gangs in rochester? (Marshall: crime rate, how much, houses)

[tnwannabe]

We are considering relocating to rochester and I am wondering if anyone can tell me the 411 on gang activity. What kind of gangs are we talking about? are these activities going on in the public school system? I homeschool now and do not want to move there and through my children into something they are not prepared for. Anyone out there in rochester who will give me the true scoop? Would you move to rochester if you didn't already live there?

[ozzie679]

You mean Bloods, Crips, Vice Lord type gangs? In Rochester? I'm sure there is that element in any good sized MN town.

Now I'm a little curious.

[fromupthere]

Yes there are gangs in Rochester. In January, they did a special report in the newspaper and on the news that there are at least 19 active gangs here. I do know some are ethnic based but how many I do not know. My kids are in elementary school so at this time as far as I know there is nothing at their level - they will be in 2nd and kindergarten.

Would I move here if I didn't live here already? Yes and no. We actually are looking at moving into one of the smaller towns around. I know at least one of the smaller towns around here has had some big problems with gangs and drugs. I really don't think there is anywhere that is free of this kind of stuff. There may be small towns that are free of gangs but that doesn't mean they don't have drug and alcohol issues as well. But Rochester has a lot to offer, the schools are good, there are lots of nice areas here.

If you just want to base it on gangs, then maybe Rochester isn't right for you. But overall with the exception of the gangs, it's a good place to live. People might say that there are parts of town that are safer (i.e., NW Rochester) but that's not really the case anymore. There have been incidents between different gangs in different parts of town including the "safer" areas. I'm not really sure what the crime rate is as far as the gangs doing stuff to people not affiliated in any gang. I'm sure there are burglaries and theft and the like but that's anywhere - gangs or no gangs.

[moving123456]

Seriously? Gangs in Rochester? Rochester has a well below average crime rate and 0-2 murders per year.

[my54ford]

Originally Posted by moving123456

Seriously? Gangs in Rochester? Rochester has a well below average crime rate and 0-2 murders per year.

Maybe thats why the cops here have a new gang taskforce

[my54ford]

gangs and thugs are everywhere in Minnesota You can't even go to Valley Fair without risking a beat down these days!!!!

[questions09]

There is no reason to be scared gangs are every where if you mind your own business nothing will happen. I have been to Rochester and my friends and I will walk around all day and evening and nothing has happened or we have seen happen so if you want to move to Rochester just look more closely at your immediate housing and go from there but city wise your find its like anyother city really there is crime it will happen.

[jmgg]

I have always been under the assumption that Rochester was a city of well above average income with all the connections to the Mayo Clinic and St. Mary's Hospital.

Where is the gang problem coming from? Are these kids from parents employed in the health fields or is there a gang magnet there like the infamous packing houses?

Just curious. Only been to Rochester a couple of times. It looked pretty sterile to me.

[marothisu]

I've lived in Rochester for MOST (but not all) of my young life (although I'm a few days away from relocating to downtown Chicago).

There are gangs here and of course there's more gangs here than there were ten years ago. This is because the population has increased by about 15,000 to 20,000 in the last eight to ten years and some of those include families being relocated from Chicago. This has actually happened in a number of midwest towns/cities in the last few years so it's nothing out of the ordinary.

In any case, Rochester is mostly very safe. Yes, there's some gang violence, but there's no reason to not feel safe in Rochester. With out a doubt Rochester is one of the nicest small cities not part of a bigger metropolis I've ever been to.

You should be fine, and if there's any gang violence here, people stand up. For example, there have been a few drive by shootings in this one neighborhood here, maybe just a few blocks in area. The people in this area are so pissed off, they're thinking about hiring private security companies to do investigations and catch whoever is doing it instead of just letting things fall in place and doing nothing about it. I remember last year there was a big rally in the area too against gang violence.

As far as the school stuff goes? When I grew up here (graduated HS in 2004), I felt extremely safe in school. It's kind of funny because there are some schools you have to watch out for "gang activity." You won't get into anything until MAYBE middle school, but that's what middle school kids do. For high schools, you aren't going to find any (or much of any) at Century or Lourdes (private high school with tuition). You might find some at Mayo, but not much and you will find the "most" at John Marshall but it's honestly not that bad. There's also a private catholic school system here and there's no way in hell you are going to find any gangs in that (or much of anything in the open).

As far as my education goes, I feel the education I got in the Rochester Public Schools was second to none. Honestly, when I went to college, I was surprised on how much better of an education I got than my peers. Even the ones who went to private schools. Rochester educated me very well to be honest.


In any case, Rochester is extremely safe. Like any city, there's crime here, but it's really not that bad. Most of the crime here anyway is either speeding tickets, or small disputes like that. I would feel extremely safe going almost anywhere in the city even at 3am by myself.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jmgg

I have always been under the assumption that Rochester was a city of well above average income with all the connections to the Mayo Clinic and St. Mary's Hospital.

Where is the gang problem coming from? Are these kids from parents employed in the health fields or is there a gang magnet there like the infamous packing houses?

Just curious. Only been to Rochester a couple of times. It looked pretty sterile to me.

Yes, Rochester has tons of money. If you live here, you're either a doctor/nurse of some kind, social worker, teacher/professor, developer/business owner, or engineer. If you aren't, then your parents are. If none of those, you might not have gone to college or maybe you are just 16 years old.

Anyway, Rochester's population has grown about 15k - 20k in the last eight to ten years. Last summer some people from Chicago inner city got relocated here. But also, in the early 1990s a lot of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Somalian immigrants came to Rochester. Rochester has a sizable population of SE asians and east africans who usually stay quiet and are very nice (there's also a very small east african section near downtown of businesses). The juveniles in some of these communities sometimes form/join gangs though.

That's where it comes from mostly..of course, I remember back in the early 90s with the "All American Boys" (a bunch of redneck racists), but I haven't heard a word from them since the mid 90s. It is actually funny because the reason why Somalians formed gangs in rochester in the first place is because the "All-American Boys" were stupid and wouldn't leave somalians alone. They'd fight them for no reason even when they were minding their own business, which prompted some Somalians to form groups to look out for each other which basically became gangs.