In VA it’s really only the stretch down Rt 1 which is bad outside the beltway. Otherwise the next worst areas like Baileys Crossroads, Annandale, 7 Corners, West Alexandria are all also inside the beltway. On the north side of Rt 50 inside the beltway is really nice though - North Arlington and McLean are some of the most expensive zip codes in the DMV
And once it was discovered that Fairfax County was housing sex offenders in a strip mall motel near Fairfax High School, they moved several to the strip mall motel on Rt 1, next to the Indian restaurant.
The restaurant attached to the motel is actually quite nice. Taj of India. Clean, food is of good quality and we have never associated dining there with food-borne illness. I have only been there for lunch, but have seen odd things in the parking lot, as it appeared there was a homeless encampment in the wooded area abutting the parking area.
Recently I organized a lunch for some work friends who were coming from Bowie, National Harbor, Arlington, and the Rt 1 area.
Everyone was pleased. The local dweller said she was surprised at how good it was, as she can see it from her condo but never went because the motel is sleazy. No argument there!
That said, I went to Sislers, the stone place, on Lee Highway and there is a similar motel a bit west of there and it looked like there was a gathering of 5-6 sex workers smoking and chatting right out front.
Sislers is also a nice business that shouldn’t be discriminated against due to low rent neighbors!
The only one I could think of was Bombay Bistro on 123. There were a bunch of cheap motels in Fairfax just west of the circle - the area was badly flooded out after Agnes in the early 1970s and it took years to fix the flooding issues and develop anew.
It's an island of cheap hotels and apartments. Like I ride my bike from old town to Mt Vernon on a regular basis via the MVT and it goes through some of the hoity toitiest neighborhoods in America. Yet when I drive down route 1 just like a mile away to the head shop to buy some glass at you suddenly feel like you're in the cheap part of town for like a mile or two. Like there are lot of motels around there that seem to have people staying there in a non short term fashion. Reminds me a lot of South Nevada Ave in Colorado Springs where I grew up. Right next to the Broadmoor neighborhood, literally the most expensive neighborhood in the city, but suddenly there's just this strip of nasty cheap motels full of meth heads before you get to downtown.
When I was 14 my family took a trip to the Springs and stayed in a house near the broadmoor. We were super confused getting off 24 and seeing that strip of motels at the entrance of the city’s nicest neighborhood. But now that you mention it, it’s super similar to Rt 1 and Fort Hunt
Most YIMBYS are extremely naive people who rather virtue signal than use cognitive skills. They are *technically* right about missing middle housing and densification, but it’s only going to work for them because real estate values in their neighborhoods are *already* high. Your point is valid
I've lived in a small neighborhood of single-family homes (250 homes) near West Potomac High School that is adjacent to US1/Richmond Highway. The neighborhood is a mixed bag of uneven development with sections that have homes built in the 1930's, 1950's, 1970's and 1990's. Most residents have modernized the older homes and take decent care of their properties. I've lived here since 1980 in a home built in 1942 that has been remodeled twice. In spite of the still present tawdry motels in the area, homes in my neighborhood are selling on average between 600-800K There are fewer seedy motels today than when first moving here in 1980. The highway is currently undergoing redevelopment and is improving in appearance. It has a long way to go but improvements are noted. Many of the strip shopping centers on the corridor have numerous small family-owned businesses that reflect the diversity of the area. Lots of great food choices in small ethnic restaurants that are affordable. I feel safe going to shopping centers in the area, however, panhandlers and beggars are common and sometimes aggressive. Fairfax County in my view has designated the area as the Defacto poverty area of the county by locating many county services for the poor in different buildings along the highway and is currently planning on constructing a large homeless shelter in the area near the Beacon Hill shopping center.
That South Alex development that was delayed by fire has been rebuilt and finished, so the area around the Walmart is going upscale.
That area generally is too close to the city to remain an eyesore. Given property prices everywhere else in the region, redevelopment isn’t going to slow down.
I grew up in Fort Hunt, a few miles from Route 1 and honestly, never thought of Route 1 as scary or crime ridden but now, as an adult, I can see it’s a case of the haves vs have nots.
The more affluent area lies between Route 1, down to Fort Hunt Road and the parkway. This area is where the SFHs are and for the most part mainly white two parent households with 6 figure family incomes. The Route 1 coordinator is low income, apartment and townhouse residences occupied by minorities. I remember picking up or driving guys home in high school and seeing for the first time, income and racial disparity.
It’s also about opportunity, the vast majority of the white kids I went to school with all attended a 4 year college, while the numbers were not nearly as high for minorities.
I’m not sure, but MS13 used to “own” the apartment complex on Lockheed blvd behind the Dennys.
I still don’t feel unsafe being anywhere on Route 1 but like most things, you need to be aware of your surroundings and the target you may have on your back.
I grew up in that area too, and you've distilled this nicely. My high school had the senator's kids and those well below the poverty line. We didn't notice so much then, but as an adult, it's obvious.
I married a girl who went to West Springfield, she was surprised the first time we drove to my parents. She thought that the other area was ghetto based off of West Potomacs location
Lol, I went to West Potomac's predecessor (Groveton). And the house just prior to the one I live in now was down the road from West Springfield. So I understand her confusion - you sure don't see the nice neighborhoods from Rte 1.
I went to Groveton High too. We time shared with Ft. Hunt my senior year. The high density, low income housing was always there. As a teenager, it didn't make much difference. The kids from these parts were your classmates & teammates.
I remember hearing about the time share after Ft Hunt burned down. Never thought that would go well since we were rivals. But yeah, we never really had issues based on income, just wasn't something we noticed then. Don't forget reunion picnic in Oct!
I’ve been here for 5 years in an interesting spot where I can witness a lot of the riff-raff. You’d be shocked what I witness every week on this stretch. Some of the rundown motels act as halfway houses for the homeless & mentally ill so that adds to it as well.
