Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities...and not one in Texas

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by golondrina62

Grew up in Beirut on the Lake aka Chicago, 1980s-1990s. Beat you guys in 1992 with 943 murders in one year. Sorry, I don't scare too easy.

And you say you had guns pointed at you in Miami as well. Okay...
Yet you're worried about Houston??? This is not rational at all. You cite a few Houston news stories that scare you? After that? Think about it. Did you really live in Chicago and Miami and "not scare easily"? Something's not making sense here... what's your *real* reason for the "concern" on Houston, hmm?

[elnina]

This is a multi-city thread. Moved to General US Forum.

[jek74]

Originally Posted by nana053

That is simply not true. In Chicago, crime is concentrated in specific neighborhoods on the south and west side. It's a terrible true fact that the segregation in Chicago promotes this. Of those 500 murders this year, almost all were gang related (some innocent victims, but it was the gangs shooting up the streets). Gang members post on youtube with videos of wads of cash and guns.

According to the Chicago PD, up to 80 percent of Chicago’s murders and shootings are gang-related. By one estimate, the city has almost 70,000 gang members. A police audit last spring identified 59 gangs and 625 factions; most are on the South and West sides. Easy access to guns for young men with no hope is a disaster in the making.

Nana, the OP who started the argument was not referring to violent crime but to petty crime. This is one of the annoying things about having a discussion on a message board is that people lose track of what they are arguing about.

The fact is most of the "violent" crime in this entire country is centered around gangs. And gang activity in every city is usually segregated including Houston. Petty crime is everywhere. NO place in the US is safe from petty crime.

So Nana, the entire northside of chicago is filled with petty crime. That's a fact. And saying it's concentrated among the bars is silly because the whole north side is basically one big bar. This debate is very silly. Anywhere where people have things that can be stolen, people will come to steal them. However, the statistics and facts prove that Houston has one of the lowest "violent crime" rates among large cities in the entire country. Chicago is the highest. These facts are indisputable.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by jek74

Nana, the OP who started the argument was not referring to violent crime but to petty crime. This is one of the annoying things about having a discussion on a message board is that people lose track of what they are arguing about.

The fact is most of the "violent" crime in this entire country is centered around gangs. And gang activity in every city is usually segregated including Houston. Petty crime is everywhere. NO place in the US is safe from petty crime.

So Nana, the entire northside of chicago is filled with petty crime. That's a fact. And saying it's concentrated among the bars is silly because the whole north side is basically one big bar. This debate is very silly. Anywhere where people have things that can be stolen, people will come to steal them. However, the statistics and facts prove that Houston has one of the lowest "violent crime" rates among large cities in the entire country. Chicago is the highest. These facts are indisputable.

Houston has plenty of violent crime. It might have a lower violent crime index because it has 650 square miles to spread out in, but I wouldn't call Houston "safe" by any stretch of the imagination. Just like LA or NYC aren't necessarily "safe" either. Doesn't Houston average about 300 homicides per year? What about the metro? That's usually a better indication of crime than any one "crime rate" because the sample size varies so much. Houston is >2X larger than Chicago in size, and there are suburban features within the city and it is still developing green fields, unlike Chicago, which has been built out since the 40's. On the other end of the spectrum, Minneapolis has a moderately high crime index yet only has 55 square miles to the city, but if you look at the metro-wide statistics it's one of THE safest metros in the country. There is certainly plenty of crime within those 55 square miles but the majority of the metro is safe safe safe. Sample size is skewing the data.

This doesn't exist (that I know of), but a better true index for crime in a city would be to measure the areas that have violent crime in population and square mileage and use that as your denominator for the index, instead of the (arbitrary) municipal boundaries. Kind of like measuring urbanized areas for population density instead of MSA or CSA.

[JoshRall]

The thing is, guys, in Chicago, you know you would be in danger if you change your tires at roadside in bad areas, or you hang out with gang members.

In Houston, crimes are spread out and seem to concentrate in affluent areas. Look at these that happen in Bellaire and Museum District.

Police release sketch of suspect who shot, killed man on New Year

Bellaire officer, bystander killed in shootout in southwest Houston; suspect charged | abc13.com

[Queen Palm]

Originally Posted by golondrina62

Well thanks for replying in a civil manner I totally agree with this:

"What people should understand is that there is simply no safe place..... regardless of the neighborhood, affluence, etc."

you're welcome. I understand the frustration regarding crime here. It does seem random. But i think because there is sooo many people here, and Houston is so big and spread out, that Houston itself, isn't relegated only to a single area (i.e. inside the loop or just the SW side). You're in Houston, if you travel to the NW side. You're in Houston if you travel just west of the Beltway. or just south of 290..... does that make sense?

[jtur88]

The most dangerous city, by semantic definition, is the city in which a law abiding person is most likely to be a victim of a crime, weighted by the seriousness of the crime. I never see that statistic. Nobody seems interested in compiling the data for that, when it is so easy to just count the toe-tags in the ghetto morgues.

[Trafalgar Law]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

Doesn't Houston average about 300 homicides per year? What about the metro?

City gets 198 murders, 102 lower than 300.

Murder Rate by Metropolitans (MSA):
1. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 23.7
2. Memphis, TN-MS-AR 10.6
3. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 9.7
4. Baltimore-Towson, MD 9.4
5. Birmingham-Hoover, AL 8.9
6. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 8.1
7. Kansas City, MO-KS 7.9
8. St. Louis, MO-IL 7.6
9. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 6.6
10. Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI 6.4
10. Jacksonville, FL 6.4
12. Oklahoma City, OK 6.2
13. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN 6.1
13. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 6.1
15. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 6.0
15. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 6.0
17. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 5.9
18. Columbus, OH 5.7
19. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 5.6
19. Richmond, VA 5.6
21. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 5.4
22. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 5.1
23. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 4.9
23. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN 4.9
23. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ 4.9
26. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 4.8
26. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 4.8
28. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 4.7
28. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 4.7
30. Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 4.6
31. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 4.5
31. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 4.5
33. Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 4.4
33. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA 4.4
33. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 4.4
36. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 4.3
37. Rochester, NY 4.1
38. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 3.9
39. Pittsburgh, PA 3.8
40. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 3.5
41. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 3.3
42. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 2.9
43. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 2.8
44. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO 2.7
45. Raleigh-Cary, NC 2.6
45. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 2.6
47. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 2.1
47. Salt Lake City, UT 2.1
47. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 2.1
50. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 1.8

I thought you've never been to Houston (so how could you talk about crime there as a local or even traveler), while crime exists there like any other place-- it actually is a safe city for the mass people that live there. I used to live in the area, in a really "upscale" suburb I suppose and used to spend a lot of time in the hood. Houston is a very patrolled city, the crime nature there is absolutely care free in the way that criminals do not get away with it, which is a stark contrast of what it was like in the 90's. It's been reducing crime aggressively since 2006. Walking in the hoods of Houston, you will not be touched, robbed, molested, or killed unless you aggravate someone there by trash talking to their face. There are cops everywhere in Houston, every where and they're very douche like to even the most minor offenses. Criminals in Houston constantly worry about getting in trouble with the "law" and they will for the most part leave you be. Houston city's murder rate is that of the same rate of Boston & Dallas.

I also lived in Chicago, which is a complete CONTRAST by experience. Washington is as well, people up here are FAR more aggressive about having their way and getting away with crime.

By the way, information by the FBI: FBI — Table 6