Glenwood Park neighborhood (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake: best neighborhoods, rentals, houses)

[LilyWhiteRabbit]

Hello all!

I have moved to Virginia Beach from Westchester County, NY, in attempts to find an affordable duplex property. My goal is not necessarily to buy something I would want to make my forever home just yet, but somewhere I’ll be safe and secure, while paying very little on my mortgage, for a year or so, at which point I will start the process again, keeping duplex number 1, and so on.

Ive set my sights on Norfolk to begin. One of the houses I’m looking at is in Glenwood Park, and this particular house checks a lot of boxes for me. Te only thing that concerns me is that it seems (based on neighborhood scout reports) that it’s not a particularly safe neighborhood. It’s hard to tell — I’ve seen so many mixed reviews. Again, it doesn’t necessarily need to be my forever home to raise my future family in, just somewhere that can be future income producing property, where I can live comfortably for a year or two.

Do any of y’all (see, I’m becoming a Virginian already) have any input on this specific neighborhood? To further clarify, the House is on Woodview Ave.

I’d appreciate your input! Thanks.

[goofy328]

Working class neighborhood nothing special. Heavy military area, probably because it is close to the Navy Base.

If you have to be down that way I'd probably try Northside, Colonial Heights, Alden Heights, etc. At least you're closer to the beach that way. Those aren't the best neighborhoods either, but I'm not too crazy about the feel over there at Glenwood Park. I know it is cheap over that way.

For what you're paying in Glenwood Park, if it is anything close to the median in that neighborhood, as Neighborhood Scout lists it, I would rather pay that in Chesapeake or Virginia Beach, if I were purchasing, than to do so in Norfolk. A lot of times in Norfolk you can get a good deal but go one or two blocks outside of your neighborhood and you have problems, or you might hear where someone else is having problems at night when you're trying to sleep. Even in a good neighborhood stuff happens; the other day in Ghent there was a shooting in a Harris Teeter parking lot. And the people over there are paying like $500,000. But that is extremely rare and the first I've heard of anything over there and I've been here over eight years. Norfolk also has a ton of rentals because the price to purchase is so high; you would never know it casually going through but you would be surprised how many homes for rent are in this city.

That's just me. Either pay the price in Norfolk, or find something cheaper in one of the more suburban areas of this metro like everyone else does.