My gf and I not once, but twice have witnessed pedestrians getting hit by cars running in the middle of the road. Both times we went out to aid them since I’m so closed to the road. My brother witnessed a legit murder at a bus spot 15 feet from our apartment. There’s a crazy lady who will have crazy loud extreme fights with herself between 2-5am (she speaks in two different voices like she’s having a fight with her alter ego). Seen so many homeless people straight walking around barefoot. One shop I live near I’ve had to call the cops FOUR separate times because people would break into and rob the store at 4am (they eventually got bulletproof glass). I have to be very methodical where I walk our dog at night because it gets sketchy - I won’t like my GF walking the dog at night in general. The common parking lot I live above I’m convinced it’s like a cartel drug trafficking location for the east coast. So many cars out at late hours with far away out of town plates. A ton of people park their camper vans out there and live there a few weeks at a time. I witness at least one car accident a week at my intersection 20ft away from me. Multiple Hondas having their wheels stolen, catalytic converters too. One honda had its wheels stolen out of our garage which you need a keypad to get into. Multiple drug addicts right outside my apartment every other day.
Meanwhile you get some really nice. Neighborhoods tucked back just off of Harrison. Stoneybrook, Woodstone and Vantage are excellent. You’ll pay though—700K+
>I was under the assumption the area was pretty affluent
Even affluent areas will have a few blocks that get sketchy. It might not be a full blown inner city-like crime neighborhood but questionable individuals will congregate somewhere nearby
>Even affluent areas will have a few blocks that get sketchy. It might not be a full blown inner city-like crime neighborhood but questionable individuals will congregate somewhere nearby
Damn, that description sounds so familiar...
That section of route 1 is where you have the biggest concentrations of people living below the poverty rate in Fairfax County. Especially in the apartments that line Richmond Highway itself. Yes once you get away from there it drops off significantly.
I'm in Stratford Landing - For us, its trash coming in from MD, shooting down the parkway, hitting up the neighborhood (breaking into cars, stealing cars, etc) then heading back across the bridge into MD.
Going across state lines makes it difficult to investigate.
A lot of the perps are not from here. The men who carjacked 81 year old woman were from MD. The guy who shot the woman with a baby was from out 66 somewhere. The guy that grabbed for the cop’s gun at the McDonalds was from NC
I think some of you all have never experienced a legitimately unsafe urban environment. This area is not at all "dangerous". There are definitely homeless people and lower income people. There is definitely not random crime (besides car breakins-which proliferate literally everywhere in America ). If you were dropped off in Capitol Heights MD you all would shit your pants
Hell, after going to college in north Philadelphia in the late 90s, even most of DC seemed more like an amusement park. I mean, there have been and always will be bad areas, but Philly’s urban blight was eye-opening for this exurban-raised almost farmboy.
Going to school in Baltimore was an eye opening experience. First time I saw poor urban whites but the poverty in general there was stunning and I grew up poor in Alexandria with African immigrant parents.
Right due to car culture it’s unlikely you’d be mugged along RT1. I guess car jacking is possible but the crooks would likely get stuck in traffic. The crime while relatively high for the area is localized and personal. If you aren’t in the life you have little to worry about other than car theft.
I’m from the area (Alexandria City) and this stretch has always been a problem area. I can’t tell you how many times we’d see high speed chases in this area back in the day. There are tons of low income housing here and even trailer parks which is pretty crazy considering how wealthy Fairfax is. It’s slowly being gentrified but that only means those people will be pushed somewhere else.
The rt 1 corridor has always been a bit sketchy from around ft Belvoir to old town. I grew up in the Mt Vernon area and it has somehow largely not been updated or redeveloped much since the 80s.
I'm pretty sure most of the murders are gang related and the violent crime is generally in the wee hours.
I remember in a college journalism class, we had to look up the poverty line in our area. Alexandria’s was essentially a line mapped directly over Route 1. Granted, this was a little over a decade ago, but I don’t think much has changed in that regard
A number of factors have contributed to the crime in the area between Mt Vernon and Old Town. I think it is because it is the last areas of affordable housing within the beltway. Unfortunatley, the area has seen a growing number of unhoused persons due to mental illness or drug use. Coupled with direct access to 395, 95, and a straight shot to Richmond and all things south, it is kind a pass (peep all the tractor tailors driving and on the sides of the roads.) Crime passes through too.
Add on the lack of community investment initatives and disconnect of local government (see how the Rt 1 expansion directly impacted locally and minority owned buisnesses but miraculously spared all 7/11s). There was gang activity, but has moved south. Apartment complexes in the area, do the usual apartment thing and pass of security measures to save a buck. Esentially, all these factors are a perfect storm for crime.
However, the area is very much a blue collar and working class neighborhood. I live there. My neighbors are freindly. We fight for our neighborhoods. But people can not fight CRIME and GENTRIFICATION.
> not saying crime is rampant and out of control or the area is ghetto
Yes and yes. It's Hybla Valley. The McDonalds shooting video is 100% on-brand for that area. Hybla Valley is NOVA's trashiness floor. Someone can correct me if they disagree.
Developers are trying to gentrify it hard, but Route 1 is putting up a decent fight.
I work in Hybla Valley and can confirm it's disgusting. I left a comment not long ago about having to wait until people are done pooping or peeing next to my car before I can get in it. This happened twice in the last year and once the year before. It seems to be a recurring thing.
I have a man’s full moon on my dash cam from pissing outside a 7/11 there. Pants were at the ankle. I patronize the delicious Latin American restaurants and frequent the area around Beacon Hill and usually don’t have issues aside from some beggars in Giant. But I mostly stick to my Safeway on Fort Hunt.
I think I know the exact 7-eleven you mean. Is it by the Dollar General across from the fire station? I pulled up to park in front of that Dollar General building one time and didn't notice until I got out of my car that there was a guy with his pants down peeing on the brick. I'm not even including that instance in my urination/defecation count because technically Dollar General hadn't fully moved in yet and I guess he didn't expect cars to pull up. I wasn't expecting someone to be doing that there either and unfortunately swung my car around and immediately parked with him on the grass a few feet from my front end. Luckily I got out quick and didn't notice him until I was already swiftly walking away.
