bay area vs LA crime (Oakland, Concord: high crime, hotels, taxi driver)

[tkindred]

Originally Posted by sav858

Those are TOTAL # of murders and NOT PER 100,000 people. There were 11.5 murder PER 100k in SF and 12.4 PER 100k in LA.

There also 5 TIMES as many people in LA! What is it with people like you that don't understand the concept of using RATES to compare cities of different populations? You can't compare TOTAL numbers b/c the difference in size in cities.
Examples:
a city of 50,000 with 10 murders a year
a city of 500,000 with 100 murders a year
a city of 5,000,000 with 1000 murders a year

Now which has a higher murder rate and which are you most likely to get killed in??? The answer: NONE OF THE ABOVE. They all have the same murder RATE and you are just as likely to get killed or not get killed in any one of those cities. Do you get it now?

Go ahead and try to use your own math and methods to twist and skew the numbers in your favor but you don't really know what you area talking about. These are CRIME RATES, they TAKE POPULATION INTO ACCOUNT!

Did you ever wonder why NYC is considered one of the safest large cities in America despite it having the moss # of total murders and crimes every year?? More people are killed in NYC than SF and LA combined but it is still a safer city overall b/c it has a higher population and you're less likely to get killed there than either SF or LA.

This is such a simple concept I am surprised how many people on this site don't understand it.

I stand corrected. I read the line incorrectly.

San Francisco 86 murders in one year with 776,733 people
Los Angeles 480 murders with 3,694,820 people

L.A. 5.6 times as many murders with a population that is 4.8 times that of SF. So a slightly higher frequency of murders in L.A for it's population.

To be honest with you it doesn't matter to me because I think most of all this is avoidable anyway. And, I do not even care about either place. Again, I don't even like living in SF. I prefer Souther Cal.

Finally, I am not trying to argue. I don't even care. So yes, it could be L.A. is safer somehow than SF. Who knows. I just know there seems to be places I have been in L.A. where it was more hardcore at night than SF.

[tkindred]

Originally Posted by sav858

Those are TOTAL # of murders and NOT PER 100,000 people. There were 11.5 murder PER 100k in SF and 12.4 PER 100k in LA.

There also 5 TIMES as many people in LA! What is it with people like you that don't understand the concept of using RATES to compare cities of different populations? You can't compare TOTAL numbers b/c the difference in size in cities.
Examples:
a city of 50,000 with 10 murders a year
a city of 500,000 with 100 murders a year
a city of 5,000,000 with 1000 murders a year

Now which has a higher murder rate and which are you most likely to get killed in??? The answer: NONE OF THE ABOVE. They all have the same murder RATE and you are just as likely to get killed or not get killed in any one of those cities. Do you get it now?

Go ahead and try to use your own math and methods to twist and skew the numbers in your favor but you don't really know what you area talking about. These are CRIME RATES, they TAKE POPULATION INTO ACCOUNT!

Did you ever wonder why NYC is considered one of the safest large cities in America despite it having the moss # of total murders and crimes every year?? More people are killed in NYC than SF and LA combined but it is still a safer city overall b/c it has a higher population and you're less likely to get killed there than either SF or LA.

This is such a simple concept I am surprised how many people on this site don't understand it.

This is actually becoming interesting to me so I am digging into it more. Is SF truly safer than L.A.? I found this link. It is older info, from 2003, but I think it gives an idea. Check it out.

Crime Rates for Selected Large Cities, 2003 — Infoplease.com

The one thing I do not like is they include vehicular theft, which is not a serious crime but would be much higher in places like L.A. than SF and especially NYC. To me murder and rape are the big two categories to look at.

And I was right about my city, Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS are 2 of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. So proud!

Safest and Most Dangerous U.S. Cities, 2007 — Infoplease.com

The funny thing is people in SF try to brag about having a lot of crime and being tuff because they are a small city. People in NYC, L.A. etc. want to seem like their cities are safe.

