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I would say DC is more "out of sight, out of mind" - i.e. as long as there is no high profile violent crime on the National Mall or touristy areas (Well, there's Gallery Place/"Chinatown" area that is super seedy).
That being said, there are scrutiny i.e. the whole DC crime bill getting "struck down" by Congress, so it's not all free passes for DC either.
I'm curious why only DC receives that advantage.
The 'bombed-out' neighborhoods of North Philadelphia are located at a similar distance from Center City as SE DC is from The Capitol or Smithsonian.
Let's keep it fair and consistent. No more mentioning Kensington or Strawberry Mansion, as they are 25 minutes away from Center City. Well out of mind and sight from any visitor or tourist.
DC never feels seedy to me even EOTR but crime is super high. Its relatively niceness in appearance0 throughout. Is why it doesnt have the reputation as visibly bombed out Philly or Bmore.
Exactly. DC is in general very organized and clean -- much less visible urban decay and rundown area compared to most other big cities.
The 'bombed-out' neighborhoods of North Philadelphia are located at a similar distance from Center City as SE DC is from The Capitol or Smithsonian.
Let's keep it fair and consistent. No more mentioning Kensington or Strawberry Mansion, as they are 25 minutes away from Center City. Well out of mind and sight from any visitor or tourist.
Philly is bigger than DC and many people have the preconception that DC is small -- some probably don't even realize that the "bad" parts are also part of DC...
The 'bombed-out' neighborhoods of North Philadelphia are located at a similar distance from Center City as SE DC is from The Capitol or Smithsonian.
Let's keep it fair and consistent. No more mentioning Kensington or Strawberry Mansion, as they are 25 minutes away from Center City. Well out of mind and sight from any visitor or tourist.
I spent a lot of time in the DC area as a kid and teenager and I definitely remember it having a bad reputation for crime in the early 90s but that started to change when I went off to college in the early 2000s. The spring before COVID hit, I went to wedding in DC and was pretty surprised at how well the waterfront projects had panned out, and I was also impressed with how entire neighborhoods that used to be fairly sketchy had become unrecognizable (in a pleasant way).
I think DC benefits greatly from having Baltimore so close, in the same sense that SF benefits from having Oakland even closer. It's easy to report on crime that's happening across a bridge or 40 miles away, while downplaying your own problems for tourism purposes.
Overall, the DC region-- especially the burbs of NOVA and Montgomery County-- is incredibly wealthy and the people living there pride themselves on being high earners with access to great public schools, so it makes sense that they would want to minimize the focus on violent crime within DC proper, especially if it's not likely to affect the average person. Your average tourist (or Congress rep) isn't going to be a victim of a drive-by shooting downtown or in NW, while it's a different story across the river.
Take a look around Philly Baltimore and Detroit. Then look around DC. There's your answer.
Chicago just has those big bulk numbers that make for juicy headlines and "Home of Obama"
The cleanliness of Washington D.C. should not be a factor in how the media addresses its crime problem.
Compton looks like a suburb and is still a poster child for homicides.
Portland and Minneapolis look just as polished as DC and are talked about as if they were a warzone on Fox. Why can't these cities get the DC treatment?
Also see:
I'm curious why only DC receives that advantage.
The 'bombed-out' neighborhoods of North Philadelphia are located at a similar distance from Center City as SE DC is from The Capitol or Smithsonian.
Let's keep it fair and consistent. No more mentioning Kensington or Strawberry Mansion, as they are 25 minutes away from Center City. Well out of mind and sight from any visitor or tourist.
I already responded to you above, but I'll also add this:
I lived in the Bay Area from 2006 until fairly recently and the media almost always overemphasized crime in Oakland, while significantly downplaying it for SF. Now that SF is a hot mess, the media has shifted to doom loop headlines (note: bad news sells!), while simultaneously praising Oakland's Uptown district for being cool and hip. It would be laughable if it weren't so sad and pathetic.
Also Portland's downtown is pretty awful these days, so while I'm not a fan of the hysterics laid out by Fox and friends, there's a large element of truth to the narrative of lawlessness and chaos that's made that particular part of the city so bad.
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