Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Safety Overrated? (Edina, St. Louis Park: crime rates, school, to live)

[knke0204]

I know someone who got jumped and robbed at gunpoint on Block E this weekend.

[audadvnc]

Sorry to hear that.

Care to explain the circumstances?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Auslander77

The city could probably make a miniscule investment towards improving efforts to gain positive perception of its downtown.....because a lot of weary, secluded suburbanites are still afraid to visit.

Visit to do what?

When I lived in the cities, most of our eating, entertainment, and other things were between 394 and 35E along the 494 loop.

I rather enjoyed going downtown when we did so, but there weren't that many reasons to wander down there.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by audadvnc

Sorry to hear that.

Care to explain the circumstances?

Getting cash out of an ATM, and when he turned around, BOOM*BANG*SMACK*SLAP* money gone, wallet gone, pride even more gone. I know, I know, isolated incident. I wasn't getting at MPLS' lack of safety, I just think it's a good idea to let people know that that stuff does happen.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by knke0204

Getting cash out of an ATM, and when he turned around, BOOM*BANG*SMACK*SLAP* money gone, wallet gone, pride even more gone. I know, I know, isolated incident. I wasn't getting at MPLS' lack of safety, I just think it's a good idea to let people know that that stuff does happen.

That ATM on Hennepin Avenue?

I always used to look at that ATM and wonder how stupid someone would have to be to actually use it. Right on the street, right by the bus stop where someone could logically stake out someone, but look like they're waiting for a bus. Lots of teenagers hanging out in the area.

[uptown_urbanist]

I don't think most people discount the fact that crime does happen in Minneapolis. All one needs to do is pick up the Star Tribune to read depressing crime stories from across the metro area. Unfortunately, that is just the way things are in most of modern America these days. Where it gets weird is when people get overly paranoid, or when they have unfounded opinions like living in X location will mean there's zero chance of being a victim of crime.

[northsub]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Where it gets weird is when people get overly paranoid, or when they have unfounded opinions like living in X location will mean there's zero chance of being a victim of crime.

Is there anyone who thinks there's zero chance of being a crime victim anywhere?

I think most people are arguing over relative odds. It's not too hard to look up the FBI uniform crime reports and compare amounts of various crimes per capita. When I've done this I've concluded that Minneapolis is statistically not nearly as safe as most suburbs (or maybe just versus the suburbs I tend to frequent). Sure, my odds of being mugged in Minneapolis probably aren't terribly high. But, they are higher than in many suburban locations.

For me, these numbers are more powerful in that they seem to match the reality on the ground: the only time I've felt immediately threatened in the Twin Cities was in Minneapolis, even though I spend most of my time in the suburbs.

[audadvnc]

Originally Posted by northsub

Minneapolis is statistically not nearly as safe as most suburbs...

As far as violent crime goes, you may be slightly more susceptible to getting rolled outside a Mpls bar by crack heads than you are getting rolled by meth heads in Austin or Mapleview. I wouldn't know personally, in 35+ years here I've never had the occasion to find out.

However, as has been mentioned frequently on this forum, the likelihood of you getting injured or killed in a car accident is much greater than that of you being a victim of violent crime anywhere in the USA, and the likelihood of you suffering life-threatening disease from your own poor eating, drinking and smoking habits is much greater still. You are just as likely to get a heart attack in vinylville as you are at the corner of Penn and Broadway.

And for somebody as in to power numbers and personal safety as you are, I'm sure you have since sworn off smoking, drinking, and fatty foods, because that's where the numbers fall hardest.

EDIT: OMG - 911 posts! Emergency Power Number! Inside Job! Call the EMS!

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by northsub

Is there anyone who thinks there's zero chance of being a crime victim anywhere?

I think most people are arguing over relative odds. It's not too hard to look up the FBI uniform crime reports and compare amounts of various crimes per capita. When I've done this I've concluded that Minneapolis is statistically not nearly as safe as most suburbs (or maybe just versus the suburbs I tend to frequent). Sure, my odds of being mugged in Minneapolis probably aren't terribly high. But, they are higher than in many suburban locations.

For me, these numbers are more powerful in that they seem to match the reality on the ground: the only time I've felt immediately threatened in the Twin Cities was in Minneapolis, even though I spend most of my time in the suburbs.

Well, if you read this forum you will see people who do think that they have no chance of being a victim in their own neighborhoods.

I think the problem is that many people know very little about Minneapolis, and don't realize the vast difference in neighborhoods; those are the people who think, for example, that just because a neighborhood like Linden Hills (just throw one very nice, safe local neighborhood) is within city limits that it must be unsafe, or even relatively unsafe. Meanwhile the same people who tend to have those sweeping generalizations also tend to think that a suburb is going to be safer, just because it's a suburb. When looking at crime, looking at overall city ("city" meaning municipality) limits doesn't do one much good. In the case of Linden Hills, for example, if you stand at 44th and France on one corner then you're not any more likely to get mugged or assaulted than if you cross the corner in St. Louis Park, or into Edina. There seem to be people out there who don't understand that, and its those people who confuse me.

The other thing I really don't understand, yet comes up on here time and time again, are those who brag about not locking their door. That's just asking for trouble, even if the odds of anything happening are extremely slim. All the local police departments, including swanky suburbs, have entire pages on their websites devoted to reminding their residents that it's stupid to leave their door unlocked or their garage doors open.

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

That ATM on Hennepin Avenue?

I always used to look at that ATM and wonder how stupid someone would have to be to actually use it. Right on the street, right by the bus stop where someone could logically stake out someone, but look like they're waiting for a bus. Lots of teenagers hanging out in the area.

Oh, Lord God! NOT TEENAGERS!!!