Crime/Safety in Pottstown (city) (Hanover, Stowe: section 8, apartment, rentals)

[daidreambeliever]

I'm looking to move into the Pottstown area, and I'm wondering what the crime is like in Pottstown. I'm not so much wondering about surrounding areas like Coventry and Stowe, but more about actually in the city - King St., Hanover St., etc.

I'm already not crazy about of the middle of a city (driving and so on), but it's not a deal breaker unless there is a safety issue. So any input would be greatly appreciated!

Also, if anyone knows of where I can look for apartment rentals besides craigslist that would be great, too.

[restorator]

I also am relocating to the Pottstown area and would like info on which areas of the city are safe to live in. Can anyone provide any info? I hate to just write off the entire city out of fear as many areas look like they might be just fine, but I also dont want to commit to a year lease in an area I am scared to sleep in or fear leaving because my stuff will get stolen.

[jedwalsh]

I've lived in Pottstown for close to 20 years - and have specifically lived in the historic downtown for the past 15 years.

I've never had any problems with crime, nor have feared for my safety. Don't read the local paper (The Mercury), it's sensationalized journalism written by people who live outside of Pottstown. They have no clue what they're writing about and only focus on writing about car crashes and house fires.

If you're looking for somewhere to live in town, I would avoid the 300-600 blocks of King, Chestnut, Walnut and Beech. There are little owner-occupied properties in those blocks and a good deal of Section 8 rental properties. Just drive around, you'll get the picture real quick.

The nice thing about Pottstown is the variety of housing stock. If you're looking for an historic home, consider living in one of Pottstown's two national historic districts (check out the boundaries on the borough's site: Borough of Pottstown - Official Website). Pottstown's east and north ends are very nice. The Rosedale section of town have very nice homes as well.

Good luck with your search!

[restorator]

What was going by that scared me so much was the actual reported crime rate here on city-data.com and other websites that take the crimes reported by the police. Those numbers are very high and pretty much twice as high as the national average and higher than anywhere I have ever lived before.

In any case i did move into the city just south of wilson st near hanover and the area appears to be calm and safe. In fact much of Pottstown does not look anything like the crime rate as reported, at least compared to areas I am familiar with with similar rates. Even in the so called worst sections, I dont see much in the way of things like bars on the windows of businesses or other high crime measures. I can only assume that much of the crime reported is amongst the problem residents themselves and that there is not as much random crime as it at first would appear. (now I hope nothing happens today to change that!) However I do see a drug problem in the weird and definately high people roaming high steet from time to time doing very strange things.

[Icy Tea]

Reporting crime is a local Pa thing. The area makes an honest effort to report crime in the news as well as officially recording it. So it does get a higher crime rating. Many municipalities under report crime, this area doesn't.