[sav858]

Honestly I don't think LA is generally that much safer than SF, wasn't even until the past couple of years its crime rate became lower than SF's. I was just stating that recently SF's overall crime rate is higher than LA's and some people read too much into that simple statement. I said it b/c of the OP's experiance, maybe the recent uptick in crime has to do with her feeling that SF has more crime.

Yes there is a difference btwn crime overall and violent crime. Also realize perception is often different that reality. B/c with that link you provided, it shows San Francisco having a higher vehicle theft rate than LA. And I recently read an article showing that SF County has the highest vehicle theft rate in the state, now how many San Franciscan's do you think would believe that if you told them?
San Francisco County leads state in rate of stolen vehicles | Bottleneck Blog | Los Angeles Times

And I'm with you in that these crime rates don't mean much to me b/c common sense usually will prevent things from happening to somebody.

[tkindred]

Originally Posted by sav858

Honestly I don't think LA is generally that much safer than SF, wasn't even until the past couple of years its crime rate became lower than SF's. I was just stating that recently SF's overall crime rate is higher than LA's and some people read too much into that simple statement. I said it b/c of the OP's experiance, maybe the recent uptick in crime has to do with her feeling that SF has more crime.

Yes there is a difference btwn crime overall and violent crime. Also realize perception is often different that reality. B/c with that link you provided, it shows San Francisco having a higher vehicle theft rate than LA. And I recently read an article showing that SF County has the highest vehicle theft rate in the state, now how many San Franciscan's do you think would believe that if you told them?
San Francisco County leads state in rate of stolen vehicles | Bottleneck Blog | Los Angeles Times

And I'm with you in that these crime rates don't mean much to me b/c common sense usually will prevent things from happening to somebody.

Wow, that is surprising. I wouldn't have thought SF had as many stolen vehicles. But then there seems to be a lot of theft here in general. Just an observation.

Yeh, I think most of these crime rates are a result of places that are localized in "bad" parts of town that we can just avoid.

The only time I had run into a bad part of town in L.A. is when I had a bright idea of going from LAX to downtown late one night without a car. I had my bags and had to walk several blocks to 7th /metro center stop to catch a bus connection. Very bad idea. I had my laptop, etc. I felt very uncomfortable. Very strange people in that area. Also, the buses went through some really bad parts of town that you do not know exists if you stay on the major highways. But completely avoidable unless you try something stupid like me.

[tkindred]

Originally Posted by sav858

Honestly I don't think LA is generally that much safer than SF, wasn't even until the past couple of years its crime rate became lower than SF's. I was just stating that recently SF's overall crime rate is higher than LA's and some people read too much into that simple statement. I said it b/c of the OP's experiance, maybe the recent uptick in crime has to do with her feeling that SF has more crime.

Yes there is a difference btwn crime overall and violent crime. Also realize perception is often different that reality. B/c with that link you provided, it shows San Francisco having a higher vehicle theft rate than LA. And I recently read an article showing that SF County has the highest vehicle theft rate in the state, now how many San Franciscan's do you think would believe that if you told them?
San Francisco County leads state in rate of stolen vehicles | Bottleneck Blog | Los Angeles Times

And I'm with you in that these crime rates don't mean much to me b/c common sense usually will prevent things from happening to somebody.

Hmm, looked at the article even more. San Fran at 1.3% for all registered vehicles. That is kind of high. I would not have thought.

[brneyz]

I think all of this is relative. We usually rate things based on our own experiences. I live in Vallejo. Have lived here for over 10 years. This is considered to be a "high-crime" area....I have never had any problems neither has my mom...People can argue about the stats or whatever. Those have to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm sure you can find statistics that say LA has more crime if we really wanted to.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by tkindred

Wow, that is surprising. I wouldn't have thought SF had as many stolen vehicles. But then there seems to be a lot of theft here in general. Just an observation.

Yeh, I think most of these crime rates are a result of places that are localized in "bad" parts of town that we can just avoid.

