Port Saint Lucie Residents

[FlaLadyB]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Why not? I have about three young, single female work colleagues that live in either downtown or City Place. Another friend of mine lived at 610 Clematis before getting married and buying a SFH recently, and she never felt "unsafe!"

Why not? You have to be kidding me. That entire neighborhood was the dregs of society and if you look at the area just past those flashy lights..it STILL IS. There are robberies /muggings all the time. Why do you think they have police all over? They have a curfew too because of the kids and fights.

A friend of mine used to be in a condo sales office right next to City Place and had to keep their door locked AT ALL TIMES because of the kind of people who would hang around and reports of someone walking in, snatching a purse, and running out. They ended up hiring police to be there at night.

Single females not concerned? Heck it was scary even going to my car in the parking deck! No.. I would not recommend any single female live anywhere near City Place. Drive there and go home...and take someone with you.

[justNancy]

West Palm Beach has been rated the most dangerous city for many years. It's actually improved. Used to be #7 and now it's #13 according to Forbes. New Orleans is #11 As always, Detroit holds the title! Lots of FL cities on this list like Orlando and Miami.

In Pictures: America's Most Dangerous Cities - Forbes.com


Of course it depends on the neighborhood. I wouldn't recommend walking alone anywhere in the middle of the night. I turned down a job in Fort Myers because it was downtown and some nights I'd be working until after midnight. I wouldn't even think about walking to my car unarmed in Fort Myers at night and I'm anti-gun! Yet Lehigh Acres has a terrible reputation for violent crime and I know people who enjoy living there. So much of what we perceive to be true is based on our personal experiences I suppose.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by FlaLadyB

Why not? You have to be kidding me. That entire neighborhood was the dregs of society and if you look at the area just past those flashy lights..it STILL IS. There are robberies /muggings all the time. Why do you think they have police all over? They have a curfew too because of the kids and fights.

A friend of mine used to be in a condo sales office right next to City Place and had to keep their door locked AT ALL TIMES because of the kind of people who would hang around and reports of someone walking in, snatching a purse, and running out. They ended up hiring police to be there at night.

Single females not concerned? Heck it was scary even going to my car in the parking deck! No.. I would not recommend any single female live anywhere near City Place. Drive there and go home...and take someone with you.

LIKE I SAID.... I know of THREE single women who live happily in downtown, and do not spend their days clutching their purses and being scared! Nonetheless, it's a downtown area. Of COURSE it's going to have more density, and more crime in general than PSL. PSL has lack of density in its favor. Good for crime rates. Bad for entertainment prospects as a single young person. The condo buildings downtown are basically all young professionals and retired people.

Besides, MOST of the bad (the kind that people should be scared of... not kids loitering or fighting amongst themselves) downtown crime happens NORTH of Banyan... in the ghetto part of the city. THAT is also a FACT. Cut off the Northend of the city, and watch the crime rate plummet.

Sorry, but the chances of meeting someone and being around single people the OP's age are 10x greater in downtown WPB than PSL. That's just the way it is. Maybe someone will get lucky standing in line at TJ Maxx in Tradition and meet that special someone, but they might have a better chance enjoying a street festival, Sunday concert series, or during a green market shopping trip downtown.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by justNancy

West Palm Beach has been rated the most dangerous city for many years. It's actually improved. Used to be #7 and now it's #13 according to Forbes. New Orleans is #11 As always, Detroit holds the title! Lots of FL cities on this list like Orlando and Miami.

In Pictures: America's Most Dangerous Cities - Forbes.com


Of course it depends on the neighborhood.

Yeap. It's also important to note that the Forbes survey looked at the ENTIRE WPB metro... 1.2 million people, which is ALL of Palm Beach County. It might be noted that Riviera Beach has one of the highest crime rates in the state. 33407, the zip code, is also the most dangerous zip code in Florida (or it was, not too long ago).

HOWEVER, as mentioned above, with respect to the actual CITY of West Palm, there is a very bad section of West Palm that seems to be where all the bad crime news (murders, drug dealing, etc.) MAJORITY come from. It's no surprise it's also the part of the city that borders Riviera Beach. Imagine if people lumped PSL crime in with Ft. Pierce crime rates! Something tells me you'd get about the same uproar as what happens when people talk about how bad "St. Lucie" schools are, when Ft. Pierce schools are vastly inferior in general to PSL, and bring down the whole county.

Originally Posted by justNancy

Yet Lehigh Acres has a terrible reputation for violent crime and I know people who enjoy living there. So much of what we perceive to be true is based on our personal experiences I suppose.

Very true. My mother's home in PSL was broken into a couple years ago. I live a few streets South of downtown WPB, and lived IN Cityplace for over a year (where old lady neighbors could be seen walking their dogs at midnight). Never had a problem.

[justNancy]

Until June I lived in Bonita Springs in a neighborhood very close to the beach. I was taking my evening stroll one night and joined a woman with her 2 dogs. She was telling me about a house down the block that was busted for dealing crack and about local crime. I lived there for over 13 years and, although my home was burglarized in 1999, I always felt safe. Sometimes at night I'd walk outside to look at the stars and play with (and feed) the neighborhood strays. I really miss them.

Since I never lived in WPB, I can't even begin to comment on it or pass judgment. I'm from Boston and always felt safe there too, but what do I know? I was a victim of a violent crime, but it could have happened anywhere. Probably the best thing to do to get the skinny on an area is walk around and talk to the residents.

[FlaLadyB]

I was not comparing PSL to downtown WPB.. not trying to.

I was just stating a fact of the area immediately surrounding City Place. If your friends are not aware of what goes on where they live then they should be, especially at night. Heck, they even assaulted a movie star with body guards in daylight! It's a well know fact that this happens all the time especially in the areas out of the bright lights.


By the way... crime stats are done by city and WPB is not ALL OF PALM BEACH COUNTY which is made up of numerous cities.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by FlaLadyB

I was just stating a fact of the area immediately surrounding City Place. If your friends are not aware of what goes on where they live then they should be, especially at night. Heck, they even assaulted a movie star with body guards in daylight! It's a well know fact that this happens all the time especially in the areas out of the bright lights.

Again, it's an urban area. Crime happens in urban areas at greater frequency than the suburbs. It's a fact of life, and a trade off.

BTW, crime is down 50% in the downtown core since the implementation of the curfew.

By the way... crime stats are done by city and WPB is not ALL OF PALM BEACH COUNTY which is made up of numerous cities.

The link posted by JustNancy was for the entire metropolitan area. WPB does not have 1.2 million people, but the county does.

[kaudyatas]

I live in PSL between Gatlin and Becker. It's not so bad, very rural (not really my thing) but, real close to 95, 20 min to US1. To live here a car goes without question.