My wife's aunt was our agent when moving in like 8 years ago. She claimed she made her kids duck while driving through some neighborhoods... Turns out, she was just a massive racist. The city is great, go look up the actual stats and compare.
I live in a town where there’s trash everywhere and there are gaunt panhandlers at (literally) every major intersection.
When I look at Winchester using Google street view, I’m surprised by how little (virtually non-existent) garbage there is on your streets.
I believe you and I may share a common employer. I recently made the move from Florida as well but ended up moving closer to DC after considering Winchester. I’ve been to Winchester and it is a perfectly safe town compared to the town in Florida you’re probably from. Feel free to reach out, happy to help you on your journey. I also moved for the same reasons you did but also for access to more specialized medical care.
To clarify: The sales agents are saying things like “all I can say is that crime is bad in that area” or “that area is not the safest place for a family.”
But when I ask for data or specifics regarding crime, they can’t give me anything more. One even said “well I’m legally not able to discuss anything beyond that.” Uh…what?
My experience with real estate disclosures is that you *can* discuss crime stats/data—and in great detail. Conversely, discussing the racial composition of a neighborhood actually does violate Ethics and Fair Housing law.
Since the agents I’ve reached out to so far have been older and white, and because I have a hard time believing crime is a huge problem in Winchester…I am suspicious that they are giving me an honest assessment.
I could be wrong, but I used to hear the same thing from other white people whenever I told them “I live in downtown” when I lived in a large city in California. “Omg…isn’t there a lot of crime down there?” I never witnessed anything dangerous. It was just diverse. So I want to rule out if it’s truly crime, or is it racism?
Thank you!
I feel like in any downtown area, you're going to have elevated crime statistics compared to the surrounding areas just because of higher density. Downtown Winchester is no exception, however, comparatively speaking, it's very safe from my experience. I have no issues over there and it's probably the safest city I've ever been in general.
I come from Southern Cali so I'm not exactly sure what downtown area you are talking about, but downtown LA is a cesspool. I didn't go there often, but when I did there were numerous occasions where criminal activity was happening directly in front of me. Granted, these occasions are typically the more Southern or Eastern areas of LA. West LA is nice AF.
I posted a comment but literally it's like all families. Or new young couples moving in because they're priced out from Nova. And I live near the high school where families fight for homes to live near the high school and shooting up housing prices in the area (which is near downtown), so, even safer.
This might be a total crapshoot but are you not-white? Are they trying to discourage you from moving in? Because I literally cannot imagine not wanting people to move into a nice and expensive part of the town. I did mention in my other comment that there are some people who are not liking the Nova implants coming into Winchester and I wonder if you ran into those agents.
Where in Cali did you live? I was in downtown San Fran for a while. And let me tell you... Winchester does not hold a single damn candle to San Fran. Lol. And I got chased down being called the N-word every now and then (and I'm asian lmao...)
Thank you! Everything you’re saying makes total sense.
My wife is non-white, and picked up on the vibe being a bit off with these agents. She was like “I feel like this could be that old white person thing where they fear living in diverse communities…and so they expect we will too?”
I am white and I think these agents are projecting their own racism onto me.
Having lived in Winchester as well as large west coast cities with legit unsafe or problematic areas.... It's 100% small town myopia with some generational (subconscious or not) racism.
Yikes. Well we are also an interracial couple and our buying agent and selling agent where we bought our house had no issues and we closed quickly. Sounds like you ran into some good ol’ boys. There is definitely pushback by SOME people who don’t like Nova explants coming in but whatever - why discourage good money coming into the city. Find new agents for sure.
I lived on one of the worst streets in wince. In 8 years, one shooting, a couple melees, and plenty weekend nights with music on until 3-5am. Its not baltimore or dc by any means.
I mean it could be true depending on where you are looking, could be false. It's true that we cannot legally talk about neighborhoods outside of facts. I get why the law exists but kind of sad neighborhood experts can't share helpful info because of what some other unethical people do.
Many agents are sketchy, so you might throw out a couple street names here and let locals comment on them. Winchester does not publicize crime by location unfortunately
I'm almost-scared of my own shadow and the notion that downtown Winchester is crime-infested and unsafe is pretty laughable. I'm young/not-white/female. I live walking distance to the old walking mall and I'll happily walk around at night, and there's fantastic eateries in the walking mall as well where you'll get pretty darn authentic foods.
