Looking for some info on Triangle VA (Alexandria, Dale City: days on market, for sale)
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I hate to keep beating this drum but my opinion is based on my experience policing that exact area. Williamstown and just about all other apartments on graham park road are REALLY bad. We purchased crack many times on Graham Court and recovered many automatic weapons from there just last year. Williamstown is still a mess as well. The reputation is justified. This forum is made to let people know the TRUTH about areas. To the original poster- Go to Graham Park Road (anwhere will do) on a nice night and see what's going on. Prostitution and drugs occur on a nightly basis. If people don't see this, i guess they drive down this area with blinders on. There is some nice new homes in the area, but you have to go through these areas i mentioned to and from. After you go to Prince William Estates go to Williamstown or Graham Court and walk around at night. The community is only as good as it's surroundings. Beyond that your kids will have to go to school with the other kids. Good luck...
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Originally Posted by koko61
Dorothy1960 is exactly right. Some of the comments here are nothing more than opinions based primarily on rumor, speculation and reputation. However, if people would refrain from posting such negative opinions and comment only on first-hand experience, the reputation of this area wouldn't be nearly as bad as they seem to think....and definitely not any worse than any other area in Northern Virginia.
I have lived in a well-established, older neighborhood in Dumfries (directly across Route 1 from Williamstown/Graham Park Road) for more than 10 years and I love it here, as does every person that I have spoken with in this neighborhood. Everyone that I've met is very friendly. If I'm outside and someone is out for a walk, they usually stop to chat or at least say hello, whether they know me or not. I usually get a wave from almost every car that passes, again whether they know me or not. There have been a few deaths of elderly people since I've been here, and practically everyone in the neighborhood attended their funerals....yet again, whether they knew them or not. You don't have to be on a first-name basis with someone to express your condolences....you can simply be caring neighbor....and that is what makes up the majority of my neigborhood.
My next-door neighbor is a local pastor. He and his family have no pets and yet, whenever he is outside, he always has treats in his pocket to share with my dog over the fence. I know him only as a neighbor and have never even set foot inside his home, but still I know that he would be there in a heartbeat if I or my family ever needed anything. Not because he is a pastor, but because he is my neighbor. That's what a quality neighborhood is all about and there are many neighborhoods like mine throughout Dumfries and Triangle.
So whatever you do, please do not base your decision on the opinions of people who do not live here. Go out into these neighborhoods and see for yourself. Take a walk through Prince William Estates some afternoon when many people are out working in their yards or spending time with their families, and stop and chat with some of them. Drive through at night with your windows down and pay attention to the peace and quiet. I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
I am the original poster of this message. I stopped coming on the forum for awhile because of all the different opinions that I was getting about various areas. I guess I will have to visit for myself. I know if I see people hanging out on the corners all times of the day and night, I know the area is not for me. My husband and I work hard to get the things we have in life and when I come home I want to come home to a nice, quiet, and clean neighborhood. I don't want to have to go thru the ghetto to get to my nice and lovely development. I currently live in Fayetteville, NC and when you drive through Fayetteville you know what side of town you want to live on just by the way it looks.
I am the original poster of this message. I stopped coming on the forum for awhile because of all the different opinions that I was getting about various areas. I guess I will have to visit for myself. I know if I see people hanging out on the corners all times of the day and night, I know the area is not for me. My husband and I work hard to get the things we have in life and when I come home I want to come home to a nice, quiet, and clean neighborhood. I don't want to have to go thru the ghetto to get to my nice and lovely development. I currently live in Fayetteville, NC and when you drive through Fayetteville you know what side of town you want to live on just by the way it looks.
You'll find it to be the same here. Like i said, i was a police officer in the Triangle for many years. Your wasting your time coming up just to visit Triangle, but i guess you have to see for yourself. I can give you many police reports that i personally wrote that show our narcotics task force buying drugs, weapons etc. in many parts of Triangle. And believe me, Triangle is SMALL. PM me if you want nice areas in Prince William to live in.
Dorothy1960 is exactly right. Some of the comments here are nothing more than opinions based primarily on rumor, speculation and reputation. However, if people would refrain from posting such negative opinions and comment only on first-hand experience, the reputation of this area wouldn't be nearly as bad as they seem to think....and definitely not any worse than any other area in Northern Virginia.
