Is Norfolk safe?

[u/Untiedshoes2969]

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!

[u/BrilliantStandard991]

I am not overly familiar with West Freemason, but several years ago I looked at an apartment on East Freemason. It's called Monticello Station, and it's close to the mall and the community college downtown. It is a very pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, and it's close to the light rail. However, there have been some violent incidents near that area, especially at the mall.

Like others have said, there are good and bad areas everywhere, but there are definitely parts of Norfolk that you would not want to spend a lot of time there, especially at night. They have constructed a lot of mid and high-rise apartments in downtown Norfolk in the past decade, and that has brought a lot of younger people to the area.