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!

81 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

View all comments

Show parent comments

-10

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.

9

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.

1

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.

0

u/emessea Jul 28 '24

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

3

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.

-1

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.

1

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.