High Schools in Virginia Beach (for sale, homes, safe area)

[stacylee926]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Also, we saw a new condo complex by Dragas, Southmoor, on Wesleyan directly opposite Ridgely Manor - do you have an opinion about this complex or general area of Wesleyan? Is it just too close to Newtown to be safe/desirable? Again, thank you so much!

That is funny - on my PM to you I wrote about checking out Dragas! Their homes have been selling steadily during this bad economy because they are more affordable.

[xGrendelx]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Also, we saw a new condo complex by Dragas, Southmoor, on Wesleyan directly opposite Ridgely Manor - do you have an opinion about this complex or general area of Wesleyan? Is it just too close to Newtown to be safe/desirable? Again, thank you so much!

I don't know that Southmoor, despite it's close proximity to the other, less desirable neighborhoods, would have much of a problem. Ridgely Manor looks like upscale townhomes (from the road - I've never been up close), and Cypress Point is right there and that's pretty nice too. Wesleyan/Haygood has some nice places. I believe Wesleyan Chase is a decent neighborhood too.

From my experience, (which might be dated as I graduated Bayside a few years ago and haven't spent much time in these neighborhoods since), the places like Lake Edwards, Bayside Arms, Campus East, Northridge and so on seem to keep the crime and whatnot pretty well within their neighborhood's boundaries. It might spill over in common territories, like Bayside High School, but I can't see the thugs from Lake Edwards heading over to Southmoor just to steal some cars or something. The only time something like that happened was when the Lake Edwards/Campus East gang was fighting the Bayside Arms/Northridge/Southgate Rd (from Aragona) gang, but even then those who weren't a part of those groups rarely got involved.

My view, basically, is the neighborhoods West of Newtown are generally bad; neighborhoods surrounding Lake Smith are generally good; Aragona is livable, but not exactly desirable.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by xGrendelx

From my experience, (which might be dated as I graduated Bayside a few years ago and haven't spent much time in these neighborhoods since), the places like Lake Edwards, Bayside Arms, Campus East, Northridge and so on seem to keep the crime and whatnot pretty well within their neighborhood's boundaries.

This is actually a really accurate assessment. My neighborhood is attached to Lake Edward, and from what I can tell, very little crime spills over outside of the gang bangers going through on their way to Va Beach Blvd, or driving their passenger sedans on huge rims through. The gun shots and sirens mostly stay over there.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by xGrendelx

I don't know that Southmoor, despite it's close proximity to the other, less desirable neighborhoods, would have much of a problem. Ridgely Manor looks like upscale townhomes (from the road - I've never been up close), and Cypress Point is right there and that's pretty nice too. Wesleyan/Haygood has some nice places. I believe Wesleyan Chase is a decent neighborhood too.

From my experience, (which might be dated as I graduated Bayside a few years ago and haven't spent much time in these neighborhoods since), the places like Lake Edwards, Bayside Arms, Campus East, Northridge and so on seem to keep the crime and whatnot pretty well within their neighborhood's boundaries. It might spill over in common territories, like Bayside High School, but I can't see the thugs from Lake Edwards heading over to Southmoor just to steal some cars or something. The only time something like that happened was when the Lake Edwards/Campus East gang was fighting the Bayside Arms/Northridge/Southgate Rd (from Aragona) gang, but even then those who weren't a part of those groups rarely got involved.

My view, basically, is the neighborhoods West of Newtown are generally bad; neighborhoods surrounding Lake Smith are generally good; Aragona is livable, but not exactly desirable.

You guys are so helpful - thanks again!! So Southmoor itself might be okay, but still close to some no so okay areas? Would I have to worry if I wanted to walk to the Food Lion a few blocks away, toward Newtown??

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by stacylee926

That is funny - on my PM to you I wrote about checking out Dragas! Their homes have been selling steadily during this bad economy because they are more affordable.

Yes, I was laughing about that too! Not sure I want a condo AT ALL, but these were nice and in a better price range. Thanks for the dm

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by xGrendelx

I don't know that Southmoor, despite it's close proximity to the other, less desirable neighborhoods, would have much of a problem. Ridgely Manor looks like upscale townhomes (from the road - I've never been up close), and Cypress Point is right there and that's pretty nice too. Wesleyan/Haygood has some nice places. I believe Wesleyan Chase is a decent neighborhood too.

From my experience, (which might be dated as I graduated Bayside a few years ago and haven't spent much time in these neighborhoods since), the places like Lake Edwards, Bayside Arms, Campus East, Northridge and so on seem to keep the crime and whatnot pretty well within their neighborhood's boundaries. It might spill over in common territories, like Bayside High School, but I can't see the thugs from Lake Edwards heading over to Southmoor just to steal some cars or something. The only time something like that happened was when the Lake Edwards/Campus East gang was fighting the Bayside Arms/Northridge/Southgate Rd (from Aragona) gang, but even then those who weren't a part of those groups rarely got involved.

My view, basically, is the neighborhoods West of Newtown are generally bad; neighborhoods surrounding Lake Smith are generally good; Aragona is livable, but not exactly desirable.

So...how big is the gang problem in VB, and Hampton Roads in general?? How many gang members do you think there actually are?

[xGrendelx]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

You guys are so helpful - thanks again!! So Southmoor itself might be okay, but still close to some no so okay areas?

Exactly. You'll find this is the case in many areas of Hampton Roads.

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

Would I have to worry if I wanted to walk to the Food Lion a few blocks away, toward Newtown??

I don't want to say "You'll be fine!", you do it, and something happen to you, but if it were during the day I'd say you're good, but night might be a different story.

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

So...how big is the gang problem in VB, and Hampton Roads in general?? How many gang members do you think there actually are?

I'm not an expert on gangs by any means, so I can't give a credible answer. However, my experience with this area's gangs is basically what I said earlier: they tend to stick to their neighborhoods and commonly used areas. Gangs in VB aren't as dominate like they are in other areas of Hampton Roads. Norfolk has more of an issue with gangs than VB does and the effects of gang culture can be seen much easier there. I don't know about the other cities.

[citydweller]

Gangs are not a problem for most of VB. The city is one of the safest of it's size in the US. Good luck on finding a place!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by citydweller

Gangs are not a problem for most of VB. The city is one of the safest of it's size in the US. Good luck on finding a place!

Thanks citydweller - it does seem by stats to be safer than Charlotte, and I feel pretty safe in Charlotte

[rtandc]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

So...how big is the gang problem in VB, and Hampton Roads in general?? How many gang members do you think there actually are?

Virginia beach actually has a fast growing gang problem but they try their best to hide it from the media but they have one of the largest MS-13 followings on the east coast but again not as bad as northern Va. MS-13 is one of the biggest gang issues the city has at both Salem and Landstown high schools and was one of the biggest problems at the ocean front last summer and they are expecting the same this summer.....Va Bch PD was behind the ball investigating gang issues and are now just starting to understand the problems the city will be facing in the future

It has been reported that their are 116 known "active" gangs in Hampton Roads with about 6000 members...Now those are the stats the different cities release to the media so you can pretty much double those numbers to get closer to the truth. Norfolk is the only city that really does allot of media press involving gangs and they state they have 67 active gangs with about 1500-2000 members but in talking with several gang investigators at various meeting they again agree that you can about double that number if the truth was told..but they get away with the smaller numbers by using the word "active"...so I guess that pretty much means if a gang has not commited a gang related crime within the past few days they are no longer active ....LOL

FBI: 116 known gangs in Hampton Roads

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/poli...active-norfolk

http://www.altereddimensions.net/crime/MS13Gang.aspx