I have lived in a well-established, older neighborhood in Dumfries (directly across Route 1 from Williamstown/Graham Park Road) for more than 10 years and I love it here, as does every person that I have spoken with in this neighborhood.
This comment is VERY misleading. The only place across from Williamstown (aka ghetto or "cracktown" as it's been called for decades) is the Gheddy Mart (also know as the "Ghetto Mart" for good reason as well) and run down section 8 apartments. You have to go through this area to get to the one nice very small neighborhood you live in.
Another nice story about beautiful "Triangle". Thank god the PWCPD's Street Crimes Unit is on the ball. It's telling that the police have to have a "street robbery suppression" unit. Real nice area. This is from the Potomac News today-
Amario Claude Dawkins stood in the shadows of a McDonald's parking lot in Triangle likely thinking he was the only one doing the watching, police said.
By the time police say he selected his victim, though, detectives with the Prince William County Police Department's Street Crimes Unit had already been watching him for close to a half an hour and were ready to counter any criminal move he made, according to 1st Sgt. Daniel Hess, supervisor of the unit.
Dawkins, 25, of 17517 Mine Road in Dumfries, was charged with strong-arm robbery around 11:42 p.m. Tuesday after police say he demanded money and food from a Georgia man who had just pulled out of the fast food restaurant's drive-through and had parked to eat his meal.
The unit set up surveillance in the area of Joplin Road and U.S. 1, Hess said, and had spotted someone who appeared to be watching people go through the drive-through.
"He was standing in the shadows, out of sight," Hess said by phone Wednesday. "Fortunately, we were set up very closely. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time."
Police made moved in to make the arrest as soon as he and the other detectives saw that Dawkins was trying to get into the victim's vehicle, Hess said.
The surveillance operation Hess and his team had set up Tuesday night is a part of an ongoing robbery suppression initiative that police Chief Charlie T. Deane launched more than a year ago in response to a two-year surge in street robberies and the slaying of a Mexican immigrant who was killed during a robbery while walking home late at night.
I will be moving to either NOVA or Maryland area next spring. I was wondering if anyone can tell me about Triangle VA. I was looking at a subdivision called Stonewall Manor on the Internet and they seem to have reasonably priced homes than Fairfax County. My last child will be graduating from high school before we move there so I'm not as concerned with schools, but I do believe an excellent or fairly decent school district usually is an indication of what type of town or community is a good area to live in. As far as Triangle is it just a town made up of homes? Is anything there or will I have to leave the town for everything such as shopping, church, restaurants, etc. If so, are there things close by. My husband and I don't have jobs yet, but I'm expecting we will be traveling towards the DC way for employment. I haven't found many areas that appeal to me in Maryland yet. Especially with fairly decent home prices. I really like the builder Craftmark Homes. They also are building in Gainsville at Morris Farm. Any info will be appreciated.
I have lived in Triangle for over a year now and it's very nice. I live near stonewall manor in a development called Potomac Crest. We have a lot of commuters that travel to DC and it doesn't seem to be a problem. There is crime...like anywhere else...but it's nothing major. I have a four year old and he attends St. Francis Catholic school. We usually travel to Woodbridge which is exactly ten miles away...plenty of places to shop and get a bite to eat. Home prices are dropping....we are currently renting and we are seeing a lot of foreclosures...I hear a good time to get a house is in 2008!!! LOL
I hope this info helps....We love being near Quantico...we are retired military!
I have lived in Triangle for over a year now and it's very nice. I live near stonewall manor in a development called Potomac Crest. We have a lot of commuters that travel to DC and it doesn't seem to be a problem. There is crime...like anywhere else...but it's nothing major. I have a four year old and he attends St. Francis Catholic school. We usually travel to Woodbridge which is exactly ten miles away...plenty of places to shop and get a bite to eat. Home prices are dropping....we are currently renting and we are seeing a lot of foreclosures...I hear a good time to get a house is in 2008!!! LOL
I hope this info helps....We love being near Quantico...we are retired military!
As a former police officer in that area i would disagree. Crime is NOT like anywhere else. It is a lot worse in the Triangle area. Most people (old school Prince William'ers) call that area "the pit" (IE- the armpit) for a reason. If it's so nice why doesn't your kid attend the local school? Have you not gone to the 7-11 right down the street from your house? It's a drug/prostitution nightmare. That place gets robbed all the time. Yes, your new neighborhood is VERY nice, but the surrounding area stinks.