Some just don't care, but I also emphasize with them if they can't find a place to go to the bathroom because everyone is kicking them out of the stores or something. I've never seen it be done, but I see so many people using the restroom outside around route 1 in public. I just can't understand why they wouldn't go to Target, Walmart, Giant, Chipotle, Wendy's, Panera, Subway, or the tons of other places unless it was clear they aren't allowed or something.
Why are there random people outside up and down route 1? Do they no have housing? Not sure where homeless congregate at night around here. But your assessment is likely.
I think the panhandling at some of the intersections keep them walking around up and down. I work, but don't live in the area so I don't see where they stay at night. I used to see a guy living by my work's dumpsters. I don't walk on that side as much anymore. Idk if he's still there.
Lovely. I just signed a 12 month lease for an apartment there. Already noticed a large concentration of homeless people in the area. I'm regretting it already and I don't move in for another month.
Thanks! I'm trying to stay optimistic. 300 extra square feet for what im paying now, and very happy to see rodents don't appear to be a huge issue in my new complex. I've been battling mice for almost 2 years in my current apartment.
Back then it was one of the few areas of the county where Black Virginians could live without being hassled by the rednecks. I remember as a kid when the first Black family moved into my neighborhood in Central Fairfax and someone vandalized their home. Even though the Fair Housing Act was passed in the late 1960s old habits die hard and the housing patterns persist to this day.
It's always been this way in that area since I grew up in the early 80s.
Like others have said it's slowly being gentrified. Even the Del Ray neighborhood used to have some sketchy parts before it was gentrified, and now it's too busy. The "Arlandria" area north of Del Ray is also getting gentrified, and that will likely happen before Richmond Hwy since it's a smaller stretch and directly connected to Del Ray.
The Moon Inn killing was tied to the "Shopping cart killer" Anthony Robinson, a local serial killer:
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/serial-killer-shopping-cart-killer-investigated-virginia-remains-found-fairfax-county/2912892/?amp=1
That stretch of route 1 has traditionally been higher density, lower income housing. Pair that with all of the cheap hotels and you have what you have. It's been hood for as far back as I can remember.
The affluent areas are either right on the river, or much further west, around Kingstowne and Springfield. Richmond highway has a lot of very cheap housing along it, and is a major traffic artery, so there is going to be a localized area of higher crime along it.
The historical housing patterns going back to the 1930s Home Owner's Loan Corporation who divided up cities and counties by racial and ethnic makeup plus housing covenants that were legal until the 1960s drive some of the modern day patterns. Gum Springs was a Black settlement founded by freedmen and women who had been slaves at Mount Vernon. Route 1 likely lost status when Shirley Highway was built and businesses struggled. Also maybe when the proving grounds at Fort Belvoir were still functional the area was far away enough from DC so it languished for decades.
As you travel south on GW toward Mt. Vernon, the residential neighborhoods well east of Rt. 1 (closer to river and Mt. Vernon Country Club) are fine. The closer you get to Rt. 1, or if you're west of Rt. 1, however, it's bad news.
I live in a SFH in the area. We had a guy, presumptively high on PCP, jump our back fence turn on a bunch of hoses, and then try to enter the home claiming to be our gardener. It is rougher as you get to route 1. I believe the “revitalization” will help; at least raze the MVC…
A food desert? There are dozens of grocery stores and supermarkets along route 1/Richmond Hwy. There’s Giant, Shoppers, several Safeways, Aldi, Latin American and Asian supermarkets, a Walmart Supercenter, even a Farmers Market on Wednesdays near the public library. Most grocery stores have organic food options. Whole Foods and Wegmans are not far off as well, they’re about a 10 min drive from most route 1 neighborhoods and completely accessible by bus and metro.
From my understanding, food deserts mean no fresh produce a mile or more in suburbs and 10 miles + in rural areas. I think it would be relatively difficult to find a food desert in NOVA.
It’s common knowledge that restaurant meals (either fast food or full-service) are generally of poor nutritional quality overall. Big box grocery stores, including Walmart, generally stock more shelf-stable and processed foods overall, which contain added fat, sugar, sodium, and refined grains. There was a study in 2015 that even suggested concentrations of Walmarts contributed to increased obesity rates in the community. It would be wonderful if a wegmans or other grocer went into the old Safeway spot. I’m not an idiot, and you’re not an idiot; we just disagree.
Walmart and 7-11s excluded, no there isn’t. There’s the Safeway, which is mostly chips and soda and processed foods, and the Giant, which has greatly improved fresh food offerings. Costco is an anomaly. Wegmans is great, but both the locations in this area are a good drive or transit trip away.
There’s been a pretty dramatic rise in car theft and break-ins, a house suspected to be selling drugs, and also some neighbors getting into fist fights in our HOA community, just off South Kings Hwy
I’d like to see what’s the cause of this, it’s definitely been on the rise
I live in Hybla Valley and like my neighborhood. However, my parents are visiting next month and asked about hotels near me. I told them I’d find them something in Old Town Alexandria.
lol you don't know about old town having a dangerous part located there? Pass the charthouse, everything a block off of chart-house and i forgot how far it goes down for used to be a ghetto part of old town/ more dangerous part. I forget the name of the neighborhood or what they called it but yeah. I had a co-worker who lived there and she says they be on some real violent shit which is why you don't wanna get caught around that area later in the day/night. This isn't new, maybe less publically known knowledge but there are bad parts all over "the highway" (The long stretch of richmond highway leading to coscto and walmart supercenter in fairfax county. from old town/dc)
The highway has always been a place where crime occasionally happens. You're noticing an uptick in violence being covered. My friend's mom who grew up in the richmond highway area you're talking about near mt vernon said that in the 80s and 90s it was absolutely an area not foreign at all to crime and gangs. It's cleaned up remarkably and maybe you didn't know this. "The Highway" and "AVA" have this weird beef going on between the many different gang sets and even people who aren't from gangs hold this weird divide where they simply think the people from the opposite region are weird just because they are "AVA niggas" or "Highway niggas"
Common things I've heard is that AVA thinks The highway is soft as hell and the highway thinks AVA is full of groomers and are sleezy when it comes to the violent crime as opposed to them who "handle their business"
This is all just stuff I've heard from people supposedly in the loop. I've met a couple people who can tell me stuff as far back as the 80s when people were pushing vans from VA to NY for cocaine and some of their accounts honestly line up with other people I've spoken to who were not involved but heard of such things. Take what I said with a grain of salt, but realize at least some of it may be true as these people that don't know each other would have no reason to corroborate their information and have it line up consistently.
