Orlando's violent crime (Miami, Melbourne, Pine Hills: crime rate, home, neighborhoods)

[mlwl8521]

I have been to Orlando 4 times in my life, but only for vacations. I understand that the Disney World campus is not representative of all of Orlando.

Has crime recently become a problem in Orlando or something? I ask because I saw on a stastistics web site that Orlando is ranked #67 on America's most dangerous cities with populations over 25,000 people. To put things in perspective, COMPTON is ranked #63

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My family is going to end up working near Orlando's financial distract if anything, North East of the intersection between I-4 and 408

If we draw a 4-square with those two roads, I can see that anything in the southeast quadrant is going to be bad (Conway) . It just seems like the schools there are worse and the home prices are lower. Someone local correct me if I'm wrong in this analysis

Where should I move to if I want to make sure my family isn't gonna get robbed, carjacked, raped, or murdered?

[dalmain]

I live in Miami which is #47. So Orlando sounds like an upgrade.

[mlwl8521]

well, what's it like for you in miami?

[chopchop0]

There is no way in $@&# that Chicago is 79

Orlando more dangerous than Chicago?

If you don't mind a 45 minute commute, go live north of Melbourne in Brevard county. Much better schools and Melbourne's ranked #98

[kyle19125]

Crime stats are based on crime per capita, as they should be since one should be concerned about proportion versus flat out numbers. Everyone thinks Orlando is some huge city, but it's population is just around 240K which means it doesn't take hundreds of murders or violent crimes to amp up the per capita number. It's quite possible Orlando is more dangerous than Chicago when talking odds or proportions.

[boy3365]

I agree with Kyle. The crime stats can't be a little misleading if you take them at face value. There are good parts and bad parts, and though you aren't totally immune to crime anywhere, I would likelihood of being a victim of random victim of violent crime in the Conway area is lower than you think. Furthermore, the schools (Conway ES, Shenandoah ES, Conway MS, and Boone HS) are well-respected.

[Crane's Rooster]

Crime in Orlando is real concern, there is a higher crime rate than the national average. Is it a warzone? Far from it. As many have mentioned the crime stats are per capita, Orlando is only a very small percentage of the population of Central Florida but alot of crimes tend to happen within its city limits due to this being the center of all the action. Do you need to be cautious? Of course that's expected of any city, do you need to be afraid? I'll answer that with a resounding NO. Be smart and you'll be fine. I have lived all over Central Florida, including downtown now, I have never been worried about walking out my door, getting car jacked, etc, etc. Of course I also do not go to known high crime areas nor do I go looking for trouble. I don't live in bubble, I go out at night, I go running in the park, shopping, etc. I try to stay aware of my surroundings but I can't say it's really a huge concern. I'm more worried about beating traffic, finding a good parking spot, getting bit by mosquitos, being chased by dogs, you catch my drift. As for the areas, the general rule is that anything west of I-4 is not so good, anything east is considered good. Most of the downtown neighborhoods east of downtown are actually highly desirable and expensive. The area you mentioned in Conway is not bad, it's pretty typical area. I always thought the schools there were good (Boone/Blanker district) but I am not a parent so I could very well be wrong. I really don't think you need to worry to much about crime or being a victim as long as you use good sense. Finding a nice place in a good school district should be way more important. If you find that, it's unlikely you will see any crime. Just to put things in perspective you have to take this rankings and polls with a little skepticism, Orlando was ranked 2nd smartest city in America in another ranking???? Take it for what it's worth.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Just to put things in perspective you have to take this rankings and polls with a little skepticism, Orlando was ranked 2nd smartest city in America in another ranking???? Take it for what it's worth.

Some rankings and polls, "crimes per capita" data is pretty cut and dried.

[LordHomunculus]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

There is no way in $@&# that Chicago is 79

Orlando more dangerous than Chicago?

If you don't mind a 45 minute commute, go live north of Melbourne in Brevard county. Much better schools and Melbourne's ranked #98

Sadly, it's true. Chicago gets a bad rep because the President had ties with the city and of course, any big city is going to put up high raw numbers. But Chicago still has the Northside and even areas in the Southwest side that are desirable. Not to mention that the Chicagoland metro has some top notch suburbs. For a city of Orlando's size (which is just city proper), it has more of a crime problem per capita and like I said, that is just city proper. That doesn't include Pine Hills, a few of the areas that are east of Orlando, the Oak Ridge/Sand Lake/Lancaster areas and a few other spots that are south of Orlando, and lastly, the infamous Americana/Texas Ave area. Actually, even the numbered streets that are along OBT by I-4 are considered to be outside of Orlando city limits.

[LordHomunculus]

Also, the thing that makes the problem a little worse is the fact that Florida (maybe a few other states, but in Florida it seems more obvious) has wackos hanging out in even the nicest areas. I always ran into someone saying how their gated community has crime problems and that there are problematic areas just a minute away. The criminality here seems to be more spread out instead of being completely concentrated in one area.