This comment is VERY misleading. The only place across from Williamstown (aka ghetto or "cracktown" as it's been called for decades) is the Gheddy Mart (also know as the "Ghetto Mart" for good reason as well) and run down section 8 apartments. You have to go through this area to get to the one nice very small neighborhood you live in.
There is absolutely NOTHING misleading about my comment. If you were as familiar with this area as you claim to be, you would know that Prince William Estates is across ROUTE 1 from Williamstown/Graham Park, which is exactly what I stated. The Gheddy Mart referred to is across Graham Park Road from Williamstown which is, again, on the opposite side of Route 1 from the neighborhood I live in. The only way that I would have to go through that one bad very small neighborhood to get to the very nice neighbood I live in or any of the other very nice neighborhoods in the area would be if I commuted by boat on the Potomac River and then drove from the river through that neighborhood and across Route 1.
I have no idea what reason you could possibly have to try to make this area appear so bad to outsiders but you would be a lot more convincing if you were to brush up on your knowledge of the area and geography in general. I sincerely doubt that you were ever a police officer in this area as you claim to be but, if you were, it had to be decades ago because you are definitely misinformed regarding the way this area is now and has been for at least the 10 years that I have lived here.
To the original poster, since you have obviously read all the posts in this thread, I certainly hope that you consider the fact that several posters have commented that they currently live in the area (some for many years) and love it, while only one person (who has admitted that they do not live here) is trying to convince you to stay away. And if by any chance you plan to be in the area this weekend, be sure to check out our annual Christmas parade. It's scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 pm. Just another nice little touch of Dumfries.
There is absolutely NOTHING misleading about my comment. If you were as familiar with this area as you claim to be, you would know that Prince William Estates is across ROUTE 1 from Williamstown/Graham Park, which is exactly what I stated. The Gheddy Mart referred to is across Graham Park Road from Williamstown which is, again, on the opposite side of Route 1 from the neighborhood I live in. The only way that I would have to go through that one bad very small neighborhood to get to the very nice neighbood I live in or any of the other very nice neighborhoods in the area would be if I commuted by boat on the Potomac River and then drove from the river through that neighborhood and across Route 1.
I have no idea what reason you could possibly have to try to make this area appear so bad to outsiders but you would be a lot more convincing if you were to brush up on your knowledge of the area and geography in general. I sincerely doubt that you were ever a police officer in this area as you claim to be but, if you were, it had to be decades ago because you are definitely misinformed regarding the way this area is now and has been for at least the 10 years that I have lived here.
To the original poster, since you have obviously read all the posts in this thread, I certainly hope that you consider the fact that several posters have commented that they currently live in the area (some for many years) and love it, while only one person (who has admitted that they do not live here) is trying to convince you to stay away. And if by any chance you plan to be in the area this weekend, be sure to check out our annual Christmas parade. It's scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 pm. Just another nice little touch of Dumfries.
I just post the truth. You can believe what you want about my credentials, i could care less. I already have helped many people on here not make HUGE mistakes. I grew up here (since the late 70's) and worked here for many years in law enforcement (very recently i may add). I responded to a murder one block from Williamstown (near your neighborhood) this year, and shocker, it was a drug deal gone bad (or gone good, depending on your view of it). That place is still a dump. Like i said before, the kids are still going to the same schools, same restaurants, same churches, same playgrounds etc. If you think the area is nice, i guess that's your opinion. But I am going to post my opinion so people don't move into an area that they believe is nice. It's not. And yes, to the original poster. Feel free. After your done with the parade, walk (you don't have to drive, it's right in the same area) down the street to Williamstown and buy some good ole' Christmas crack. I'm sure they will give you a holiday deal......
Last edited by jaywallace; 12-07-2007 at 05:11 PM..
Here is the skinny from 2006. This also doesn't show the other ghetto areas that are surrounding Dumfries in the County (IE- Linden Park, Old Triangle Road etc).-
Dumfries, VA Profile
Dumfries, VA, population 4,816, is located in Virginia's Prince William county, about 22.4 miles from Alexandria and 25.9 miles from Arlington.
Through the 90's Dumfries's population has grown by about 15%. It is estimated that in the first 5 years of this decade the population of Dumfries has declined by about 2%.
Dumfries's property crime levels tend to be higher than Virginia's average level. The same data shows violent crime levels in Dumfries tend to be much higher than Virginia's average level.
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I live in Triangle, VA!
