Austin Ghetto (Spring, Clarksville, Manor: crime, lawyers, neighborhoods)

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by latikeriii

Are you sure that El Paso's numbers are that low?

United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[polo89]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

To put things in perspective:

Austin; Murders = 23, Rate Per 100,000 = 3.1
Dallas; Murders = 170, Rate Per 100,000 = 13.3
El Paso; Murders = 17, Rate Per 100,000 = 2.8
Fort Worth; Murders = 49, Rate Per 100,000 = 7
Houston; Murders = 294, Rate Per 100,000 = 13.1
San Antonio; Murders = 116, Rate Per 100,000 = 8.6

Thus an "average" neighborhood in Houston or Dallas could have a higher rate than a "bad" area of Austin or El Paso.

You're just comparing CITY murder rates. There are ALOT of SAFE cities with BAD neighborhoods. Just because you wont get shot on Lamar or 6th street, doesn't mean that certain areas are safe at night.

[polo89]

Originally Posted by tongpa-nyi

That map is very deceptive. Notice that the most "dangerous" areas are where students live. The crime rate is highest in "student ghettos" because there's so much theft, especially bicycles.

The same map would look entirely different if it were based on violent crime rather than total crime. Property crimes always swamp violent crime data, rendering the issue of safety moot when looking at a map like this.

Exactly. Property crime isn't really good in telling whether a neighborhood is safe or not.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by polo89

You're just comparing CITY murder rates. There are ALOT of SAFE cities with BAD neighborhoods. Just because you wont get shot on Lamar or 6th street, doesn't mean that certain areas are safe at night.

Yes there will always be geographic variability, but considering the topic of this thread and the murder rates quoted, I would have to say the worst neighborhoods in El Paso and Austin aren't nearly as bad as the worst from Houston and Dallas. Greater than 4x the murder rate is huge. I don't think even a few ghettos in the latter 2 cities could make up all the difference.

[austinlife10]

Do you people know that Mueller is located in the 78723? And it has $million homes for sale which I bet none of you that criticize this zip code can afford to buy. Also my neighborhood University Hills is located in 78723 and it has some of the lowest crime -neighborhood wise-. UH has educated high class people, really nice homes and great neighbors. And a very, very mixed society! Also the homes are not very expensive for the square feet and the large lots it provides. Just drive by and you will see! And it is the same thing with many sides of East I-35 that have very nice expensive homes for sale and amazing talented people.

[dsmber10]

The thing about Austin is even in those zip codes or thoroughfares it can vary pretty wildly, a poster spoke about crime in 78753... I highly doubt much of anything is going on in Harris Ridge. Similarly I grew up in 78758 which if you are on say Rundberg and Lamar or pretty much anywhere on Peyton Gin is pretty rough, but once you get past Braker Lane it magically turns into a leafy well kept suburban community with rather high priced homes in places like River Oaks and Gracywoods plus The Domain to boot

[Danbo1957]

No, there are no ghettos in Austin...

[phil938]

Originally Posted by jobert

If you're planning on moving close to town and staying in a good neighborhood, you have to stay south of that street. There are a lot of people cramming into the near north for this reason and driving up the price. If you aren't a student, and you don't work at UT, you will get more bang for your buck south of the river and be just as close to downtown, you won't be bidding against students/faculty/ and others who need the house more than you do.

Neighborhoods WEST of North Lamar are pretty good all the way until you hit Anderson Ln and Hwy 183. I live in Brentwood, a neighborhood just west of N. Lamar and north of Koenig and bounded by Burnet Rd on the west. Brentwood along with the adjacent Crestview neighborhood are really good areas. Not to mention Allendale, west of Burnet and north of Koenig. So the "north of 51st street" isn't quite an accurate description of neighborhoods in regard to safety, etc. And anywhere in central/north-central Austin (west of I-35, east of MoPac, south of Hwy 183) results in NO MORE than a 30 minute commute downtown during rush hour.

[jread]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

No, there are no ghettos in Austin...

I tend to agree. Anyone who has grown up in a different city would LAUGH at what people in Austin call the "bad part of town", I know I do. I've been all over Austin and while there are neighborhood that are shady and areas where you wouldn't want to leave your car unlocked, I've never felt like my life was in danger like I would in parts of Houston or Dallas. Even around Beaumont where I'm from is MUCH worse than ANYTHING in Austin. There are neighborhoods there where you can guarantee something will happen to you if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time (or would that be wrong place at the right time?).

Just because white suburbanites are scared of a place doesn't mean it's actually dangerous (yeah, I said it)

[eepstein]

I don't really think there are ghettos in Austin. Many of the areas in East and Southeast Austin are undesirable, but certainly wouldn't be considered dangerous by most people's standards. The little "hoodlums" in these parts of nothing more than "shotty imitators" of the real thugs in Houston, Dallas, and SA. But I would say overall, just stay west of 35, and you should be less likely to encounter any serious crimes.

Originally Posted by balps

Are there any "ghettos" in Austin (unsafe areas) that I should avoid if I was looking for an area to live around Austin?