Living in Woodbridge?? (Dale City, Lake Ridge, Fairfax: real estate, apartment complexes, rentals)

[michelef1l]

Thinking about moving to Woodbridge, how is the area? Is it safe, how is crime?

[Nemesis15]

Area is safe. Alot of normal stuff to do and there's an outlet mall nearby. Only petty crimes for the most part and decent schools.

[tgbwc]

You might need to be more specific about which part of Woodbridge.

[Mike From NIU]

As tgbwc implied, "Woodbridge" covers a large area. Lake Ridge (most of 22192) is part of "Woodbridge", but often people think of 22191 when discussing Woodbridge.

There are also some other threads in the forum that discuss Woodbridge/Lake Ridge/Dale City (22193). They might have some answers for you, too.

In general though, people like Lake Ridge and some of the newer parts of 22191. Older parts of 22191 (on US 1) are frowned upon. I know people who live in the "bad" areas, but don't know that there's a significant difference in safety, only income and possibly immigration status of neighbors.

[stockdale.35]

Originally Posted by michelef1l

Thinking about moving to Woodbridge, how is the area? Is it safe, how is crime?

Another P-Willyite

[michelef1l]

Originally Posted by Mike From NIU

As tgbwc implied, "Woodbridge" covers a large area. Lake Ridge (most of 22192) is part of "Woodbridge", but often people think of 22191 when discussing Woodbridge.

There are also some other threads in the forum that discuss Woodbridge/Lake Ridge/Dale City (22193). They might have some answers for you, too.

In general though, people like Lake Ridge and some of the newer parts of 22191. Older parts of 22191 (on US 1) are frowned upon. I know people who live in the "bad" areas, but don't know that there's a significant difference in safety, only income and possibly immigration status of neighbors.

I actually don't know anything about Woodbridge, how bad are the "bad parts?" Right now I live in Philadelphia (originally from VA, moved out here, hate it) and I don't think it can get much worse than here. Even in the richest areas, crime is horrible, homeless people everywhere harassing and begging, places getting robbed 3 streets over.

What parts of Woodbridge should be avoided? I was looking at apt prices and they seemed so much more reasonable than anywhere else in Northern VA so I was just worried about the area.

[stockdale.35]

Originally Posted by michelef1l

I actually don't know anything about Woodbridge, how bad are the "bad parts?" Right now I live in Philadelphia (originally from VA, moved out here, hate it) and I don't think it can get much worse than here. Even in the richest areas, crime is horrible, homeless people everywhere harassing and begging, places getting robbed 3 streets over.

What parts of Woodbridge should be avoided? I was looking at apt prices and they seemed so much more reasonable than anywhere else in Northern VA so I was just worried about the area.

Woodbridge is not a bad area at all, the reason rent is so low is because its 18 miles south of DC. No one wants to commute an 1 1/2 hours into work(on a good day).

[Mike From NIU]

Originally Posted by michelef1l

I actually don't know anything about Woodbridge, how bad are the "bad parts?" Right now I live in Philadelphia (originally from VA, moved out here, hate it) and I don't think it can get much worse than here. Even in the richest areas, crime is horrible, homeless people everywhere harassing and begging, places getting robbed 3 streets over.

What parts of Woodbridge should be avoided? I was looking at apt prices and they seemed so much more reasonable than anywhere else in Northern VA so I was just worried about the area.

Despite what some people here think, no place in Woodbridge compares to inner city Philly or Chicago (I lived in the city of Chicago for 9 years). There are some townhome/apartment complexes off of Route 1 that have wannabe thug teenagers and twenty-somethings in them. There are also some nicer communities off of Route 1 and on Prince William Parkway that are well maintained. I don't think Prince William has many homeless, but it does have day laborers who wait for work on a couple of corners on/off of Route 1. Crime rates in Woodbridge are largely like schools in Woodbridge: a slight step down from Fairfax County, but still better than the majority of the country.

When we moved, we got in touch with a real estate agent who showed us around a number of rentals (townhome, condo, and complex). She was great, and really knew the area. If you can, this could be very helpful for you, too.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by stockdale.35

Woodbridge is not a bad area at all, the reason rent is so low is because its 18 miles south of DC. No one wants to commute an 1 1/2 hours into work(on a good day).

Where would you be working? If you don't work in DC that can help a lot.

[michelef1l]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

Where would you be working? If you don't work in DC that can help a lot.

Haha that's a good question. And one I don't know the answer to yet. I'm trying to move out of Philadelphia, and looking around at different areas that are less city-like but might have a decent graphic design job market. The job market out here is terrible, and on top of that I just hate it here. I don't work enough hours and I have two jobs (on graphic design, one retail) and I still am just getting by.