South Bend Crime (Gary, Elkhart, Mishawaka: crime rate, roughest, neighborhoods)

[SoKal62]

the crime index for South Bend IN.(650) is worse then Los Angeles CA (570) is this true I found the info on this web site. Is it not apples to apples

[baileyvpotter]

I wouldn't say it's apples to apples since LA has a population over 10 million and SB is just about
100,000. I suppose if you check City Data (dated 2012) it does look like the crime stats are higher.
There are many variables that may skew those stats such as there are still people who don't lock
their doors, most crimes are reported since it is a small city (vs. other cities that manipulate or
change the language of the crime) and it has 5 colleges in town.
Yes, South Bend does have certain neighborhoods which have higher risks/incidents of crime but
is there a city the size of LA or SB that doesn't?

[SoKal62]

I think it must have more to do with SB being the only major city in the area. So it has more Big city crime without the population numbers to dilute it.

I hope so anyway I am looking to relocate to a rural area south of South Bend and those numbers scared me. I am coming from a city with just over 100k people with a crime index of 109

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by SoKal62

I think it must have more to do with SB being the only major city in the area. So it has more Big city crime without the population numbers to dilute it.

I hope so anyway I am looking to relocate to a rural area south of South Bend and those numbers scared me. I am coming from a city with just over 100k people with a crime index of 109

If you are moving to a "rural area south of South Bend" why do you care what the crime rate is in South Bend?

[SoKal62]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

If you are moving to a "rural area south of South Bend" why do you care what the crime rate is in South Bend?

How do I get crime stats on unincorporated areas ??

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by SoKal62

I think it must have more to do with SB being the only major city in the area. So it has more Big city crime without the population numbers to dilute it.

I hope so anyway I am looking to relocate to a rural area south of South Bend and those numbers scared me. I am coming from a city with just over 100k people with a crime index of 109

South Bend has had an influx of gang issues over the past couple decades and is influenced a lot by Chicago, especially east and south Chicago which tend to be the roughest areas of that city and the closest to South Bend. Some of that has spilled into Elkhart (somehow mostly bypassing Mishawaka) and even Goshen. I used to know one of the detectives in Goshen who's responsibility was to know all he could about the local gangs. He knew what gangs were around, their colors, and many times who was known to associate with what gang. He told me that much of it is driven by Chicago as it spread to South Bend and has slowly worked its way east into Elkhart and Goshen

That said, South Bend is the 4th biggest city in Indiana but Mishawaka isn't exactly small and Elkhart is about half the size with Goshen being about 2/3 the size of Elkhart. So I don't know that I would call it the only major city in the area. South Bend has its bad areas as most big cities do but it certainly isn't close to being all bad.

[baileyvpotter]

Originally Posted by ischyros

That said, South Bend is the 4th biggest city in Indiana but Mishawaka isn't exactly small and Elkhart is about half the size with Goshen being about 2/3 the size of Elkhart. So I don't know that I would call it the only major city in the area. South Bend has its bad areas as most big cities do but it certainly isn't close to being all bad.

Mishawaka has a population of 48,252. Mishawaka's size is 17 sq miles while South Bend's is 41.
The gradual influx of "gangs" initially came from Chicago, Gary and Detroit. Sorry to say but
Mishawaka is also having problems (but it too has some nice areas).

[cdr18]

South Bend, all in all, isn't that dangerous of a city. There are many nice areas that you can raise a family in. Stay away from the west side along Western Avenue and certain parts of the south side. South Bend is the major city in the metro area. There are a lot of positive things going on in South Bend though and you will see that when you move to the area. Just stay away from certain areas, just like most cities with metro areas.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by baileyvpotter

I wouldn't say it's apples to apples since LA has a population over 10 million and SB is just about
100,000. I suppose if you check City Data (dated 2012) it does look like the crime stats are higher.
There are many variables that may skew those stats such as there are still people who don't lock
their doors, most crimes are reported since it is a small city (vs. other cities that manipulate or
change the language of the crime) and it has 5 colleges in town.
Yes, South Bend does have certain neighborhoods which have higher risks/incidents of crime but
is there a city the size of LA or SB that doesn't?

So when comparing LA you will use the MSA population but when comparing South Bend you only use the city population?

FYI, the crime index is measured per the city proper. So it's about 3.8 million in LA to 101,000 in South Bend. South Bend MSA population is about 330,000 and 712,000 CSA.

To the question at hand, Los Angeles isn't even known as a dangerous city, why does this surprise you? And it's only modestly higher than LA.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by SoKal62

I think it must have more to do with SB being the only major city in the area. So it has more Big city crime without the population numbers to dilute it.

I hope so anyway I am looking to relocate to a rural area south of South Bend and those numbers scared me. I am coming from a city with just over 100k people with a crime index of 109

South Bend is the largest city in its area, by far, however there are several decently sized cities that are very close to it. Neighboring Mishawaka is almost exactly half the size of South Bend, at about 50,000. Just 15 miles to the east you have Elkhart at slightly over 50,000.

As someone who grew up most of their life in South Bend it is just like most other cities. The areas that are more favorable to crime are south of U.S. Business 20 and west of LaSalle. If you head east of downtown things look pretty good, once you start heading west of downtown they begin to deteriorate. If you're on the north or south east side of South Bend you're as safe as anywhere else. Only the west side is struggling.