Hello all,

I've found a good amount concerning the real estate listings, though I know they might be out of date somewhat, what seems lacking online is a good amount of information about the specific neighborhoods around Yokosuka.  I found an interesting listing in northeastern Kamoi, but I feel like I need to know more about the areas before I start chasing chickens.

* I'm a 'single' O-3 about to go on shore tour in August, but I will be returning to the U.S. in October to get married.  The new wife, also active-duty, will join me in March or April.

* Distance-wise, I won't mind a 20-min drive or a train ride, but given the difficulty of finding a suitable house with two parking spots, we may look to get somewhere where I can ride a bicycle into work and my lady can drive.  She's a nurse, so it's likely that her hours will be very different from mine at times.

* Looking to have a good mix of Japanese and 'gaikokujin' as neighbors.  Not too Americanized; not so traditional that we can't communicate with neighbors.

Any input is appreciated!

when you attend the housing briefing, you'll be provided with a map of the commuting area along with typical commute times (by car).

plus, traffic here isn't terrible, but it can be a bit slow. example: I live in ikegami, which is about 3 miles from the base. on some mornings, if i leave closer to 7 am, it'll take be between 15 to 20 minutes to get to base. that's just the gate, mind you, not the office.

best bet is to ask around - ask what area they live in and how long their average commute time is.

as for neighbors, at first i was a bit concerns that I was living too close to base and that all my neighbors would be american or american families - wrong. there are no other gaijins living in this neighborhood - there's a few on the other side of the main road, but in my neighborhood, i'm the only one (so far). of course the majority of the neighborhood works on base . . .

If the agents have included the address in listing you can use diddlefinger.com to search the address so you get an idea where it is in relation to the base &/or train station /bus stops.

I would say you're going to be surprised. We live about 1 mile from the base and we have no American neighbors. However, one of our neighbors works for MWR on base and her English is perfect with almost no accent. We also found a place with three parking spots. We looked at two other places that had two parking spots next to the house.

Are you here yet? It's hard to do off base house hunting via the Internet as the agencies don't particularly rely on their websites to pull in clients. Once you get here you can't walk off base without running into a housing agency. Basically if you tell them what you need they'll be more than willing to find houses that meet your needs. Some houses they dont even list for whatever reason.

The housing briefing will provide some really helpful information regarding neighborhoods and travel times as well.