[MetsNY]

Crime is concentrated in areas, very very small areas, in already very small cities (by land mass). Bridgeport has had 3 murders in the first 20 days, not 4. There were two more shootings last night. As someone else mentioned, Bridgeport can bank on 15-25 murders a year, but they are usually in spurts. New Haven had 34 I believe this past year. That's a lot worse then Bridgeport, especially considering there are about 20,000 less residents in New Haven. Hartford is BAD, don't know numbers but I've driven in the North End in Broad daylight going towards Downtown and even I felt scared, and this is coming from someone who has driven in every area of Bridgeport, even at night.

I believe Bridgeport is the safest of the three, but this year might be a different story. At one time Bridgeport was the murder capital on the state, and based on murder per capita, the country. Those days are long gone. The Father Panik Village Housing Project was home to atleast 4-5 murders a year, sometimes more. Not to mention that those criminals wern't confined to the project, so they may have been responsible for many more. When the City demolished Father Panik and the Pequonnock Apartments (now Harbord Yard area, just south of 1-95) a lot of crime went away.

Is Bridgeport dangerous? Yes, if you hang in the projects are in the rough areas of the East Side/East End. Should you be walking Seaview Avenue at 3 am? No, you shouldn't. Keep your wits about you, and you'll be fine. There was a shooting in Downtown last night at 2:00 am. Am I going to stop going Downtown? No. Why? Cause I'm not there at 2 am, I'm there during the day or early evening. If your our past a certain time anywhere trouble can find you.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by bobtn

The reality is more murders will occur in Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford each year than the rest of the state , which has 6/7 of the population.

Violent crime rates are the major distinction, objectively, between the relatively safe suburbs, and the generally quite unsafe cities. 4 murders in 20 days with a very small city population by US standards is not safe. While this pace of 73 may not be sustained, b/w the 3 cities one can sadly bank on over 100 murders annually, and often more than 150, with a combined population of under 400k. By contrast, NYC a few years back had under 700 murders with 18 times the combined population.

Most violent crimes in this country happen in urban areas. The difference in crime statistics here in Connecticut is that our cities are small in area and lack the adjacent suburban areas to offset the problem areas when a statistic is calculated. If Boston had not annexed adjacent towns 100 years ago, you would see similar crime statistics on it. Same for other large cities across the country. The Hartford area has about 1 million people but the city itself only has about 120,000 people. It is all about how you slice the pie. Jay

[bobtn]

I said that earlier, Jay, which is why having more fear for ones safety in urban areas is perfectly rational. But most cities do not annex adjacent areas, for example, Nashville proper has 500k residents, while the MTSA of Nashville has 1.5 million. 2 of 3 MTSA residents live in surrounding suburbs. That is a smaller ratio than Hartford, but still a plurality always live outside cities.

Nonetheless, in almost all MTSAs urban crime per capita is far worse than in any suburbs of itself or a different MTSA.

Always has been, always will be. Cities, generally, are not nearly as safe as suburbs. While I like St. Marys by The Sea, I would not venture there after dark. I would go to the beaches of Woodmont at any hour.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by bobtn

I said that earlier, Jay, which is why having more fear for ones safety in urban areas is perfectly rational. But most cities do not annex adjacent areas, for example, Nashville proper has 500k residents, while the MTSA of Nashville has 1.5 million. 2 of 3 MTSA residents live in surrounding suburbs. That is a smaller ratio than Hartford, but still a plurality always live outside cities.

Nonetheless, in almost all MTSAs urban crime per capita is far worse than in any suburbs of itself or a different MTSA.

Always has been, always will be. Cities, generally, are not nearly as safe as suburbs. While I like St. Marys by The Sea, I would not venture there after dark. I would go to the beaches of Woodmont at any hour.

In Hartford almost 9 out of 10 MTSA resident live in the surrounding suburbs so it is different than Nashville. As you go further west in this country the cities get larger in area because they annexed or took over adjacent undeveloped or unincorporated areas. Look back at the history of Nashville and I would not be surprised to see that the city started out with a much smaller area and then added to it over the years.

