Worst Cities/Areas of VA (Norfolk, Chesapeake: fit in, apartment, crime rate)

[Anders15]

Originally Posted by Artsywoman

The worst place in Virginia is Richmond. It gets even worse the further south you go, but Richmond wins hands down.

Exactly.

[PrinceTheo]

Originally Posted by damian

Because the thread itself is very vague and open to interpretation and ones individual percpective. I for one live in NN, and yes there are many nice parts to the city in addition to "bad areas". To classify one whole area or region as the "worst" is vague.

Agree.

[wmbggolfhomes]

Richmond is huge. I had clients who were looking for a large home (4000 sq ft) a couple of years ago... when the market was good. We spent 14 days circling Richmond before they found the right home. This was when the market was strong and inventories were very low. If you are looking for a smaller, less expensive home (like most people), the options seem unlimited. If you have children, then you look at the best school districts, and that weeds out some of the choices, but it's still a big job to find the right home. Fortunately, it's a awesome time to buy!
Richmond IS a good place to live. I think you will find more people who like Richmond than not. You just have to do your homework when buying there.

[Anders15]

Originally Posted by wmbggolfhomes

Richmond is huge. I had clients who were looking for a large home (4000 sq ft) a couple of years ago... when the market was good. We spent 14 days circling Richmond before they found the right home. This was when the market was strong and inventories were very low. If you are looking for a smaller, less expensive home (like most people), the options seem unlimited. If you have children, then you look at the best school districts, and that weeds out some of the choices, but it's still a big job to find the right home. Fortunately, it's a awesome time to buy!
Richmond IS a good place to live. I think you will find more people who like Richmond than not. You just have to do your homework when buying there.

do YOU live here?

[richmondpics]

I do live in Richmond. Damian's post above hits the nail on the head with regards to this thread. And speaking of living there, the post you agreed with above was from a person who admits they haven't lived in the Richmond area for more than 15 years...

[wmbggolfhomes]

It's been a while since I lived there, but my mom and sister live in Varina, my cousins lives in Mechanicsville, and I still have lots of friends in the Richmond area. In general, I think Varina has gotten worse, but there are still some very nice places in Varina and it's really an easy commute to town. Mechanicsville has grown like crazy. None of my relatives have ever had an issue with crime or a safety concern.
As we discussed before, the best schools are probably in the west end and the western part of Chesterfield. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the home prices are also highest in these areas. It's my understanding that Hanover schools are much improved, and the property values are significantly better there.

[Sour.Amaretto]

I personally wouldnt live anywhere in hampton roads except for the oceanfront area of VA Beach (down to about the Kings grant area). Never had a good exp. with Hampton, NN's or P-town(Portsmouth) Norfolk can so-so depending on the area. VA Beach is ok as long as your not in Green Run or Scarbourough(sp) and Chespeake isnt bad as long as you stay out of the south norfolk side.

[damian]

Originally Posted by Sour.Amaretto

I personally wouldnt live anywhere in hampton roads except for the oceanfront area of VA Beach (down to about the Kings grant area). Never had a good exp. with Hampton, NN's or P-town(Portsmouth) Norfolk can so-so depending on the area. VA Beach is ok as long as your not in Green Run or Scarbourough(sp) and Chespeake isnt bad as long as you stay out of the south norfolk side.

Well, both Hampton and NN have very nice neighbordhoods, especially waterfront.

[sweetpotater58]

Big towns/Cities I rate the worse are some sections of Hampton, Richmond, RT 1 area of Fairfax and Prince William Counties.
Smaller locales-any of the predominant college student apartment/townhouse complexes in Blacksburg(Va. Tech), Parrot(a very redneck hamlet on the New River), Tazewell-just sad area, and some sections of Greene County.

[01va571]

Richmond is bad, but has gotten allot better. The jackson ward area, Church Hill, Northside, and Southside all have some bad area's. Crime 360 on A&E or Crime and Investigation network have episodes almost all in Richmond. But from going from the 5th highest crime rate in the nation in 2005 to the 49th in 2008, I would say things are getting allot better. But here area some of Richmonds run down area's.



Im sorry if I offend anyone from the area but Petersburg is ugly as s***! Petersburg also had the highest crime rate in the state of Virginia since the 80's. You dont hear about it because the city doesnt meet up to a population of 75,000. The city is typically one of ther poorer area's of Virginia. Here are pics.



The NW area of Roanoke has also gained quite a rep. bieng the nasty part of town. The southwest section in general has had a total increase in violent crimes for 20 years while the rest of the state has been steadily declining.

Obviously some of the Hampton Roads are bad, but thats no secret. Ive people from central Florida who have never considered the VA Beach area bad but everyone has the right to an opinion.

CULMORE in Seven Corners is horrible. I would never consider living there, NEVER. You can just glance at it and tell Illegal immigration took over. The area has been a breeding ground for spanish gangs. Its a large area that consists of low income apartments and such surrounded by small houses and such. There are very few area's I wouldnt consider going around and walking around in Northern Virginia, but Culmore is one of them.

1 more neighborhood or area for Northern Virginia would be the Georgetown South neighborhood in Manassas. There is a MAJOR illegal immigration/ Gang problem in Manassas in general but seems to be consintrated in and around Georgetown South and a couple other neighborhoods I cant recall the names, one of which is a trailer park area.

A couple area's in Alexandria off rt1 are not that great either.