St. Louis: Most Dangerous City in the Nation (Kansas City, St. Charles: real estate, violent crime)

[scootertrash61]

Originally Posted by BTinSTL

I hate statistics. A lot. Because they often create a false image of a city that everybody will listen to without understanding what it truly means. And I see that type of misunderstanding on this board.

All american cities have a crime problem. I’m not trying to say we should all ignore this. The difference between St. Louis and most cities is that St. Louis can’t lie about its problem because it has nonsensical city limits.

Examples
Chicago covers 234 square miles
Memphis covers 314 squre miles
Kansas City covers 318 square miles
Houston covers 602 squre miles

St. Louis covers 61 squre miles. No, we’re not even in the triple digits.

The result is that areas like Clayton, or Webster Groves and other safe areas are outside of the city limits. This would not be the case in any of the other listed cities. Thus, the statistical crime rate of the city sky rockets

More to the point, if you were to find the crime rate of just the 61 square miles around the centers of any of these cities, their crime rates would skyrocket.

The reason statistics frustrate me is that now there are people who say “I try not to go into St. Louis City” but these same people would never avoid Chicago’s or Kansas City’s downtown. Instead, they say, “Statistics tell me that these cities are safer than St. Louis so I’ll patronize their businesses”. Maybe not in those exact words…

It’s much fairer to compare metropolitan areas to each other because numbers can not be skewed by nonsensical city limits. In that comparison, St. Louis is the 130th most dangerous metropolitan area.

I’m particularly frustrated because it seems like for the first time in a half century, the city is beginning to recover and I am really terrified that people will take these stats seriously, and that this will stop the city dead in its tracks.

Here’s to hoping for the best.

VERY GOOD POINT BT!!!! i live in the seattle area and like stl it is very small land wise [ about 80 sq mi ] compared to other big cities in the us. looking at the stats you'd think this was also a crime infested mess when in fact it's one of the safest cities in the country. you have to take the stats for what they're worth.....not much

[prairiestate]

I can see the point made about how small St. Louis is, geographically. On the other hand, Minneapolis is about the same size, both with population and land area, and it has a much lower crime rate. Nobody in Minneapolis is complaining that it's unfair that their crime rate is so low.

Even if things in St. Louis aren't as bad as the statistics make it seem, I think it would still be fair to say crime is a more serious problem than in many other cities.

I was reading an article in the Post Dispatch last year about the surge in the number of murders in St. Louis. The police chief's response was along the lines of, well, that's probaly not so good, and we'll see if we can do something about it. That's not very reassuring. I would've expected a response more like, this is completely unacceptable and we will bring the murder rate down.

[Organika1]

I have to agree with those that feel the stats are bs. My wifes from St. Louis and Im from Atlanta, and although I've only visited St. Louis I felt no different there than Atlanta as far as safety, however I also feel that its hard to judge safety when you dont live there. (Both STL and ATL have been in the top 10 most dangerous cities for awhile). The main difference I noticed was that the City of Atlanta seems to be filthy compared to STL. I also think ATL has more of a homeless problem than STL which would make some uncomfortable.

[LeavingFlorida05]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

I can see the point made about how small St. Louis is, geographically. On the other hand, Minneapolis is about the same size, both with population and land area, and it has a much lower crime rate. Nobody in Minneapolis is complaining that it's unfair that their crime rate is so low.

Even if things in St. Louis aren't as bad as the statistics make it seem, I think it would still be fair to say crime is a more serious problem than in many other cities.

I was reading an article in the Post Dispatch last year about the surge in the number of murders in St. Louis. The police chief's response was along the lines of, well, that's probaly not so good, and we'll see if we can do something about it. That's not very reassuring. I would've expected a response more like, this is completely unacceptable and we will bring the murder rate down.

Who lives in downtown Minneapolis? And how many people? A vast majority of people don't live in St. Louis city, they live in St. Louis county. These statistics are referring to St. Louis city. If you included the county in the numbers, you would find St. Louis' crime rate to be much lower. As has been stated previously, these numbers have been manipulated to make St. Louis look worse than it actually is. Yes, the city-proper isn't very safe, but most of the rest of the metro area is safe.

[getoutofmn]

Sorry but if you are looking for places without rising crime, Minneapolis is not one of them. Random shootings and muggings on the rise downtown, a surge in murders last year and both the beginning of this year (several in the first few weeks of Jan alone) have brought back rise to the name "Murderapolis" originally coined in the mid 90-s. I wont take me or my family downtown anymore, even during the day. Oh and then there's the taxes and the awful weather. Stay in St Louis...Minneapolis is not the place to go!

[Relayer85]

Is the central west end in the city limits? We're moving to St. Louis in July and we're still trying to sort out where things are located in St. Louis. Any areas to avoid in terms of high crime?

[KCWKEN]

Yes, the Central West End is in the city limits. You have to be careful if you're looking to live in Central West End, since the "safe" areas are fairly narrow and fall along a long narrow east/west line... if you stray too far off that line (especially to the north), you could find yourself in one of the "high crime" areas you are trying to avoid. That being said, the Central West End is a great area with awesome stately old homes, lively night life, and some great restaurants/entertainment.

[Stl#1]

I grew up in St.Louis on Union Bl. There was alot of crime there that was the
hood. And I still live here!!!!!!!!

[jeepr]

The comment about STL's smaller geographic area is dead on. And several here have noted that if you include the whole metro area then it's a different story. Well, that same company that did the "study" has a web site and they DO rate metro areas also, and STL metro does not even make the top of the list at all. So, your assumptions are correct.

Like others said, there is crime in every city, you just need to know where it is an how to avoid it and/or not live in that area.

[Minnehahapolitan]

/\ I'm an understanding guy, I really am. I can understand if Getout doesn't want to go prance around Elliot Park at two in the morning. That would be reckless. But if you are scared to take a family downtown at noon on a Saturday, that is borderline crazy. Were you scared by the one accidental shooting, or the nearly 200,000 people who work downtown everyday? A crazy ratio, 200,000:1. People don't build 3 million dollar condos where it is dangerous to walk on the street. Hopefully those remarks was hyperbole and not a literal remark. To everyone in StL, a great city. Went there for the first time last October. I was stunned, especially by Soulard.
--------Mnhapolitan