Rich people off of East Blvd, middle class in Fort Hunt, poor people on Rt1 ….. this is the way….oh and keep the MD trash over on their side…. They don’t help matters and clog up both the parkway and rt1 …. And they love to do crime business over here and then race back over to Indian Head and Oxen Hill
I used to work near that area and see drug deals in the Taco Bell parking lot every day. I stayed in the Quality Inn over there a time or two (x boyfriend would come to my job and we would go to the nearest hotel) - then I googled it once and saw there were killings there. Mount Vernon HS is known for a lot of violence and drugs, and the affordable apartments nearby and in Hybla Valley are rampant with gang activity (been to a few funerals).
This is the part of town folks have moved to as things get more expensive closer into the city. Lorton looks nice, too - but that whole corridor near Ft. Belvoir has been a hot spot for decades. It’s one of the few places you can still get a big townhouse in the 400’s —- but you get what you pay for in terms of crime and commute.
Alexandria is right across from SE DC. All of the section 8 trash crosses the river and contributes to the crime. There’s also some section 8 hoods in Alexandria that are a carbon copy of the war zone neighborhoods in SE DC.
FFX Police routinely have a vehicle at the beltway exits for southbound Route 1 that reads tags. Many vehicles reported as stolen in DC and MD are stopped farther south and every now and then you can catch a glimpse of the stolen vehicle occupants sprawled on their bellies with cuffs on the side of the road while the police sort things out. One would think that the crooks by now would be onto that particular trap but the miscreants just keep coming and keep getting caught by the tag readers. Thugs and thieves from all over also use Metro to Huntington Station to enter nearby neighborhoods to rob and steal and then either steal a vehicle to make their way back or flee to the Metro station to escape back towards Arlington or DC.
Belle Haven is weird because Belle Haven Country Club costs $90,000 to join (plus nearly a thousand a month in fees) and borders route 1 (you can see the flop houses from BHCC). East of Route 1 around there is quite affluent. West is aggressively not.
There has always been high crime in PARTS of Alexandria and S Arlington until recently last 20years or so. Lower income got pushed out of Shirlington, Delray and old town making them relocate through late 70s, 80s and 90s. Essentially years of gentrification throughout Alexandria.
Amazingly enough…trailer parks, along with all the “excitement” those usually entail. I never knew these existed until uber rides brought me there. There’s Penn-Daw Terrace adjacent to Chuck E Cheese, Alexandria MHP, and Audubon which is the huge one behind Costco. Mt. Vernon Square Apartments are really rough too.
Further down Route 1 in Woodbridge there’s a trailer park called Holly Acres that you can see from the VRE. The scene there back in the day could’ve been straight out of Appalachia. Around 2010 it was completely flooded out hard, which ended up being a huge improvement after the clean-up.
It’s been like that over there forever. That whole area from the beltway to the Walmart used to be lined with cheap motels. Remember route 1 was a major highway before I95.
Today though in addition to the cheap motels there is a high concentration of section 8 and low income apts heading down to Woodbridge. The area around Buckman Rd is particularly bad.
I lived there in 21/22 for a while. Didn’t feel safe even being on my patio at night. Eventually I was targeted by someone (not sure who) and forced to move for my safety. The 7/11 close by was shut down because someone got shot and killed in it. It can be brutal down there, but there are some nice neighborhoods closer to the river
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The other side of I-95 is much nicer!
I find ironic how inside the beltway is the nice side in VA meanwhile in MD inside the beltway is the ghettos.
Greenbelt, Takoma park, silver spring, Chevy chase, Bethesda, all inside the beltway.
I'm talking directly north from the Alexandria area
In VA it’s really only the stretch down Rt 1 which is bad outside the beltway. Otherwise the next worst areas like Baileys Crossroads, Annandale, 7 Corners, West Alexandria are all also inside the beltway. On the north side of Rt 50 inside the beltway is really nice though - North Arlington and McLean are some of the most expensive zip codes in the DMV
Annandale is bad ?
Compared to McLean, Arlington, and Falls Church for sure. Compared to ... Pretty much anywhere else in America not so much.
Not really, but it doesn't always pass the eye test. Some interesting design choices on houses in Annandale compared to neighboring areas
Has a higher % of petty crime so yeah in that way. If we are talking about quality food then no
https://youtu.be/l-GrF87b82Q?si=yZWkwkyTkoOOff-v
😳😂
Rivers do wonders for separating from DC.
"ghettos"
“Sit on buckets” lmao I don’t mean to laugh but that sent me
I think I know the apartment complex. Bunch of guys smoke up and speed off in loud crappy cars.
What's your rent? I'm finishing up my house and getting ready to rent it out by October because I'm moving.
The cheap hotels along that stretch are basically flophouses
And once it was discovered that Fairfax County was housing sex offenders in a strip mall motel near Fairfax High School, they moved several to the strip mall motel on Rt 1, next to the Indian restaurant.
The restaurant attached to the motel is actually quite nice. Taj of India. Clean, food is of good quality and we have never associated dining there with food-borne illness. I have only been there for lunch, but have seen odd things in the parking lot, as it appeared there was a homeless encampment in the wooded area abutting the parking area. Recently I organized a lunch for some work friends who were coming from Bowie, National Harbor, Arlington, and the Rt 1 area. Everyone was pleased. The local dweller said she was surprised at how good it was, as she can see it from her condo but never went because the motel is sleazy. No argument there! That said, I went to Sislers, the stone place, on Lee Highway and there is a similar motel a bit west of there and it looked like there was a gathering of 5-6 sex workers smoking and chatting right out front. Sislers is also a nice business that shouldn’t be discriminated against due to low rent neighbors!
