Most Violent Cities and Towns in MA According to the FBI (Boston: low crime, to buy)

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Your 1st link is considered a "competitor" site here, so rather than post the link, .

Sorry about that - I thought it was one of those realtor sites like zillow and trulia. Didn't know they had forums.

[pennyone]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Your 1st link is considered a "competitor" site here, so rather than post the link, I'll list them:

Sudbury
Weston
Norfolk
Franklin
Hopkinton
Duxbury
Holden
Shrewsbury
Wayland
Bedford

Note: These are towns with a total population of 10,000+.

There are neighborhoods in Quincy like Monclair and Wollaston with around the same number of people as any of these towns, and have very similarly low level of crime too. My point is that socio-economically homogeneous areas like these small towns and separate neighborhoods of small cities are all equally safe. Even some of Boston's neighborhoods are very safe. All you need is a relatively homogeneous socio-economic groups living together and you have these safe spots. Nothing surprising about it.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

The top 10 are the usual suspects, but there are a lot of big surprises. Some of the small towns really got screwed by having a small handful aggravated assaults. North Brookfield? Warren? Barre? Great Barrington? WHATELY?????? These are still great places to live. I'm sure these towns were just unlucky this one year. Next year they'll probably on the lowest crime list. This can't be a trend. I mean the thought of North Brookfield or Barre going ghetto makes me chuckle.

Very, very true!

Originally Posted by Parsec

Yeah, still surprising though. I think it was the only Boston-area town on that list. The others were all small cities. I would've expected Woburn or Billerica to have higher crime stats. <shrug>

The article only listed the top fifty, Billerica and Woburn could easily be numbers 51 and 52.

[massnative71]

The mid-cape has had serious troubles for years, with Hyannis being the epicenter and the cancer slowly spreading to surrounding towns like Yarmouth. It all began when greedy real estate holders started renting out older homes and motels (past their tourist potential) to Section 8 trash. There has been a huge migration of this from places like NY and NJ as well as Brockton, etc. It's not just Joe the heroin user, we're talking gangbangers and other degenerates who live like animals and have ruined a once beautiful area.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Just wanted to put in a plug for our hometown. A google search for safest towns in MA has these 2 hits near the top. Both list Sudbury as the safest town in the state:


50 Safest Cities in Massachusetts - SafeWise

Clinton #6, wow!

[mdovell]

Having worked at #1 and living and working within one of the top five let me say a few things. By no means would I condone crime.

Criminals don't really care where you live. Never in any given time is a criminal ever convinced not to go somewhere because it is somehow upscale. If anything some criminals will go to places with lower crime as there's less police and less cameras.

Here's an example
In Duxbury they found a guy in a briefcase!
Man charged after alleged smuggler's body cut open in Duxbury | Local News - WCVB Home

Now does that mean the town is bad? heck no. He was a drug mule that was killed and dropped off probably anywhere at will. Could have been anywhere. Not all crimes within a city are performed by those that live in it.

Now that gets recorded potentially as a murder in town although it might not really have been. Low populated areas can spike up with just a few spats of violence so it might not be a good indicator.

The other part is frankly crime tends to be where you find it. If you read the police log or the news ultimately you'll know what areas are not safe and at what times.

You can create more damage with a pen then a knife or a gun. The vast majority of people I know have not had physical violence thrown upon them. However I do know plenty that have been laid off, forced to sell off homes they owed money on, had bad divorces, property taken away etc.

The vast majority of the country is safe and Mass has a lower crime rate then many other states. Having said that I live in a complex with multiple locks and park in a gated area by a barbed wire fence. Locks only keep out honest criminals but frankly these days with everything tracked and recorded we'll probably continue to see a decline in violent crime and increase in non violent. Why would someone bother holding a knife to someone to get a wallet if they can jerry rig some skimmer at a ATM and get the same money without lifting a finger?

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Just wanted to put in a plug for our hometown. A google search for safest towns in MA has these 2 hits near the top. Both list Sudbury as the safest town in the state:


50 Safest Cities in Massachusetts - SafeWise

This list is interesting, too. Nice to see my old stomping grounds of Dudley on the list, along with Uxbridge and Grafton. Clinton...number six? That's the biggest surprise of all. Nice to see there can be some diamonds in the rough.

[Steephill2]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Your 1st link is considered a "competitor" site here, so rather than post the link, I'll list them:

Sudbury
Weston
Norfolk
Franklin
Hopkinton
Duxbury
Holden
Shrewsbury
Wayland
Bedford

Note: These are towns with a total population of 10,000+.

i hate to break this to you, but this list is outdated. latest one seems to consolidate all into a top 100 safest cities for america. slightly different rankings here but pretty much its the same group of cities. looks like wayland has the bragging rights this year.

wayland is now number 1 for ma and no 6 overall for america
norfolk 2 and 7 overall
clinton 3 and 9
duxbury 4 and 16
sharon 5 and 18
norton 6 and 43 "big" dropoff here
sudbury 7 and 45
franklin 8 and 51
medfield 9 and 55
weston 10 and 57 overall in usa

other in top 100 for country are bedford, westford, holden, holliston, hopkinton.

these are ranking from the same source but different year. just goes to show you how one little anomaly can take a city down the rankings quite a bit.

i am a bit pleasantly surprised that so many cities from southwest boston made this particular list.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by Steephill2

i hate to break this to you, but this list is outdated. latest one seems to consolidate all into a top 100 safest cities for america. slightly different rankings here.

wayland is now number 1 for ma and no 6 overall for america
norfolk 2 and 7 overall
clinton 3 and 9
duxbury 4 and 16
sharon 5 and 18
norton 6 and 43 "big" dropoff here
sudbury 7 and 45
franklin 8 and 51
medfield 9 and 55
weston 10 and 57 overall in usa

other in top 100 for country are bedford, westford, holden, holliston, hopkinton.

these are ranking from the same source but different year. just goes to show you how one little anomaly can take a city down the rankings quite a bit.

So I live in the #45 safest town in the US? Hey, I'll take it. I think the biggest surprise again, is Clinton at #9 in the US. It gets a bad rap on the forums, but I've never any unpleasant experiences there. Granted, I've only spent a couple half-days there so it's a small sample size.

[Steephill2]

one problem i see with these rankings is that many of these towns do not have much in terms of commercial development, which removes a large chunk of crime associated with it. but that doesnt mean that towns with development as a whole are not safe.

also, do rankings like these entice millenials who may be buying in the inner 95 core to move further out towards these outer core locations in the next 5-10 years when they have kids? gonna be tough balancing safe neighborhood, good schools, convenience, and commute, etc. guess time will well on that one.