The only time I had run into a bad part of town in L.A. is when I had a bright idea of going from LAX to downtown late one night without a car. I had my bags and had to walk several blocks to 7th /metro center stop to catch a bus connection. Very bad idea. I had my laptop, etc. I felt very uncomfortable. Very strange people in that area. Also, the buses went through some really bad parts of town that you do not know exists if you stay on the major highways. But completely avoidable unless you try something stupid like me.

That reminds me of a time I probably felt the most uncomfortable and somewhat unsafe in a city was in Downtown LA too. I was up in LA for a week for work and I didn't get off until 11pm most nights. I needed food so I went walking around Sunday night around 1130pm in Downtown LA along Broadway and even a little along Spring Street. It was just so desolate and the only people out were homeless people and crackheads, I felt so damn unsafe even though I don't think downtown LA's crime is that bad, just a lot of junkies in parts like Skid Row. It just felt like it would be dangerous. South LA does seem to have a fair amount of random violence that affects innocent people. During that week of work I was doing work on the rail system and for 2 nights was in South LA/Compton. Right around where the blue and green lines meet at the Wilmington Station and it was ghetto but I wasn't alone and there were some normal people out and about unlike Downtown LA. But I've driven through some parts of SF near Hunter's point where I got the same feeling even though I never even got out of car or stopped.

New Orleans I felt that if I walked a block or two over in the wrong direction I might get robbed or shot b/c that city is so compact. This past Mardi Gras two of my friends were walking towards Uptown near the I-10 freeway to meet me, a very bad area of NOLA, at night and a cabbie pulled over and told them to get in unless they want to get shot. That is the type of stuff that will get a person in trouble, I don't get why they didn't get a cab to begin with. Even though I'm sure alcohol impaired their judgment I can't believe they were that dumb to do that. I never really felt in danger when I was there despite NOLA having a very high crime rate b/c I stayed in the main, touristy parts or better parts of town. Same with Oakland, stay in the right parts, use common sense and you'll be fine overall.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by brneyz

I think all of this is relative. We usually rate things based on our own experiences. I live in Vallejo. Have lived here for over 10 years. This is considered to be a "high-crime" area....I have never had any problems neither has my mom...People can argue about the stats or whatever. Those have to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm sure you can find statistics that say LA has more crime if we really wanted to.

That goes to show how people's opinions can vary based off experiences b/c I've had two relatives murdered in that city. I was born in Vallejo and my mom and dad grew up there but left when I was five and we all think it's the best thing they ever did for me and my brother. No offense to you but I don't have a good opinion of that town at all. But some of my family is still there and are successful and doing good for themselves so it's not all bad.

[brneyz]

Originally Posted by sav858

That goes to show how people's opinions can vary based off experiences b/c I've had two relatives murdered in that city. I was born in Vallejo and my mom and dad grew up there but left when I was five and we all think it's the best thing they ever did for me and my brother. No offense to you but I don't have a good opinion of that town at all. But some of my family is still there and are successful and doing good for themselves so it's not all bad.

No offense taken...I personally plan to leave in a few months...but not because of crime (although I do feel that there are other areas the city is lacking like the schools)...I plan to leave Cali...the bay is way too expensive and I can't stand LA...I also can't really get a good job in my field...Its just like you said...its all in one's opinion...Plus the OP mentioned the two cities in Cal that seem to have a big rivalry on EVERYTHING...

[tkindred]

Originally Posted by brneyz

I think all of this is relative. We usually rate things based on our own experiences. I live in Vallejo. Have lived here for over 10 years. This is considered to be a "high-crime" area....I have never had any problems neither has my mom...People can argue about the stats or whatever. Those have to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm sure you can find statistics that say LA has more crime if we really wanted to.

I agree with you. That is kind of what I was saying. You can avoid a lot of the crime that they have in these statistics so it doesn't really matter too much to me. I have lived in some "high crime" areas as well with no problems. I have lived in "low crime" areas and have had my apartment robbed.