Why is the crime rate in the Idaho Springs - Black Hawk area so high? (Denver: casinos, camping)

[poochcol]

I'm originally from the East Coast, living near the West Coast as I write this. I have an itch to to live in a mountain town at some point, that skews liberal or is at least centrist, is relatively cool without being too snowy, and isn't far away from being far away from some big city amenities; said area ticks all those boxes. But the crime rates per capita are terrible, based on this site's stats. Go to the next couple of towns west, and it's completely different. Anyone know what the deal is? Thanks.

[jwiley]

Small towns with a ton of tourism from both in and out of state, gambling in blackhawk, drinking in both, you are going to get assaults and you will get theft.

[COcheesehead]

IS has drug problems too. Not as cute as it looks. Kind of a nasty town.

[BarryK123]

Re BH, Willie Sutton's law

[Thoreau424]

Originally Posted by poochcol

I'm originally from the East Coast, living near the West Coast as I write this. I have an itch to to live in a mountain town at some point, that skews liberal or is at least centrist, is relatively cool without being too snowy.

Mountainous CO is rather snowy. Maybe OR, WA, or even NH? Those places at least have fully-wooded and timbered mountains, unlike many times here, where they are rocky (hint: 'Rocky' Mountains, get it? LOL).

Make sure to do lots of research and reflection. Those 'itches' can sometimes lead to scabs.

[poochcol]

Originally Posted by jwiley

Small towns with a ton of tourism from both in and out of state, gambling in blackhawk, drinking in both, you are going to get assaults and you will get theft.

I don't know, I currently and have lived in tourist hot spots that don't/didn't have an especially high crime rate.


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Originally Posted by BarryK123

Re BH, Willie Sutton's law

??


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Originally Posted by Thoreau424

Mountainous CO is rather snowy. Maybe OR, WA, or even NH? Those places at least have fully-wooded and timbered mountains, unlike many times here, where they are rocky (hint: 'Rocky' Mountains, get it? LOL).

I shouldn't have mentioned the snow one, or should state, "not a ridiculous amount of snow." Also, I should've included that I want an area that doesn't get grayed out in the winter... which the Eastern Rockies are apparently good for:

Make sure to do lots of research and reflection. Those 'itches' can sometimes lead to scabs.

Good one ;-p

[Dogmama50]

We pretty much always recommend that someone visits where they may potentially move to but I cannot stress how badly you would need to visit those places before ever considering them further. While you have researched online to tic your boxes the reality is very far from what you have found out. Very few people would move to Idaho Springs if given the choice and Blackhawk really is a gambling area. They are towns that happen to be in the mountains but not mountain towns. Maybe Nederland or Evergreen area if you want proximity to Denver or head up the hill further to Frisco.

As far as the Eastern Rockies having more sun that is a geographically specific to the areas. East Vail, dark at 3pm in the winter due to a very large mountain obstructing the last remnants of sun, 10 miles down the road you get an extra hour. Idaho Springs is pretty much sandwiched in the mountains and dark, can't remember Blackhawks proximity.

[Mike from back east]

FYI on Willie Sutton's Law.

Willie Sutton was a bank robber, back in the day.
When asked why he robbed banks Willie said:
"Because that's where the money is."

[wiseguy15]

I worked in IS for many years before I left CO two years ago. My guess about the high crime rate is legalized marijuana as there are a ton of dispensaries in IS and Clear Creek County. Many are located next to I70 to make it convenient for the tourists heading into the mountains to stock up. IMO legalized pot brought a seedy element to CO, a group whose main focus was to get high and do as little work as possible. For those with that ambition, either their parents were supporting them or they engaged in crime to support their habit. IS is a low cost place to live, relative to anywhere else in the Denver metro area, so what better place for potheads to live than IS with plentiful MJ stores and many places to squat?

I saw a great example of this in 2016 when I drove Guanella Pass from the Georgetown side. There were people camping along the road all the way up to the top of the pass, none on the backside. There was no cell phone coverage on the back side of the pass, Park County, so all the campers stayed on the Clear Creek County side. Though I did not stop to ask, it looked like the MJ crowd squatting on Federal Land illegally and still retaining their cell phone service. Prior to legalized MJ you would make that drive and see no roadside campers as there were so few of them that rules were enforced. Now the inmates have taken over the insane asylum.

To the OP, if you are thinking about IS do visit through the year a few times. Winter can be gloomy, not much sun in that valley, and traffic a pain with all the skiers. Summer can be better but traffic is also bad; shoulder seasons are nice. It is a rather poor town, only one supermarket (which locals hate), and not many places to go out for dining or entertainment.

[SkyDog77]

Black Hawk is artificially skewed because of arrests at the casinos. People drinking and fighting. Move off the casino strip and it’s fine.