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St. Louis outside the Central Corridor and certain South City neighborhoods.
I met a man from Baghdad who now lives in one of the St Louis sprawl-burbs. He told me he doesn't let his kids go into the city because it's "too dangerous." He was being completely serious.
I don't think anybody is afraid to go to an Orioles or Ravens game, or dine/bar crawl in the inner harbor of Baltimore.
Similarly, the office tower blocks of Hartford aren't frightening. People go see UConn basketball at the XL Center or minor league baseball on the north side of I-84 without fearing for their lives. Cirque du Soliel pops up a huge tent east of the ballpark and sells out three weeks of shows. Am I going to walk around the Blue Hills part of Hartford at night? Nope. That's drug & gang country.
I think that's generally true of most "bad" cities. They have some bad neighborhoods but most of the city isn't a war zone. If you're not buying drugs/hookers and stay away from those neighborhoods, the problem is largely property crime.
That is a big chunk of the city. There are neighborhoods in that area who are committed to their neighborhood like North Point and Old North. Change is happening.
Back to the post original posts, St. Louis is one of those cities where many suburbanites have been scared in to not coming into the city. Much of it is done to create demand for certain areas while decreasing value in others. Some areas I don't go in to because of drugs and guns creating opportunities for vulnerable people to wreak havoc on what use to be desirable areas. Take away the guns and drugs, St. Louis would still be above 400k. There again, the media wouldn't have anything to talk about.
I don't think anybody is afraid to go to an Orioles or Ravens game, or dine/bar crawl in the inner harbor of Baltimore.
Actually, if you read the Baltimore forum, there are many suburbanites (and exurbanites) who would consider it a downright pearl-clutching experience. Then you asked whether they have had bad experiences in those locations, and of course they haven't, "but on the news it said..." or "I heard of so-and-so who heard from so-and-so that..." or "I'll never go into that city in the dark..."
I've met people who aren't keen on going to center city Baltimore due to fear of crime. I haven't had personal experience where that was true for other cities (neighborhoods or certain areas - yes. The city overall, just Baltimore)
Rochester NY seems to have that stigma where many suburban residents are dead set that if they set foot in "the city" they will immediately be stabbed, raped, and murdered. Most are well-to-do white baby boomers/Gen X'ers who never venture out of their affluent suburbs.
That's most suburbanites across upstate NY as a whole though lol. Definitely not unique to Rochester. Upstate people are overly afraid of anything that's seen as even remotely urban.
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