Jacksonville Homicides (Miami: how much, incomes, to live in)

[Ivan Putski]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

Doesn't it bother you that people are getting murdered at an alarming rate? Just because they are African American and in the north/northwest/west section of the city and you are unlikely to get killed doesn't make it any better.

Are you only looking to move to Jacksonville or are you also researching surrounding areas like Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jax Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach (PVB) etc??

You have to keep in mind that Jacksonville is a huge city (885 square miles) and is 17 times bigger than Buffalo (52 square miles).

To put Jacksonville's murder/crime rate in perspective (11 murders per 100k people), we moved from a quiet upper middle class suburb in northern NJ and were within 20-25 miles of high crime/murder rate cities like Paterson (16 murders per 100k) and Newark (33 murders per 100k). Sure it bothered me to hear about the murders in Paterson & Newark but we lived far enough away that we would never be affected by it. Same thing here. You go 10-20 miles outside of the most dangerous area of Jacksonville and it's a completely different world.

We've only been in PVB for 9 months but we love it here thus far. We also have other friends that moved from NJ to Jacksonville (~15 miles east of the high crime area) and they very much enjoy it here.

FYI, Buffalo's murder rate is 23 per 100k.

[Thundarr457]

I am far from a "paranoid old guy". My wife and I spend time in Colombia which is certainly not the safest place in the world. We also live in Buffalo NY which is up there in the crime and murder statistics. I never said Buffalo was safe and I avoid the "bad areas". We were hoping to avoid that situation when we moved. We looked at PVB and its very safe and was one of the areas we considered. Its just that we don't live in a vacuum and one day we might have occasion to go to Jacksonville for a cultural event or some other reason and I don't want to fear for my life. I have lived here most of my life and know which areas to avoid. The city of Buffalo is maybe 1/17 the size of Jacksonville but that does not encompass the suburbs where many people live.

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

I am far from a "paranoid old guy". My wife and I spend time in Colombia which is certainly not the safest place in the world. We also live in Buffalo NY which is up there in the crime and murder statistics.

Great, sounds like Jax will be a huge upgrade for you. Welcome!

[Runninglikethieves]

I think the crime in Jax is overblown, but now watch something happen to me since I said that.

But I've never had problems in living in Avondale or when passing through the other neighborhoods either. My fiancé and I do a lot of walking in the evenings too. We frequently walk from the west side of Avondale all the way to five points in Riverside at night. Although mostly in the winter months, when it gets darker earlier. It's still light out when we do it this time of year. When I bought here, I made sure to research the neighborhoods because I do like to walk for exercise.

Looking at that map, there's been about 4 or 5 murders in my neighborhood in the last 10 years. And by neighborhood, I mean within a mile or so. Not on my block. Although there was one a block away from me, but I remember neighbors who had lived there then telling me it was a person that the guy knew that came in and shot him. Not a random break in and murder. None of them seem to be random.

[02blackgt]

Jax undoubtedly has a lot of murders, but very few of them are random. Like others have already stated its largely in the N/NW section, and even when its not, its targeted. On a day to day basis the murders here will have zero effect on your life. Search google for 2016 homicide tracker by Florida Times Union. This tracker keeps stats and demographics on all murders in Jax. 81%-83% of all homicides are young black males who are shot. I'm not trying to downplay the loss of life but most of it is just your standard urban ghetto violence that you will find in most cities across the nation. Its a perpetual cycle that has been going on for decades and will likely continue for decades.

Those of us who work a normal job and don't sell drugs or join a gang have a very small chance of being a victim in Jax. As for the freeway shooting going on now, yes that is 100% random. Thankfully its only an airsoft gun, but hopefully whoever is behind this is caught very soon.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

You're talking about isolated incidents that all happened in one day where there were no actual homicides. This thread is about Jax homicides for all of 2016 thus far.

Crime is a part of living in a bigger metropolitan city. To be shocked or surprised that there are going to be murders in a city like Jacksonville is being very naive. So while you use the term "downplay" when talking about crime, I say it's "expected" and the "norm" for there to be crime in big cities. And of course as the population rises these figures will tend to go higher. None of this surprises me one bit, nor does it frighten me at all. I don't gang-bang, I don't drive angry, I don't cause fights........the odds of me getting shot and killed by some random act of violence are probably less than getting struck by lightning.

Sorry...northern CO......how could I forget?

San Diego is one large city that has hardly any crime. They've only had like 5 murders so far this year.

Originally Posted by Ivan Putski

Are you only looking to move to Jacksonville or are you also researching surrounding areas like Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jax Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach (PVB) etc??

You have to keep in mind that Jacksonville is a huge city (885 square miles) and is 17 times bigger than Buffalo (52 square miles).

To put Jacksonville's murder/crime rate in perspective (11 murders per 100k people), we moved from a quiet upper middle class suburb in northern NJ and were within 20-25 miles of high crime/murder rate cities like Paterson (16 murders per 100k) and Newark (33 murders per 100k). Sure it bothered me to hear about the murders in Paterson & Newark but we lived far enough away that we would never be affected by it. Same thing here. You go 10-20 miles outside of the most dangerous area of Jacksonville and it's a completely different world.

We've only been in PVB for 9 months but we love it here thus far. We also have other friends that moved from NJ to Jacksonville (~15 miles east of the high crime area) and they very much enjoy it here.

FYI, Buffalo's murder rate is 23 per 100k.

Good point. I live in PVB and I don't even notice JAX having crime unless I watch the First Coast News.

[Jada_yel]

Originally Posted by Thundarr457

Its just that we don't live in a vacuum and one day we might have occasion to go to Jacksonville for a cultural event or some other reason and I don't want to fear for my life.

Ok that's not normal... Crime happening in the hood won't have any effect on cultural events... I think you should be more concerned about terorist attracks since they are the ones happening in cultural events, they are very unpredictable, unavoidable and targeted against a large number of innocent ppl unlike gang violence. however you can avoid most day to day crimes and live a safe life here in Jax, I think that's what people are trying to say... yours seems more like a personal issue.

[Florida2014]

Jacksonville not even in the top 10 most dangerous cities in Florida: Here Are The 10 Most Dangerous Towns In Florida To Live In

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

Jacksonville not even in the top 10 most dangerous cities in Florida: Here Are The 10 Most Dangerous Towns In Florida To Live In

No matter what that says, Jax is still a dangerous place. I talked to someone, on another forum website, that lived here for 5 years and she totally agreed and that was why her and her husband moved.
Earlier this year the JSO Chief talked about the high crime here. There were also some people, who live on the north side, who talked about the high crime in their neighborhoods.
These people should know what they are talking about.

But, then again, Jax, perhaps Jax is the safest city in the U.S.!

[Florida2014]

So instead of relying on actual crime statistics you choose to focus on what someone on a message board told you about why they moved away? Another of your posts talked about you hearing of a single incident several years ago near you and based on that you find Jax "dangerous."

I hope folks reading this understand the source here.