WOMAN RAPED in LARGO!! (Kingstown: crime, good schools, living in)

[lscalder]

I hear all the time on the news women getting rape in Alexandria VA and I have never read one post where people advice women not to live in Alexandria because of issues with women getting rape. I always hear oh just protect yourself and you will be fine but here is the first time I have ever heard of a woman getting rape in Largo and it is oh no never live there I guess because it is majority Black.

I guess people Alexandria VA is majority white

[cool rob]

I really feel for the woman who was raped in Largo, however I didn't see too many posts about the recent murders and burglaries in Montgomery County, or the triple homicide in Arlington, or the Heroin Ring in Fairfax. I am starting to see a little trend here, hmmmmmm......

[jessy0780]

If there are concerns about things in Montgomery County, go ahead and post them.
Since this is a MD board, there won't be many posts about Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax and please leave race out of it. Not one post in this thread had one single word about race until Iscalders.

That poor woman. I lived by myself in Glen Burnie for a year a few years ago, and I was uncomfortable walking around alone at times. Unfortunately, women can be vulnerable. Most of my life I lived in PG- where I grew up, and I did carry around pepper spray. Never used it, but I wish I had it when I was robbed in Riverdale at an ATM 9 years ago. I'm still mad about that $20!
I hope she can get past this and get on with her life.

[bowian]

I'm sorry to hear about the rape. With the Boulevard at Largo Town Center (aka Landover Mall updated and relocated) and the Metro station in Largo, crime has been more of an issie in the area. Not all of Largo is a "bad area," but those attractions make crime more of a problem. And the few who commit crimes make it bad for everyone else. I personally go to the Boulevard as little as possible.

[RaisedWell]

Originally Posted by cool rob

I really feel for the woman who was raped in Largo, however I didn't see too many posts about the recent murders and burglaries in Montgomery County, or the triple homicide in Arlington, or the Heroin Ring in Fairfax. I am starting to see a little trend here, hmmmmmm......

You're just now starting to see it? Oh wait, you haven't been here that long. I haven't been here that long either but it aint hard to miss.

I hate the Boulevard. I knew it was going to be thugged up before they built it.

[trying2moveup]

Originally Posted by Skapov

I am all for allowing law-abiding citizens to keep a handgun for self-defense, and I was happy when the Supreme Court overturned the DC gun ban. It really destroys my sense of ease when there's all these crimes happening, and the low-life bad apples who spoil it for the rest of us need to know that we are NOT going to take it!

Btw, the woman who was raped was walking her dog near the back of her building early Friday morning, when an unknown person approached her and then forced into her apartment where he sexually assaulted her. I can't imagine something like that happening around here, literally right here in my own community, and I don't know how PG County can expect to attact upwardly mobile middle-class families without doing something about the crime problem! The problem here, is that everything looks so NICE and IDYLLIC on the surface, clean tidy communities and well-dressed professionally-looking residents (at least this is what I see on the Metro from Largo during commuting hours), but then you scratch the surface and discover the CRIME and BAD SCHOOLS, and nothing is as it seems. At least in inner cities like D.C. and Chicago, you know when you hit the bad areas and it's easy to avoid those bad areas of town, because of the urban blight, but in PG County things can be quite deceptive. Neighborhoods with half-million dollar homes still have the crime issues, especially auto theft and buglary, and so no one is immune from the problem and you cannot buy your way out of it.

My husband & I are trying to convince ourselves to buy a home here, because Fairfax/Montgomery cost DOUBLE, but gosh, is it worth taking the risk of being a crime victim?! I just wish I had some sort of reassurance, but actually the trend seems to be more crime and I notice that rents are declining along with home values in the area, so this probably means more Section 8 people moving in over these next few years.

Spakov,
THere is crime everywhere. Granted maybe not to the heinous nature of constant raping and murdering but it is everywhere. I lived in the CLoverly area of MoCo until I went to college and our house was robbed twice (and both times they took only MY electronic s**t!, sorry still raw about it). Don't think that moving to Fairfax/Montgomery is going to save you from the element of crime. . . if that is your only factor you are going to be disappointed and even more so as criminal activity in this entire metro area is on the rise.

Also, someone mentioned the Metro in this thread and I"ve seen it in other threads on this forum . . . in addition to being a great mode of transportation, the Metro helps bring those who are up to no good out into the suburbs of the urban city. I have not kept up with the debate on the Purple line and the reasons for building/reasons for not building but I am willing to bet a million dollars that I don't have that people living in Chevy Chase/Potomac - wherever this line is supposed to end from New Carrollton are NOT HAPPY about it being on the drawing board at all, for the reason I mentioned above.

[Bigbluelandrover]

This WHOLE area attracts crime for various reasons.

Just yesterday a PREGNANT WOMAN was stabbed in BETHESDA!.... swank, upper-class BETHESDA.

Think like a thug for a minute. where would you go if you wanted some good stuff and targets? Pray, don't go out alone--if you can help it,watch what is going on around you. After all the pre-cautions something can still happen but what are you gonna do?.

[Skapov]

Believe it or not, but people DO bash surburbs in Northern Virginia as well, towns that are indeed majority white. I spend time in the Virginia forum and you should hear the way they talk about Woodbridge/Manassas/Central Springfield and yes, even Alexandria (except for the parts near Kingstowne). PgCo is not alone in having its bad parts, crime is everywhere, but per the police stats there are an average of 2 rapes a month in the Largo zip code alone! Now many people can tolerate the crime, they'll overlook it in exchange for other benefits like good schools, but what else does PG County have to offer to make up for tolerating the highish crime?!


I'm African-American and I would love to see PgCo succeed, but for whatever reason the county has trouble attacting companies (thus there are not many desirable in-county jobs), services (PG Hospital is in disaray and there are no other major hospitals), and upscale retail (i.e. no Nordstrom/Bloomingdales/Whole Foods, etc.). If you can't work in the county, can't do a lot of your shopping in the county, can't give birth in the county (I personally went to Inova-Alexandria to have my baby last July), and can't send you kids to school for a good education in the county, then how exactly can the county expect to attract middle-class families?

[Bigbluelandrover]

Many people are forsaking those things just so they can have that big dream home. My co-worker lives in Beechtree and at the end of the day she said the house is too big and she is tired of cleaning it constantly and paying the high utility bills. These McMansions do have a downside. I would consider living there as a empty nester but that's it.

Why are taxes higher in PG?

[lscalder]

PG hospital is not the only major hospital in Pg county. The southern hospital center is located in Pg county. I now do all my shopping in PG county. If I need upscale shopping/dining I go to the National Harbor.

Crime is everywhere people. Did you hear about the mother and daughter in Silver Spring that were killed I think yesterday. Crime does not only happen in Pg county and I feel safe in my home in Upper Marlboro.