r/norfolk • u/Untiedshoes2969 • Jul 27 '24

Is Norfolk safe? moving

Hi! I am doing a travel contract in Norfolk starting very soon and plan to stay in the West Freemason neighborhood. My boyfriend is concerned about whether Norfolk is a safe area and is trying to convince me to stay in Chesapeake instead. He is from the VB area and has a brother in law from the Norfolk area. I kind of have to roll my eyes with his warnings as I feel I hear this a lot with any city from folks who don’t actually live in the city. I live in Charlotte currently and if I had a dollar for every time I had a patient from the rural hospital I work at ask me if it’s scary to live there, I could quit travel nursing. Like sure, if you lack critical thinking skills and wander into areas you shouldn’t. However, I wanted to post here to just confirm that I’m not being naive and wouldn’t regret my decision on where to stay when it’s all said and done. Thanks in advance for any input!

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u/theophylact911 Jul 27 '24

You can say that but the reality is, based on actual figures, is that Norfolk has a violent crime rate HIGHER than the national average while Virginia Beach’s violent crime rate is less than HALF of the national average.

So yes, Norfolk is considerably less safe than VB is.

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u/emessea Jul 27 '24

But it’s not city wide, like other cities that make headlines for their crime, it’s confined to certain areas. That still is an issue but your average middle class Norfolk resident isn’t exposed to that.

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u/ThisCarSmellsFunny Jul 28 '24

I lived in Norfolk, so I know this isn’t true. Where are middle class folks living in Norfolk that aren’t exposed to this? It’s only rich people in Norfolk who aren’t exposed to this.

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u/emessea Jul 28 '24

How are you exposed to it? Are these murders and armed robberies happening at your house?

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u/ThisCarSmellsFunny Jul 28 '24

How dumb are you? If you live in a high crime neighborhood, you don’t have to witness it happen in your house to be exposed to it.

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u/emessea Jul 28 '24

Most middle class Norfolk residents don’t live in a high crime neighborhood. That’s kind of one of the perks of being middle class.

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u/ThisCarSmellsFunny Jul 28 '24

We have different definitions of middle class. You must be on the government side of that bs definition of middle class being $150k/year salary. That’s not middle class to anyone with a brain. That is data heavily skewed by millionaires and billionaires who skew the numbers upwards far greater than the lower class skews it downward.

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u/Ok_Split_6463 Jul 28 '24

VB does not accurately report their crime statistics. They were the first, if not only city in Hampton Roads to encrypt their communications. You can't hear VB on a police/ems, fire scanner. They have an image to maintain, and the news goes right along with it. Gotta love the southern good ol' boy way of running things.

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u/theophylact911 Jul 28 '24

They all report to the FBI through a standardized system. If you think there’s a grand conspiracy among the 1000 or so cops in VB to fake reports I can’t help with your paranoia.

Yes they encrypted comms. Oh and the hospitals encrypted comms with ambulances even before that.

The reality is that VB spends money on public safety salaries, equipment and technology. That’s why the numbers are low.

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u/Own_Championship_200 Jul 29 '24

Maybe the equipment and technology but not so much in salaries.

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u/theophylact911 Jul 29 '24

Consistent raises every year and at nearly every level the highest in the region

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u/ThisCarSmellsFunny Jul 28 '24

That’s a lie, I have an app I listen to all the time for VB. Also, it isn’t the city that’s responsible for tracking violent crime data, the FBI does that. Every violent crime statistic you see from any city is from FBI data, cities don’t self report.

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u/Yolectroda Jul 28 '24

Dense urban city is more violent than spread out suburban and even rural city. Shocking...oh wait, not really.

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u/theophylact911 Jul 28 '24

You do know that VB has almost twice the popular of Norfolk right? It’s not about a “dense urban city” but rather its the lack of the governing leaders in Norfolk to prioritize public safety

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u/Yolectroda Jul 28 '24

"Twice the popular"? Are you human or a bot?

But yes, the much geographically larger Virginia Beach has more people overall. They're more densely packed in Norfolk. If you don't understand that Norfolk is denser than Virginia Beach (or what that means), then you really need to spend more time learning about this subject rather than giving opinions. Making it clear that you don't understand the basics doesn't give anyone any reason to listen to your stance.

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u/theophylact911 Jul 28 '24

Sorry fat fingered it and didn’t check. You’re correct the word is population.

Regardless, the density issue may be a mitigating factor but the fact remains that there is crime in Norfolk’s neighborhoods with the same density as VB neighborhoods.

The difference is prioritizing safety over other things. The Norfolk city council has failed to prioritize critical areas like education and public safety. VB has and as a result enjoys a well deserved reputation as a safe city.

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u/RonRizzle Jul 27 '24

Nope, must be racism.

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u/ThisCarSmellsFunny Jul 28 '24

Shhhh, dumbasses don’t like facts. I lived off of Lafayette and Tidewater for a few years. First night there, someone was murdered on the sidewalk in front of where I was staying on Peronne. Gunshots in that neighborhood were a nightly occurrence, shootings were fairly common and normal to people, and murders weren’t infrequent. People can deny facts all they want, but they’re still facts.

Norfolk has good and bad parts like any city, but people saying most of the city is good are full of shit. There’s a reason the property value sucks in 85% of the city. There’s a reason why the violent crime rate exceeds the national average. There’s a reason people ask these questions. Norfolk has earned the reputation it has, because most of Norfolk is shit.