Is Paterson, NJ dangerous? (Newark: safety, food, suburbs)

[openheads]

Originally Posted by Edison Winter

Yeah Paterson is a dump. A dangerous dump. Dont let anyone tell you any different either. Elizabeth, Rahway, Newark, Irvington, Camden, Paterson, hmmm what do all these places have in common that makes them so dangerous

Why don't you enlighten us?

[nina0823]

ive lived in paterson nj all my life and no paterson is not bad. Some of the people that act ignorant in this town make it look that way but every town has its ups and downs. You have these weird people from out of town stalking our paterson women and trying to get us in the car because we are little or some of the women dont understand english that well, so the some of the crimes that do take place in paterson nj, some of the people dont even belong in our town. They need to stay where they belong and stop trying to make our town look like a **** hole as the guy would say above me. dont judge unless you know whats really going on.. and if you cant walk around in our town maybe you shouldnt be in our town because no one is going to bother you unless you make trouble for yourself and i love my town always did and always will!!! whoever cant handle our town needs to stay out of it and stay where they belong.... we dont need negativity in our town we have enough of it already so if you dont like it stay out of it you dont belong here anyway!!!

[StrugglingMusician91]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Patterson is extremely dangerous. But as bad as any area is, if one lives there and walks the streets, one develops a sense of safety and comfort zone. In other words if you have a familiar routine walking the same sidewalk every day then you will feel less threatened when you walk outside.

No matter, unless you have an Elephant rifle by your side, dont get out of the car there. Those poor people hear gun fire and dont even flinch. They dont even hit the deck. They are immune to gun fire.

Come on man have you ever lived in Paterson? Probably not cause you spelled it with two T's but I digress, I grew up in Paterson and its not this war zone people make it out to be. Yes there are some very poor run down areas which obviously you need to keep your wits about you when walking around but the eastside by Fair Lawn is aswell as well the border by Totowa and West Paterson. And although paterson is very much segregated its pretty diverse. You have blacks and hispanics pretty much mixed and then a pretty strong italian presence by totowa, and a thriving middle eastern/turkish community by clifton. Paterson has its problems but its not a war zone.

[nykstevenyg]

Paterson is quite bad, but it is not at the same level as Irvington, Camden and Newark. Parts of Paterson are nice and I dont think it has gotten any worse in the last twenty years, generally seems stable though it is not a desirable place to live

[proudmama]

Originally Posted by StoicCrying

I was born in Paterson, but let me tell you I've seen it's worst. You have a lot more chance of getting mugged, jumped, and shot than back in 2004-2005. You have gangs, rapists (registered or not), a creepy white van that tries to pick up woman, and the kids?- They own the streets! They all spread out and are put under kid's watches under a big gang- EVERY STREET IS OWNED! Plus, Paterson is expensive- so it's a waste of time since if you have children- THEY WILL GET HURT! (From personal experience) Seriously, I had to carry a knife in case at age 8 with my brother while walking to my private school (since Public is dangerous, and Private is okay-but it's like $2,000 a month for one kid).

As a Jersey Girl, I will probably always have soft spot-but I would never try to go back, even before I moved wasn't as bad as now. It's a shame because I used to love the city even with it's problems and my parents, brother, and family always comes first.

It was bound to happen.

Not sure what Paterson your referring too. I just recently moved from Paterson after raising two teenagers that are now attending college. Both of my children attending private school (not sure what private school is paterson would charge 2k per month)
Although you have your area's of Paterson as well as Newark, Hackensack, Irvington, Englewood, Montclair, just to name a few have gang activity as well as drug dealers, rapist, molesters ect. Every town have the issues, its just widely reported in the urban area's because of the obvious, "urban area".

[olbluesguy]

I spent a weekend in Paterson one night years ago. I was shooting in an indoor archery tournament in what used to be a bowling alley.
When It came time to jump on the Interstate to come home I could not find my way to It because all of the signs to the Highway were pointed in the wrong directions.
Usually into some dark neighborhood alley where you could possibly be ambushed.
Needless to say once I knew what was up I ran some one way steets and found my way out of there pronto!

[Newarkbomb]

I definitely think this forum was answered already.. i think!

[Jose Fernandez]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

Patterson is extremely dangerous. But as bad as any area is, if one lives there and walks the streets, one develops a sense of safety and comfort zone. In other words if you have a familiar routine walking the same sidewalk every day then you will feel less threatened when you walk outside.

No matter, unless you have an Elephant rifle by your side, dont get out of the car there. Those poor people hear gun fire and dont even flinch. They dont even hit the deck. They are immune to gun fire.

Where you from, Desertsun? How do you know so much about Paterson, 1 T not 2?

[Blueyez84]

There are different places in Paterson that are more dangerous than other places. Personally, I never had a problem driving or walking in Paterson at all. I'm a white girl and I don't get any problems. Sometimes cops will stop me to ask me what I'm doing and I tell them " Did I do something wrong officer, I'm just shopping." Now its wrong to shop in paterson if your white? I love the shopping there and the people are always nice to me. People really need to stop with the "Oh my God, we're in a black neighborhood, run." How would you like it if black people go into a white neighborhood and gets scared too. If you approach people like people and not by their color, maybe their wouldn't be so much hostility. I love all my Paterson people and you can come and talk to me anytime, your white girl who loves Paterson :-)

[openheads]

Originally Posted by Blueyez84

Sometimes cops will stop me to ask me what I'm doing and I tell them " Did I do something wrong officer, I'm just shopping." Now its wrong to shop in paterson if your white?

I've actually had the same problem in Paterson. Not shopping, but getting food on Ellison Ave late at night.
The criminal element in Paterson is fueled by out of towners from the suburbs coming into the city for drugs & prostitution. It's just a crime prevention tactic, I would not take it personal.