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I see absolutely nothing wrong with this piece. The author analyzed the data according to the article. No one outside of the Triangle reads that college paper, and kids who write for it are still honing their skills.
I'm searching for a house right now in RTP-- there is a huge price difference when comparing houses on each side of the Durham-Chapel Hill border. There is in fact a line.
The author presented some of the data poorly, though, and seemed intent on drawing conclusions that even the Orange County DA cautioned against. Plenty of people outside the Triangle read the DTH, too, including alumni and prospective students.
For example: "In 2011, there were more than 1,700 violent crimes committed in Durham — while there have only been 850 arrests for violent crimes in Chapel Hill in the last 10 years." I understand the point the author was trying to make, but comparing crimes in one city to arrests in another is invalid. Additionally, the comparison makes no adjustment for the difference in population that was noted in the preceding paragraph. That's sloppy journalism and improper use of statistics. Yes, Durham has more crime per capita than Chapel Hill. Had she presented a proper analysis, that point could have been made much more effectively.
The "line" you refer to does exist, but it has little to do with crime. It's mostly about the school system and the fact that Chapel Hill has very tight controls on growth that inflate the prices of housing relative to Durham.
For most intents and purposes, Durham and Chapel Hill are one contiguous metro. You can cross out of one and into the other without even realizing it. Viewed that way, the fact that 25 to 30 percent of the prosecutions in Chapel Hill involve Durham residents isn't really shocking.
Location: (Orginally From Ann Arbor, MI) Now reside in Evans, Georgia
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Crime is a reality. If the neighboring town has lots of shiney pretty things they might want to take, temptation will happen. Do you think they will rob someone just as bad off as them? No, they will go were the shineys are. Which are in the towns in and around the triangle area .
What do they expect..if you have a documented area of high drugs, gangs, and crime for years...and the neighboring towns don't blink an eye you help resolve it...their problem now becomes yours =)
Durham , I think it is trying really hard to tackle it crimes rates, it cant control what it residents do of their own free will outside of their district.
I see little wrong with the article. If Durham did not have a crime problem people would not be immediately jumping to it's defense all the time. It's gotten to where you can't even post a totally factual comment on Durham without people getting all fired up. Whether it's true or not does not matter.
I see little wrong with the article. If Durham did not have a crime problem people would not be immediately jumping to it's defense all the time. It's gotten to where you can't even post a totally factual comment on Durham without people getting all fired up. Whether it's true or not does not matter.
What's the matter with people "getting fired up," about Durham or anything else? It seems to me that people writing or speaking with a certain amount of enthusiasm and passion and emotion about subjects that are important to them is not only legitimate but an integral part of a vigorous discussion, whether on an internet forum like this, or anywhere else. I do agree that I've sometimes observed a tendency for some Durham supporters on this forum and elsewhere to get a bit defensive in response to criticisms (less so in this particular thread than in some others), and that's generally unbecoming and unproductive. But there are lots of non-defensive people, too, though their more measured and level-headed comments are often not as conspicuous as the defensive ones. I think that even that sort of defensiveness that does exist, whether about Durham or anything else, is borne out of a combination of enthusiasm and passion (which is good), and insecurity (which is less good, but still very human). And of course sometimes on the internet there is a tendency for foolish people on all sides of all issues to devolve and resort to name-calling and abusiveness, but fortunately that's kept to a minimum on forums like this since it's usually not allowed. But as long as the defensiveness can be minimized and personal attacks held in check, I see nothing wrong or inappropriate with people getting "fired up" to speak their minds. If everybody agreed about everything, there would be no purpose for discussions like the ones on this forum. You say that when one posts "a totally factual comment," "whether it's true or not doesn't matter." But I think it's entirely reasonable and healthy for people to be able to question and challenge each others' "factual comments" if they dispute their accuracy, and especially to express differing interpretations or conclusions drawn from those facts presented.
What I meant when I said 'fired up' was people getting overly defensive. Where the facts of a post are not questioned and posters are asking for the thread to be closed just because they don't like what's been posted.
The DTH comments are like that. Not disputing the facts but upset because they don't think DTH should be publishing such an article.
Ahh "facts." Can't dispute them, can ya? Of course, when they are used selectively, inconsistently, and inappropriately to substantiate broad-brush stereotypes of a certain people or region, it does get some people "fired up," no? In response to those who seek to perpetuate these negative stereotypes, the silence of those who disagree would be equally as disturbing as the voices of those who seek to promote hatred and bigotry.
BoBromhal, it's far more than that. You can practically hear the dog-whistle:
Really? That's what passes for college journalism these days? The editors at my campus paper would NEVER have allowed idiotic (and there's no better phraseology for it) language like this -- nor the racial overtones present in the article.
And there's a fundamental idiocy to the concept of the communities as "separate" in this regard. When you artificially restrict housing stock due to growth policies, you price plenty of people out of the community, including would-be or actual criminals, who go where cheaper housing exists. That does not mean there's some "magic line" -- or fence, in the DTH writer's perspective! -- keeping those same individuals from coming back into your community. Nor that there is some "fault" in Durham as to why these would-be and actual criminals exist in the first place.
The article serves to point a finger towards Durham when the issue really comes down to the simple fact that crime and poverty are realities, and you can't spend your way as a community out of avoiding it. The article's unspoken premise is that if Durham weren't next to CH, these problems wouldn't exist. I think there's a deep logical fallacy there.
I just expected to read much more blatant "if we could just keep 'those people' in Durham" when I skimmed it.
What I meant when I said 'fired up' was people getting overly defensive. Where the facts of a post are not questioned and posters are asking for the thread to be closed just because they don't like what's been posted.
The DTH comments are like that. Not disputing the facts but upset because they don't think DTH should be publishing such an article.
Yanno what? I'm personally not a fan of Durham. There are places I like fine. The 9th St area, DPA/Bulls Athletic Park Area, Southpoint Mall area, Hope Valley, etc.
Mostly? It's not my thing. And there is more crime in Durham than, say, Chapel Hill.
But, yanno what else? That article sucked.
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Ok....I am a fairly recent UNC alum (2011) and I still live and work in Chapel Hill. Believe me when I say that the thinly veiled racist/classist undertone in this article is NOT something that the majority of students or residents of this town support. Pretty much all of my friends and everyone I know read this article with a headsmack afterwards. Chapel Hill residents...all of us; whether associated with the university or not, go to Durham very regularly for shopping, dining. and many conveniences not available in Chapel Hill (especially drive-thru fast food! haha). In fact I'd be willing to bet that a higher portion of Chapel Hill's population "cross the border" into Durham every day than vice versa. This article was written by a young and sheltered undergrad who just doesn't know any better. Frankly I'm more upset that the senior editors let the story run in a non-editorial section the paper!
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