Crime:Macon is ridiculous.Columbus bad too.Whats wrong with this state smaller cities? (Atlanta: real estate, live in)

[King_X]

I agree with midgeorgiaman, and anyone being honest with themselves knows he's telling the truth. The facts are, Macon, Albany, Savannah, Augusta and Columbus all have many nice AND many undesirable parts of town. They all need some work, but neither of these cities are complete war zones or utopias like some people would have you to beleive.

The consolidation of city-county with Augusta-Richmond and Columbus-Muscogee, does make them appear safer.

Let's be real here. Macon's "city limit" doesnt even include areas such as basically the entire North Macon, in which the city limit is actually in the middle of continuos development, which you can clearly see driving on I-75.

In Columbus, you reach the "city limit" at the county line, which is still several miles of rural sub division type areas before you even see any signs of a "city"

If Macon and Albany consolidated with their counties, statistics would be lower, if Columbus and Augusta's population didnt include several suburbia type areas farther out into the county, their statistics would be higher..........but would ANY of that actually give you less or more of a chance of being a victim of a violent crime in either city, NOPE!

[King_X]

and for the record, most of Macon's senseless crimes are pretty much in the same areas. Right out from downtown in areas such as Houston Ave, and 2nd Street, the neighborhood Central High School is in, and Out by the mall. I stay in East Macon...and we really have only one bad neighborhood which is Ft. Hill, which isnt even that bad FOR A GHETTO (crime isn't nearly as bad as the areas I named previously), the rest of the neighborhoods on the eastside are actually safe and middle/upper middle class. Older people are up walking for exercise around my particular neighborhood before the sun is even up, every morning, completely unharmed.

Many people generalize this part of town because it's still heavily African American and I guess they assume every neighborhood on the eastside is exactly like FT. Hill, just because we look like them, when in actuality the majority of east macon is decent to nice.

I wonder if certain parts of cities like Albany, Augusta and Savannah, which sometimes are described as being so bad, fall victim to this same type of generalization from ignorance?

[Dart03]

Originally Posted by King_X

and for the record, most of Macon's senseless crimes are pretty much in the same areas. Right out from downtown in areas such as Houston Ave, and 2nd Street, the neighborhood Central High School is in, and Out by the mall. I stay in East Macon...and we really have only one bad neighborhood which is Ft. Hill, which isnt even that bad FOR A GHETTO (crime isn't nearly as bad as the areas I named previously), the rest of the neighborhoods on the eastside are actually safe and middle/upper middle class. Older people are up walking for exercise around my particular neighborhood before the sun is even up, every morning, completely unharmed.

Many people generalize this part of town because it's still heavily African American and I guess they assume every neighborhood on the eastside is exactly like FT. Hill, just because we look like them, when in actuality the majority of east macon is decent to nice.

I wonder if certain parts of cities like Albany, Augusta and Savannah, which sometimes are described as being so bad, fall victim to this same type of generalization from ignorance?

Sounds like the situation here in Albany.. the city is divided in half by the Flint River, with East Albany being the more poorer area and being associated with all the crime, and West Albany being the more affluent area with less crime. However I see the crime is really spread throughout the city, with more of the gang violence occurring downtown on the West side of the Flint. Actually I don't think there has been a murder in East Albany this year, all of them have happened in the West Albany.

[midgeorgiaman]

Southgeorgia, I am not grasping at straws. What I am saying is that if you took the old Columbus city limits before consolidation and the old Augusta city limits before consolidation you would end up with higher crime "statistics" because the more suburban (read: safer) areas would not be included to balance out the whole.

This is not hopeful thinking or make believe, it is fact.

Statistics require great examination to be truly meaningful. Ideally, one would be able to compare cities using these rankings, but it cannot be done due to discrepancies in how each city is defined. It is similar to saying the average home price in city X is $100,000, but only including the intown old areas with housing built before 1960 and ignoring the newer housing just outside the city limits that all averages 200,000.

