Anyone NOT like Charlotte? (Winston-Salem, Wilmington: for rent, crime rate, houses)

[Emily_B]

Originally Posted by LOLZ

There is also the perspective of it not happening even once that I can remember in well over 25 years living in a different metro area in the north with more than double the population. I never saw a grocery store needing a guy with a gun to guard the door until I moved to Charlotte. Crime in the Charlotte area is just crazy. I will be leaving early next year for somewhere that I can feel safe walking alone at night.

And what city would this be?

Whichever it is, if it's a metro area I would say your memory has more than likely failed you.

[Emily_B]

Originally Posted by CharlotteAgent

Your vision of Charlotte is different than mine then. Plus the security guard is 99% sure not to have a gun. Maybe pepper spray. or one of those little sticks. They are only there incase someone tries to steal from the store. I feel safe in Charlotte even when I am driving around the not so safe areas.

Just for the record, there are several stores in my town that has armed uniformed and off-duty officers, and my city has a low crime rate.

[CharlotteAgent]

There are two scenerios. The store hires a security guard no weapon or a off duty police office weapon.

[LOLZ]

Originally Posted by LOLZ

I have been here less then a year and don't watch the news nightly, but during the times I have watched the news I have seen a gunpoint robbery in the Carolina Place Mall parking lot, a gunpoint robbery in the South Park Mall parking lot, a gunpoint robbery in the Concord Mills Mall parking lot, and a gang fight in the Carolina Place Mall food court.

Now tonight there was a shooting at the Eastland Mall.

Originally Posted by Charlotte Observer

Shooting at Eastland Mall injures 1

Gunfire inside Eastland Mall Friday sent Christmas shoppers ducking for cover and landed one man in the hospital.

More here.....

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/16302576.htm (broken link)

[Swimmom32]

Sara,
I have to say I agree and disagree with you and growing up in brooklyn NY than opposed to howell, It was a little bit more unsafe, and I still went around at night and it was no big deal...but anyway, I still look forward to moving to Union County and hopefully wont have to worry about guns and crime in the immediate area...

[friendnc]

Again, I've lived here in the Charlotte area (Gastonia, Belmont, and Conocrd)for all 41 years of my life, and have never had any problems ever; EVER!! Not saying it can't happen, but you've got to know where to stay out of (like Eastland Mall), and use common sense, guys. The overwhelming majority of these crimes are repeat offenders and targeting those they know or live in their specific neighborhood. It's just a fact. Again, I'm not saying it couldn't happen to me tomorrow night, but this hysteria is a bit out of hand compared to reality.

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by MJPost32

I live outside of philly now and things like this don't happen. I am scared to move to union county now. I go to the malls all the time and all hours and no one is robbed. I have a very nice car and now have to worry about someone smashing in the windows. Does stuff like this happen in the suburb communitites? If we want to go out in the city at night like we do here where should we avoid? I a little nervous b/c we have some really nice stuff and gosh I hope we don't look like targets.

Philly has one of the highest homicide rates in the country. I believe as of last October it broke 300 murders this year. I know you said you live outside Philly, however you also said you feel safe.

Charlotte is a city with city problems- just like Miami, Atlanta, Boston, etc. You can go to any number of suburbs outside the city limits and feel very safe. The FUD is really misplaced.

[Emily_B]

Originally Posted by LOLZ

Now tonight there was a shooting at the Eastland Mall.

A relatively warm Friday night right before Christmas in a metro area that is experiencing major growing pains is when and where one would expect to see violent crime at a mall. This is precisely what I meant by keeping it in perspective.

I noticed you didn't answer my question, re: what city you were referring to to do your comparison. So I searched through your posts and read where you said you lived in the suburbs of Minneapolis most of your life. Minneapolis is a nice city that isn't experiencing the exponential growth that Charlotte is, but a city whose crime rate is climbing none the less and becoming more problematic.

"Minneapolis, which has seen a significant rise in violent crime the past year, came in 27th most dangerous and St. Paul 81st."

"The Police Department is installing ShotSpotter, high-tech sensors to determine where bullets were fired, in high crime areas of the Twin Cities. South Minneapolis will have the technology in about a week, according to the Star Tribune's article New gunshot sensors help police get to scene faster. The north side will get it in a month."The 80 sensors will cover about 4 square miles across the city that are responsible for 50 percent of the more than 5,000 "shots fired" calls police get each year." Minneapolis Courthouse © NS Gill

And here is something else to take into consideration.

"First off, crime statistics are notoriously incomplete. Their reliability depends on how well a police agency records incidents and how they document them. For example, some agencies report a crime in which several offenses occurred as one incident, while others record all the infractions.

So, in a sense, the more detailed an agency is at reporting crime figures for the FBI's annual Uniformed Crime Report, the worse the jurisdiction might look in comparison lists. Some major cities don't report at all.

And though police are critically important in suppressing certain crimes and serving as a visible deterrent, many other factors affect a city's crime rate. They include poverty, age of the population, illicit drug market cycles and even the weather. St. Paul may indeed need more cops, but not because of its questionable ranking on the list.

That is why even the FBI, which releases the annual figures, issues this warning about such lists:

"Until data users examine all the variables that affect crime in a town, city, county, state, region, or college or university, they can make no meaningful comparisons."



http://www.twincities.com/mld/twinci...o/16211822.htm

http://minneapolis.about.com/

[STEVEYH]

i moved to charlotte from los angeles and can tell you this. in charlotte the news media reports almost every crime. los angeles had almost 500 people murder last year but you would never know. the news papers and the television news media don't report nothing. maybe one murder story every two weeks. so in charlotte the people are just more informed about whats going on the on streets

[AdamAndTerri]

Originally Posted by STEVEYH

i moved to charlotte from los angeles and can tell you this. in charlotte the news media reports almost every crime. los angeles had almost 500 people murder last year but you would never know. the news papers and the television news media don't report nothing. maybe one murder story every two weeks. so in charlotte the people are just more informed about whats going on the on streets

You are SO correct! Charlotte news tells ALL--at first when I was getting used to the news channels, etc. I heard all of the "breaking news" stuff, I thought, OMG What? Where? Then I found out it was a bank robbery 3 or 4counties away in some cases!

SteveyH is correct--in other areas (we moved from Phoenix) there was not enough time in the day to report on all of it unless there was a major police chase, multiple shootings, etc. Here in the Charlotte area, they even have traffic accidents on the news. I haven't seen that in years.