Strasburg residents (Shenandoah: 2015, high crime, school)

[acannedy]

Hello!

My family and I are looking to moving there in the next coming months but we would to know a little about the place. How's the crime? Are the school systems decent? Is the community friendly and accepting? I'm in an interracial relationship with children. The last thing I want to do is move to a community who's going to be more aggressively expressive and possibly abusive towards my family.

[Bigfoot424]

Regarding diversity I think you'll be happy. Not a strong diversity group but certainly enough where I think you'll be fine. I know the high school has a very good reputation but can't address the others. There is some crime but it certainly is not a high crime area. While most PD's will not make recommendations on where to live, or avoid, I'd still seek out an officer working the street. Most, me included when I was still a LEO, would gladly tell people to avoid certain areas.

[HokieFan]

My husband grew up in Strasburg. Although he hasn't lived there in a number of years, he maintains ties through friends and family.

Firstly, there is not a lot of diversity in Strasburg. It is very much majority white. According to the website I'm linking below:

"In 2015, there were 26.1 time more White residents (5,895 people) in Strasburg, VA than any other race or ethnicity. This is followed by Hispanic with 226 and Black with 194."

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
With that being said, my husband, his family, and the friends he associated with were not prejudiced against people of color. But we are talking about a small town in rural Virginia, so there are some racists that reside there. I can't say that it's blatant or that you'll face aggression, just know that it exists.

IMO, violent crime is not the problem in Strasburg. There is a drug epidemic (primarily heroin) in the northern Valley and of course, with that comes theft and burglaries and charges of possession/distribution. Sadly, three people my husband attended high school with 20-something years ago died from overdose in just the past year.

Judging by my husband's younger cousins, academic wise, the school's are fine. There was a scandal surrounding the HS football team a year or two ago, there were some firings and I think (hope) that it's probably okay now. Other than that, I can't say much about the schools because I simply don't know.

The local newspaper is the Northern Virginia Daily, so I recommend that you read that, maybe look into some of the archived editions to get a feel for the culture.

http://www.nvdaily.com/

Best of luck on your move!

[MinnBen]

I have spent a couple of weeks in the Shenandoah Valley over the past few months and cannot remember seeing a single person of color. I am sure there are some, but they seem to be few and far between.