The truth about Waldorf, MD? (La Plata, Bryans Road: section 8, rental homes, crime)

[speshelly]

Hey guys!
My husband and I are relocating to Southern Maryland in a month or so, he'll be working in La Plata but I'm still not sure what I'll be doing. I might be transferring my job to our office in Alexandria, and may get stuck commuting...UGH!!! I hear it's 90 minutes some days? Is this really true??

We have 2 small children, but won't have to worry about schools right now. We only plan to rent for a year at the longest. We are just looking for a place to land and get settled temporarily. We've already spent 3 days in town for the interview, and even met with a realtor to check out La Plata. We fell in love with the town, and we plan to buy there eventually...but in the meantime we are going to rent (until our house in Orlando sells). We've spent hours and hours combing rental homes in La Plata but have had to expand the search radius because there are so few homes for rent there. So of course, Waldorf keeps coming up because it has plenty of really great looking (and huge) homes available for rent, for even better prices...

However, I have randomly asked no less then a half dozen people about Waldorf (all locals to that area of course) and every single person said the SAME thing!!!

We heard:
"...stay away from Waldorf!!!"
"...it tends to be ghetto"
"...stay away from new construction homes and stick with established neighborhoods"

What is the deal!?!? What do they mean by ghetto? Are we talking drive by shootings and muggings or just blue color workers? Are a majority of neighborhoods accepting Section 8 vouchers? We spent some time in Waldorf (but only on the main drag), so we didn't actually see any neighborhoods. But all the people we saw seemed normal, and no one stood out as sketchy or "ghetto". We didn't see any trashy cars or anything that set off red flags, so what's the deal?

Can someone who lives in that area please explain what these people mean by "ghetto"??? Thank you so much for your time!!!

[Mom21]

Waldorf is a tad bit ghetto. I think it mainly comes from people renting their homes to section 8 recipients. There really aren't that many apt complexes considering the density of the area. As for crime, there have been anywhere from 4 to 6 murders in Waldorf each year for the last 4 or 5 years. Of that 4 to 6 per year, there is maybe one each year that's an innocent bystander. One man last year, who was standing in the vicinity of the intended victim, and one 14 year older girl summer before last while her mother was testing an ice cream truck around midnight. Someone attempted to rob the truck and didn't believe they had no money on it.

If you want to send me a pm or post areas you are looking in, I can tell you whether to avoid or not. I think you can find a safe place in Waldorf to rent for a year.

[DC's Finest]

Waldorf is completely safe. It's a mix of middle class white collar and blue collar workers. Don't listen to any of these posters on this board. They will try to act like Waldorf is the Bronx.

[Giantone]

Waldorf has crime,the problem is it's coming from PG county but Waldorf is getting crowded and they do call Westlake high school .."South Cental Westlake".As with anywhere Waldorf has good and bad areas and I would look at LaPlata,White Plains,Bryans Road(off of Indian Head Hyw) or even Hughsville south of Waldorf.

[lscalder]

No the problem is DC got major development and started to oush their lower income resident into PG County. Well no PG county is also doing major development and increasing taxes which is forcing the lower income resident that was forced into PG County from DC into Charles County.

[bluiznsmilez]

What about the White Plains and Pomfret areas? They looked somewhat rural--which I liked--did I see it wrong? What is the commute like? I'm looking at Manassas VA too--but that has a commuter train. Does White Plains area have something like that?

I'm going on a house hunting trip next week and need all the help I can get. My hubby will be working at the Reagan Building and I'll be at the Naval Yard.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Mom21]

What about the White Plains and Pomfret areas? They looked somewhat rural--which I liked--did I see it wrong?

No, you saw it right (as far as White Plains). It's a nice, safe area right next to Waldorf, so your commute will be pretty much the same (if you learn the back roads). Personally, I would prefer the neighborhoods in the older sections of White Plains rather than the newer developments. They're probably cheaper, too.

[fjennell]

I live in White Plains...depending on what you are used to, Waldorf is going down hill and fast. White Plains and La Plata are nicer but you still have to go to Waldorf for most things. Take a look at the charles county sheriff's reports and you will see what is going on around there and that's just a few of the crimes that actually get reported. There are tons more that don't. I lived in Richmond, VA and have been some of the least desirable areas and felt safer than in Waldorf. There is A LOT of armed robberies, even in decent neighborhoods. Thugs from DC and PG come down here to commit crimes. You will also see that on the crime reports. There is also a lot of theft. This will eventually spill over even more into La Plata. It's already starting to. Some people don't think it's that bad but I am not used to living in an area where people are constantly being mugged so if you are used to that then yeah its not so bad.

[TeamBenya]

White Plains and La Plata are both popular alternatives to Waldorf. I personally live in Waldorf, and although some people complain about the subdivision I live in, I have great neighbors and a quiet street, so I thoroughly enjoy it, and it would be what I consider "affordable". The nice thing about established neighborhoods over new ones is that you can go to the Charles County Sheriff's department website and view crime statistics, broken down by neighborhood and get a pretty good idea of the area. Waldorf encompasses a large area, and some localities are better than others.

[Mom21]

I lived in Richmond, VA and have been some of the least desirable areas and felt safer than in Waldorf.

I grew up in Richmond, VA, my family still lives there, and I can tell you emphatically that there is NO NEIGHBORHOOD considered "least desirable" in Richmond that can be compared to Waldorf. When you're talking "least desirable" in Richmond, you are talking murders, and good deal more than the 2 or 3 that ALL of Charles County has had so far. When people make statements like this, that are so exaggerated, it tends to make everything else they say not credible, either. But to the original poster, you can decide for yourself.

I think TeamBenya has given a pretty accurate picture. People AND statistics say the same thing about my neighborhood, but my neighbors are great and my block is great.