Glendale and Tempe ranked in most dangerous suburbs top 10 list (Phoenix: middle-class, apartment)

[Valley Native]

So Tempe and Glendale made the list, but not Compton, CA??? I wonder about the credibility of some of these reports, and what they use for actual criteria. I'm sure Tempe and Glendale have a fair amount of crime, but any large city or suburb is not going to be completely free of crime. Today's suburbs are basically extensions of large cities with all the problems of crime, traffic, pollution, noise, etc. They're not necessarily some safe utopia with perfect homes, manicured lawns, and clean streets.

[JohnnyGalt]

I've lived in Phoenix nearly all my life, and moved to Tempe in 2006. While there are definitely more dangerous suburbs that are not listed, Tempe is no picnic anymore. Yes, the ASU campus is relatively safe and new, but if the University wasn't there Tempe would just be an extension of West Mesa. Apache east of McClintock is a stretch of abandoned motels and buildings, and the neighborhood north of Apache and south of University Drive is so bad they found a cartel stash house with large amounts of meth and cash. Many of the lower income apartments have large populations of tweekers and vagrants, and there are homeless people all over the areas north of the 60. North Tempe has the same problem; a low income population with lots of drug users and bums. The areas near AZ Mills are also sketchy; the motels all house prostitutes and drug users. All in all, it's a suburb that's getting worse and worse. I wish we had a Mayor who was more willing to combat actual crime in the city, instead of worrying about the quarter mile of city near ASU.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by JohnnyGalt

I've lived in Phoenix nearly all my life, and moved to Tempe in 2006. While there are definitely more dangerous suburbs that are not listed, Tempe is no picnic anymore. Yes, the ASU campus is relatively safe and new, but if the University wasn't there Tempe would just be an extension of West Mesa. Apache east of McClintock is a stretch of abandoned motels and buildings, and the neighborhood north of Apache and south of University Drive is so bad they found a cartel stash house with large amounts of meth and cash. Many of the lower income apartments have large populations of tweekers and vagrants, and there are homeless people all over the areas north of the 60. North Tempe has the same problem; a low income population with lots of drug users and bums. The areas near AZ Mills are also sketchy; the motels all house prostitutes and drug users. All in all, it's a suburb that's getting worse and worse. I wish we had a Mayor who was more willing to combat actual crime in the city, instead of worrying about the quarter mile of city near ASU.

Some serious exaggeration here (and some just plain inaccuracy) from a one post wonder.

[LBTRS]

As I've said, I'm not familiar with Tempe at all and was poking around to see what could cause it to be on the list. Found this in the East Valley Tribune which is interesting as I never thought of Tempe in this regard...

"Tempe has long had the highest serious crime rate in the East Valley. According to the Arizona Association of Crime Analysts, in 2010 Tempe had 57.5 serious crimes committed per 1,000 residents. That’s 22 points higher than Chandler, nearly 20 points higher than Mesa, and over 9 points higher than Phoenix. "

Richardson: Tempe must try to cut off drug cartel tentacles - East Valley Tribune: Opinion

[observer53]

The rate that led to the ranking in the OP has actually gone down since 2012. I don't remember what the breakdown was in 2010, but it's not like that now, either. In some parts of Tempe, it never was like that.

[Jnvlv247]

Is Mesa not considered a suburb? Why isn't it on the list INSTEAD of Tempe?

Funny considering Gilbert and Scottsdale are among the safest suburbs in the country

I would go even further and say that the "suburbs" around Phoenix are not surbubs but cities themselves. They all have huge populations

[Ztonyg]

Outside of central Phoenix and downtown, everything is kind of one giant "suburb" with good and bad parts everywhere. The difference in metro Phoenix is that you can have a good area next to a bad area next to a good area.

[ibarrio]

Originally Posted by Jnvlv247

Is Mesa not considered a suburb? Why isn't it on the list INSTEAD Tempe?

The answer is two posts above you

[autism360]

There’s a perception that suburbs are safer that their big city neighbors, but the truth is that they can be dangerous places just like anywhere else. Back in February, the Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed Blog ranked Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedthe safest suburbs in America, and now we’re looking at the other side of the coin: the most dangerous suburban cities in the country.

These were rated as the safest

1. Carmel, IN
2. Fishers, IN
3. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedParma, OH
4. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedDublin, OH
5. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedNewton, MA
6. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedCary, NC
7. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedApex, NC
8. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedOro Valley, AZ
9. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedCupertino, CA
10.Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedGermantown, TN

It seems to me the problem is how they define suburban cities, I would not consider Tempe a suburban city, suburbs do not have large amounts of congested commercial and business areas. I am very familiar with Newton Ma and Parma Ohio having lived a stones throw away from them and they are totally different from Tempe, they are much more rural, less than half the population of Tempe and almost exclusively single family homes very few apartments with limited large industrial/commercial areas. I would not consider Tempe a suburb of Phoenix but rather an extension of it.

[sandy6879]

Considering I've seen this list in different variations with different cities included (one had 3 cities in CT on it), I wonder if it's by population size, not overall throughout the entire country. That might make more sense.