Here in Connecticut the cities could not do that because the areas are adjacent to the cities are independent communities with a long history. That is why towns like West Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield are not part of the City of Hartford. Jay

[bobtn]

The ratio is different, and I mentioned that, but the principle of higher per capita crime rates, which truthfully, population differences do not matter, is the same. Suburbs are much safer than cities, in every state I have been in, which is several dozen. I can't speak for Alaska..never been there. The differentiation spans many different ratios of urban to MTSA population.

Cities are larger away from the Northeast, simply because the country is larger. One is dealing with states not interrupted in size much by water in interior states.

Nashville did start smaller, but the suburbs around it do most of the annexation. The state mapped out which areas could be annexed, and by whom, so its not a land grab by entities unknown for people who move in to unannexed areas.

BTW, The 2-1 ratio was no doubt higher in decades past. We have suburbs that are going to do what Scottsdale, Az did.they will become metro regions of their own. Murfreesboro, Tn is a good example..now approaching 110k, was under 50k a few decades back, and most likely will pass 200k. I think Scottsdale, once a little Phoenix burb, went from 90k 20 years back, to 300+k now. When burbs grow, urban percentage of total usually shrinks, as it cannot keep pace.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by bobtn

While I like St. Marys by The Sea, I would not venture there after dark.

What????

In all honesty, i'm overly cautious about where i am after dark. That said, i would not be the least bit afraid of that area in the evening. I think you must be confusing St. Mary's with Captains Cove or Dolphins Cove or Seaside Park.

[bobtn]

No I'm aware of all of those areas, and avoid all of them, after dark when I visit.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by MetsNY

Crime is concentrated in areas, very very small areas, in already very small cities (by land mass). Bridgeport has had 3 murders in the first 20 days, not 4.

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/...ce-2642916.php

That article says 5 in 4 weeks. Really bad for winter. Summer is usually the worst.

That said, this thread has gotten too deep for what is basically a troll-like topic.

[MetsNY]

You're right 5 in 4 weeks, but I'm talking about 2012. 2 of those 5 were in 2011, one on Christmas and I believe one slightly before then.

[NYisontop]

I've worked in Maryland and visit often enough, have photographed most of the cities over 30 000 there and a lot under. I've also lived and worked, went to school in Connecticut. The state is very beautiful with hundreds of interesting communities, very safe and comparable in cost of living and standard of living to Maryland (I think Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut all take turns in the top three positions).

Much of this thread has deteriorated into a bit about crime, and while Connecticut's big three (Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport - Stamford would be on the list size-wise but it doesn't have nearly as much affiliation as a large-crime ridden city) have a lot of local attention for their crime, they would have trouble in putting up such percentages as Baltimore, Tampa, Detroit, Sacramento, or other larger cities. There are shootings and crime is fairly contained in parts of the cities that are largely under-developed, industrial, and low-income. I've been in Bridgeport after midnight, leaving the train station to free parking cross town, and haven't had any trouble other than the rare request for change. I also mind my own business and have had the same experience in every other city.

I like Connecticut better, though you can't compare Baltimore to Bridgeport, the Inner Harbor or Fells Point are most comparable to New Haven with a strong pedestrian presence and arts scene. Bridgeport's downtown lacks a central pull, Hartford's has something of a central feel but its pedestrian quarter has been written off in favor of West Hartford, East Hartford and Manchester's downtown districts. There isn't an equivalent to Annapolis, one of my favorite small cities, but you'll find that same sort of wandering charm in a lot of CT towns across the state. New Haven really is a trendy little city, and lots of smaller cities and towns replicate that on a smaller scale. Most are content to reside in any of the state's towns and quickly commute to New Haven, Greenwich, Middletown, West Hartford, New London or other magnets for fun and shopping.

I've found people tend to exaggerate the crime of Connecticut's cities, it really is among the best places in the nation to live, work and have a family, and the city's are more affordable than the smaller communities and suburbs, each with multiple livable, safe quarters.