What's up with the bad crime index? (Sarasota, Bradenton: high crime, house)

[Tallguy66]

As the move approches, I need some help with this one. When I look up Sarasota on the crime index, it looks pretty bad. Although, my friends who have lived there didn't feel it was too bad( other than New Town). Since these stats are a bit hard to pick through, do you feel a presence of crime in your daily life? If so, is it more theft related or personal/violent? I chose not to move to Phoenix because of the high crime issues ( very!) and am wandering if I need to be cautious of Sarasota.

[Skunk Workz]

Overall, in the 15 years we lived and worked in the are we never felt threatened or in danger. There is crime, but much of it happens in the areas that you would expect it to and avoiding those areas is pretty easy.

I'm not sure where you are looking at numbers, but keep in mind that City vs. County numbers can be deceptive.

The cities of Bradenton and Sarasota only cover a small portion of the areas that are considered Bradenton and Sarasota.

If you are looking at city only numbers you'll likely get a skewed perspective since they don't include the county numbers (different police force, reporting agencies, etc).

Similarly the county numbers may or may not include individual city numbers, they may have crimes that were handled by county officers inside the city limits (that would skew the city numbers), and there can be multiple cities in each county.


As a point of reference:

Sarasota City map: http://emap.sarasotagov.com/Default.aspx

Bradenton City maps: http://www.cityofbradenton.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={3C82573A-9F8E-48EF-B9CC-7DBA44D88911}

[photoman_6]

chill.

[Tallguy66]

That helps a lot photoman.

[TamRE]

There can be crime in any type of neighborhood. There are a couple of deed-restricted/gated communities that had robberies. My daughter in law lives in an older area off of Fruitville Rd and her neighborhood has had car break ins as well as house break ins. There are drugs and gang related violence in all major cities. There is no way really to guarantee that any neighborhood is crime free. You just have to make sure you visit the community during different times of the day to see what is going on.

[Rushmore]

I have lived all over this country, and if you follow common sense rules as you would in any city, you'll feel and be safer here than pretty much anywhere else.

Keep your eyes open. The warning signs are very simple to see. Trust your instincts, and always have self-preservation in mind.

Nothing to it here, really.

That's it for the crime index. As for the HEAT index, I can't help you there.

[TRosa]

Carry mace and go forward. Just kidding.

Like mentioned, it would depend on the area you are moving to, but I feel relatively safe most everywhere I am in my area, but am always aware of my surroundings. I never get lax about my safety anywhere I go, but no need to look over your shoulder every second, maybe every couple of minutes will do. I've seen high crime areas, this isn't one of them.

[Iamrita]

Originally Posted by Rushmore

I have lived all over this country, and if you follow common sense rules as you would in any city, you'll feel and be safer here than pretty much anywhere else.

Keep your eyes open. The warning signs are very simple to see. Trust your instincts, and always have self-preservation in mind.

Nothing to it here, really.

That's it for the crime index. As for the HEAT index, I can't help you there.

Amen to that post!

[sware2cod]

very safe, overall. do not worry.

[Rushmore]

Put simply, Sarasota makes Baltimore look like Beirut.