Safest cities in Maryland .. (Baltimore, Frederick: hotels, houses, elementary school)

[lscalder]

I have been to Cumberland are you telling me that the the shack and trailer parks is all my imagination. The county is very poor. You cannot compare the largest county in Maryland which is pg county to Cumberland. If you new anything about Pg county you would know that majority of the crime committed in pg county is by Washngton Dc residents.
The Problem is America is we like to point the finger at other race but when it comes to pointing the finger at whites then it all ways become an American problem. Poverty affect all race we point the finger at blacks committing crimes but why the hell are all serial murders white and poor come on poverty do have something to do with it. Majority of serial white murders come from rural America and they are mostly poor white. Are we trying to hide this from America. On the television show to Catch a Preditor 99.99% of the child molesters are white men so please face the fact. I am not pointing fingers on whites but we need to realize that regardless of our color we are humans and we all have the same human reactions.

[westsideboy]

No race is immune from poverty or violence. Nor is a person's race or hometown a sure indicator of the character of the person. I do think is fair though to generalize on the relative safety of communities, town, and neighborhoods based on objective statistics and personal experiences. Based on this, I will firmly state that Cumberland is a safe place to live despite the poverty. I am not sure if anyone would say the same things about poor areas in the rest of the state.

And yes, you are right. Cumberland has trailers and shacks, it is part of Appalachia, and poverty and poor living conditions come with the bargain. Cumberland also has neighborhoods full of gorgous Victorian Mansions, brick streets, a skyline of churches, 5 story commercial buildings, and majestic mountains. That is what I picture when I think of Cumberland. Here, have a look.

[Orwelleaut]

First of all, beautiful picture!! Cumberland looks a little like Altoona in this image.

Secondly, I agree with you 100% on the crime/poverty issue, Westsider. Cities like Cumberland, Wheeling, JOhnstown, Altoona and Scranton are not free from crime. To suggest that they are would not be rational. Compared to places like Cleveland or Baltimore or Philly, though, they are very safe. They have low murder rates. As anyone who has studied criminal justice at all knows, murder is the most reported crime. Most murders are prosecuted and result in arrests. If an area has a lot of murders, that area has problems. Period!! Like you said, westsider, poor white places like Cumberland do have problems with domestic violence. But, is this more of a problem than in a place like inner city Cleveland? I suspect that the answer is "no". In places that already have huge problems with street violence, I doubt that much is done to curb domestic violence for two reasons: 1) the police are already so busy 2) If a woman is likely to be shot by her partner for daring to report her partner who has a violent criminal past, is She going to do it? I doubt it.

Due to the above two reasons, I suspect that domestic violence is reported far more often in a place like Cumberland. Places like Cumberland are quiet, especially at night. Domestic violence is more likely to be heard by neighbors. SInce the police and not generally as busy, they are more likely to invest time in small crimes and respond quickly to complaints about them. In short, I suspect that domestic violence does not happen more often in a place like Cumberland than in the inner city. I think it tends to be reported more often in a place like Cumberland, and is prosecuted more severely when an arrest is made.

Anyone who has spend time downtown in a place like Cumberland knows that it being safer is just a fact. I have spend time downtown in Wheeling and JOhnstown, and am also Youngstown and Toledo. If anything, Youngstown and Toledo are more dangerous than the stats indicate. There is a different mentality in the small cities of the Western PA region, a mentality that is very nice. There is a decency and respect toward others that still exists that in most other places was gone years ago.

[westsideboy]

I often say that Altoona is the Cumberland of PA (or is Cumberland the Altoona of MD?). Similar geography, arcitecture, and economy based on industry and transportation (both town are big time rail centers for their states.)

Your point about actual crime versus reported crime is very important. In big cities, little things like stuff taken off of porches, domestic disputes, break-ins just can't be high priorities for the cops. In fact the cops do as much as possible to discourage people from reporting little things like this that suck time away from them catching the killers and armed thugs. Here is an ancedotal example

My friends live in South Baltimore. Someone opened the door to their house, starting throwing rocks at them and their infant child screaming "Get down, Get down, Get down!" It took the cops about 90 minutes and several phone calls to 911 to show up. When they arrived, they listened to their story and said "You don't really want to file a report on this do you?" They answered "Yes, we want to file a report." The cop responded "No really, we will never be able to find this guy, so you really don't want to file a report do you?" Anyway they went back and forth for several minutes on this, and I don't remember if they ever filed a report or not, but either way, of course, they never found the guy.

In Cumberland where the cops had little better to do, this kind of crime would lead not only to a report, but a big investigation with a good chance of finding the perp.

Point is, the crime stats matter, but often time small, well funded juristictions report a higher percentage of actual crimes than larger "busier" cities and thus inflate the numbers.

[karenelizabeth]

Speaking as someone who grew up in Cumberland, went to school in Altoona (and State College at Penn State) and now live in the DC area, I can say that I have never lived in a place where I felt as safe as I did/do in Cumberland.

Yes, there are run-down houses and extremely poor areas of the city (mainly parts of the downtown area), but in the areas surrounding Cumberland it couldn't be more scenic and beautiful. The crime, trash, and disturbances, IMO, occur primarily in those run-down downtown areas. While there are occasional crimes happening outside of that, I've always felt comfortable and perfectly safe. I think most people who have lived there would agree. There are wonderful neighborhoods all over the area in Allegany County and you won't see those "shacks" and trash in most of those places.

Comparing all of this to where I've lived and visted down in Baltimore and D.C., Cumberland is the picture of quiet, safe living. You gotta do more than just a drive through on I-68 (the city looks AWFUL from that view) or through downtown to see any of that though.

[StuartSlate]

I was born in Takoma Park, Montgomery County, in 1959 and was raised in Mt. Ranier and Bladensburg. As an adult I've lived in Calvert County and then went to school at Frostburg State University in the 1990's. After graduation I resided on Washington Street in Cumberland, Md.

In my opinion, the difference in one's subjective 'feelings' of personal safety and well-being between living in Bladensburg versus living in Cumberland are so dramatic and drastic that one could hardly overstate them.

I have lived in Florida the past ten years.

[Njrover0216]

I live in Anne Arundel County and I suggest anything south of Edgewater is safe. Severna PArk and Arnold are both safe and have excellent schools. Severna Park has many blue ribbon schools.

[blackpeach]

what i can say is its depend on your financial situation and how far are you willing to travel from home to work...
Montgomery county is one of the safest county in the country..as far as i know
cities for wealthy people
besthesda
potomac
kensington
rockville(white flint area)

cities for people on the budget and concerned about safety
gaithesburg
germantown
olney
aspen hill
shady grove
less safe cities for people with low or limited budget
silver spring(metro area)
wheaton
takoma
langley park

i hope i helpd

[md35mom]

Check out Frostburg, MD. It is a great place to live. It has the quaint Main St atmosphere, great restaurants, recreation parks, a brand new high school, the college. We have upscale housing and medium housing. For those people who are trashing Cumberland for the mobile homes, newsflash!! every city has elite and not so elite sections of housing. Frostburg is a great place to live, please check into it. Yes, we are in Western MD and we get SNOW!

[Tesaje]

Frederick is pretty safe. The little towns all around in the countryside are very safe. Where I am is practically crime free.