[Prefex]

I met a person who lives in Hillcrest today who talked about crime in the Hillcrest/Heights area. This is the 3rd person this week from the area who spoke to me about deteriorating living conditions there because of crime and the fear of crime. Initially, my plan was to rent in the area and eventually buy there, but now I am having second thoughts.

Irrespective of the media attention on the Anne Pressley case, anecdotal evidence is coming to light about a crime wave, with an inadequate (and sometimes incompetent) police response. There is a palpable fear there at night.

Since I am relatively new to the area, is this the reason for the white flight out of the city? I lived in a large city with similar problems until a mayor was elected who directly addressed the crime issue and subsequently drastically reduced it, and as a result greatly enhanced our quality of life. Is there a political will to do something similar in Little Rock?

I want to invest my future in the city, but not if it’s detrimental to my safety.

[PurpleLove08]

I remember looking in the paper today and seeing all the burglaries that have occurred in Little Rock.

The Lakewood area in North Little Rock is pretty safe.

In Little Rock I feel pretty safe unless I am in a certain area of downtown Little Rock but I generally feel safe. I suggest talking to more people, maybe those who have been living in the area for a while and see what their experiences have been.

I would also suggest going to city countil meetings and speaking up about your concern for crime.

[bchris02]

Hillcrest and the Heights are generally safe, but Hillcrest especially is bordering on some not so safe areas. It will help when they finally bulldoze that crack motel on Markham and Pine/Cedar near UAMS. I personally feel pretty safe anywhere north of Kavennaugh in Hillcrest. The Heights is very nice and despite the Anne Pressley situation, I have never felt unsafe there.

And yes, perceived safety issues is why Conway and Cabot is where most of the growth in Central Arkansas is happening. However, if you don't want to live in Little Rock, you don't have to live an hour away. North Little Rock and Sherwood have some nice areas, as well as Maumelle and Bryant to the southwest.

[Prefex]

Thanks for the advice. I woke up in glorious sunshine this morning and praised the Heavens that I am in Arkansas, and not up North.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Prefex

Thanks for the advice. I woke up in glorious sunshine this morning and praised the Heavens that I am in Arkansas, and not up North.

Every day.

Every...single..day.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by Prefex

Is there a political will to do something similar in Little Rock?

I want to invest my future in the city, but not if it’s detrimental to my safety.

Sadly, Little Rock doesn't have a history of action on this front. They'll try from time to time to make things better. For a while, it works, but they don't often stick with it for long periods of time. I do hope that attitude changes.

All too often, the residents and city officials would rather forget about the bad neighborhoods, and wish they would just go away. I've heard some bad stories about people working in public jobs, that will tell complainers who live in bad areas, that "they just live in the wrong part of town to be helped."

Certainly, a lot of those area's problems stem from the inaction of it's resident's, but support from the city would be nice.

Yes, I wake up very thankful I no longer live in Arkansas, and can't wait to get further north still. I've fallen in love with some places way up there.
To each their own. Glad you like Arkansas.

[Prefex]

Originally Posted by northbound74

All too often, the residents and city officials would rather forget about the bad neighborhoods, and wish they would just go away. I've heard some bad stories about people working in public jobs, that will tell complainers who live in bad areas, that "they just live in the wrong part of town to be helped."

I am in particular talking about the Heights/Hillcrest and people coming from the "bad areas" of town to commit crime there. What can be done to stop that?

Profiling is wrong so I am trying to figure out what can be done. Do I buy a gun (for the first time in my life) in order to protect myself? I do not know if I want to go down that path. I was in the Heights again today and really like the place.

Also visited some open houses in Maumelle and was not very impressed with the area (personal opinion). Will look at Sherwood in the coming days. Bryant is ok but a little too quiet. I can't get a "handle" on West Little Rock yet, but it has potential.

Best of luck up North Northbound. Been to all of the States from Illinois to Maine. Just got tired of the long winters in the North East.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by Prefex

I am in particular talking about the Heights/Hillcrest and people coming from the "bad areas" of town to commit crime there. What can be done to stop that?

Profiling is wrong so I am trying to figure out what can be done. Do I buy a gun (for the first time in my life) in order to protect myself? I do not know if I want to go down that path. I was in the Heights again today and really like the place.

Also visited some open houses in Maumelle and was not very impressed with the area (personal opinion). Will look at Sherwood in the coming days. Bryant is ok but a little too quiet. I can't get a "handle" on West Little Rock yet, but it has potential.

Best of luck up North Northbound. Been to all of the States from Illinois to Maine. Just got tired of the long winters in the North East.