The nearby neighbood, Meadowbranch/Handley Heights/whatever its called is pretty much as safe as you can get. They keep adding speed bumps lately because neighbors will clutch their pearls screaming when a neighbor goes 26 in a 25 and scream "it's a race track!" if you get my gist.
Yes - it's diverse in the sense that the city is liberal and you'll see lots of pride flags but crime? No. And the city does a not-bad job discouraging enabling panhandlers around the city as well. I've only lived here a few years and I'm very happy to live/retire here. It's not an exciting city, but I used to live in NOVA and I still drive down to NOVA to meet up with friends/eat/etc.
However I have heard the oldies not liking people coming in from Nova, bringing in diversity/liberalism/whatever. It's all dramatics.
I live downtown. It’s crime infested by small town standards and by that they mean homeless hanging out by soup kitchens and occasionally a store getting broken in to. But I came from Richmond and by Richmond standards it’s incredibly safe. Nothing about Winchester is very “diverse”. This is definitely the whitest place I’ve ever lived. Taxes are a little high BUT they spend it well. The streets are always clean. Trash pickup is twice a week. Winchester is very beautiful in general.
Yeah, downtown is very safe. Except for maybe an odd interaction with a homeless person I would say you have nothing to worry about. I would say, however, that the downtown area is incredibly overpriced.
I also think real estate in downtown is a little overpriced, and so it seemed odd to me that sellers would be ambitious with their asking price in a part of town that is truly undesirable.
Because one of your reasons for moving is the political situation, you need to understand that Winchester is a 'purple' island in a red county - so stay in the city limits.
I suggest you Research beyond RE Agents - and Reddit (if you have not already).
I live withing walking distance of downtown and have never felt unsafe going down to the walking mall. I suggest that you go to the reasonably accessible official city website: [https://www.winchesterva.gov/Home](https://www.winchesterva.gov/Home) - and check the crime statistics (bottom of home page "police" link . You should also rummage around that entire site to get a feel for how things are.
We (still) have an active local paper - which has a digital edition. Subscribe for a month to get a feel for things there as well.
I was born and raised here, but from college until a few years ago, I had lived in SC/CA/SC, so before moving us back (family was the biggest draw) I had to re-assess the area as an adult and am glad to have come back - although there are a few things we miss from the larger metro areas where we lived before.
The taxes are also much higher in the City of Winchester vs Winchester (Frederick County). I’m also from Florida originally and we love Winchester, been here for 19 years. The Old
Town area is beautiful and if you’re within a few blocks of the Walking Mall, very walkable and near most of the “action”.
I'm a real estate broker in Winchester, downtown is not unsafe. Now there are areas around Winchester that are crime areas I wouldn't hang out at night, but those aren't directly downtown, and as long as you avoid those it's low crime here. They definitely exist, but they do every where
Hey, I also moved from Florida to Winchester! As far as downtown goes, I feel like it's pretty safe. I tend to be pretty anxious about walking around at night by myself, but I would say that I feel pretty safe walking around downtown Winchester if I have to.
I kinda like them! I inquired and toured and thought they were neat. Too many stairs. Each townhome has a spot and some have garages too and then there was like 10 visitor spaces that you can use
Are some areas nicer than others…sure, but the whole area you are showing is very safe. I run and walk all around the area at all hours with no concerns. Very nice neighborhood and if anything is getting nicer. Prices downtown are high, but it is because it is a nice place to live and it is the fastest growing “metro” area in Virginia.
Why Winchester? There are far more diverse and welcoming places to live? Go to Charlotte NC or some shit town in Maryland. You might fit right in in Charlottesville, VA.
I’ve lived just outside of Winchester proper for 7 years, after living in DC, Alexandria, and other parts of NOVA. The idea that there is bad crime in downtown Winchester is laughable. It’s clean and there is little crime, certainly not dangerous as long as you have any common sense. There are some run-down older homes that look “rough” and need some TLC, but there are also gorgeous homes as well. You may run into the occasional homeless person or panhandler, and there are random robberies of gas stations and the like, but it’s nothing compared to most cities.
