My opinion of Jax is lessening.. (Jacksonville: transfer, schools, living)

[JoJoCal19]

Sorry but you people saying "It happens everywhere" are a little off base. I do actually read various news sites for other areas (mostly within FL) and also read other cities forums on this board and other boards. The violence in Jacksonville, mostly the Northside of course, is far worse than I read in any other place in FL. Yea when you compare Jax to places in Detroit, NJ, Philly, LA, it's probably not as bad, but for us FL residents, yea it's pretty bad. Not only is the crime more rampant here, the problem is VIOLENT CRIME. I read far more instances of violent crimes on any one of our three lovely Jax news sites (jacksonville.com,firstcoastnews.com, news4jax.com) than I do on for instance Orlandosentinel.com, news sites for Melbourne, Cape Coral, Ft Myers, Tampa, etc etc. Every single day on our news sites, murder, murder, murder and oh, more murder or shootings. I have FCN on my Facebook because they break news quickly on there and also traffic alerts are very helpful. I think for the past week or two straight, nothing but murders and shootings lining up the feeds, multiple different stories of the same such stuff.

I've lived in NE FL for over 17 years. I'm also a very news-minded person and I have never seen violent crime as rampant anywhere in FL as it is in Jax. Granted it's mostly relegated to the Northside, but in general Jax is pretty bad with violent crimes.

[BabyBoomers2]

You'd better take a look at the Cable tv show, 48 Hours! A lot of that show takes place in Miami where there is a lot of crime/murders. Actually, that show could make Jax look tame, compared to Miami!

Originally Posted by JoJoCal19

Sorry but you people saying "It happens everywhere" are a little off base. I do actually read various news sites for other areas (mostly within FL) and also read other cities forums on this board and other boards. The violence in Jacksonville, mostly the Northside of course, is far worse than I read in any other place in FL. Yea when you compare Jax to places in Detroit, NJ, Philly, LA, it's probably not as bad, but for us FL residents, yea it's pretty bad. Not only is the crime more rampant here, the problem is VIOLENT CRIME. I read far more instances of violent crimes on any one of our three lovely Jax news sites (jacksonville.com,firstcoastnews.com, news4jax.com) than I do on for instance Orlandosentinel.com, news sites for Melbourne, Cape Coral, Ft Myers, Tampa, etc etc. Every single day on our news sites, murder, murder, murder and oh, more murder or shootings. I have FCN on my Facebook because they break news quickly on there and also traffic alerts are very helpful. I think for the past week or two straight, nothing but murders and shootings lining up the feeds, multiple different stories of the same such stuff.

I've lived in NE FL for over 17 years. I'm also a very news-minded person and I have never seen violent crime as rampant anywhere in FL as it is in Jax. Granted it's mostly relegated to the Northside, but in general Jax is pretty bad with violent crimes.

[houdinis mom]

I think the news you get when you don't actually live in the city is different than the local news....i.e. when I lived in Tampa and Melbourne, I didn't get much news on Jax, even when I looked for it....however, I heard plenty from the local news in Tampa about all of the murders, drug houses, etc, and same when I lived in Melbourne, same when I lived in Kansas City, and I just got back to Jax from Michigan, and all I heard about was Flint being the murder capital of not just Michigan, but of the entire country. I didn't live in Flint, but about an hour or so North, but it was still considered "local" news.

I think when it's your town that you live in, we can be a little more sensitive about it. Because we don't know how to fix it.... and me? I stay away from the Northside, that's how I fix it.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by houdinis mom

I'm just trying to say, it is what you make of it. If you are always watching the news, that's all you are going to hear, is about the murders, abductions, etc. Get out, go to the beach, go to the Towne Center, or go down to Riverside to the shops there, or to the Landing and you won't have time to watch that crap!

Well-said!

