Advice on Triangle VA (Richmond, Forest: new home, neighborhoods, to buy)

[Mrssherrymarie]

Hi. My family and I are a military family who relocated from the Milwaukee area. We've been here a year and decided to do a new build with Richmond American Homes in Stonewall Manor. Our kids go to St. Francis and my husband is based at Quantico. We just found out that the assigned high school is changing from Forest Park to Potomac High. We already seemed to digest that Triangle wasn't the greatest area but the neighborhood we are moving to along with similar surrounding neighborhoods were really nice. We liked how you could get a larger yard and the nicer high school. But now we're uncertain and my husband is almost ready to walk away from this deal because of the change. We are supposed to close in the next 2 weeks! Are we overreacting here or is this a bad deal? We're afraid the property value will cave! Thanks

[Bigfoot424]

The Triangle are for years was called "The Pit" by officers of the PWCPD because of the run down neighborhoods and people who lived there. But several years ago a big change started and the area saw some great improvements with new home construction. When I retired from the department in 09 I was impressed with how nice things had become in the area. You still have the old run down areas but they are shrinking. Potomac High has not been the greatest school but since I retired things could have improved. But like any school if the kid is well grounded then they will do well no matter where they are. The school is certainly not a ghetto school but it had it's fair share of problems with some of the problem neighborhoods they serve. The staff seemed to be as good as any other school in PWC.

[Mrssherrymarie]

Thank you!

[oneasterisk]

I graduated Potomac High in 1998 and while the school itself wasn't ghetto, a lot of the students were. It's not surprising when you're pulling in students from Georgetown Village, Village Gate, Port of Dumfries and Williamstown. So long as you keep your nose clean, you'll do fine at Potomac. They really did have some great teachers there, especially the math teachers.

It's odd that Potomac is again being zoned for Triangle community. When I lived in Triangle, Forest Park wasn't built yet so it made sense to go to Potomac.

[jhlovesbh444]

Thinking of purchasing a home in Triangle. The house we are looking at is surrounded by good and a little sketchy areas. It's a home for my Mom, husband and myself and we lead quiet lives. Any suggestions for us? We want to buy something, where as that was not possible in CA, from where we just moved. We want to feel safe and not become prisoners in our own home.
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have for us.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by jhlovesbh444

Thinking of purchasing a home in Triangle. The house we are looking at is surrounded by good and a little sketchy areas. It's a home for my Mom, husband and myself and we lead quiet lives. Any suggestions for us? We want to buy something, where as that was not possible in CA, from where we just moved. We want to feel safe and not become prisoners in our own home.
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have for us.

It might work better if you say where this house is located. Triangle is a good size area.

[Armyfamily2012]

My wife and I moved here in 2008 and have fallen in love with triangle. We moved here from Annapolis which was a major change for us. Like everywhere it has some areas that needs improvement but overall it is lovely. We had one kid when we moved and now we have three with the first one starting first grade at triangle elementary. Cramer ridge and Potomac crest are absolutely lovely. As well as the other neighborhoods around the school. With quantico marine base and all it's ammenities right down the street, st Francis church and school half a mile away, as well as two nice cities; stafford and woodbridge 15 minutes away. Richmond and DC are no more then an hour away and VA BEach is a few hiurs away. And even FT Belvoir (where I work) is a simple commute of 26 miles.

All the residents have been amazing so far and the children all play together outside whenever the weather is nice. There are no less then 3 national parks within five minutes of the neighborhoods and playgrounds scattered throughout.

I could go on and on. But I beleive the city is growing, home prices will continue to rise and any one who moves here will be very very happy

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by Armyfamily2012

My wife and I moved here in 2008 and have fallen in love with triangle. We moved here from Annapolis which was a major change for us. Like everywhere it has some areas that needs improvement but overall it is lovely. We had one kid when we moved and now we have three with the first one starting first grade at triangle elementary. Cramer ridge and Potomac crest are absolutely lovely. As well as the other neighborhoods around the school. With quantico marine base and all it's ammenities right down the street, st Francis church and school half a mile away, as well as two nice cities; stafford and woodbridge 15 minutes away. Richmond and DC are no more then an hour away and VA BEach is a few hiurs away. And even FT Belvoir (where I work) is a simple commute of 26 miles.

All the residents have been amazing so far and the children all play together outside whenever the weather is nice. There are no less then 3 national parks within five minutes of the neighborhoods and playgrounds scattered throughout.

I could go on and on. But I beleive the city is growing, home prices will continue to rise and any one who moves here will be very very happy

You moved in about the same time as the major changes started taking place in and around Triangle. That was such a hopping place for years for the PD. There were some quiet older neighborhoods but once the newer neighborhoods started going in you started seeing some big changes. Seeing K9, SWAT and patrol officers in Triangle was often a regular occurrence for many years.