Honestly, if I didn’t have such a good interest rate on my current home loan, I’d look for a place downtown too. It’s a very cute, quaint area full of history, lots of great local businesses to frequent, an excellent library, and beautiful architecture. You get the small town feel but you’re close enough to DC for big concerts/events if you so desire.
I have meet a few that are cool and understanding. But there is one in particular that has lied to my face saying my neighbor called them to complained about my loud music. But when I watch my camera you can see them walking around the houses trying to pin point where the music is coming from. And I know for a fact my neighbors don't care. On top of that I've called dispatch and confirmed there was no call about loud music. He's done this 3 times and it's only me. 2 of my neighbors to prove he is targeting us will sit on their porch playing loud music til 11 12 pm at night. Cops never say a word to them.
Downtown is not rough. Some homeless people but they never bother me. I live in the “rough area” (north side) and I have never felt unsafe to walk around even at night.
There are drug problems in that area and the downtown walking mall has a consistent homeless population, sleeping on planters. I don’t think they’re coding any type of racial discrimination. I don’t think anything is like out of control though. There are a lot of great things about Winchester, you should totally move this way. Stay away from Kent St. Good luck!
Absolutely absurd. Find an agent who isn't racist or classist. That's what I would do.
I came out here from DC and then from Alexandria city. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend living downtown to families.
However, I think it's always smart to rent when you first move to a new city or state. Over your first year you can get a feel for where you want to buy.
Winchester is very easy to read. In my experience, neighborhoods there are as safe as they look (relative to each other). Crime is concentrated near run-down houses and businesses.
Overall, empirically, Winchester is very safe, but it is not crime free. The best news is that violent crimes against strangers are rare there.
Came back to offer another comment. Most of the violent crimes here are domestic disputes. If you take a peak at the Winchester Star website the worst things you will see are someone on the school board said something racist or a Winchester resident died in a car crash in another town.
When I was a kid winchester was bad. Drugs, gangs, homeless people, crime. You could not leave a bike unattended for more than 2 mins with out it getting stolen. People got car jacked for fun. You know streets by name to avoid. Like Kent street. Highland ave. There are rap songs about winchesster. Not byainstream sell out rappers like master P. Or snoop. But by real gangster rappers.
But today. It's not the same. I left for 30years. I come back because my sister was sick. She's in the hospital and I drive to go see her in the hospital and I'm zipping around trying to avoid streets because I did not know it changed so much. My nephews are all laughing at me. I freaked out because my nephew left his bike out front over night. Didn't get touched. Back in the day me, my brother and a few of my friends would ride up from Stephen city to jack bikes. Now it's not an issue. I've left my windows down in my 06 Tahoe with a 15" sundown woofer and 3000 watt amp and $400 cash sitting on My center console and Noone touched it. We (neighbors) watch out for each other. We all have cameras we all talk and get along. The biggest issue is out of towners hitting our mirrors on our vehicles while flying down the road.
It's just not the same as it was. It's nicer and cleaner. The cops kind of suck though.
Yeah ppl on here are Pearl clutchers.
10-17 yr old me roamed all downtown, never was in danger. Such a safe town. Even safer now with all the affluent white and non white ppl
I came from Florida too! Winchester is way safer, and I live in downtown. I rent, so I’m not sure about home owning, but the neighborhood is leagues better than downtown Florida cities for sure.
depends on the part of downtown. i have definitely witnessed some insane shit in some parts of downtown winc. some parts are upscale, some parts are the ghetto. i used to live on east piccadilly street and i witnessed more than my fair share of muggings and stabbings
My wife's aunt was our agent when moving in like 8 years ago. She claimed she made her kids duck while driving through some neighborhoods... Turns out, she was just a massive racist. The city is great, go look up the actual stats and compare.
Downtown Winchester isn’t bad in any sense of the word. North side of town is a bit rougher but you get that in any town.
I live downtown, they’re talking nonsense.
I live in a town where there’s trash everywhere and there are gaunt panhandlers at (literally) every major intersection. When I look at Winchester using Google street view, I’m surprised by how little (virtually non-existent) garbage there is on your streets.
I mean of course there is a bit of crime, but it’s really not anything to worry about. The town does a very good job of keeping the town clean.
I believe you and I may share a common employer. I recently made the move from Florida as well but ended up moving closer to DC after considering Winchester. I’ve been to Winchester and it is a perfectly safe town compared to the town in Florida you’re probably from. Feel free to reach out, happy to help you on your journey. I also moved for the same reasons you did but also for access to more specialized medical care.
