Is atlanta safer then it was? (Griffin, Senoia: bankrupt, school, living in)

[researchnerd]

From Wikipedia, the number of reported crimes per 100,000 population in 2010:

Homicide: 17.7
Forcible rape: 16.6 (as opposed to what, consensual rape?)
Robbery: 403
Aggravated assault: 634.7
Violent crime: 1,071.6
Burglary: 1,494.2
Larceny-theft: 3307
Motor vehicle theft: 940
Property crime: 5741

Source: FBI 2010 UCR data

The article also notes that:

Atlanta’s public safety improvement has occurred at more than twice the rate of the rest of the country. Crime is down across the country, but Atlanta’s improvement has far surpassed the national trend. This relative improvement explains why Atlanta—after ranking in the top five highest crime cities for most of the previous three decades—now ranks 31st. Atlanta has lower crime than Salt Lake City, Orlando and Tacoma, Washington.

So I think the answer to the OPs questions is: Yes, but it's still not great.

[cqholt]

Still lower crime than Mormon capital of the world and they don't drink!

[researchnerd]

I know. I visited SLC about six months ago and it seemed very clean and quiet. I was surprised to read that the crime rate is higher than Atlanta's.

[rzzz]

Utah and intermountain west in general has a big meth problem, which drives up crime rates.

[oldschoolChevy]

Originally Posted by branh0913

Atlanta is pretty safe. Actually a lot of the crime happens in the Gwinett county suburbs, and you may hear of some stuff happening every blue moon in West Atlanta. for the most part, it's not Chicago style danger, where you're fearing for your life. You end up in the wrong neighborhood, some people may stare you down, but it's rare it goes any further than that. People in Atlanta, even the criminals are really about making money, so many don't find a point in harassing innocent people. A lot of murders in Atlanta are mainly due to some guy finding his girlfriend on the couch with some other guy, and then he proceeds to murder that guy or something. There are VERY few street murders, and even when their are, VERY few innocent people get murdered. Overall senseless violence really isn't what Atlanta has ever been about. There is an odd story of it happening here and there, but for the most part criminals in Atlanta are too money minded to bother with petty violent crimes.

I completely disagree. Crime happens in Gwinnett, but Gwinnett still has a lot of nice areas and is no where near where all the crime happens. Crime wise as far as metro counties go Dekalb is the worst. And far as the city goes you may think crime happens in West Atlanta once in a blue moon, but that's not true either. You just won't hear about it on the news or in the paper. No one in the local media cares if someone gets layed out in the Bluff or Pittsburgh because it happens so much. And most of the murders in the city are not over some guy finding his girl cheating or even gang bs like how you see in places like Chicago. Most of the murders here are over drugs and robberies. The problem here is the different crews robbing each other. That's pretty much the Atlanta street way, drug dealers go and spend all their re-up money at the strip club, then when they run out of product they go rob the guy around the corner who sells. And the cycle just repeats itself over and over.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

I completely disagree. Crime happens in Gwinnett, but Gwinnett still has a lot of nice areas and is no where near where all the crime happens. Crime wise as far as metro counties go Dekalb is the worst. And far as the city goes you may think crime happens in West Atlanta once in a blue moon, but that's not true either. You just won't hear about it on the news or in the paper. No one in the local media cares if someone gets layed out in the Bluff or Pittsburgh because it happens so much.

I've noticed this too. Things I'd consider to be major crime in my area (carjackings, drive-by shootings, park shootings, pedestrian robbery at gunpoint) never make it into the media. Maybe it's that nobody cares, or maybe it's because residents are afraid the bad publicity will drive their property values down. Personally I'd rather everyone be well-informed.

Also, I agree with you about Gwinnett. Like every other metro county, it has bad parts and good parts.

[KingJohn]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

I'm in Kirkwood. We're heavily armed, but I prefer not to resort to that unless it's a dire emergency. The houses are so close together that you really have to be conscious of what's behind what you're aiming at.

Why would someone try to sell your son pills though? And he's a teenager? I am glad you are armed and can protect yourself. I am a black belt in martial arts, so I am also very definitive.

[KingJohn]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

I've noticed this too. Things I'd consider to be major crime in my area (carjackings, drive-by shootings, park shootings, pedestrian robbery at gunpoint) never make it into the media. Maybe it's that nobody cares, or maybe it's because residents are afraid the bad publicity will drive their property values down. Personally I'd rather everyone be well-informed.

Also, I agree with you about Gwinnett. Like every other metro county, it has bad parts and good parts.

Do you need to live in the snobby aeras of Atlanta (like alpheretta) to actually get a peace of mind and know someone won't rob you at gunpoint? I mean, what is wrong with people? Do these people have no minds? What kind of person walks up to an old lady and points a gun at them? You can't even go to a park now without worrying about being shot? If I end up getting a job in Atlanta, I am NOT living in it. I don't care how long the drive.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by KingJohn

Why would someone try to sell your son pills though? And he's a teenager? I am glad you are armed and can protect yourself. I am a black belt in martial arts, so I am also very definitive.

I think they saw a new opportunity and were just trying to expand their customer base. From what he said, the sales pitch was something like, "Need any pills? If you don't, I know your friends do. Tell them to come on over."

My son is 19 and 6 feet 3. He's also a black belt

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by KingJohn

Do you need to live in the snobby aeras of Atlanta (like alpheretta) to actually get a peace of mind and know someone won't rob you at gunpoint? I mean, what is wrong with people? Do these people have no minds? What kind of person walks up to an old lady and points a gun at them? You can't even go to a park now without worrying about being shot? If I end up getting a job in Atlanta, I am NOT living in it. I don't care how long the drive.

There are plenty of Atlanta suburbs that are not snobby and have much lower crime rates than the city. Whether you have to live there to feel safe is subjective. Everyone's crime tolerance level and criteria for peace of mind is different. I moved to Atlanta a year ago from a very rural suburb, and to be honest, I'm still adjusting. My teenager, on the other hand, has no problem with it.

On one hand, most of the crime is property related. This is true, but the property crime rate is pretty high, and also sometimes spills over into violence. Someone getting robbed of their cellphone on the street may technically be property crime, but it's not something I want to happen to me or my family. Car break-ins and home invasions are pretty common, and they are relatively harmless, but I still don't want deal with it. Some people accept it as the price of living in an otherwise great place; to me it's frickin' uncivilized.

Some folks say that the violent crime is targeted, so not a risk to the general public. The most recent park shooting in my neighborhood was a high school kid getting shot by someone he knew, in the middle of the afternoon. Granted, it wasn't random violence, but if I had small children I definitely wouldn't feel safe taking them to a park where there might be stray bullets. Other people take their kids there all the time.