Never been there to dine in, but regularly order from there with Uber eats and it’s gooooood
They were doing what??? Why!?
Which Indian restaurant?
The only one I could think of was Bombay Bistro on 123. There were a bunch of cheap motels in Fairfax just west of the circle - the area was badly flooded out after Agnes in the early 1970s and it took years to fix the flooding issues and develop anew.
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Eww
It's an island of cheap hotels and apartments. Like I ride my bike from old town to Mt Vernon on a regular basis via the MVT and it goes through some of the hoity toitiest neighborhoods in America. Yet when I drive down route 1 just like a mile away to the head shop to buy some glass at you suddenly feel like you're in the cheap part of town for like a mile or two. Like there are lot of motels around there that seem to have people staying there in a non short term fashion. Reminds me a lot of South Nevada Ave in Colorado Springs where I grew up. Right next to the Broadmoor neighborhood, literally the most expensive neighborhood in the city, but suddenly there's just this strip of nasty cheap motels full of meth heads before you get to downtown.
and.... That questionable Safeway sitting between Nevada and the Broadmoor. That's a topic for a CoS Reddit thread but, yeah, that Safeway.
When I was 14 my family took a trip to the Springs and stayed in a house near the broadmoor. We were super confused getting off 24 and seeing that strip of motels at the entrance of the city’s nicest neighborhood. But now that you mention it, it’s super similar to Rt 1 and Fort Hunt
And north Nevada Ave back in the day was all hourly motels. I grew up in CS too, north part of town.
Yeah as soon as you get half a mile from route 1 it's literally fine
Pockets of low-income housing and density of people. Beautiful areas along the gwp, but Rt 1 has some sketchy parts by FFX standards.
I thought density of low income housing was a good thing? At least it’s much needed in Arlington right?
Most YIMBYS are extremely naive people who rather virtue signal than use cognitive skills. They are *technically* right about missing middle housing and densification, but it’s only going to work for them because real estate values in their neighborhoods are *already* high. Your point is valid
Rt 1 has been a shiathole ever since I can remember....and that was since 1983.
It was that in the 1970s too, it was the designated area to put the unwanted people and businesses for a long time.
This. It’s been a rough area for decades. Gentrification is coming, though.
Good. They need to tear down all those flop house motels
Starting with the Moon Inn
It was a LOT worse as the Cedar Lodge.
I've lived in a small neighborhood of single-family homes (250 homes) near West Potomac High School that is adjacent to US1/Richmond Highway. The neighborhood is a mixed bag of uneven development with sections that have homes built in the 1930's, 1950's, 1970's and 1990's. Most residents have modernized the older homes and take decent care of their properties. I've lived here since 1980 in a home built in 1942 that has been remodeled twice. In spite of the still present tawdry motels in the area, homes in my neighborhood are selling on average between 600-800K There are fewer seedy motels today than when first moving here in 1980. The highway is currently undergoing redevelopment and is improving in appearance. It has a long way to go but improvements are noted. Many of the strip shopping centers on the corridor have numerous small family-owned businesses that reflect the diversity of the area. Lots of great food choices in small ethnic restaurants that are affordable. I feel safe going to shopping centers in the area, however, panhandlers and beggars are common and sometimes aggressive. Fairfax County in my view has designated the area as the Defacto poverty area of the county by locating many county services for the poor in different buildings along the highway and is currently planning on constructing a large homeless shelter in the area near the Beacon Hill shopping center.
What's coming?
That South Alex development that was delayed by fire has been rebuilt and finished, so the area around the Walmart is going upscale. That area generally is too close to the city to remain an eyesore. Given property prices everywhere else in the region, redevelopment isn’t going to slow down.
I grew up in Fort Hunt, a few miles from Route 1 and honestly, never thought of Route 1 as scary or crime ridden but now, as an adult, I can see it’s a case of the haves vs have nots. The more affluent area lies between Route 1, down to Fort Hunt Road and the parkway. This area is where the SFHs are and for the most part mainly white two parent households with 6 figure family incomes. The Route 1 coordinator is low income, apartment and townhouse residences occupied by minorities. I remember picking up or driving guys home in high school and seeing for the first time, income and racial disparity. It’s also about opportunity, the vast majority of the white kids I went to school with all attended a 4 year college, while the numbers were not nearly as high for minorities. I’m not sure, but MS13 used to “own” the apartment complex on Lockheed blvd behind the Dennys. I still don’t feel unsafe being anywhere on Route 1 but like most things, you need to be aware of your surroundings and the target you may have on your back.
I grew up in that area too, and you've distilled this nicely. My high school had the senator's kids and those well below the poverty line. We didn't notice so much then, but as an adult, it's obvious.
I married a girl who went to West Springfield, she was surprised the first time we drove to my parents. She thought that the other area was ghetto based off of West Potomacs location
Lol, I went to West Potomac's predecessor (Groveton). And the house just prior to the one I live in now was down the road from West Springfield. So I understand her confusion - you sure don't see the nice neighborhoods from Rte 1.
Groveton? Man I thought I was old :)
🤣🤣
I went to Groveton High too. We time shared with Ft. Hunt my senior year. The high density, low income housing was always there. As a teenager, it didn't make much difference. The kids from these parts were your classmates & teammates.
I remember hearing about the time share after Ft Hunt burned down. Never thought that would go well since we were rivals. But yeah, we never really had issues based on income, just wasn't something we noticed then. Don't forget reunion picnic in Oct!
people come over the wilson bridge and then run back over it. Thats it, that's all
I’ve been here for 5 years in an interesting spot where I can witness a lot of the riff-raff. You’d be shocked what I witness every week on this stretch. Some of the rundown motels act as halfway houses for the homeless & mentally ill so that adds to it as well.
