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Cities like St.Louis, Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore Wilmington, Camden, etc have very intimidating reputations, and to be fair, crime statistics...but I am curious what it is like living in the 'safe' areas of cities considered to be 'dangerous' ?
Is it any different than living in 'safe' areas of other cities? Is it dependent on the city? What are some cities where the higher than average crime is spread throughout the city? And what are some cities where extremely high rates are confined to certain areas, making the citywide statistics scary?
Cities like St.Louis, Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore Wilmington, Camden, etc have very intimidating reputations, and to be fair, crime statistics...but I am curious what it is like living in the 'safe' areas of cities considered to be 'dangerous' ?
Is it any different than living in 'safe' areas of other cities? Is it dependent on the city? What are some cities where the higher than average crime is spread throughout the city? And what are some cities where extremely high rates are confined to certain areas, making the citywide statistics scary?
The truth is, there are no generally dangerous cities. Maybe small towns like East St. Louis, but most cities that are big enough to anchor their own metro aren’t dangerous throughout the city. Violence is limited to a handful of neighborhoods.
Of the cities you’ve listed, Baltimore is the only one I’m really familiar with, and the city has a lot of nice charming neighborhoods. Baltimore is really quite underrated. The only reason I don’t live in Baltimore is that it’s *slightly* overpriced. I may have mentioned this before, but my wife has a hyper-specific job; one where there’s only one position in most cities (think D-1 offensive coordinator or school superintendent). When we left Boston, there were only two openings in the country; Pittsburgh and Baltimore. We thought Baltimore offered slightly more, but the cost-of-living really tipped the scales for Pittsburgh. I could absolutely be happy in Baltimore, though.
FWIW, I have friends who just moved to Memphis. He’s a doctor, she’s a lawyer. They live in the city, and they absolutely love it.
Chicago isn't really on the same level as those cities in crime rate, but the South Side is, and in area and population it's more comparable to those cities.
What are the safe neighborhoods on the South Side like? Hyde Park is a weird case: the university maintains a strong police department that keeps the area safe, and the college environment leads to a progressive culture that welcomes diversity and recognizes the complicated and intertwined factors that underpin African-American poverty.
The other safe neighborhoods (Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, Hegewisch, Morgan Park, Calumet Heights, etc.) range from nervous but friendly to outwardly hostile in their attitudes toward the rest of the South Side, and there is a definite culture of "don't go north/west/south/east of X street". People living in those areas are often concerned about crime and blight spreading to where they live, and in some cases they're right to be.
Chicago isn't really on the same level as those cities in crime rate, but the South Side is, and in area and population it's more comparable to those cities.
What are the safe neighborhoods on the South Side like? Hyde Park is a weird case: the university maintains a strong police department that keeps the area safe, and the college environment leads to a progressive culture that welcomes diversity and recognizes the complicated and intertwined factors that underpin African-American poverty.
The other safe neighborhoods (Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, Hegewisch, Morgan Park, Calumet Heights, etc.) range from nervous but friendly to outwardly hostile in their attitudes toward the rest of the South Side, and there is a definite culture of "don't go north/west/south/east of X street". People living in those areas are often concerned about crime and blight spreading to where they live, and in some cases they're right to be.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare the “nice“ neighborhoods in the poor part of a city to other entire cities. The southside doesn’t have the economic engine that Baltimore, Detroit or St. Louis have. I also think that there are more safe neighborhoods on the southside then you’re acknowledging. Kenwood, Bronzeville, Chinatown, Bridgeport, etc.
Cities like St.Louis, Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore Wilmington, Camden, etc have very intimidating reputations, and to be fair, crime statistics...but I am curious what it is like living in the 'safe' areas of cities considered to be 'dangerous' ?
Is it any different than living in 'safe' areas of other cities? Is it dependent on the city? What are some cities where the higher than average crime is spread throughout the city? And what are some cities where extremely high rates are confined to certain areas, making the citywide statistics scary?
As others have said, you stay away from the bad areas. Statistics don't tell the whole story...only a part of it.
Violence is limited to a handful of neighborhoods.
Eh...this is probably too charitable. In Buffalo, for example, the majority of the landmass of the city itself is occupied by the East Side, which is pretty generally 'dangerous', although some sections are of course worse than others statistically. Unless you're going to Erie County Medical Center, which is the region's largest hospital, or a place of employment (in the unlikely event you work there), there's no real reason to go to the East Side, so it can easily be out of sight, out of mind...until you find yourself marveling at what little is left of the city when you remove that entire section. Take a look at the map found on this webpage:
Anything within the enclosures marked 'ES' or 'KE' is part of the East Side; additionally, the following smaller neighborhoods should be included: KH, FL, H, S, C, M, HH, FB, and MP (listed on the map as M). BL is kind of its own entity so I won't include that, despite its geography. UD is debatable; the presence/influence of University of Buffalo helps to make it seem like its own entity, but there's a lot of spillover from the surrounding neighborhood. Anyway, even excluding BL and UD, that's a lot of land spoken for. I unfortunately don't have the exact stats as to how much of Buffalo's 40.8 land miles are accounted for there, but if I was wrong to use the word 'majority' earlier, it wouldn't be by much, as a glance at the overall map shows.
Now add to this the fact that parts of the West Side are unsafe as well, and that several of the remanining 'hoods are blighted if not unsafe, and one can easily feel trapped in a small segment of the city.
