Break down of the "good areas" and "bad areas" of PG county. (Baltimore: real estate, apartment complex)

[Maxchus]

The vast majority of Laurel isn't crime-ridden or dangerous. Most of Laurel is pretty pleasant except for a part of North Laurel in and along the Howard County line that was[past tense] rundown, a little dumpy, and in need of revitalization; which is what they're doing due to the Rt. 1 revitalization program. But, even in North Laurel it was only a smallish stretch of highway and it wasn't a truly bad place. Some of the reason some people looked down on it was merely because much of it was blue-collar businesses, for the most part. Now there are new expensive apartment buildings being built in that area and the businesses that are left are renovating their buildings. So, now it gets to be as overpriced as anywhere else in Maryland. Still, Laurel is one of the few areas I like in this part of Maryland.

I'm a white guy, BTW.

[dkf747]

The apartment areas of Laurel around Cherry Lane beteen Rt 1 and Rt 197 were sketchy and haven't been mentioned yet. Also unmentioned was the area of Contee near 197. It's okay, but I'd have to put it down as sketchy too. My friend lived in the apartments behind the shopping center.

In Hyattsville, the apartment complex behind PG Plaza (Garden type apartments) are bad. I had a friend who lived there who could not wait to escape from there.

College Park, where I used to live, is borderline sketchy in the area behind the Fire station and the McDonald's on Route 1. I lived on Pierce ave. near the school and although Pierce ave was okay, the blocks behind it were not the safest place to be. I say borderline because it is just a couple of streets that I would avoid. The rest of College Park is fine as far as I can recall. I moved from there in 2006.

Beltsville is pretty good. The only area I didn't like was the area along Kenilwroth/Edmonnston, North of Powder Mill Rd., east of Rt. 1. I lived in Beltsville from 1999 to 2005 in the Powder Mill Village apartments, another sort of sketchy place. I didn't have any trouble there, but there were incidents happening there all of the time.

From 1997 to 2006, I worked in Lanham along Good Luck Rd. Lanham has some nice areas, but has areas I wouldd not live.

My impression of Greenbelt just doesn't match what I see most post here. I will not reccommend Greenbelt.

New Carollton seems to be okay, but the last time I was there, near the Library, I didn't feel good about it. There was a shooting over that way a while ago, and someone driving in that area was shot and killed. The parts near Good Luck Rd seemed nice. I would drive through there everyday.

Another friend lives in the area along 410 and the BW Parkway, behind the gas stations there. That area is definitely getting sketchy.

Still another friend lives in District Heights just off of Kipling Parkway and her area looks nice. A few blocks away though there was a multiple homicide. District Heights has some nice areas, but it close to all the bad parts of PG.

Another friend just moved from Lake Arbor area of Largo, and it was pretty nice. There were a lot of car thefts there though.

Stay away from Capitol Heights. Some hoodlums pulled a gun on my friend at the McDonalds one night for no reason. They didn't shoot him though, so he lived to tell about it.

The above is basesd on personal experience, or the experience of my friends. Since some of us are white and some black, it seems pointless to put my race down.

[Maxchus]

Originally Posted by dkf747

The apartment areas of Laurel around Cherry Lane beteen Rt 1 and Rt 197 were sketchy and haven't been mentioned yet.

Cherry Lane is one of the neighborhoods where they demolished a garden apartment complex and put in one of the more upscale, and best-looking, apartment buildings. I never thought of the neighborhood as that bad. In need of some polishing up, but not bad. Man, other peoples' "sketchy" seems to be an overreaction and a superficial view of the place, sometimes.

I find myself in the weird position of defending a part of central Maryland.

[kjg1963]

There are quite a few complexes on 197 that I wouldn't recommend living in but that doesn't mean they are a war zone. Quite a few people mention the apartments complexes when they want to prove a point of saying Laurel is as crime filled as other areas. They tend to never mention the nice historic district and the many, many single family home neighborhoods that far outweigh the apartment complexes. Laurel still has some of the charm of a small town community, especially the Main Street Festival and trick or treating on Main Street for the kids. The town's government is very involved and there are plenty of community centers, parks, and playgrounds. The city even gives out awards for best Christmas decorations and most beautiful yards and homes. Sure, it's not utopia, but its not a bad place at all.

[nickluva]

Originally Posted by Maxchus

Cherry Lane is one of the neighborhoods where they demolished a garden apartment complex and put in one of the more upscale, and best-looking, apartment buildings. I never thought of the neighborhood as that bad. In need of some polishing up, but not bad. Man, other peoples' "sketchy" seems to be an overreaction and a superficial view of the place, sometimes.

I find myself in the weird position of defending a part of central Maryland.

Central Maryland is greeeeeeeeat just admit it

[froggy925]

I know from experience that the Temple Hills/Oxon Hill area is one to stay away from. I lived there last year and was a teacher in the area and in one year this is what happened:

1. My car was broken into
2.My apartment was robbed
3. A teacher at my school was car jacked at gunpoint in the school parking lot
4.A man was shot in the head down the street from the school
5. A dead body was found in the field behind our school
6. The school was broken into....twice

I had no idea how bad it was before IA moved there...now I learned my lesson. I felt extremely unsafe there.