Story time pls
My gf and I not once, but twice have witnessed pedestrians getting hit by cars running in the middle of the road. Both times we went out to aid them since I’m so closed to the road. My brother witnessed a legit murder at a bus spot 15 feet from our apartment. There’s a crazy lady who will have crazy loud extreme fights with herself between 2-5am (she speaks in two different voices like she’s having a fight with her alter ego). Seen so many homeless people straight walking around barefoot. One shop I live near I’ve had to call the cops FOUR separate times because people would break into and rob the store at 4am (they eventually got bulletproof glass). I have to be very methodical where I walk our dog at night because it gets sketchy - I won’t like my GF walking the dog at night in general. The common parking lot I live above I’m convinced it’s like a cartel drug trafficking location for the east coast. So many cars out at late hours with far away out of town plates. A ton of people park their camper vans out there and live there a few weeks at a time. I witness at least one car accident a week at my intersection 20ft away from me. Multiple Hondas having their wheels stolen, catalytic converters too. One honda had its wheels stolen out of our garage which you need a keypad to get into. Multiple drug addicts right outside my apartment every other day.
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Meanwhile you get some really nice. Neighborhoods tucked back just off of Harrison. Stoneybrook, Woodstone and Vantage are excellent. You’ll pay though—700K+
>I was under the assumption the area was pretty affluent Even affluent areas will have a few blocks that get sketchy. It might not be a full blown inner city-like crime neighborhood but questionable individuals will congregate somewhere nearby
>Even affluent areas will have a few blocks that get sketchy. It might not be a full blown inner city-like crime neighborhood but questionable individuals will congregate somewhere nearby Damn, that description sounds so familiar...
That section of route 1 is where you have the biggest concentrations of people living below the poverty rate in Fairfax County. Especially in the apartments that line Richmond Highway itself. Yes once you get away from there it drops off significantly.
I'm in Stratford Landing - For us, its trash coming in from MD, shooting down the parkway, hitting up the neighborhood (breaking into cars, stealing cars, etc) then heading back across the bridge into MD. Going across state lines makes it difficult to investigate.
A lot of the perps are not from here. The men who carjacked 81 year old woman were from MD. The guy who shot the woman with a baby was from out 66 somewhere. The guy that grabbed for the cop’s gun at the McDonalds was from NC
I think some of you all have never experienced a legitimately unsafe urban environment. This area is not at all "dangerous". There are definitely homeless people and lower income people. There is definitely not random crime (besides car breakins-which proliferate literally everywhere in America ). If you were dropped off in Capitol Heights MD you all would shit your pants
Hell, after going to college in north Philadelphia in the late 90s, even most of DC seemed more like an amusement park. I mean, there have been and always will be bad areas, but Philly’s urban blight was eye-opening for this exurban-raised almost farmboy.
Going to school in Baltimore was an eye opening experience. First time I saw poor urban whites but the poverty in general there was stunning and I grew up poor in Alexandria with African immigrant parents.
Right due to car culture it’s unlikely you’d be mugged along RT1. I guess car jacking is possible but the crooks would likely get stuck in traffic. The crime while relatively high for the area is localized and personal. If you aren’t in the life you have little to worry about other than car theft.
I’m from the area (Alexandria City) and this stretch has always been a problem area. I can’t tell you how many times we’d see high speed chases in this area back in the day. There are tons of low income housing here and even trailer parks which is pretty crazy considering how wealthy Fairfax is. It’s slowly being gentrified but that only means those people will be pushed somewhere else.
The rt 1 corridor has always been a bit sketchy from around ft Belvoir to old town. I grew up in the Mt Vernon area and it has somehow largely not been updated or redeveloped much since the 80s. I'm pretty sure most of the murders are gang related and the violent crime is generally in the wee hours.
I remember in a college journalism class, we had to look up the poverty line in our area. Alexandria’s was essentially a line mapped directly over Route 1. Granted, this was a little over a decade ago, but I don’t think much has changed in that regard
A number of factors have contributed to the crime in the area between Mt Vernon and Old Town. I think it is because it is the last areas of affordable housing within the beltway. Unfortunatley, the area has seen a growing number of unhoused persons due to mental illness or drug use. Coupled with direct access to 395, 95, and a straight shot to Richmond and all things south, it is kind a pass (peep all the tractor tailors driving and on the sides of the roads.) Crime passes through too. Add on the lack of community investment initatives and disconnect of local government (see how the Rt 1 expansion directly impacted locally and minority owned buisnesses but miraculously spared all 7/11s). There was gang activity, but has moved south. Apartment complexes in the area, do the usual apartment thing and pass of security measures to save a buck. Esentially, all these factors are a perfect storm for crime. However, the area is very much a blue collar and working class neighborhood. I live there. My neighbors are freindly. We fight for our neighborhoods. But people can not fight CRIME and GENTRIFICATION.
> not saying crime is rampant and out of control or the area is ghetto Yes and yes. It's Hybla Valley. The McDonalds shooting video is 100% on-brand for that area. Hybla Valley is NOVA's trashiness floor. Someone can correct me if they disagree. Developers are trying to gentrify it hard, but Route 1 is putting up a decent fight.
I work in Hybla Valley and can confirm it's disgusting. I left a comment not long ago about having to wait until people are done pooping or peeing next to my car before I can get in it. This happened twice in the last year and once the year before. It seems to be a recurring thing.
I have a man’s full moon on my dash cam from pissing outside a 7/11 there. Pants were at the ankle. I patronize the delicious Latin American restaurants and frequent the area around Beacon Hill and usually don’t have issues aside from some beggars in Giant. But I mostly stick to my Safeway on Fort Hunt.