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by JoJoCal19

Sorry but you people saying "It happens everywhere" are a little off base. I do actually read various news sites for other areas (mostly within FL) and also read other cities forums on this board and other boards. The violence in Jacksonville, mostly the Northside of course, is far worse than I read in any other place in FL. Yea when you compare Jax to places in Detroit, NJ, Philly, LA, it's probably not as bad, but for us FL residents, yea it's pretty bad. Not only is the crime more rampant here, the problem is VIOLENT CRIME. I read far more instances of violent crimes on any one of our three lovely Jax news sites (jacksonville.com,firstcoastnews.com, news4jax.com) than I do on for instance Orlandosentinel.com, news sites for Melbourne, Cape Coral, Ft Myers, Tampa, etc etc. Every single day on our news sites, murder, murder, murder and oh, more murder or shootings. I have FCN on my Facebook because they break news quickly on there and also traffic alerts are very helpful. I think for the past week or two straight, nothing but murders and shootings lining up the feeds, multiple different stories of the same such stuff.

I've lived in NE FL for over 17 years. I'm also a very news-minded person and I have never seen violent crime as rampant anywhere in FL as it is in Jax. Granted it's mostly relegated to the Northside, but in general Jax is pretty bad with violent crimes.

Sounds to me you're looking for crime. Look hard enough and you'll find it. These sites you're looking at are designed to report things people will read/watch. Well, people don't care about someone doing a fund raiser for a local charity but they will read (and talk about) a shooting or a robbery.

I'm telling you, Jacksonville crime is no worse than anywhere else and MUCH better than many others.

[bativac]

Here are some crime rate stats, circa 2009:

United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jax is more dangerous than many. It's 31 or 32 on a list of 76 or so. Just about in the middle. As far as Florida, Jax has a higher crime rate than Tampa but lower than Miami. Orlando doesn't seem to be on the list which probably means crime is worse here than there.

Just an FYI. I've directly encountered violent crime a few times here in Jax. I don't feel unsafe in my home or downtown or anything but crime is an issue here.

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by td1026

Now that I've been up here for a week, my opinion of this place is in the gutter. The shootings this week don't help either; it makes me wary to go out anywhere other than the beach or the general UNF area. I'm trying to like it, but the kids here at UNF are very immature, not so intelligent, and a lot of them are pretty unapproachable. I like to think of myself as pretty mature for 19, and I just can't stomach the immaturity of some of these people. I've always found it somewhat difficult to make friends past the superficial level and most of these people aren't the type of friends I would want to have anyway. I'm getting pretty discouraged with this place in general. I know I'm only in my second week, but all of my friends other schools are having plenty of fun. I feel trapped to say the least. Anyone have any ideas that could remedy my situation? Thanks.

Hang in there man...your just new. Its good you had high expectations of Jacksonville & UNF, but you may have to be a little more patient or find a girl who likes you.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by bativac

Here are some crime rate stats, circa 2009:

United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jax is more dangerous than many. It's 31 or 32 on a list of 76 or so. Just about in the middle. As far as Florida, Jax has a higher crime rate than Tampa but lower than Miami. Orlando doesn't seem to be on the list which probably means crime is worse here than there.

I don't really care where we rank in crime. As I've said, that doesn't concern me. If I'm seeing people being beaten up, shot, stabbed, houses broken into, etc. all of the time, then I'll care and move. That just isn't the case here. Is it perfect? Not any more perfect than any other large city with urban areas. But this kind of information means nothing when taken with no context to place it in.

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by td1026

Now that I've been up here for a week, my opinion of this place is in the gutter. The shootings this week don't help either; it makes me wary to go out anywhere other than the beach or the general UNF area. I'm trying to like it, but the kids here at UNF are very immature, not so intelligent, and a lot of them are pretty unapproachable. I like to think of myself as pretty mature for 19, and I just can't stomach the immaturity of some of these people. I've always found it somewhat difficult to make friends past the superficial level and most of these people aren't the type of friends I would want to have anyway. I'm getting pretty discouraged with this place in general. I know I'm only in my second week, but all of my friends other schools are having plenty of fun. I feel trapped to say the least. Anyone have any ideas that could remedy my situation? Thanks.

Try to transfer to UCF or FAU sometime soon. Jacksonville sucks. There is NOTHING going on there.

[iMarvin]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Try to transfer to UCF or FAU sometime soon. Jacksonville sucks. There is NOTHING going on there.

UNF is better than UCF and FAU. And you're VERY ignorant.