I'd like to hear the real truth about college safety (Pittsburgh: homes, safe area)

[Collegeminded]

I have a daughter interested in 3 PA colleges. Albright, Wilkes U,and Widener. Can I get some unbaised opinions about safety on campus and the surrounding cities. Thanks!

[auntieannie68]

Originally Posted by Collegeminded

I have a daughter interested in 3 PA colleges. Albright, Wilkes U,and Widener. Can I get some unbaised opinions about safety on campus and the surrounding cities. Thanks!

i would choose wilkes only if she goes with a guard dog,knows self defense techniques,is okay carrying a purse size handgun,and doesn't mind homeless drunk people constantly begging for money.

on the plus side---wu has cute victorian housing and decent transportation system,and some downtown decent hangouts.

[Mr Yuk]

As long as she's not wandering around late at night, the area around Wilkes is reasonably safe. But you couldn't pay me to walk down S. Main St. at midnight. Its fine in the daytime though.

[theatergypsy]

Have you visited each campus with your daughter? Have you found pluses at each? Does your daughter have a preference? More important, have you spoken with students on each campus? That should give you a better idea of the climate of the surroundings.
Chester, Reading, Wilkes-Barre. I know which one I'd pick.
No matter where she goes, common sense will be a big factor in her safety on and off campus. Every school will advise incoming freshmen to be cautious and to travel in groups after dark. Most schools provide volunteer escorts who will be available to make sure, in the absence of friends, to see her safely to her destination. Good luck.

[greentown]

I know a student at Albright and there doesn't seem to be any issues about safety on campus. The one thing I recall is that someone stole a roomate's bike a few years ago. I'm not sure what part of Reading it is located in, but my daughter has visited the campus a few times and hasn't seemed to think it was unsafe.

[Collegeminded]

To theatergypsy...

"Chester, Reading, Wilkes-Barre. I know which one I'd pick."
So which one would you pick???

[SteelCityRising]

The neighborhood in the immediate vicinity of Wilkes University is reasonably safe. I graduated last year from the cross-town rival of King's College, which is in a much worse neighborhood. The St. Vincent dePaul Soup Kitchen is a half-block away from campus, and some of the clientele would panhandle students, wander onto campus, stagger around drunk, etc. I once had an inebriated homeless man chase me onto campus because he thought I was "challenging" him when I tried to be nice as I said "good morning" to him as I passed him as he laid down on the sidewalk. I've also had a group of minority thugs make cat calls at me one night as I passed them on the opposite side of an alley near Gonda's (and I'm a male). I paid a premium to park in a lot in a safe part of downtown and walked to campus. There have also been some problems with The Mines, one of the new downtown nightclubs adjacent to King's. The neighborhood around King's College is an absolutely disgraceful dump with a lot of vagrants and white-trash who don't care to renovate their homes; one can only hope that the new "Gateway" project along North Main Street will start to gentrify the area with more mixed-use developments. I'd feel much safer walking around the Wilkes campus at night vs. the King's campus for certain. For as much as I champion Wilkes-Barre's sudden resurgence (a new clothing store also just opened downtown in what has been the most recent in a spate of dozens of new business ventures in the past five years) there is still very much an "element" in parts of the city that needs to be exterminated. Some of the trash have been pushed to places like Edwardsville and Plymouth, but more "cleansing" needs to be done, even if it means to "yuppify" the city to price out the trash as is now being done with DC vs. the inner Maryland suburbs of Prince George's County.

[Magritte25]

As someone who lives a few blocks away from Wilkes - year around - I feel very safe in my neighborhood. I have, on several occassions, walked S. Main St. and side streets after midnight and have not felt threatened or scared.

As others have said, no matter what college she chooses common sense and safety precautions are a must.

[Hopes]

Consider colleges in Western Pennsylvania. I'm totally serious.

I can't think of a university in Western Pennsylvania that's in a dangerous area. Well, there is one, but the actual university itself is safe.

[PA-native71]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Consider colleges in Western Pennsylvania. I'm totally serious.

I can't think of a university in Western Pennsylvania that's in a dangerous area. Well, there is one, but the actual university itself is safe.

I agree the campuses in western PA is quite safe and security actually cracks down on stragglers pass curfew hours Clarion University is a nice college Grove City College is nice too but strict since they are a private religious based college, there is also Slippery Rock U too that is in a really safe area , PITT has several satellite campuses that are in nice towns and the Main campus is quite safe as well, plus the one in Titusville is a nice small campus in a quiet small town then you got some other well respected colleges in North Western PA and there is some well respected Schools right down the street from the Pitt Main Campus, List of colleges and universities in Pittsburgh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plus there are some other fine schools that is really safe it all depends on what she is interested in learning.
Good Luck