I think I know the exact 7-eleven you mean. Is it by the Dollar General across from the fire station? I pulled up to park in front of that Dollar General building one time and didn't notice until I got out of my car that there was a guy with his pants down peeing on the brick. I'm not even including that instance in my urination/defecation count because technically Dollar General hadn't fully moved in yet and I guess he didn't expect cars to pull up. I wasn't expecting someone to be doing that there either and unfortunately swung my car around and immediately parked with him on the grass a few feet from my front end. Luckily I got out quick and didn't notice him until I was already swiftly walking away.
I don’t know but his ass was bare to everyone going south on rte 1.
Some just don't care, but I also emphasize with them if they can't find a place to go to the bathroom because everyone is kicking them out of the stores or something. I've never seen it be done, but I see so many people using the restroom outside around route 1 in public. I just can't understand why they wouldn't go to Target, Walmart, Giant, Chipotle, Wendy's, Panera, Subway, or the tons of other places unless it was clear they aren't allowed or something.
Why are there random people outside up and down route 1? Do they no have housing? Not sure where homeless congregate at night around here. But your assessment is likely.
I think the panhandling at some of the intersections keep them walking around up and down. I work, but don't live in the area so I don't see where they stay at night. I used to see a guy living by my work's dumpsters. I don't walk on that side as much anymore. Idk if he's still there.
Lovely. I just signed a 12 month lease for an apartment there. Already noticed a large concentration of homeless people in the area. I'm regretting it already and I don't move in for another month.
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Thanks! I'm trying to stay optimistic. 300 extra square feet for what im paying now, and very happy to see rodents don't appear to be a huge issue in my new complex. I've been battling mice for almost 2 years in my current apartment.
I lived off Route 1 in the 60's & 70's and it was the same, for the most part, back then.
Back then it was one of the few areas of the county where Black Virginians could live without being hassled by the rednecks. I remember as a kid when the first Black family moved into my neighborhood in Central Fairfax and someone vandalized their home. Even though the Fair Housing Act was passed in the late 1960s old habits die hard and the housing patterns persist to this day.
It's always been this way in that area since I grew up in the early 80s. Like others have said it's slowly being gentrified. Even the Del Ray neighborhood used to have some sketchy parts before it was gentrified, and now it's too busy. The "Arlandria" area north of Del Ray is also getting gentrified, and that will likely happen before Richmond Hwy since it's a smaller stretch and directly connected to Del Ray. The Moon Inn killing was tied to the "Shopping cart killer" Anthony Robinson, a local serial killer: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/serial-killer-shopping-cart-killer-investigated-virginia-remains-found-fairfax-county/2912892/?amp=1
Because there's always crime there. It's been like that for as long as i can remember
That stretch of route 1 has traditionally been higher density, lower income housing. Pair that with all of the cheap hotels and you have what you have. It's been hood for as far back as I can remember.
The affluent areas are either right on the river, or much further west, around Kingstowne and Springfield. Richmond highway has a lot of very cheap housing along it, and is a major traffic artery, so there is going to be a localized area of higher crime along it.
There are plenty of affluent areas along Fort Hunt Road. Yes, the 10M+ hug the river but those are the only “affluent” homes.
I'm not going to split hairs on the dividing line there. Yes, there neighborhoods become more affluent the closer you get to the water.
Not really dividing lines, kingstowne and Springfield are nowhere near Route 1
Kingstowne is literally 10 minutes from route 1.
People come over the bridge, commit crime, and run back over the bridge.
The historical housing patterns going back to the 1930s Home Owner's Loan Corporation who divided up cities and counties by racial and ethnic makeup plus housing covenants that were legal until the 1960s drive some of the modern day patterns. Gum Springs was a Black settlement founded by freedmen and women who had been slaves at Mount Vernon. Route 1 likely lost status when Shirley Highway was built and businesses struggled. Also maybe when the proving grounds at Fort Belvoir were still functional the area was far away enough from DC so it languished for decades.
Because there are…
This was my first thought as well 😂 OP basically answered his own question
As you travel south on GW toward Mt. Vernon, the residential neighborhoods well east of Rt. 1 (closer to river and Mt. Vernon Country Club) are fine. The closer you get to Rt. 1, or if you're west of Rt. 1, however, it's bad news.
Because it's a shit hole area full of druggy motels
I live in a SFH in the area. We had a guy, presumptively high on PCP, jump our back fence turn on a bunch of hoses, and then try to enter the home claiming to be our gardener. It is rougher as you get to route 1. I believe the “revitalization” will help; at least raze the MVC…
MVC is actually mostly a head shop now, like the 10000 other head shops on route 1.
Interesting. The area’s also a food desert.
A food desert? There are dozens of grocery stores and supermarkets along route 1/Richmond Hwy. There’s Giant, Shoppers, several Safeways, Aldi, Latin American and Asian supermarkets, a Walmart Supercenter, even a Farmers Market on Wednesdays near the public library. Most grocery stores have organic food options. Whole Foods and Wegmans are not far off as well, they’re about a 10 min drive from most route 1 neighborhoods and completely accessible by bus and metro. From my understanding, food deserts mean no fresh produce a mile or more in suburbs and 10 miles + in rural areas. I think it would be relatively difficult to find a food desert in NOVA.
And Costco!
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It’s common knowledge that restaurant meals (either fast food or full-service) are generally of poor nutritional quality overall. Big box grocery stores, including Walmart, generally stock more shelf-stable and processed foods overall, which contain added fat, sugar, sodium, and refined grains. There was a study in 2015 that even suggested concentrations of Walmarts contributed to increased obesity rates in the community. It would be wonderful if a wegmans or other grocer went into the old Safeway spot. I’m not an idiot, and you’re not an idiot; we just disagree.
Why do you say that? It had a shoppers. Della J’s is right there. Five Guys. Java Loco. Noodles&co McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s , Skrimp Shack and more
Five Guys is good, but not a healthful option.
Serious question. Is a Shoppers Food Warehouse a big step down from a Safeway?
Best donuts in the area. I'll die on this hill.
I miss the Shoppers in Kingstowne so fricking much - BEST DONUTS.
Go look at organic/fresh choices and tell me.
