Safe neighborhood? (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton: to rent, sex offender, low crime)

[Florida_Teacher]

My husband and I are up from Florida this week house hunting.... We've looked at several houses (to rent) in both VB and Chesapeake.
There is a house we're interested in.... It's in Chesapeake, near Indian River Road. The street is Laurel Avenue (zip code: 23325). My husband and I are both in our mid-twenties, and about to have our first baby this spring. Hubby's in the Navy, so there will be times that I'm left alone with the baby for weeks or longer. The area seems decent, but who are we to say? Any advice?

I have to say, everyone we've met so far in the Hampton Roads area has been SO friendly!

[ellar]

I think that area is okay, particularly if you are farther into the neighborhood and away from Indian River Road. There were two crimes near there in the last year that I know of that made some headlines--one was a robbery at a pizza place on Indian River and one was a home invasion, a little farther east from the area you are talking about. I think in the home invasion case the lady may have left the back door unlocked and her house was one block in from Indian River. That one did scare me, but I know several people who live in that area who haven't had any problems. If you look at the sex offender list for that region, there are few around Indian River, but as you get into the neighborhoods, they dwindle. That is one indicator of crime trends we used when looking at houses. You also can look at the city websites. I believe both Chesapeake and Virginia Beach (the city border is in this area) have crime information online.

[Erma]

It is on the boarder of Ches. and VaBch. Right after you cross Providence Road on Military Hwy, it says "welcome to Chesapeake." It's not a bad area. Once you get on the West side of Indian River, near the closed Ford Plant, it gets shady. We looked at a home off the east side of military off Indian River between Military and Providence. Nice area, but the house needed tons of work.

[haydensmomma7407]

I found the crime logs to be EXTREMELY helpful! It breaks it down by neighborhood, all of VA Beach. In fact, I printed it (all 131 pages! for Nov-Dec30) and am taking it with me when we go down to visit on Jan 6th.

[ladycthomas]

do you have a link for those crime logs. i will be in the area on jan 19,2009. it sure would be helpful.

[haydensmomma7407]

I sure do
https://wwws.vbgov.com/ePRO/MainUI/C...rimesMain.aspx
I chose a month to search, all crimes, then by neighborhood

[homesandfood]

I think most would think this area is fairly decent. It's actually one of my favorite parts of town to find affordable homes in good neighborhoods. Good luck.

[StayTuned]

wow thank you so much for the crime log search... My hubby is heading to the VA beach area on Tuesday.. this will be a BIG help... thank you thank you!!!!

[Chesapeake VA]

What base is he going to be stationed at?

[wicked_blond04]

I think you should be ok in that area of chesapeake.. anywhere in that area that is away from major roads and off the beaten path. of course there is crime everywhere, being so close to the city. we live in the heart of va beach and have only heard of a few robberies etc nearby, but never in our apt complex, and we have never personally witnessed anything or had any problems. As a navy fiance, I am home alone frequently and have never been afraid.
Looking at the neighborhood crime reports help out a lot. usually subdivisions have their own websites, if you google them, and it will have crime statistics for each neighborhood in the area. I think that for low crime, areas of Suffolk would be the best bet. good luck to all of you!