Where are the bad neighborhoods? (Seattle, Redmond: middle-class, apartment complexes, crime rate)

[lawnboy235]

I'm moving to Seattle in a few months, and I want to make sure that I move into a good community. Can anybody tell me where the bad neighborhoods (ghettos) are in the city? I don't know the city at all, and I need to know where the places are that I should stay away from.

[scirocco22]

I don't know where you're coming from but Seattle really doesn't have what most would consider "ghetto" areas. We tend to call some Seattle neighborhoods "ghetto" but they're really not in the true sense of the word.

If you're coming from the east coast, Seattle has nothing that can even come close to the ghettos in the major eastern cities. Being a Seattle native, I remember seeing Phillidelphia for the first time and was astounded by the miles and miles and miles of decrepit row housing and the clutter, litter, and graffiti. I've seen other east coast cities since and saw the same thing.

With the exception of perhaps pockets of the Rainier valley or the High Point/White Center corridor, what other areas could be even close to be called a ghetto? Pwright? ...anybody else care to comment?


Thanks.

--'rocco

[pwright1]

You're absolultely right Rocco. I was totally amazed at what is considered bad here in Seattle. I was walking through Yesler Terrace the other day. I remember when I first moved to Seattle someone told me never to go in there again. I just laughed. I thought to myself; this is suppose to be ghetto? Maybe Rainier Beach, but that's even changing. Lawnboy235 where are you coming from?

[AzDreamer]

Here's a link to some 1994 crime maps. You'll be able to see where the bad spots were back then and it's probably not much different today.

http://www.arn.org/crimemap/crimemap.htm

[scirocco22]

Yesler Terrace! Man, that's been around for so long.

I remember decades ago, there were the Yesler Terrances, Holly Parks, High Points, etc. that were subsidized housing and were definitely low-income projects. Funny thing is, is that I never remember referring to them as "the ghetto" ...sometimes you'd hear "the projects" but even those living there referred to them that way.

Still, nothing in Seattle can even come close to anything that I saw in the east coast cities.




And, the problem with crime maps that AZDreamer has provided us with (thanks!), is that sometimes they do not necessarily portray an area accurately because crime incidence aren't always static in nature.

An example: I lived in a family oriented middle-class suburban area in Redmond for years. It was, and still is, a very desireable area in that its location is ideal ...good freeway access, close to shopping, close to good schools, close to Microsoft and the Overlake tech corridor, etc.

A few years back, we had a rash of not only violent crimes but petty ones as well in one six-month period. Two murders were committed within a two mile radius of my house, a higher than normal car theft at some apartment complexes several miles away, a rash of residential break-ins right around my immediate area including one of my neighbor's houses, we had some mail theft out of our community mail boxes, and somebody down the street had some vandalism done to their property.

We never had that much crime around our general area before and haven't had quite that much since although the crime rate in general has been increasing in that area.

My point: It still continues to be a very desireable area for familes with kids and is still considered relatively safe. No place will be devoid of crime. However, the crime map for my area probably looked alarming for that six-month period and to anybody looking at that particular map, there's a good chance that they might have been discouraged from moving there.

So to continue my point, don't let crime maps be the only indicator of how "good" an area is. It's just another tool that can help you make a decision.


Thanks.

--'rocco

[lawnboy235]

I actually live in Lexington, KY right now. It's a pretty calm city with not much crime, but I was born and raised in Cleveland, OH. As I'm sure a lot of you already know, Cleveland is almost entirely a ghetto...lol...and I don't want to live in a place like that.

Thanks for all the help guys! I'm thinking about living on the north side of town, maybe half way to Lynnwood, but we'll see. Seattle here I come!

[chris]

lawnboy,

Seattle doesn't have too many ghetto areas that you need to worry about (rainer valley, white center, most ghetto areas are south of the city).

The one thing you should keep in mind is avoiding high crime areas. While Seattle is one of the safest cities out there, believe it or not, Seattle's theft rate is 2-3 times of that of Cleveland, and the auto theft is about the same. If you have any possessions that you value, there are certain areas you will want to stay out of (areas along 99 north, parts of downtown, and points south of Yesler as mentioned above).

If you are speculating on a neighborhood, this link has more information about each area's crime stats:
http://www.seattle.gov/police/crime/default.htm

[AZ_singlemother]

Originally Posted by lawnboy235

I'm moving to Seattle in a few months, and I want to make sure that I move into a good community. Can anybody tell me where the bad neighborhoods (ghettos) are in the city? I don't know the city at all, and I need to know where the places are that I should stay away from.

In Seattle? South Seattle areas not good. Notice how cheap it is - very cheap for a reason. Rainier Drive area. Not good.

[Kenrick]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

I don't know where you're coming from but Seattle really doesn't have what most would consider "ghetto" areas. We tend to call some Seattle neighborhoods "ghetto" but they're really not in the true sense of the word.

If you're coming from the east coast, Seattle has nothing that can even come close to the ghettos in the major eastern cities. Being a Seattle native, I remember seeing Phillidelphia for the first time and was astounded by the miles and miles and miles of decrepit row housing and the clutter, litter, and graffiti. I've seen other east coast cities since and saw the same thing.

With the exception of perhaps pockets of the Rainier valley or the High Point/White Center corridor, what other areas could be even close to be called a ghetto? Pwright? ...anybody else care to comment?


Thanks.

--'rocco

I'm from Boise... one of the nicest small towns in the Country. i was at a chess tournament a mile outside of Camden New Jersey this summer for 10 days... one of the first nights there my friend and i walked around for 3 hours trying to find some food... finally found some 7-11 sandwich type store at 1 in the morning...

People say Camden is so bad, but i felt alright walking around at 1 in the morning... it was different being in an area that seemed to be 90% black coming from Idaho where there's like 5 african americans in the entire state... but still, 2 white chess nerd teens walking around and the worst thing that ever happened was couple cars shouting crap to us as they passed us...

big whoop. happens here. just cuz they were black doesn't mean much. so i personally feel like east coast ghetto's aren't what they are talked up to be...

[findingmesomeday]

I'm from Philadelphia. My husband is a PNW native. I'll never forget the look on his face the first time I took him to the East Coast and drove him through North Philly.

Nothing, but NOTHING compares with what you see in North Philly!