SWAT Team in Summerville ?!?! (Charleston, North Charleston: homes, neighborhood, tax)

[Speedaddicted]

Summerville isnt even in the top 25. I would challenge her or anyone else to post the total number of murders, rapes or assaults in NYC vs Summerville for ANY year. These figures are not based on total number of crimes but on percentages which is pointless.

[Speedaddicted]

Just how SAFE is NYC

Murder: 597
Forcible Rape:1,609
Robbery:25,989
Aggravated Assault:31,253
Burglary:28,293
Larceny or Theft:124,846
Car Theft:23,628

Summerville
Murder:2
Forcible Rape:5
Robbery:22
Aggravated Assault:99
Burglary:181
Larceny or Theft:969
Car Theft:80
Arson:5

597 murders vs 2.... 1609 forcible rapes vs 5..... yeah um... Thats safe alright.

[elliegrl]

That is the problem with statistics and percentages...what do they REALLY mean, which was the point of asking my original question. If I move to Charleston or Summerville, will I feel safe? Why does a small town have a SWAT team? Is there an underlying problem? Charleston was a FABULOUS vacation destination and has all the things I LOVE about NYC in a smaller package...theater, ballet, great restaurants. So I did some research about moving there and found that Charleston is rated almost at the top at #4 out of 200 best places to live but ranks almost at the bottom at 197 out of 200 for safety. WHY is that? Is the problem gangs and drugs which I would not likely encounter or is it home robberies/car theft and purse snatches at the mall which I would very likely encounter. Instead of getting all defensive, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION !! How does it FEEL to live in Charleston/Summerville? Are you constantly looking over your shoulder? Are you afraid of the dark? Where are the safe places to go? Where are the "bad" places to avoid. I am just trying to decipher the statistics. Why does "perfect small town" Summerville have a SWAT Team?

[OleTomCat]

We have explained why we have a SWAT team...

Wether or not you feel safe is up to you, noone else controls your feelings other than you...

If you feel safe in NYC than you will be amazed at our 'Mayberry' little town even with the SWAT team.....

You are looking at North Charleston crime stats which are mostly drug related....

Read all of the posts and you will see that we have answered your questions....

[elliegrl]

What SPECIFIC areas should I avoid in term of looking for a house? What specific neighborhoods, subdivisions, particular streets? Homes in North Charleston look GREAT on MLS = nice homes, well kept lawns, but crime reports show North Charleston as an "unsafe place", so I am just looking for information about what specific places to avoid. Maybe I need to stop thinking about the SWAT Team and start another thread about specific "bad locations" ??

[Avery123]

Speed addicted. Is that an actual physical description?

Not sure where you got your numbers from buddy. Here is the link to the FBI UCR for 2008 for New York. 523 murders in a population of 8,345,075 is .0063% of the population.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/08aprelim/spr...ble4prelim.xls


Here is the link for the FBI UCR for 2007 for South Carolina, which breaks out Summerville (I cannot locate a 2008 entry for Summerville). 2 murders out of a population 43,985 is .0045% of the population, which essentially places Summerville equal to New York. If Summerville would have had just one additional person murdered in 2007 then it would have exceeded New York with murders as a percentage of the total population.

Table 8 (South Carolina) - Crime in the United States 2007


If you would like to actually utilize the numbers for New York in 2007, then 496 murders out of a population of 8,220,196 is .0060% of the population, actually a better year than 2008 and quite comparable to Summerville.

Table 8 (New York) - Crime in the United States 2007


You can also take a look a the numbers for North Charleston, which is where I guess you purchase your drugs?

[Speedaddicted]

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

Percentages are crap. Give me total numbers.

yes it is a physical description I am adddicted to driving fast......

[moneill]

oh goodness -- how silly we all are.

[Speedaddicted]

Originally Posted by elliegrl

What SPECIFIC areas should I avoid in term of looking for a house? What specific neighborhoods, subdivisions, particular streets? Homes in North Charleston look GREAT on MLS = nice homes, well kept lawns, but crime reports show North Charleston as an "unsafe place", so I am just looking for information about what specific places to avoid. Maybe I need to stop thinking about the SWAT Team and start another thread about specific "bad locations" ??

1 area to stay away from IMO. Spruil Ave and anywhere down by the Navy Hospital and old navy base or pepper hill. I can give you some others as well, I just want to make sure I have the right names of the subdivisions.

[StarryEyedSurprise]

Originally Posted by elliegrl

That is the problem with statistics and percentages...what do they REALLY mean, which was the point of asking my original question. If I move to Charleston or Summerville, will I feel safe? Why does a small town have a SWAT team? Is there an underlying problem? Charleston was a FABULOUS vacation destination and has all the things I LOVE about NYC in a smaller package...theater, ballet, great restaurants. So I did some research about moving there and found that Charleston is rated almost at the top at #4 out of 200 best places to live but ranks almost at the bottom at 197 out of 200 for safety. WHY is that? Is the problem gangs and drugs which I would not likely encounter or is it home robberies/car theft and purse snatches at the mall which I would very likely encounter. Instead of getting all defensive, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION !! How does it FEEL to live in Charleston/Summerville? Are you constantly looking over your shoulder? Are you afraid of the dark? Where are the safe places to go? Where are the "bad" places to avoid. I am just trying to decipher the statistics. Why does "perfect small town" Summerville have a SWAT Team?

Go read previous posts - people (including myself) have answered these questions. You asked about SUMMERVILLE, now you are spinning it to Charleston and berating us for not answering!

As I mentioned before, IMO, Summerville feels and is way safer than NYC -and I lived in and around NYC for my entire life until relocating a year ago. I ASSUME (and I am sure someone here can clarify, as I am not as knowledgeable as the lifetime locals here) that there are certain areas to avoid - I just haven't encountered them yet. All of the neighborhoods I explored while house hunting looked extremely safe (except for one spot in Goose Creek, a different town, called Beverly Hills which is anything but!), but really, if you have an iota of common sense, you can kinda tell the feel of a place by driving around it. Upkept neighborhoods = probably safe! Rusted out pickups, run-down homes = probably something to avoid! I *personally* would not live in North Charleston (although I hear there are some nice areas) - but all I know about the area is that is the place that really skews the crime statistics for Charleston County.

As far as malls - I haven't been to the Citadel Mall yet, but you would probably love the Town Center in Mt. Pleasant, the Tanger Outlets, and PARTS of the strip mall area in North Charleston, the side where Barnes and Noble is. There is a part on the other side that reminded me of the Galleria in White Plains, NY - I didn't feel like someone was going to shoot me, but I help my purse close to my body, took a glance around, and didn't see any stores that appealed to me anyway. If you are looking for a Macy's experience, you probably will be making a day trip to Charlotte, anyway.

Please keep in mind, there is a decent sized poor population in the area. I don't think the poor people here can live like the people on welfare up in NYC (another reason why our tax dollars are so low). You are just as vulerable to petty crime down here are you are up north - don't be stupid, don't leave your GPS out on the dash, your car windows/doors unlocked, that sort of thing. That said, I don't think you should fear stepping out of your car at night in front of your house, or even in any sort of good neighborhood (which to me encompasses all I've seen of Summerville). However, I am of the opinion that just because something is unlikely to happen, doesn't mean you should invite it to - even if you live in the wealthiest of neighborhoods.