Don't give up on Hillcrest/Heights yet, especially on northbound's opinion. He has an exceptionally negative perception of Little Rock. Just be careful to stay in the Kavennaugh corridor or north.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by bchris02

Don't give up on Hillcrest/Heights yet, especially on northbound's opinion. He has an exceptionally negative perception of Little Rock. Just be careful to stay in the Kavennaugh corridor or north.

I didn't say anything about Heights/Hillcrest. Those are both okay areas, but they probably are a bit too close to high crime areas for those who are overly concerned about such things.
My perceptions of Little Rock come from the four years I lived there. I saw good things, I saw bad things. I got tired of the apathy.
Tired of the "stay away from that neighborhood", or "crime's only confined to a couple of areas"... at least until your car is broken in to on Chenal Parkway. What about the people who have to live in those areas? Instead of avoiding them, why not try helping them? Where's the civic pride? Why must we sweep those bad things under the rug?

If you want Little Rock to be a truly great city, start with Asher Avenue, Wright... then go to Baseline, etc. Having a spiffy little downtown for whatever tourists you have is okay, but why not try making the whole city livable and pleasant for those who reside there?

Originally Posted by Prefex

I am in particular talking about the Heights/Hillcrest and people coming from the "bad areas" of town to commit crime there. What can be done to stop that?

Profiling is wrong so I am trying to figure out what can be done. Do I buy a gun (for the first time in my life) in order to protect myself? I do not know if I want to go down that path. I was in the Heights again today and really like the place.

Also visited some open houses in Maumelle and was not very impressed with the area (personal opinion). Will look at Sherwood in the coming days. Bryant is ok but a little too quiet. I can't get a "handle" on West Little Rock yet, but it has potential.

Best of luck up North Northbound. Been to all of the States from Illinois to Maine. Just got tired of the long winters in the North East.

Pulaski Heights is an okay area. You may not need a gun, but you will need to get a feel for the area. Know when and where you can go, especially after dark. Some places close to there can be seedy at night.

The western parts of Little Rock are like Maumelle, but with more retail, and more apartment complexes.

I do look foward to longer, colder & snowier winters, but I especially look forward to shorter, much cooler summers. Where I am now is more like that than Little Rock, but the summers are still oppressively hot, and a smidgen too long. Maine is one of my favorite places on earth.

[RogMar]

In view of crime in Little Rock, or any other sizeable city, one must take society in general into view.

Stats are misleading, and there are many cities in this country that fight releasing any crime reports to the media. When people are thinking of relocating to a new branch of their company, they'll read the local paper to see what the atmosphere is. The last thing a developing area wants is to be portrayed as a crime area.

I have taken a pretty good look at Little Rock.

No, I haven't lived there, but when it comes to risk assessment and evaluation, let's just say that I have far, far more experience at that than most.

When I've been in Little Rock, I've seen excellent police response considering that they are understaffed. They have a large recruitment effort underway, but it's tough in this state to get good talent. One must really want to do the job, and then practically take a vow of poverty.

I see less crime or risk than in a lot of other cities of comparable size and ethnic composition.

On the matter of people coming from bad areas to commit crime in good areas.....man that's the way it's done everywhere, for two reasons.

The first being that there is a social structure in those areas, and one does not want to rip off James' mother, because James, like everybody else, has friends, and they don't call the police.

The second being, you don't go to Sears if you're looking for some fine candies.

You go to where the prize is.

Crime inside the bad areas tends to be personally based, settling a score as such.

Crime in the good areas are property based, looking for money or goods.

The Pressley case, as I see it, has no indication of a typical crime.

Although I said in another thread that I hope this isn't held up as indication of the norm in Little Rock, some will do that.

I don't buy for a minute that someone broke in to do a home invasion, and then decided to beat Anne Pressley to death while they were there.

When the truth comes out, and eventually it will, I think the home invasion was staged to cover the intended act of attacking her.

That is speculation, and a news report could stomp my theory, but....time will tell.

You want to see crime, go to Houston, or Dallas, or Phoenix, or Detroit, or any one of hundreds of other cities, but I don't see LR making any impact at all on that list.

If you read the paper from one of our cow-pie towns around here, and see all the meth and "terroristic threat" arrests in this county, you'd swear it's up for grabs, and that's as far from the truth as it can get.

It's embedded in society, there are bad apples everywhere, they tend to gravitate to cities where they can misbehave and blend, and know that most folks don't even know who lives on their block, so 'suspicious' cars and people go unchecked.