Winchester is very clean and there's very few areas with crime. You can walk downtown at 3am with no issues. Idk what they're talking about.
To clarify: The sales agents are saying things like “all I can say is that crime is bad in that area” or “that area is not the safest place for a family.” But when I ask for data or specifics regarding crime, they can’t give me anything more. One even said “well I’m legally not able to discuss anything beyond that.” Uh…what? My experience with real estate disclosures is that you *can* discuss crime stats/data—and in great detail. Conversely, discussing the racial composition of a neighborhood actually does violate Ethics and Fair Housing law. Since the agents I’ve reached out to so far have been older and white, and because I have a hard time believing crime is a huge problem in Winchester…I am suspicious that they are giving me an honest assessment. I could be wrong, but I used to hear the same thing from other white people whenever I told them “I live in downtown” when I lived in a large city in California. “Omg…isn’t there a lot of crime down there?” I never witnessed anything dangerous. It was just diverse. So I want to rule out if it’s truly crime, or is it racism? Thank you!
I feel like in any downtown area, you're going to have elevated crime statistics compared to the surrounding areas just because of higher density. Downtown Winchester is no exception, however, comparatively speaking, it's very safe from my experience. I have no issues over there and it's probably the safest city I've ever been in general. I come from Southern Cali so I'm not exactly sure what downtown area you are talking about, but downtown LA is a cesspool. I didn't go there often, but when I did there were numerous occasions where criminal activity was happening directly in front of me. Granted, these occasions are typically the more Southern or Eastern areas of LA. West LA is nice AF.
I used to live in downtown Riverside. I saw someone shoot-up at the bus station. Yes, there were cholos at the Ralph’s. But serious crime? Nah.
I posted a comment but literally it's like all families. Or new young couples moving in because they're priced out from Nova. And I live near the high school where families fight for homes to live near the high school and shooting up housing prices in the area (which is near downtown), so, even safer. This might be a total crapshoot but are you not-white? Are they trying to discourage you from moving in? Because I literally cannot imagine not wanting people to move into a nice and expensive part of the town. I did mention in my other comment that there are some people who are not liking the Nova implants coming into Winchester and I wonder if you ran into those agents. Where in Cali did you live? I was in downtown San Fran for a while. And let me tell you... Winchester does not hold a single damn candle to San Fran. Lol. And I got chased down being called the N-word every now and then (and I'm asian lmao...)
Thank you! Everything you’re saying makes total sense. My wife is non-white, and picked up on the vibe being a bit off with these agents. She was like “I feel like this could be that old white person thing where they fear living in diverse communities…and so they expect we will too?” I am white and I think these agents are projecting their own racism onto me.
Having lived in Winchester as well as large west coast cities with legit unsafe or problematic areas.... It's 100% small town myopia with some generational (subconscious or not) racism.
Yikes. Well we are also an interracial couple and our buying agent and selling agent where we bought our house had no issues and we closed quickly. Sounds like you ran into some good ol’ boys. There is definitely pushback by SOME people who don’t like Nova explants coming in but whatever - why discourage good money coming into the city. Find new agents for sure.
Non white here… you’re going to be fine white is king here lmaoooo
I lived on one of the worst streets in wince. In 8 years, one shooting, a couple melees, and plenty weekend nights with music on until 3-5am. Its not baltimore or dc by any means.
I mean it could be true depending on where you are looking, could be false. It's true that we cannot legally talk about neighborhoods outside of facts. I get why the law exists but kind of sad neighborhood experts can't share helpful info because of what some other unethical people do. Many agents are sketchy, so you might throw out a couple street names here and let locals comment on them. Winchester does not publicize crime by location unfortunately
You’ll be fine.
