltop Plaza, across Laskin Road from the Shops at Hilltop, is the one with Trader Joe’s in it, along with Five Below and a run of everyday retail. Between the two centres and the Harris Teeter you can do a full week’s errands without leaving Hilltop.

Thinking About a Move to the North End?

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Recreation, Nature & Parks in North End, Virginia Beach

Besides the beach itself and First Landing, there are two city parks worth knowing about, one close and one a drive away.

Grommet Island Park

Grommet Island Park is worth the drive even though it is not close: it sits at the Boardwalk and 2nd Street, at the far south end of the resort strip, about 15 minutes from the North End. It is a 15,000 square foot fully accessible beach park, the first of its kind in the country, with a firm poured surface, raised sand tables, a sensory board and a hand-operated sand scoop. The city lends beach wheelchairs there at no charge.

Beach Garden Park

Beach Garden Park on Kilbourne Court, off Laskin Road, is the close one, about five minutes from the south end of the neighborhood. It has ball fields, an open field, a playground and a half-mile paved loop, and the back of it runs down to tidal marsh on Linkhorn Bay with a short boardwalk. Parking and restrooms on site.

Schools Near the North End, Virginia Beach

The whole North End is zoned for Linkhorn Park Elementary, Virginia Beach Middle and Frank W. Cox High. None of the three is in the neighborhood, so all of them are a drive or a bus ride down toward Hilltop and Great Neck. Zones can change, so check your exact address with Virginia Beach City Public Schools before you write an offer.

Linkhorn Park Elementary School

Linkhorn Park Elementary at 977 First Colonial Road is the zoned elementary for the whole North End, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, about ten minutes from the numbered streets.

Virginia Beach Middle School

Virginia Beach Middle School at 600 25th Street is the zoned middle school, grades six through eight. The building is newer than it looks from the road, a 190,000 square foot replacement that earned LEED Silver certification, and it runs a Gifted and Talented visual arts program.

Frank W. Cox High School

Frank W. Cox High at 2425 Shorehaven Drive is the zoned high school for the North End, about 15 minutes down Great Neck Road. It opened in 1961, moved into its current building in 1983, and runs a full Advanced Placement program along with the usual range of sports.

Curious About North End Schools and Parks?

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me and ask a question

View Properties In North End, Virginia Beach

There is not much for sale in the North End at any one time, and that is the first thing to understand about buying here. The neighborhood is built out, the lots are narrow and deep, and what turns over each year is a handful of cottages, a few rebuilds and the occasional oceanfront. For a quieter beach without the resort strip, Chic’s Beach on the bay side is the usual comparison.

Detached houses here have mostly sold around $1.6 million over the past year based on recent sales, with the oceanfront rebuilds well past that and the smaller cottages and condos on the west side of Atlantic bringing the overall median closer to $1.2 million. About one home in ten sits in a FEMA flood zone, and whether a house has been raised moves the insurance more than the square footage does. Browse the current North End homes for sale below. If you want more house and yard for the money a few minutes inland, Great Neck is the usual alternative, and Croatan is the other oceanfront neighborhood without a boardwalk.

Top Reasons To Live In North End, Virginia Beach

The North End is a small, finished neighborhood with the ocean on one side and a state park on the other. Here is what keeps people here once they buy.

Expansive Outdoor Activities to Enjoy

The ocean is at the end of your street and First Landing’s trails start at 64th. Paddleboards go in off the beach or on the bay side, the Narrows ramp handles anything bigger, and in the off season the sand in front of the numbered streets is close to empty.

Excellent Access

Fort Story is at the top of the neighborhood, about ten minutes from the middle of it, and Oceana is about 15 down Great Neck Road. Little Creek is closer to 25 minutes and Norfolk about 45, so this is a short commute for two bases and a long one for the rest.

Values Hold Because Nothing New Gets Built

Supply is the reason values hold here. The neighborhood is boxed in by the ocean, a state park and a military base, the lots are all spoken for, and zoning keeps the height down, so nothing new gets added. What turns over is what already exists.

Ask Jake: Your Insider to North End, Virginia Beach

Buying in the North End comes down to details that are not in the listing: which side of Atlantic the house is on, whether it has been raised, what the flood zone does to the premium, and how many cars it can actually park. Jake has walked buyers through all of it. If you are looking up here, start with a conversation.

Jake Maines, Virginia Beach Realtor

Jake Maines is a REALTOR® with Iron Valley Real Estate Hampton Roads, serving buyers and sellers across Virginia Beach. Virginia salesperson license #0225247466, held since August 2020. He is a two-time Circle of Excellence recipient, Gold in 2023 and Platinum in 2024, and was named to Inside Business’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2023. He is a member of NAR and CoVAR.

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Frequently Asked Questions About the North End, Virginia Beach

What is considered the North End of Virginia Beach?

The North End’s the oceanfront north of the resort strip. Most people mean the numbered streets from 42nd Street at the Cavalier Hotel to 89th Street at Fort Story, with the Atlantic on one side and Holly Road and Linkhorn Bay on the other. There’s no boardwalk up here. Atlantic Avenue narrows and dead ends at the base (that’s Fort Story). First Landing State Park’s gate is at 64th Street, and north of it the North End, Virginia Beach is only a few blocks wide.

