Which neighborhood worst for scoring crack? (Denver, Highlands Ranch: crime rate, loan, attorney)

[ocean2026]

No LOL I'm not in the market for any. I'd like to be near downtown for a summer home, but not in any high crime area. I've looked at the homicide map and gee nothing near Colfax, City Park, Sloan lake or on Federal street. Directly south of downtown has to be the worst and I'm surprised one doesn't step over bodies. I'm not in colorado now so all i can read is maps and house prices. No wonder all the above mentioned areas have cheap housing- Its the law of supply and demand- every time someone is murdered there's another vacancy. So whats the best home buying strategy? Should I wait till an entire neighborhood is completely wiped out and then get a real bargain in a newly quiet area, or should i find an area that hasn't been attacked yet?

[Augie Daugie]

Crime maps can be deceiving...downtown is densely populated, so naturally, more incidents are going to show up on the map. Most neighborhoods will be fine. You may want to check out the Highlands for a home close to downtown.

[tfox]

None of the areas you just mentioned are considered to have particularly high crime rates and I think you'll find that few of them are really that cheap either. As Augie Daugie said, these are just densely populated urban areas. Plus, the truly high crime areas in Denver you completely forgot to mention!

I'm a little surprised that you are interested in living downtown. Naturally, an urban area is going to have higher crime than somewhere like Highlands Ranch or Louisville. Perhaps you should consider the suburbs, which are going to have less crime even than the safest urban neighborhoods.

[SheridanL]

Should you wait until a complete neighborhood is wiped out?? What a funny thing to say!!!

[steveindenver]

Wtf

[ocean2026]

Well I was being a bit facetious and I do know that high density areas are going to have more murders. Nevertheless when 5-6 people are killed over a couple of years all within a couple of blocks, that would be a red flag even in New York City. Its likely that if 5-6 people were killed there were many other serious assaults and simply put the area can't be considered safe. If 5 people were killed in one incident that wouldn't be statistically significant, but several different murders are.

I've heard about Colfax before and it was pretty negative although my memory of it is somewhat vague.

[steveindenver]

Stick with a cabin in the woods.

High density areas have more crimes, shocker. None of the areas you mentioned are dangerous.

[denverian]

My neighborhood (Stapleton) is horrible for scoring crack. I can't seem to find a dealer anywhere

[FrozenShores]

Denver is really a safe city overall. Just compare it to the other large metros in this FBI ranking report. One of the nation’s safest metro areas. - Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation I've been looking at 2007's stats as well and Denver improved as many other cities got more dangerous.

[ocean2026]

SteveinDenver I understand you want to defend your city but I only want objective info. In Todays RMN there are 2007 stats by neighborhood and its nice to know Denver overall is improving. If I didn't like Colorado I wouldnt be interested.

On the other hand what you say about those neighborhoods is just plain WRONG.

North Capital hill had a crime rate ( that takes into account population density) of 212 with 615 crimes- that would make that neighborhood unsafe- there's no way around it. Globeville and City Park were also in Denver Metro's worst ten.

Although I'm used to criminals- I've been an elected DA and a defense attorney many years, I can also promise you that less than 1% ever truly feel remorse for their offenses. Still this doesn't deter me EXCEPT that if i find an old house I like in a bad neighborhood I expect a "Bargain".

You foolishly sterotyped me as someone living in a country shack- lol I grew up in NYC and because my hobby is buying old buildings with architectural interest, I've made trips to many east coast cities and "dangerous" neighborhoods to where my friends in those towns told me "we aren't going with you".

I've found that in many areas if I'm the only White person walking around in a Black neighborhood, the locals will come up to me "What are you looking for?" "Can we help you?" some friendly some not so friendly. I use that opportunity to say "hey tell me about this building - is it occupied? would they sell it cheaply? and almost everyone loves to be an expect and answers my questions.

For Denver I'd like more of a summer home - a nice small well constructed house in a close-in old neighborhood.