[truthhurts]

Originally Posted by lscalder

You do not live in maryland so when was the last time you vist these areas. In hyattsville around the mall the county puttng big money to develope the area. The county is putting upscale condos,new shopping,new town homes and single family homes starting in the low 400k. majority of the area you list Lanham,Hyattsville,laurel,Suitland and other areas the county is focusing on . Oxonhill will get a 100% turn around over the next 2 yrs.

Let me ask you a question since you're championing these areas so hard. Would you live in the 12 areas I listed as dangerous? Put your money where your mouth is!

[truthhurts]

Originally Posted by vader

Im getting mixed messages...I mean no offense but could you state your race when you answer. From past expereinces I am aware that caucasian-americans may have a different perception of black areas. Where I used to live, if a area is predominatly black, its perceived as being "sketchy" when its really not.

Secondly, Ive been hearing about the whole inside/outside the beltway thing but has anyone ever backed this theory up with facts.Does anyone have the time to get me some raw numbers on these places?How does this crime compare to inner city DC or places like Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland, etc? I could care less if the places isnt a name brand area, I just want to know if its relatively safe. Like I said this place will be temporary until I know what Im dealing with in Maryland.

I'm black and above 0 murders (on a regular basis) to me is a bad neighborhood i'd never live in. Anyway, like i said i posted most of the data and facts before and if you just take the time yourself, you could easily find and look them up.

Yes, the outside of the beltway is 100x safer than the inside. In some cases some of the Inner Beltway areas may have murder rates that are comparable to the cities you named, because of the size of population and high rates of homicide. However, i have not gone through all the cities with high homcide rates to determine that so its more preception than fact.

For instance Oxon/Hill Glassmanor only has a population of say 30,000 people, but had more than 20 murders in 2007, which would give it 6.66 murders per every 10,000 (national average is 5.1), so its murder rate is 30% above the national average.

Cleveland 33 murders per every 10,000
Detroit 42 murders per every 10,000

However, if you take the entire inner beltway, which makes up 47% of PG County's pop, that's 370,000 people. The inner beltway had more than 105 murder out of 127.

The murder rate than jumps to 105/370,000 = /10,000 = 2.83 murders per every 10,000

To answer your question no it is not Detroit, but its about as bad as a British Inner City, like Liverpool or "Gunchester" aka Manchester.

PS just for comparison the outside of the beltway houses about 420,000 people and only had 22 murders

22/420,000 = 0.53 murders per every 10,000 (basically 0 murders ever happen outside the beltway with any consistency)

Homcides are very concentrated to specific areas within the county, so the rate goes sky high the closer you get to the "projects" in DC.

[truthhurts]

Originally Posted by truthhurts

I'm black and above 0 murders (on a regular basis) to me is a bad neighborhood i'd never live in. Anyway, like i said i posted most of the data and facts before and if you just take the time yourself, you could easily find and look them up.

Yes, the outside of the beltway is 100x safer than the inside. In some cases some of the Inner Beltway areas may have murder rates that are comparable to the cities you named, because of the size of population and high rates of homicide. However, i have not gone through all the cities with high homcide rates to determine that so its more preception than fact.

For instance Oxon/Hill Glassmanor only has a population of say 30,000 people, but had more than 20 murders in 2007, which would give it 6.66 murders per every 10,000 (national average is 5.1), so its murder rate is 30% above the national average.

Cleveland 33 murders per every 10,000
Detroit 42 murders per every 10,000

However, if you take the entire inner beltway, which makes up 47% of PG County's pop, that's 370,000 people. The inner beltway had more than 105 murder out of 127.

The murder rate than jumps to 105/370,000 = /10,000 = 2.83 murders per every 10,000

To answer your question no it is not Detroit, but its about as bad as a British Inner City, like Liverpool or "Gunchester" aka Manchester.

PS just for comparison the outside of the beltway houses about 420,000 people and only had 22 murders

22/420,000 = 0.53 murders per every 10,000 (basically 0 murders ever happen outside the beltway with any consistency)

Homcides are very concentrated to specific areas within the county, so the rate goes sky high the closer you get to the "projects" in DC.

Just want to make a correction and compare for every 100,000 (as opposed for every 10,000) most places compare for 100,000

Cleveland 33 murders per every 100,000
Detroit 42 murders per every 100,000
Baltimore 44 murders per every 100,000
Inner Beltway PG 28.3 murder per every 100,000
Outside Beltway PG 5.2 murders per every 100,000
Upstate New York 2.8 murders per every 100,000
Nothern Virginia 3.3 murders per every 100,000
Montgomery County 2.5 murder per every 100,000
Baltimore County 4.2 murders per every 100,000

Oxon Hill/Glassmanor 66.6 murder per every 100,000 (however because the pop is under 30,000 it is better IMO to use 10,000, but want to stay consistent with the large Cities I used)

Inner City Beltway Murder Rate
The murder rate than jumps to 105/370,000 = /100,000 = 28.3 murders per every 100,000

Outside PG Beltway murder rate is 5.23 murders per every 100,000

[dakwilk]

I'm white and currently live in University Park, but grew up in Hyattsville (historic part) the areas that I listed will be just fine for you. Like I said, the only time I've ever heard of the inside/outside the beltway theory is on this forum. Send me a direct message and I will answer any specific questions that you have as I am pretty knowledgeable about the safe part areas "inside" the beltway.