Fredericksburg or Stafford???? Where to live? (Lake Ridge, Falls Church: crime, transfer, neighborhoods)

[purpleorchidlady0406]

Hi there
We are a family of three (my son is two). We also have two 75 pound choco labs. My husband will be transfered to the 22406 zip code for work. We are trying to decide where to live?? Any input would be very helpful. We are looking at places near stafford market place and england run area as well as the north side of fredericksburg. Is there ANY places that are a bad area that you would not want to be outside after dark or let your kids play outside in these areas. Like I said before any advice would be wonderful as we have never been to this area before and do not know anyone in this area. Thanks!
Any other areas where we may want to look please feel free to let me know.

[JBennett]

I've only lived around here for a year, so other people on this forum will probably be a lot more helpful. I live a few minutes away from Stafford market place and i can say i have never had a problem not feeling safe. My fiance and i like to drive around the different neighborhoods at night and we've never run into anything that would make me feel at all uncomfortable. There seems to be a lot of young families around here as i see kids out playing and younger couples out walking their dogs all the time. I've only been to Fredericksburg at night a few times and never had any problems, but i know it's a bigger area so you'll probably have more crime there. Fredericksburg also seems to have more rundown "ghetto" neighborhoods than Stafford, but again that's just my opinion. The only thing that i personally think is better about Fredericksburg than Stafford is that there's a ton more to do. Stafford is definitely more of a commuter town with the basic stuff like Walmart, Target, tons of fast food chains, and a bunch of grocery stores. Fredericksburg has a really interesting downtown area with lots of unique little shops and way more to do. If i personally had to chose between the two i'd probably stay in Stafford since it's easy enough to go down to Fredericksburg for something to do during the day, but it's also easier to go up to DC.

[80sbabe]

I grew up in Stafford (22554 and 22556) and still have family there. If your husbands job will be in Falls Church (22406) please do yourself a favor and DO NOT move to Fredericksburg. It's already going to be a tough commute for him if he works traditional hours so no need to make it worse by moving farther. Stafford is a great area - lots of families, military, shopping, good schools. Go for it!

[stpickrell]

If he is working in Falls Church then I'd even be looking at Lake Ridge/central PWC if at all possible. Fredericksburg/Stafford is great if you're working along the I-395 corridor not so much otherwise.

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by 80sbabe

I grew up in Stafford (22554 and 22556) and still have family there. If your husbands job will be in Falls Church (22406) please do yourself a favor and DO NOT move to Fredericksburg. It's already going to be a tough commute for him if he works traditional hours so no need to make it worse by moving farther. Stafford is a great area - lots of families, military, shopping, good schools. Go for it!

22406 is Fredericksburg.

Falls Church is 22046.

[purpleorchidlady0406]

Thank you all kindly for the great information! Anymore information is gladly accepted :-)