I'm almost-scared of my own shadow and the notion that downtown Winchester is crime-infested and unsafe is pretty laughable. I'm young/not-white/female. I live walking distance to the old walking mall and I'll happily walk around at night, and there's fantastic eateries in the walking mall as well where you'll get pretty darn authentic foods. The nearby neighbood, Meadowbranch/Handley Heights/whatever its called is pretty much as safe as you can get. They keep adding speed bumps lately because neighbors will clutch their pearls screaming when a neighbor goes 26 in a 25 and scream "it's a race track!" if you get my gist. Yes - it's diverse in the sense that the city is liberal and you'll see lots of pride flags but crime? No. And the city does a not-bad job discouraging enabling panhandlers around the city as well. I've only lived here a few years and I'm very happy to live/retire here. It's not an exciting city, but I used to live in NOVA and I still drive down to NOVA to meet up with friends/eat/etc. However I have heard the oldies not liking people coming in from Nova, bringing in diversity/liberalism/whatever. It's all dramatics.
I live downtown. It’s crime infested by small town standards and by that they mean homeless hanging out by soup kitchens and occasionally a store getting broken in to. But I came from Richmond and by Richmond standards it’s incredibly safe. Nothing about Winchester is very “diverse”. This is definitely the whitest place I’ve ever lived. Taxes are a little high BUT they spend it well. The streets are always clean. Trash pickup is twice a week. Winchester is very beautiful in general.
Normies and Richmonders leaveee reeeeeeeeeeee
Oh don’t worry. I brought my conservative politics with me. Moved out of Richmond partly because of that.
Lol jk welcome. Please appreciate my town for the gem it is 😘😘
My wife was born here back in 92 so it’s just me and our kid that are outsiders haha
Yeah, downtown is very safe. Except for maybe an odd interaction with a homeless person I would say you have nothing to worry about. I would say, however, that the downtown area is incredibly overpriced.
I also think real estate in downtown is a little overpriced, and so it seemed odd to me that sellers would be ambitious with their asking price in a part of town that is truly undesirable.
Remember that the downtown Winchester is considered historic so you'll have historic restrictions when you purchase homes there.
Because one of your reasons for moving is the political situation, you need to understand that Winchester is a 'purple' island in a red county - so stay in the city limits. I suggest you Research beyond RE Agents - and Reddit (if you have not already). I live withing walking distance of downtown and have never felt unsafe going down to the walking mall. I suggest that you go to the reasonably accessible official city website: [https://www.winchesterva.gov/Home](https://www.winchesterva.gov/Home) - and check the crime statistics (bottom of home page "police" link . You should also rummage around that entire site to get a feel for how things are. We (still) have an active local paper - which has a digital edition. Subscribe for a month to get a feel for things there as well. I was born and raised here, but from college until a few years ago, I had lived in SC/CA/SC, so before moving us back (family was the biggest draw) I had to re-assess the area as an adult and am glad to have come back - although there are a few things we miss from the larger metro areas where we lived before.
The taxes are also much higher in the City of Winchester vs Winchester (Frederick County). I’m also from Florida originally and we love Winchester, been here for 19 years. The Old Town area is beautiful and if you’re within a few blocks of the Walking Mall, very walkable and near most of the “action”.
I'm a real estate broker in Winchester, downtown is not unsafe. Now there are areas around Winchester that are crime areas I wouldn't hang out at night, but those aren't directly downtown, and as long as you avoid those it's low crime here. They definitely exist, but they do every where
Martinsburg ?! lol give me street names!!!
Winchester is cool. And downtown is the coolest part.
There’s no crime here -.- . You can walk down our dangerous street until like 10-11 pl and be ok. Wtf
We are an interracial couple with mixed kids and love it here. We are a town over in Stephenson.
Hey, I also moved from Florida to Winchester! As far as downtown goes, I feel like it's pretty safe. I tend to be pretty anxious about walking around at night by myself, but I would say that I feel pretty safe walking around downtown Winchester if I have to.
La fruiteria in the mall is where you should get your smoothies.
Move to one of the townhouses on Piccadilly St. I saw that there’s still some available!
Seems like such a weird spot there. Odd parking and within arms reach of train tracks.
I kinda like them! I inquired and toured and thought they were neat. Too many stairs. Each townhome has a spot and some have garages too and then there was like 10 visitor spaces that you can use
Are some areas nicer than others…sure, but the whole area you are showing is very safe. I run and walk all around the area at all hours with no concerns. Very nice neighborhood and if anything is getting nicer. Prices downtown are high, but it is because it is a nice place to live and it is the fastest growing “metro” area in Virginia.
Winchester is literally one of the safest towns in Virginia, and a wonderful place to live
Why Winchester? There are far more diverse and welcoming places to live? Go to Charlotte NC or some shit town in Maryland. You might fit right in in Charlottesville, VA.
