Being transferred to Philly, are only the 'burbs safe? (Philadelphia: 2009, apartment)

[frankgn87]

its not some chart on the net. Its facts. What good is 'feeling' safe.. if your not?

Originally Posted by ajaxrasputin

Sorry, but if you think Center City Philadelphia is not "safe," then you probably would feel right at home in some exurb many miles away. If your basis of judging a place's safety is predicated on some chart on the internet, and not actual life experience, then you will be missing out on many places in the world.

[waltlantz]

Crime is still overrated in the city however.

My family has lived there for DECADES with little problem, yea I didn't say NO problem (1 or 2 muggings), but no one has been shot or anything serious.

You have to go look around the city really, you'll see where you'll find nice places to live and not so nice. Listening to off hand descriptions even from people who have lived there (like me) doesn't trump actually touring the city.

Still to beat a dead horse, if you stay out of North Central Philly and Southwest Philly, (and you don't do stupid things or hang out with stupid or dangerous people) theres nothing to it.

[otters21]

There are some suburbs that I would definitely avoid: Darby and Chester in Delco; parts of Norristown in Montgo; Lacey Park/Warminster Heights in Bucks Co. and of course the grandaddy of all unsafe areas : Camden NJ. That puts to rest the myth that all city areas are bad and all suburbs are good.

[kelb]

You might look at towns such as Media and West Chester. They are destinations unto themselves, and if you find the right apt location you can walk to everything, yet these places are not as fast paced as living in center city.

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

its not some chart on the net. Its facts. What good is 'feeling' safe.. if your not?

Don't forget that the city is much denser then the suburbs so you have many more people packed together. Crime "per person" isn't that much different between the two but the city has more people, therefore more crime, which is what you'll find in most dense cities. Your odds of being a victim are about the same.

[frankgn87]

you are very correct. People are people.. No difference BUT when you have a higher concentration of people you will have a higher concentration of 'undesirables' (murderers, druggies, etc)

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Don't forget that the city is much denser then the suburbs so you have many more people packed together. Crime "per person" isn't that much different between the two but the city has more people, therefore more crime, which is what you'll find in most dense cities. Your odds of being a victim are about the same.

[billb7581]

Originally Posted by otters21

There are some suburbs that I would definitely avoid: Darby and Chester in Delco; parts of Norristown in Montgo; Lacey Park/Warminster Heights in Bucks Co. and of course the grandaddy of all unsafe areas : Camden NJ. That puts to rest the myth that all city areas are bad and all suburbs are good.

Camden is a City.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Don't forget that the city is much denser then the suburbs so you have many more people packed together. Crime "per person" isn't that much different between the two but the city has more people, therefore more crime, which is what you'll find in most dense cities. Your odds of being a victim are about the same.

A very accurate point. Criminals are opportunistic. Where would someone who's of the criminal mindset choose to burglarize, steal a car, carjack, etc.? In the city in front of potential witnesses or in a suburban McMansioned cul-de-sac?

An overwhelming percentage of urban crime occurs in neighborhoods where most middle/upper class residents would never set foot in.
100% of suburban crime occurs in places you could easily wind up in for the most part. So let's reassess the odds shall we?

As a statistical FYI, the cities of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Charleston, South Carolina have equivalent murder rates to 100,000 residents as Philadelphia.
Tuscaloosa is the home of the University of Alabama and is otherwise a very small town. One could probably deduce that most if not all of the murders are
NOT occurring on the campus quad and are exclusive to one or two pockets within the city. Charleston is an historic tourist destination, and not a large city either. Again, people aren't being gunned down while touring or feasting on seafood at outdoor cafes.

Statistics can be used to sensationalize/create hysteria, or be used with some common sense. The hysteria-driven read them like a CNN caption, stopping at the surface. Unfortunately that won't change anytime soon..

I say let them quake in fear in their bland, whitebread subdivisions. We're better off.

[Hobokenkitchen]

I too found the original question very poorly phrased. I assume that once you get to Philadelphia you would like to meet people and make friends? If so, saying that Philly is 'horrible' may not be the best way to endear yourself t the residents.

To answer your question, my husband and I moved to Philadelphia from Hoboken almost a year ago. We had visited Philly a bunch of times on weekend visits and really enjoyed it - much more so than Chicago by the way.

Having lived in Center City for almost a year, I would say that much depends on your budget and where you can afford to live. If you can swing living in a pleasant building in Center City then I would expect you to be very pleasantly surprised by Philadelphia. If you can't then you may find that it lives down to your expectations. Of course if you move to a new area with a negative attitude and expect it to be awful, then most likely it will be. If you go in with a positive attitude and can afford to live in CC then I'm sure it will be wonderful.

We love it here - well apart from east coast weather. Of course even that should be an improvement over Chicago.

[phlbanker]

Anywhere between Market to Locust and 15th to 20th STreets is fabulous area. Safe, self-sufficient and lots of fun. If you are looking to rent, then check this out. NEW LUXURY CONDO-ARIA (apts/housing for rent)