Are you looking to move to Orlando? One word: Don't!

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by heather121

I almost don't know why I'm going to bother posting here, but here are a few things I've noticed.

Currently, I live just outside of Hartford, Connecticut. The city has 125,000 residents and is approximately 17 square miles. The 2007 crime index for Hartford is 661.8 (according to city-data), it peaked in 2003 at 888. There were approx. 24.9 murders per 100,000 people.

In the city of Orlando, population ~227,000, crime index in 2007 was 960. There were 17.4 murders per 100,000 people in Orlando. The city of Orlando is 93 square miles.

If we want to use that data to compare the two cities, that would make Hartford, CT (a city that is 1/5 the area with 1/2 the population) MORE dangerous than Orlando. Plus, the indexes for robberies/assaults/burglaries/thefts are similar between the 2 cities.

Considering I currently live in a city that neighbors Hartford (it's a dump and no one would voluntarily move here) and I work in Hartford, I would be more than happy to move to Orlando for the DECREASE in crime.

Hartford crime is concentrated in two main areas, the north end and the south end. Downtown and the west end are nice, safe areas. It would make sense that crime in a similar city, such as Orlando, was also concentrated in specific areas.

There is a comparison of Orlando vs. a SMALLER city (since SinDoner is comparing it to larger cities already).

You would be happy to know that Hartford ranked 27 on the crime index, while Orlando ranked 18 (right behind Compton, CA). So it appears Hartford is safer.
http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/City...8_Rank_Rev.pdf

[heather121]

Originally Posted by DailyJournalist

You would be happy to know that Hartford ranked 27 on the crime index, while Orlando ranked 18 (right behind Compton, CA). So it appears Hartford is safer.
http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/City...8_Rank_Rev.pdf

So they are 9 places apart, in a listing of 385+ cities. Is that .02% difference really that significant?

[SinDonor]

Originally Posted by heather121

I almost don't know why I'm going to bother posting here, but here are a few things I've noticed....etc...

DailyJournalist beat me to it. I'd take Hartford "metro" over Orlando metro any day of the week. O-town can't touch the NorthEast. All Central Florida has got is the "sunny weather", IMO. Hmm, yep that's about it.

[Wilshire81182]

If you look at individual city stats for say Winter Park, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Winter Garden ... you will see it is not that bad. If you look for stats by zip code within Orlando and within Orange County it is also not that bad in several areas. I have nothing against Hartford, but there are not millions of tourists going there each year like they do to Orlando. There are theme parks, great weather, beautiful beaches, great colleges, beautiful neighborhoods, great restaurants, nightlife, interesting wildlife, year round (almost) swimming, water parks, golfing, to name a few ... There are also some great jobs (like mine) and great potential for growth. Also if Orlando is not your thing, Tampa, Jacksonville, and South Florida also have great things going for them for either a day retreat or to relocate to. I want people looking at Orlando to know there is crime, but I do not want posts on this forum to prevent them from moving here or visiting Orlando because crime is highly exaggerated. If I did not feel safe or that I was in harm on a constant basis, I would not continue to live here. I live in Conway, I work by UCF, I have to go to some sketchy parts of town occasionally and I like to go for drives and go to restaurants and shopping throughout town so I get around. I feel like I have a good basis for what is going on where SinDonor doesn't even live here anymore and soon Daily Journalist will not either.

[SinDonor]

I've been gone for 4 months. I didn't realize that it has changed so much since then.

When I tell people that Orlando had 123 murders in 2008 or that it's one of the top violent crime cities in the country, they can't believe it. All they know is Disneyworld and CityWalk.

Here's a nice little AOL Money article about the 15 most dangerous states in the USA:

No. 9: Florida

It has been commented on a city-data.com forum that Florida crime is not concentrated in one area, but rather spread across the state.

Rankings in Crime (out of 50)

Assault: 5
Burglary: 10
Murder: 15
Motor Vehicle Theft: 12
Rape: 17
Robbery: 5


Funny how they mention city-data.com on it.

[cmj_fla]

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