Leaving the military. Need to know list of safe neighborhoods in Va Beach/Chesapeake (Virginia Beach: renting)

[goingbacktoVA]

Hi, I have 3 small children and my wife and I have planned to move back home to Hampton Roads, well we've been gone for almost a decade (I have been in the service) and I am trying to see what areas are very safe in the VA Beach Cheaspeake and should I dare ask Norfolk area. My mother lives 23518 and boy oh boy oh boy....break ins shootouts etc. I wanted to stay on her "side" but not live in areas that would be unsafe for my wife and little ones. Could anyone please help me? Thanks a lot.

[xGrendelx]

I'm surprised you thought the neighborhoods in the 23518 zipcode felt that unsafe. Some may be worse than others, but I honestly don't know of many shootouts that have happened in that area. Also, break-ins happen everywhere. Literally.

But as far as safe neighborhoods in VB and Chesapeake go, that's sort-of a broad question. In my opinion, the vast majority of neighborhoods in VB are safe (but I also think 23518 is safe). I'm not as familiar with Chesapeake other than the South Norfolk district, which is not very safe generally speaking. Do you have any specific neighborhoods in mind? That way we could give you a more direct answer.

[here at last]

my family and I just moved from Chesapeake to NC...stay out of Indian River Estates (23325). It became almost a nightly thing to hear gun shots, people yelling/screaming/fighting, and not to mention the police helicopter hoovering over the neighborhood with the spot light going. There were always people speeding down our street (we had about 20 kids on our street), then the people behind us were drug dealers. Yea, so nice being out in my backyard at 2 am and seeing someone do a drug deal right behind us
My mom lives in 23518, for about 34 years. I grew up in that house and the only thing I remember is my car being broken into once, and someone once tried to break in. I really don't have any good/safe neighborhoods to recommend to you since I lived in 23518 until I was 22, then moved to the house we just moved out of.
Good luck with your move, and thanks for your Service!

[marnay]

Chesapeake has many family friendly areas. Great Bridge, Grassfield, Hickory being the three that have the best schools. Now in each of these areas there are tons of neighborhoods, some with more kids than others. You would need to get a feel for each neighborhood to see what you like better.

[StartSomewhere]

As for Chesapeake, most of the city outside of the Beltway (i.e. the more southern parts of the city) is safe and has very good schools. Like marnay said, Great Bridge, Grassfield, Hickory, and Western Branch are all very nice and desirable areas. As for Virginia Beach, nice areas that come to mind are Great Neck, Little Neck, the North End, and areas south of Dam Neck Road. There are, of course, exceptions to those very general parameters. What's your price range for homes?

[goingbacktoVA]

Thanks for the replies sorry for replying so late. We were looking at renting and about $1200 max which im not sure how realistic that is. Not sure on specific neighborhoods but Im checking the ones you guys suggested. Thanks!

[jwebb1257]

When you refer to the schools as "good" schools, what exactly do you mean? As far as education, all the schools are under the same government guidelines. If you are referring to drugs, I have friends on the Chesapeake police department and they tell me that there are drug issues in all the schools. Great Bridge, Hickory, Grassfield etc. I was told have the more expensive drugs as opposed to Indian River, Oscar Smith, etc. I have lived in the Indian River area most of my life and yes, I have seen it decline quite a bit, however, so has Deep Creek and Great Bridge with the introduction of Hickory and Grassfield. In my opinion, it is more of a moral decline in society as much as anything else. It is what you make it. There have been some very successful people come out of Indian River. Please, do not refer to our school as "not good".

[UHgrad]

I have friends that really enjoy Kempsville (Farfield area), Ocean Lakes (off Upton), and Grassfield (Sawyers Mill area).

It is always hard to say what "good" schools are. Some people are referring to school performance (test scores), some are referring to programs (magnet school, AP classes, special focuses), and some are referring to demographics (a good representation of their particular racial/ethnic group). All of that data can be looked up on the school board webpages or on webpages like great schools. GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

If you want general opinion, I grew up in Chesapeake and live in Virginia Beach now. I like Virginia Beach better although Chesapeake is fine as well. Statistically, VB is one of the safest cities of its size in the country. I just started a thread about that fact.
https://www.city-data.com/forum/hampt...anecdotes.html

The only areas I really hear negative things about in terms of crime in VB are Green Run, Bayside, and maybe Salem. Beyond that it just depends if you want to be close to the beach or close, close to norfolk, or somewhere in between. Living close to where you work is always nice too, so that should influence the decision as well.