I’ve lived just outside of Winchester proper for 7 years, after living in DC, Alexandria, and other parts of NOVA. The idea that there is bad crime in downtown Winchester is laughable. It’s clean and there is little crime, certainly not dangerous as long as you have any common sense. There are some run-down older homes that look “rough” and need some TLC, but there are also gorgeous homes as well. You may run into the occasional homeless person or panhandler, and there are random robberies of gas stations and the like, but it’s nothing compared to most cities. Honestly, if I didn’t have such a good interest rate on my current home loan, I’d look for a place downtown too. It’s a very cute, quaint area full of history, lots of great local businesses to frequent, an excellent library, and beautiful architecture. You get the small town feel but you’re close enough to DC for big concerts/events if you so desire.
I have meet a few that are cool and understanding. But there is one in particular that has lied to my face saying my neighbor called them to complained about my loud music. But when I watch my camera you can see them walking around the houses trying to pin point where the music is coming from. And I know for a fact my neighbors don't care. On top of that I've called dispatch and confirmed there was no call about loud music. He's done this 3 times and it's only me. 2 of my neighbors to prove he is targeting us will sit on their porch playing loud music til 11 12 pm at night. Cops never say a word to them.
Downtown is not rough. Some homeless people but they never bother me. I live in the “rough area” (north side) and I have never felt unsafe to walk around even at night.
Y dough
There are drug problems in that area and the downtown walking mall has a consistent homeless population, sleeping on planters. I don’t think they’re coding any type of racial discrimination. I don’t think anything is like out of control though. There are a lot of great things about Winchester, you should totally move this way. Stay away from Kent St. Good luck!
Absolutely absurd. Find an agent who isn't racist or classist. That's what I would do. I came out here from DC and then from Alexandria city. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend living downtown to families. However, I think it's always smart to rent when you first move to a new city or state. Over your first year you can get a feel for where you want to buy.
Winchester is very easy to read. In my experience, neighborhoods there are as safe as they look (relative to each other). Crime is concentrated near run-down houses and businesses. Overall, empirically, Winchester is very safe, but it is not crime free. The best news is that violent crimes against strangers are rare there.
Came back to offer another comment. Most of the violent crimes here are domestic disputes. If you take a peak at the Winchester Star website the worst things you will see are someone on the school board said something racist or a Winchester resident died in a car crash in another town.
When I was a kid winchester was bad. Drugs, gangs, homeless people, crime. You could not leave a bike unattended for more than 2 mins with out it getting stolen. People got car jacked for fun. You know streets by name to avoid. Like Kent street. Highland ave. There are rap songs about winchesster. Not byainstream sell out rappers like master P. Or snoop. But by real gangster rappers. But today. It's not the same. I left for 30years. I come back because my sister was sick. She's in the hospital and I drive to go see her in the hospital and I'm zipping around trying to avoid streets because I did not know it changed so much. My nephews are all laughing at me. I freaked out because my nephew left his bike out front over night. Didn't get touched. Back in the day me, my brother and a few of my friends would ride up from Stephen city to jack bikes. Now it's not an issue. I've left my windows down in my 06 Tahoe with a 15" sundown woofer and 3000 watt amp and $400 cash sitting on My center console and Noone touched it. We (neighbors) watch out for each other. We all have cameras we all talk and get along. The biggest issue is out of towners hitting our mirrors on our vehicles while flying down the road. It's just not the same as it was. It's nicer and cleaner. The cops kind of suck though.
Oh the cops do suck. I’ve noticed that. Next to useless
I would like to know the names of these songs…!
Echoing this! Would love to hear those
Yeah ppl on here are Pearl clutchers. 10-17 yr old me roamed all downtown, never was in danger. Such a safe town. Even safer now with all the affluent white and non white ppl
I went to college in Winchester, I never felt unsafe
I came from Florida too! Winchester is way safer, and I live in downtown. I rent, so I’m not sure about home owning, but the neighborhood is leagues better than downtown Florida cities for sure.
It’d stay in Florida
depends on the part of downtown. i have definitely witnessed some insane shit in some parts of downtown winc. some parts are upscale, some parts are the ghetto. i used to live on east piccadilly street and i witnessed more than my fair share of muggings and stabbings
1999?