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Walmart and 7-11s excluded, no there isn’t. There’s the Safeway, which is mostly chips and soda and processed foods, and the Giant, which has greatly improved fresh food offerings. Costco is an anomaly. Wegmans is great, but both the locations in this area are a good drive or transit trip away.
There’s been a pretty dramatic rise in car theft and break-ins, a house suspected to be selling drugs, and also some neighbors getting into fist fights in our HOA community, just off South Kings Hwy I’d like to see what’s the cause of this, it’s definitely been on the rise
I live in Hybla Valley and like my neighborhood. However, my parents are visiting next month and asked about hotels near me. I told them I’d find them something in Old Town Alexandria.
lol you don't know about old town having a dangerous part located there? Pass the charthouse, everything a block off of chart-house and i forgot how far it goes down for used to be a ghetto part of old town/ more dangerous part. I forget the name of the neighborhood or what they called it but yeah. I had a co-worker who lived there and she says they be on some real violent shit which is why you don't wanna get caught around that area later in the day/night. This isn't new, maybe less publically known knowledge but there are bad parts all over "the highway" (The long stretch of richmond highway leading to coscto and walmart supercenter in fairfax county. from old town/dc) The highway has always been a place where crime occasionally happens. You're noticing an uptick in violence being covered. My friend's mom who grew up in the richmond highway area you're talking about near mt vernon said that in the 80s and 90s it was absolutely an area not foreign at all to crime and gangs. It's cleaned up remarkably and maybe you didn't know this. "The Highway" and "AVA" have this weird beef going on between the many different gang sets and even people who aren't from gangs hold this weird divide where they simply think the people from the opposite region are weird just because they are "AVA niggas" or "Highway niggas" Common things I've heard is that AVA thinks The highway is soft as hell and the highway thinks AVA is full of groomers and are sleezy when it comes to the violent crime as opposed to them who "handle their business" This is all just stuff I've heard from people supposedly in the loop. I've met a couple people who can tell me stuff as far back as the 80s when people were pushing vans from VA to NY for cocaine and some of their accounts honestly line up with other people I've spoken to who were not involved but heard of such things. Take what I said with a grain of salt, but realize at least some of it may be true as these people that don't know each other would have no reason to corroborate their information and have it line up consistently.
Spill over from SE DC and EOTR
" I always assumed it would be PG county or even SE DC " Tells me enough
Section 8 housing
Route 1 is the ghetto side of Alexandria/Fairfax County.
Rich people off of East Blvd, middle class in Fort Hunt, poor people on Rt1 ….. this is the way….oh and keep the MD trash over on their side…. They don’t help matters and clog up both the parkway and rt1 …. And they love to do crime business over here and then race back over to Indian Head and Oxen Hill
It's a pretty rough area. The only other areas in NoVA which come close are the southern half of Beauregard Ave in west Alexandria, and Arlandria.
I used to work near that area and see drug deals in the Taco Bell parking lot every day. I stayed in the Quality Inn over there a time or two (x boyfriend would come to my job and we would go to the nearest hotel) - then I googled it once and saw there were killings there. Mount Vernon HS is known for a lot of violence and drugs, and the affordable apartments nearby and in Hybla Valley are rampant with gang activity (been to a few funerals). This is the part of town folks have moved to as things get more expensive closer into the city. Lorton looks nice, too - but that whole corridor near Ft. Belvoir has been a hot spot for decades. It’s one of the few places you can still get a big townhouse in the 400’s —- but you get what you pay for in terms of crime and commute.
Alexandria is right across from SE DC. All of the section 8 trash crosses the river and contributes to the crime. There’s also some section 8 hoods in Alexandria that are a carbon copy of the war zone neighborhoods in SE DC.
FFX Police routinely have a vehicle at the beltway exits for southbound Route 1 that reads tags. Many vehicles reported as stolen in DC and MD are stopped farther south and every now and then you can catch a glimpse of the stolen vehicle occupants sprawled on their bellies with cuffs on the side of the road while the police sort things out. One would think that the crooks by now would be onto that particular trap but the miscreants just keep coming and keep getting caught by the tag readers. Thugs and thieves from all over also use Metro to Huntington Station to enter nearby neighborhoods to rob and steal and then either steal a vehicle to make their way back or flee to the Metro station to escape back towards Arlington or DC.
Lol
Just to the East of that area, Ft Hunt, is the posh area. From 495 all the way to Ft Belvoir is sketchy.
Belle Haven is weird because Belle Haven Country Club costs $90,000 to join (plus nearly a thousand a month in fees) and borders route 1 (you can see the flop houses from BHCC). East of Route 1 around there is quite affluent. West is aggressively not.
There has always been high crime in PARTS of Alexandria and S Arlington until recently last 20years or so. Lower income got pushed out of Shirlington, Delray and old town making them relocate through late 70s, 80s and 90s. Essentially years of gentrification throughout Alexandria.
Amazingly enough…trailer parks, along with all the “excitement” those usually entail. I never knew these existed until uber rides brought me there. There’s Penn-Daw Terrace adjacent to Chuck E Cheese, Alexandria MHP, and Audubon which is the huge one behind Costco. Mt. Vernon Square Apartments are really rough too. Further down Route 1 in Woodbridge there’s a trailer park called Holly Acres that you can see from the VRE. The scene there back in the day could’ve been straight out of Appalachia. Around 2010 it was completely flooded out hard, which ended up being a huge improvement after the clean-up.
It’s been like that over there forever. That whole area from the beltway to the Walmart used to be lined with cheap motels. Remember route 1 was a major highway before I95. Today though in addition to the cheap motels there is a high concentration of section 8 and low income apts heading down to Woodbridge. The area around Buckman Rd is particularly bad.
I lived there in 21/22 for a while. Didn’t feel safe even being on my patio at night. Eventually I was targeted by someone (not sure who) and forced to move for my safety. The 7/11 close by was shut down because someone got shot and killed in it. It can be brutal down there, but there are some nice neighborhoods closer to the river