yay ...#30 on the murder city list.   My office is in Denbigh area and new to me , but i have been thru NN/64 traffic for years living in VB right now.  https://goo.gl/maps/k2zyBuNy5A52 . I'm just going to rent a house or apartment for now , want to stay within 15 minutes/7 miles of the office .  

where are the decent good neighborhoods ?  I have a 73 old retired parent with me that likes to work in the yard/garden and ride her bike around to stay fit so day time safety is a concern. I'll drop $1600 for rent for a nice area but  $1200 is better . I was told beechwood isnt bad.

Any suggestions? 

Try the Denbigh, Ft. Eustis, or Christopher Newport area. I grew up in that area, but never go back if I can avoid it. Serious crime problems in NN, but mostly in the areas SE of Hilton Village and East End. Area around I-64 & J Clyde Morris Blvd is not too good either.

I would rather go JCC, Williamsburg, lightfoot area than NN. Or even IOW across from the James River bridge.

Rent, or buy at that price?  There's a house on my street up for short sale, probably in that price range.  Quiet street next to Gosnold's Hope Park, not in NN, but within your radius(ish).  There's enough known gun owners in the neighborhood no riff-raff ventures around.

I lived in Kiln Creek when I worked at NWSY. It wasn't a bad area.

I would cross all of the Denbigh area off the list.  Look real hard in the CNU area.  Beechwood is nice but there aren't a lot of rentals in that area, and it's surrounded by...less nice neighborhoods (the rest of Denbigh).  Even the Windsor Great Park area across from Mary Immaculate is peppered with unmaintained homes.  Tech Center and City Center have lots of new apartments but that means no green space for your parent, unless they're willing to travel to the community garden down by Lee Hall.  Those areas would also be less safe for bicycle riding, compared to a neighborhood of single-family homes.

There are lots of small neighborhoods tucked away here and there that would be worth consideration - if you can link some homes you're looking at you could get more info.

Community garden link, because I think it's a neat idea: https://www.nngov.com/907/Newport-News-Community-Garden

ETA: just looked on Zillow in the CNU area and it's slim pickins.  There's one on 208 Tipton Rd - $1500 and dated as fuck.  That's just a glance though; not trying to discourage ya, heh.  A bunch in Kiln Creek but postage stamp yards and I'm pretty sure everything there has HOAs.

Suck up the extra 15min commute and live over in Carrolton (Isle of Wight).

I stay away from 'Jurassic Park' if I can.......but rarely can since my grand mother lives there..... it yea suck up the commute and live in Carrollton. Less chances of getting mugged

All this.

LOL extra 15 minutes. Maybe by helicopter. Isle of Wight is a solid 40 minutes from OP's office. On a good day.

You are crazy especially with the construction on 64 for the next few years.  Going to make the commute in the summer even more painful.  Forget all that driving , life is too short to waste it sitting in a car commuting

OP should look at oyster point,  menchville, or kiln creek areas if living in Newport News.  York county is also nice.

Look into York, Poquoson, JCC, Toana, or Gloucester.  You could not pay me to live in Newport News or Hampton again.

There are at least two alternate East-West routes if the I-64 traffic gets bad, which it does only rarely even with the miles of construction.