And Buffalo has a lower crime rate than Baltimore, so....
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 02-09-2019 at 02:52 PM..
Eh...this is probably too charitable. In Buffalo, for example, the majority of the landmass of the city itself is occupied by the East Side, which is pretty generally 'dangerous', although some sections are of course worse than others statistically. Unless you're going to Erie County Medical Center, which is the region's largest hospital, or a place of employment (in the unlikely event you work there), there's no real reason to go to the East Side, so it can easily be out of sight, out of mind...until you find yourself marveling at what little is left of the city when you remove that entire section. Take a look at the map found on this webpage:
Anything within the enclosures marked 'ES' or 'KE' is part of the East Side; additionally, the following smaller neighborhoods should be included: KH, FL, H, S, C, M, HH, FB, and MP (listed on the map as M). BL is kind of its own entity so I won't include that, despite its geography. UD is debatable; the presence/influence of University of Buffalo helps to make it seem like its own entity, but there's a lot of spillover from the surrounding neighborhood. Anyway, even excluding BL and UD, that's a lot of land spoken for. I unfortunately don't have the exact stats as to how much of Buffalo's 40.8 land miles are accounted for there, but if I was wrong to use the word 'majority' earlier, it wouldn't be by much, as a glance at the overall map shows.
Now add to this the fact that parts of the West Side are unsafe as well, and that several of the remanining 'hoods are blighted if not unsafe, and one can easily feel trapped in a small segment of the city.
And Buffalo has a lower crime rate than Baltimore, so....
Some would include K, which is like BL. So, there is some variation on that side of town.
Re: first pic--the neighborhoods on the east side of that part of Eggert are nice; however, little of that territory is actually in the city of Buffalo. You've gotta be steps away from the border with that picture. Eggert is really the true dividing line, in practice if not by law. (Although once you get further south on Eggert, Eggert actually is the border between Buffalo and the town of Cheektowaga)
As for H/Hamlin Park--there's definitely a middle class presence there; hell, the mayor of Buffalo lives in that neighborhood. That said, there's long been violence on the doorstep of Canisius College--I went to grade school across the street, and Glenwood/a couple of the other nearby streets by Humboldt Pkwy/the 198 were known to have the occasional shooting. My school (which was rated the top private school in the city when I was there) had bullet holes in the cafeteria windows on at least one occasion...there are certainly worse parts of the East Side, but I have no problem lumping it in with the East Side generally.
Re: border of Cheektowaga--i just 'drove' down Huntley till its end at Treehaven, made a right at Treehaven, and was in Cheektowaga about three blocks east of there. So, sure, it's Buffalo, but you're kind of looking to get me on a technicality with that one.
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 02-09-2019 at 04:35 PM..
Re: first pic--the neighborhoods on the east side of that part of Eggert are nice; however, little of that territory is actually in the city of Buffalo. You've gotta be steps away from the border with that picture. Eggert is really the true dividing line, in practice if not by law. (Although once you get further south on Eggert, Eggert actually is the border between Buffalo and the town of Cheektowaga)
As for H/Hamlin Park--there's definitely a middle class presence there; hell, the mayor of Buffalo lives in that neighborhood. That said, there's long been violence on the doorstep of Canisius College--I went to grade school across the street, and Glenwood/a couple of the other nearby streets by Humboldt Pkwy/the 198 were known to have the occasional shooting. My school (which was rated the top private school in the city when I was there) had bullet holes in the cafeteria windows on at least one occasion...there are certainly worse parts of the East Side, but I have no problem lumping it in with the East Side generally.
Yeah, both of those areas have a middle class presence. West of Eggert is more working class and varies in terms of look, but has solid areas like this: https://goo.gl/maps/cJKDnmaUEm32
I did know about areas near Hamlin Park/Canisius can get dicey, but has its share of solid streets too. It is odd that with the rail line, Canisius College, BPD and that the mayor lives in the neighborhood that the law enforcement presence isn’t heavier or more of a general deterrent.
Some of the neighborhoods at the city/Cheektowaga line on the city side like Schiller Park can vary as well.
Yeah, both of those areas have a middle class presence. West of Eggert is more working class and varies in terms of look, but has solid areas like this: https://goo.gl/maps/cJKDnmaUEm32
I did know about areas near Hamlin Park/Canisius can get dicey, but has its share of solid streets too. It is odd that with the rail line, Canisius College, BPD and that the mayor lives in the neighborhood that the law enforcement presence isn’t heavier or more of a general deterrent.
Some of the neighborhoods at the city/Cheektowaga line on the city side like Schiller Park can vary as well.
I actually like the feel of some of those west-of-Eggert streets, but from what I've heard, crime is worse than it would seem over there (by this I mean, the part(s) between Eggert and Bailey). Eggert itself is a quiet road, and there isn't really much activity that one detects on either side of the street (except, say, right on Kensington Ave), but I recall reading that the '400 block' of Winspear had a lot of crime (this being right across Eggert from Treehaven, referenced in my last post). Any time I cut through Winspear, I see few signs of life on that block, certainly less so than on the part of Winspear that's right near UB, so...kind of surprising. I have a cousin who lives on Highgate, which is the next street over from the street shown on your link, and he has always seemed to enjoy living there (he's a longtime resident). That said, the University District seems to me to have worsened over the past few years crime-wise on the 'more active' streets (Minnesota, Lisbon, LaSalle, Winspear near the university, etc); not sure if the stats bear that out.
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