La Plata, MD v. King George, VA (Potomac, Waldorf: high crime, homes)

[LaRiBiAi]

Hi, I'm from NJ and my husband will be relocating his job to Indian Head. I'm looking for a safe town (my definition is little to no crime - definitely no violent crime). We currently live in a very safe suburb right now, and I want a good place to raise my kids. Are there any safe towns within an hour from Indian Head with good schools? I've been looking at La Plata, Newburg, Bel Alton, Leonardtown, Mechanicsville, Hughesville, and Chsrlotte Hall in MD. In Northern Virginia, it seems that Dahlgren and King George are the only towns within that commute time. I'm hearing pretty bad things about Maryland (even La Plata) and its crime. I haven't heard anything about the Virginia side of the 301 bridge. Can you please help me get a grasp on what these towns are like? Any other towns with homes in the mid 200k - mid 300k range that are not too bad? I will not consider PG County or Waldorf. Thanks in advance for any help.

[North Beach Person]

The commute over the Potomac on the Harry Nice bridge would be a killer. Outside Waldorf, and La Plata (which shouldn't even be mentioned) Charles County overall is a typical suburban to rural area where crime is not much of a problem. And I do mean rural for much of it.




I will tell you that Southern Maryland and the VA side of the Potomac are both having issues with opioid use and the ancillary crime which comes with that.


Charles County and St. Mary's County schools are both more or less in the middle of the pack for school ratings. Keep in mind that Maryland and Virginia have County based school systems so you could get a good school or a bad one depending on your attendance area.


Truly Indian Head is far enough away from a lot of things that living in Charles County, and maybe far northern St. Mary's, would be your most logical option.


This is the bridge he'd have to cross, twice a day, I mentioned. It's a toll facility:

[slowlane3]

I've lived in Charles County for 9 years. The County schools are average performing, with Indian Head and Nanjemoy schools being below average...Waldorf in the middle range...and LaPlata schools above average. The County, in addition to 8 public high schools, also has several parochial schools, with 3 of them continuing through high school. We also have a large community-college (located in the middle of the county) "College of Southern Maryland". The Charles County Fair in September, is a charming nostalgic event, as well as a source of information about community resources, politics, and issues.

LaPlata has the county Court house, a growing hospital, an excellent community little-theater, and some measure of charm, festivals parades, etc. Many of the downtown buildings look new, as they were rebuilt after the 2002 tornado.

Waldorf is a bigger (though un-incorporated) city with a 2-level shopping Mall, other substantial shopping facilities, a minor baseball team, an indoor ice-rink, and a gigantic planned community called "Saint Charles" consisting of several communities, some of them built around man-made lakes with hiking paths. Because Waldorf has no industry to speak of, a great many residents commute toward the D.C. area, especially to Joint Base Andrews.

The commuter traffic in and out of Washington DC is just horrendous. Try not to ever work and commute into D.C. (or suburban Virginia) from Charles County.

While Maryland has quite high personal taxes, they are lower than New Jersey's. Virginia's taxes are slightly lower than Maryland's overall (although VA has a very high annual vehicle tax, and a partial grocery tax).

Dahlgren (King George), VA, although still rural, recently got a Y.M.C.A. and a Super WalMart. The 1.7-mile Harry Nice Bridge there is 75 years old, has very narrow lanes, with no shoulder, it has much tractor-trailer traffic, and makes many drivers nervous.

[LaRiBiAi]

Thank you so much for that. Vehicle tax? Interesting. Since you have lived there for 9 years, could you also tell me which areas of La Plata are most desirable/safe? Areas to stay away from? How are Bel Alton, Newburg, Nanjemoy, and Pomfret? We have been over that bridge before. He felt OK driving over it. It was pretty intense though. Do you know the price of the toll also?

