20852, aka north Bethesda. Feeds to Walter Johnson.

Most of it is safe, but the areas next to Potomac are the most safe

I live in 20853. Some people on this board must really live in a bubble if they think the area is unsafe. Go drive around 20853--Norbeck Estates (actually zoned for Magruder), Flower Valley, Manor Country Club, Manor Woods, Rock Creek Valley, Manor Lake, etc. It is not the urban ghetto of west Baltimore. Most of my neighbors are professional people like us, people who work at NIH, for the federal gov, etc. Yes, as go south of Arctic Ave there are some less expensive rambler style homes (by which I mean in the $300Ks) and a fair number of immigrants from central/south American countries. Some of the properties are not as well kept as other homes in the zip code. And we can debate the quality of the schools, sure, but it is just silly to describe the area as unsafe.

Anonymous wrote:We live in 20853--the Rockville cluster. I still feel completely safe here. That one incident doesn't reflect the community. There are crimes and bad people everywhere, even the "west end" of Rockville.

Really?? I live in 20853, but this story has me concerned.

Do you realize the 18 year old rapist lived right on Bel Pre? He was walking distance from my house.

If this was a drug crime, that's one thing. But a rapist in walking distance? Makes me feel a little nervous about letting my daughter roam the neighborhood as freely as before. YMMV.

Not like he was a registered sex offender that would have come up in a search or anything.

Also agree that if you search for crime reports near Rockville Metro, you will see a good number of incidents.

As others said there's crime everywhere and it's not easily avoided.

Some people complain about crime in the area behind the Rockville Town Center (the North Washington Street side, not the Lincoln Park side). They blame it partially on the proximity to the skate park and mass transit, and the high foot traffic that goes by due to those two things. Also the teenager accused of shooting the other teenager at the Rockville metro several years ago lives around there and it was said to be drug related.

Then further west, the crimes may not be as blatant or visible. But kind of worry about teens and drunk driving and drugs. It's probably applicable to every high school but that area had more things related to that in the news recently.

What's your definition of "safe"? Some areas have more petty crime then others, but its not like there is anywhere in Rockville that I would feel unsafe going about my daily business. Crime and bad stuff can happen anywhere. Remember about 2 years ago when a Rockville couple was murdered in their home by their own neighbor? Guess where that happened...West of 270.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We drive up Rockville now and then for Chinese food and pass by an area near the town center that has really cute old Victorians and other historic houses (maybe this is an historic district?). That's on the east side of 270 tho - per the PPs' posts, is this area not considered safe? It seems really nice.

That's the historic West End. Lovely area.

Ok - but that area is east of 270, yes? Sorry - I'm not familiar with the area. When posters say to stay west if 270, I presume that this area then is an exception?

Anonymous wrote:We drive up Rockville now and then for Chinese food and pass by an area near the town center that has really cute old Victorians and other historic houses (maybe this is an historic district?). That's on the east side of 270 tho - per the PPs' posts, is this area not considered safe? It seems really nice.

That's the historic West End. Lovely area.

We drive up Rockville now and then for Chinese food and pass by an area near the town center that has really cute old Victorians and other historic houses (maybe this is an historic district?). That's on the east side of 270 tho - per the PPs' posts, is this area not considered safe? It seems really nice.

We live in 20853--the Rockville cluster. I still feel completely safe here. That one incident doesn't reflect the community. There are crimes and bad people everywhere, even the "west end" of Rockville.

Thanks PPs

West of I 270 is safe. Like a moat.

Just stay on West side of the Rockville Pike, and you'll be fine

Most parts of Rockville are safe, particularly those in the city limits. The one part that some people consider less safe is the Twinbrook area.

With all this Rockville HS talk Ive gotten nervous as we are house hunting primarily in Rockville. Also a lot of the listings I see say "8 crime reports within a mile of this home in the last month" or similar numbers to that which seems to be a lot. If looking in Rockville for SAFE community and surrounding areas, which sections or pockets should I focus on?