Atlanta for a single guy mid 30's....moving from Dallas (Decatur: 2014, crime rates)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

No, the whole city of Atlanta is not crime infested just like the whole city of Chicago is not crime infested. However atlanta still does have a higher crime rate than Chicago. Positively, crime is down in both cities. My point isn't to make atlanta look like a war zone, my point is that you don't have to be in a gang or living in a bad neighborhood to be a victim of crime in Atlanta. Regular working folks get killed while being robbed in metro Atlanta all the time. And doesn't happen just in bad neighborhoods at least in Chicago You can easily avoid Crohn areas and gangs. In Atlanta it's more random.

I don't know about Chicago, but Atlanta does seem to be pretty random. My young son was 100 yards away from a shooting (but didn't hear it) and then both of us recently drove by where a shooting had happened about an hour before. He's only been here 6 years. We've been victims of property crime 3 different times in 3 different parts of Atlanta in those 6 years after never having it happen to me prior to that in several other cities. And we're talking midtown, Virginia Highlands, Edgewood, Druid Hills and Northlake, not the Bluff or Candler-McAfee. My spouse knew (although not well) the woman who was murdered randomly in downtown Decatur recently. Several times I've seen men stoned out of their heads in public in those areas (a danger to themselves more than others). I know of 4 attacks/robberies within a mile of my house since I've lived here. Normally that sort of thing is mostly confined to certain areas.

[JMatl]

^My reality in living between Midtown and NW DeKalb and being out and about in the Metro for over 20 years could not be more starkly different than this.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by bu2

I don't know about Chicago, but Atlanta does seem to be pretty random. My young son was 100 yards away from a shooting (but didn't hear it) and then both of us recently drove by where a shooting had happened about an hour before. He's only been here 6 years. We've been victims of property crime 3 different times in 3 different parts of Atlanta in those 6 years after never having it happen to me prior to that in several other cities. And we're talking midtown, Virginia Highlands, Edgewood, Druid Hills and Northlake, not the Bluff or Candler-McAfee. My spouse knew (although not well) the woman who was murdered randomly in downtown Decatur recently. Several times I've seen men stoned out of their heads in public in those areas (a danger to themselves more than others). I know of 4 attacks/robberies within a mile of my house since I've lived here. Normally that sort of thing is mostly confined to certain areas.

I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and was never a victim of crime until I moved to Atlanta. I never even heard of a home invasion until I moved to Atlanta. One apartment Iived in the Atlanta area was burglarized, and another one shot into. My mom's first night in her first Atlanta area apartment, someone tried to break in. We never experienced anything like that back home.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and was never a victim of crime until I moved to Atlanta. I never even heard of a home invasion until I moved to Atlanta. One apartment Iived in the Atlanta area was burglarized, and another one shot into. My mom's first night in her first Atlanta area apartment, someone tried to break in. We never experienced anything like that back home.

And I've lived in Atlanta for over 20 years, and have never been the victim of a crime.

I was however held up at gunpoint with two co-workers in Chicago, half a block from Pizzeria Uno on E. Ohio by a deranged crackhead/junkie several years ago. The only time I've ever been robbed, but I still love Chicago for what it is.

Nothing even REMOTELY similar has ever happened to me here, or anyone I know for that matter.

Again, your stories do not in any way match the reality of the average Atlantan.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by JMatl

And I've lived in Atlanta for over 20 years, and have never been the victim of a crime.

I was however held up at gunpoint with two co-workers in Chicago, half a block from Pizzeria Uno on E. Ohio by a deranged crackhead/junkie several years ago. The only time I've ever been robbed, but I still love Chicago for what it is.

Nothing even REMOTELY similar has ever happened to me here, or anyone I know for that matter.

Again, your stories do not in any way match the reality of the average Atlantan.

Just because you haven't been a victim doesn't mean Atlanta doesn't have a crime problem, especially given that Atlanta had been on the FBI's top ten most dangerous cities list for years on end. I lived in Atlanta for nearly twenty years and Atlanta was ALWAYS on that list while Chicago never is. I think it's only very recently that Atlanta did not make that list. In fact I never even knew about that list until I moved to Atlanta because Atlanta was always on it.

Myself along with a great number of others I know have been victims of crime in Atlanta, with many of them having lost their lives. How dare you minimize the pain and suffering of others just because you have been fortunate enough to not be a victim yourself. I am fortunate enough to have never been a rape victim, but I would never blame the victim or minimize the experience of someone who has just because it hasn't happened to me. Not having an experienced crime in Atlanta doesn't mean it's not a problem because it is.

Before moving to Atlanta, even I assumed Chicago was more dangerous. I was wrong. I was surprised and shocked at how bad Atlanta's crime was. I wish I didn't have the negative experiences I had in Atlanta. But what can I say? They happened. I didn't have these experiences before I moved to Atlanta, and so far I haven't experienced it since I left.

I am not at all minimizing Chicago's problems but Atlanta is definitely not safer for the average person not involved in or living near gangs or in bad neighborhoods. That's the only point I was trying to make here.

[Poncey]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

Myself along with a great number of others I know have been victims of crime in Atlanta, with many of them having lost their lives.

What's your profession? Gang-banging?

Your Atlanta crime stories hardly seem credible.

[Atlanta_BD]

Y

Originally Posted by Poncey

What's your profession? Gang-banging?

Your Atlanta crime stories hardly seem credible.

Is that you Tony?

When Atlanta stops making the most dangerous cities list, then you can tell me my stories are not credible. Lucky for Atanta residents, it didn't make the top ten last year. But it's still in the top twenty five. Chicago still isn't on that list.

[Poncey]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

Y
Is that you Tony?

When Atlanta stops making the most dangerous cities list, then you can tell me my stories are not credible. Lucky for Atanta residents, it didn't make the top ten last year. But it's still in the top twenty five. Chicago still isn't on that list.

Who?

Anyways, when state and local officials feel public pressure to call the National Guard into action to protect the streets, I don't need to see lists to confirm where there's a major crime problem.

Thankfully for Chicago the weather cools down.

[usamathman]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Moving back to New York is not an option.

I have narrowed my final two choices to Chicago and Atlanta. Going to plan a weekend trip soon to check out ATL.

Now comes the hard part of trying to land an out of state job.

Dallas is not a bad city. It's just that this place is not for me. There were a few posters that describe it to a tee.
Lack of nightlife and difficulty making friends with the locals.

Hoping that something will open up as soon as possible so that I can go ahead and make the transition out of TX.

Thanks again!

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Poncey

What's your profession? Gang-banging?

Your Atlanta crime stories hardly seem credible.

Case in point:

2 dead in Little Five Points shooting | www.wsbtv.com

Just another example of what I've been saying: That Atlanta's shootings don't just happen in the hood to criminal black males. L5P is a hip and trendy neighborhood in Atlanta and both victims were white males. And accordig to the article, "Police are working to determine if the killings are connected to an armed robbery that happened about 10 minutes before, just over a mile to the north, in Virginia Highlands."

L5P is one of my favorite Atlanta neighborhoods, by the way, and I used to live in Virginia-Highland (which I loved), which is an upper-class neighborhood with $1.5 million homes. So like I've been saying, Atlanta's crime is more random and happens in the good neighborhoods just the same, while with Chicago it's a lot easier to tell people where they can avoid.

I work in the hospitality industry and I'm in direct contact with travelers every single day. I spoke with a business traveler a couple of weeks ago who lives in Decatur. I told him that I just moved here last year from Atlanta and I used to work near where he lives. He said crime is getting bad there and he also mentioned the woman who got killed in downtown Decatur, another nice, well-to-do area that I also liked.