[LaRiBiAi]

North Beach Person, thank you for the info. A few questions for you. I'm unsure why La Plata shouldn't even be mentioned. What do you mean? Also, how does a county based school district work? You don't attend the closest schools to your home within the town? My last question is if you know anything about the quality of schools in King George.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by LaRiBiAi

North Beach Person, thank you for the info. A few questions for you. I'm unsure why La Plata shouldn't even be mentioned. What do you mean? Also, how does a county based school district work? You don't attend the closest schools to your home within the town? My last question is if you know anything about the quality of schools in King George.

Most of the crime (other than normal stuff which happens wherever people are, like fights and whatnot) is in Waldorf. La Plata is pretty quiet.


Schools:


Towns don't have schools per se like in New Jersey where every wide spot in the road is a school district (I'm from PA and it's the same there). So there isn't an Indian Head School District, for example. There might be a local elementary school there. The middle school will draw from several elementaries and the high schools draw from several middle schools. They're all Charles County Public Schools.


There will be attendance areas, say an elementary in Indian Head, where your kids will go if you live there. Then for middle they'll go up the road, same for high school.


So when you move you have to pay attention to the attendance areas for schools. As noted, Charles County schools are in the middle of the pack for Maryland but there are some very good schools in the County and some which aren't.


Your school taxes in Maryland are rolled into your overall County tax bill, school boards here don't have the power to tax so you don't get a separate school tax bill.


I have no insight on King George schools.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by LaRiBiAi

Hi, I'm from NJ and my husband will be relocating his job to Indian Head. I'm looking for a safe town (my definition is little to no crime - definitely no violent crime). We currently live in a very safe suburb right now, and I want a good place to raise my kids. Are there any safe towns within an hour from Indian Head with good schools? I've been looking at La Plata, Newburg, Bel Alton, Leonardtown, Mechanicsville, Hughesville, and Chsrlotte Hall in MD. In Northern Virginia, it seems that Dahlgren and King George are the only towns within that commute time. I'm hearing pretty bad things about Maryland (even La Plata) and its crime. I haven't heard anything about the Virginia side of the 301 bridge. Can you please help me get a grasp on what these towns are like? Any other towns with homes in the mid 200k - mid 300k range that are not too bad? I will not consider PG County or Waldorf. Thanks in advance for any help.

I live in Waldorf and used to work in La Plata. I don't blame you for skipping Waldorf but La Plata is pretty nice. I don't see a problem living there.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

The commute over the Potomac on the Harry Nice bridge would be a killer. Outside Waldorf, and La Plata (which shouldn't even be mentioned) Charles County overall is a typical suburban to rural area where crime is not much of a problem. And I do mean rural for much of it.




I will tell you that Southern Maryland and the VA side of the Potomac are both having issues with opioid use and the ancillary crime which comes with that.


Charles County and St. Mary's County schools are both more or less in the middle of the pack for school ratings. Keep in mind that Maryland and Virginia have County based school systems so you could get a good school or a bad one depending on your attendance area.


Truly Indian Head is far enough away from a lot of things that living in Charles County, and maybe far northern St. Mary's, would be your most logical option.


This is the bridge he'd have to cross, twice a day, I mentioned. It's a toll facility:

This is true. The hospital in La Plata has seen a spike in overdoses and problematic patents high on drugs.

[LaRiBiAi]

One thing I'm not understanding is how there is no crime in La Plata according to people you talk to when online data shows a very high crime index for the town. In fact it looks worse on paper than our least desireable, most crime-ridden towns. I am seriously concerned about crime in La Plata. It looks like there is a lot of property crime.

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by LaRiBiAi

One thing I'm not understanding is how there is no crime in La Plata according to people you talk to when online data shows a very high crime index for the town. In fact it looks worse on paper than our least desireable, most crime-ridden towns. I am seriously concerned about crime in La Plata. It looks like there is a lot of property crime.

I'm not at all familiar with La Plata, but it looks to just be petty theft/shoplifting which obviously happens in any commercial area. I don't see anything that's actually interesting except one report of indecent exposure about 3 weeks back (which might have just been someone urinating behind a building or something). I'm quite sure you'll be fine.