As is the case with college rankings and just about all "lists", they are published to make money. Even the FBI disagrees:

The rankings, released by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc., rankled a number of entities, including the FBI, which released a statement criticizing the use of these statistics. "These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state or region," reported the FBI. "Consequently they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions ... "

This doesn't even account for the difference in data reporting across the nation. I am not saying that there is not good information in these reports, but just blindly stating them is really meaningless.

Anyhow, I will continue to trust my instincts over rankings anyday.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by King_X

I agree with midgeorgiaman, and anyone being honest with themselves knows he's telling the truth. The facts are, Macon, Albany, Savannah, Augusta and Columbus all have many nice AND many undesirable parts of town. They all need some work, but neither of these cities are complete war zones or utopias like some people would have you to beleive.

The consolidation of city-county with Augusta-Richmond and Columbus-Muscogee, does make them appear safer.

Let's be real here. Macon's "city limit" doesnt even include areas such as basically the entire North Macon, in which the city limit is actually in the middle of continuos development, which you can clearly see driving on I-75.

In Columbus, you reach the "city limit" at the county line, which is still several miles of rural sub division type areas before you even see any signs of a "city"

If Macon and Albany consolidated with their counties, statistics would be lower, if Columbus and Augusta's population didnt include several suburbia type areas farther out into the county, their statistics would be higher..........but would ANY of that actually give you less or more of a chance of being a victim of a violent crime in either city, NOPE!

Ok I hear ya.But you and I know that Macon has had some serious crime issues long before Columbus Consolidated.I remember in the 1980s how bad it was then.And while you has a point to some degree,do you really think Macon is tackling the problems that have plagued the city for so long?I mean Macon is a wonderful city overall.If i were to move down there,you could have those crappy snobby North Macon suburbs and give me a loft on Cherry St or Mulberry St any day.But Macon has lost I think 25,000 people in 20 years.Thats a lot of people.They are not moving farther away from the city for nothing.What happens when they cannot run anymore?Downtown LOOKs great,but what about the poverty and the substandard education?Macon is not alone in these areas by no means.Savannah definitely needs word too.Its schools are horrible as well.

[King_X]

I agree@afonega1....
There are serious problems in parts of Macon.....but I just view Albany, Macon, Columbus, Augusta, and Savannah as more alike than different in the crime/poverty department. All need to get better, but I just see Albany, Augusta, Macon and ocassionally Savannah get ripped like they are war zones that you can barely leave your house in without dodgin bullets....and I see Columbus described as if its so much safer and an utopia or something, none of that is true. I'm sure you agree?

[midgeorgiaman]

afone, I agree. Macon definitely has some serious issues that cannot be ignored any longer. Rampant crime in the south and west parts of town and the schools must be taken care of for the long-term health of the city. I think the schools are the bigger solution. The south and west parts of town will continue to suffer as long as the residents of those areas continue to deal with it and protect the criminals because they are somebody's friend or relative.

The schools, however, are directly linked to whether business comes to town or not. The Bibb BOE is great at building pretty new schools, but then they ignore the real problem. Discipline in the schools. Here again, residents do not demand that problem children are removed from the regular school. Maybe one bad apple doesn't ruin the bunch, but in some of the classes I have taught, there are 10 "bad apples" in 30. That WILL affect learning for every child in the room.

It starts at the top. Sharon Patterson is a great politician, thus she is still employed. She is not a great superintendent. Scores continue to stagnate or grow slower than the average across the state, great teachers continue to leave, and the beat goes on...

I could go on, but I imagine most readers of this thread are not concerned with the details of the Bibb BOE.

[wisenhiemer]

Originally Posted by midgeorgiaman

afone, I agree. Macon definitely has some serious issues that cannot be ignored any longer. Rampant crime in the south and west parts of town and the schools must be taken care of for the long-term health of the city. I think the schools are the bigger solution. The south and west parts of town will continue to suffer as long as the residents of those areas continue to deal with it and protect the criminals because they are somebody's friend or relative.