Where can you park at the North End of Virginia Beach?

On the street, and not much of it. The North End has no public parking lots, so beach parking means the numbered streets themselves, and the city posts restrictions that tighten in summer and vary by block. Driveways aren’t wide, either. Many cottages predate the two car garage. If you’re buying, the off street spaces a property actually has change what it’s worth, because guest parking in the North End, Virginia Beach is the most common surprise after closing. And the nearest paid lots are back at the strip.

How is the North End different from the Virginia Beach Oceanfront strip?

No boardwalk, no hotels, no resort district. South of 42nd Street you get the boardwalk, the high rise hotels, the paid garages and the summer events calendar, while north of the Cavalier it’s residential streets that dead end at dune crossovers. The beach itself is public either way, though. What’s different in the North End, Virginia Beach is how you reach the sand, where you leave the car, and how loud Atlantic Avenue gets at eleven at night.

Is the beach in the North End of Virginia Beach public?

Yes. It’s all public beach, same as the strip. Access is at the street ends. Each numbered street runs east to a dune crossover, so most homes aren’t a drive from the sand, just a block or two on foot. But nothing links them the way the boardwalk does further south. Some crossovers are planked, some aren’t. A lot by the 60th Street crossover and one three blocks west toward Holly Road are two different daily routines in the North End, Virginia Beach.

What kinds of homes are in the North End, Virginia Beach?

Cottages stand next to new builds here. Lots along the numbered streets run narrow and deep, often 50 feet wide. And over two decades many older cottages have come down for taller houses on pilings or raised foundations that meet current flood elevation rules. Elevation’s the dividing line in the North End, because an older cottage at grade and a new elevated build on the same block can carry very different insurance. Even when they share a crossover.

Does the North End, Virginia Beach flood?

Flood zones here shift parcel by parcel. Oceanfront lots behind the dune, the low blocks near Linkhorn Bay and Crystal Lake, and the Atlantic Avenue blocks can all land in different zones, and it’s the zone that sets the premium and the height a new house had to reach. Which zone does a lot fall in? The street won’t tell you. Virginia Beach publishes its own flood zone map with parcel detail, and FEMA’s mapping service shows the federal version for any North End, Virginia Beach address.

What's the difference between the ocean side and the Linkhorn Bay side of the North End?

Two different buys on the same street. East of Atlantic Avenue you’re paying for dune frontage, salt spray and a short walk to the sand, while the blocks west toward Holly Road and Linkhorn Bay trade that for deeper lots, mature trees and sometimes a dock. Wind doesn’t hit the two sides the same. And Crystal Lake sits between them on the lower numbered streets, so a lot backing onto it in the North End, Virginia Beach acts more like a bay lot than a beach lot.

What dune and preservation rules limit what you can build at the North End, Virginia Beach?

Coastal Primary Sand Dune rules cover oceanfront lots. Anything east of the dune line goes through the Virginia Beach Wetlands Board before it’s built on or reshaped, and the Linkhorn Bay blocks fall under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area buffer instead, which caps how much of a lot you’re allowed to cover. Two rulebooks, one neighborhood. Flood zone then sets the elevation a new house has to reach. And the city’s short term rental zoning decides whether a North End address can be rented by the week.

What do homes cost in the North End of Virginia Beach?

Figure $1.6 million for a detached house based on recent sales, with the overall median closer to $1.2 million once the cottages and condos west of Atlantic are counted. Oceanfront is its own market and runs well past $2 million. The spread on one street can be enormous, because an original 1950s cottage at grade and a new elevated build next door are different products. Elevation, off-street parking and which side of Atlantic Avenue you are on move the number more than square footage. Current listings are on the North End homes for sale page.

What schools serve the North End, Virginia Beach?

Linkhorn Park Elementary, Virginia Beach Middle and Frank W. Cox High, for the whole neighborhood. None of them is in the North End. Linkhorn Park is on First Colonial Road, Virginia Beach Middle is at 25th Street behind the strip, and Cox is on Shorehaven Drive about 15 minutes down Great Neck Road. Virginia Beach City Public Schools redraws lines now and then. Check the exact address with the district before you write an offer. A listing sheet is not proof.

Can you rent a North End house by the week?

Depends on the address and the current zoning. Virginia Beach regulates short-term rentals by overlay district and by conditional use permit, and the North End is not treated the same as the Oceanfront resort area. Some North End properties carry grandfathered rights and some do not, and the rules have changed more than once. If weekly rental income is part of why you are buying, make the permit status a condition of the contract and confirm it with the city’s zoning office rather than the listing. This is the single most expensive assumption a buyer makes up here.

North End or Croatan, which is the better buy?

Both are oceanfront neighborhoods without a boardwalk, and the difference is position. The North End sits above the resort strip with First Landing at its back, a state park and a military base pinning it in, and a price floor to match. Croatan is south of Rudee Inlet, closer to Oceana and Dam Neck, with its own public lot and a slightly lower entry point. The North End is a longer drive to the southern bases and a shorter one to Fort Story. Croatan has parking and a civic league that runs the neighborhood; the North End has more house and more coastline. Pick the commute first.