The schools, however, are directly linked to whether business comes to town or not. The Bibb BOE is great at building pretty new schools, but then they ignore the real problem. Discipline in the schools. Here again, residents do not demand that problem children are removed from the regular school. Maybe one bad apple doesn't ruin the bunch, but in some of the classes I have taught, there are 10 "bad apples" in 30. That WILL affect learning for every child in the room.

It starts at the top. Sharon Patterson is a great politician, thus she is still employed. She is not a great superintendent. Scores continue to stagnate or grow slower than the average across the state, great teachers continue to leave, and the beat goes on...

I could go on, but I imagine most readers of this thread are not concerned with the details of the Bibb BOE.

God knows it is twice as bad in the Columbus area especially recently with homeless/ex convicts going into businesses retail/medical begging for money,approaching customers in store/parking lots.
Tents/campers/trailers are now popping up all over town in wooded areas/peoples back yards with friends/family etc living in them.
Since riverwalk has flooded there must be over 200-300 roaming around downtown/uptown area looking for a hit and then add the drinking/drugs/carnage on Broadway on the weekends and you have a bomb ready to explode.

[Bulldawgfan]

Originally Posted by midgeorgiaman

Please stop with the stupid rankings. Macon and Albany are NOT consolidated which means the city limits encompass a larger proportion of poor neighborhoods. The CityData lurkers need to go back and study statistics. Before looking at the numbers, one must see how the numbers are calculated.

Here we go again. If the original poster wants to post published rankings to generate communication among members I, personally, am all for it. I am pretty sure this message board is here for that reason. An exchange of ideas and opinions of our individual areas, along with providing information for random questions in regards to relocation. Telling someone not to post on here is not a very good way of generating interest on this section of the board. If you do not like an individual thread then please do not respond. It is really that simple.
As far as statistics goes, especially City Data's crime statistics, there is no conspiracy going on here. They use a base line of per 100,000 residents. The areas included (be they city limits or some consolidation area) are what they are and are not manipulated to reflect poorly on any one area intentionally. Due to varying sizes and population moving trends there are no perfect means of comparing cities. That being said, lets look at the murder stats for Macons 'defined' area. In 2007 there were 22 murders reported. I believe that stat. In 2006 there were 12 murders. I believe that stat also. I do not care what lines you change, what areas you may want to exclude (or include), murders nearly doubled between 2006 and 2007. It does not take a degree in rocket surgery to infer that, in regards to murder, Macon became less safe. If those numbers reflect poorly on Macon so be it. I promise I did not create nor cause those stats to change.

All that aside, I am still hung up one someone trying to direct the posting habits of another member of this board. If you disagree with something by all means bring forth you opinion and open up debate. When kept civil it is often fun. But telling another member what they should or should not post is pretentious at least and at worst is ... well... never mind.
There are varying shades of rose colored glasses being propped up by noses out there. "My kids are not like that" or "my city is much safer than that city", "our school district is so much better than that one", etc., and I am quite sure it is rooted in the social aspects of human nature. I suppose arrogance is a trait rooted in interpersonal relationships as well.

[GABOY84]

Originally Posted by wisenhiemer

God knows it is twice as bad in the Columbus area especially recently with homeless/ex convicts going into businesses retail/medical begging for money,approaching customers in store/parking lots.
Tents/campers/trailers are now popping up all over town in wooded areas/peoples back yards with friends/family etc living in them.
Since riverwalk has flooded there must be over 200-300 roaming around downtown/uptown area looking for a hit and then add the drinking/drugs/carnage on Broadway on the weekends and you have a bomb ready to explode.

I just have to laugh at this comment. This has to be the most exaggerated comment to date!. Don't you think if 300 bums were roaming around downtown would stand out quite a bit? That would standout anywhere! 300 bums walking around downtown Atlanta would standout LOL!!!