Safest U.S. cities--small, medium or large (violent crime, chapel)
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It may be a matter of what kind of neighborhood can you afford as well. All cities are going to have at least a relatively rough area.
What also makes this tough is that cities vary in terms of city limits due to annexation laws and this may "water down" such information, especially if you want a neighborhood with a good degree of urbanity.
Hmmm. Okay, I can see where this is a tough question to answer. Thanks, everybody, who's tried so far.
Let me see if I can ask it a little better. Let's limit it to what would be considered the "Main Street" area. The place that might be considered the walkable downtown. I'm reading this book on Finland (yeah, I know, I know--it's not the U.S.) and it seems like the kids (even young kids) can walk around the main street areas and be pretty safe. So, I guess what I'm really asking is:
What U.S. cities--small, medium, or large, are kids (let's say tweens and up) most likely to be able to wander around town (mainly the downtown or commercial areas) and be relatively safe?
Hmmm. Okay, I can see where this is a tough question to answer. Thanks, everybody, who's tried so far.
Let me see if I can ask it a little better. Let's limit it to what would be considered the "Main Street" area. The place that might be considered the walkable downtown. I'm reading this book on Finland (yeah, I know, I know--it's not the U.S.) and it seems like the kids (even young kids) can walk around the main street areas and be pretty safe. So, I guess what I'm really asking is:
What U.S. cities--small, medium, or large, are kids (let's say tweens and up) most likely to be able to wander around town (mainly the downtown or commercial areas) and be relatively safe?
As far as kids alone in the city, it depends more on the kid than the city. I'd be more worried about the tween causing trouble than being the victim of it. Tweens and teens don't have money, so they are not worth the time and risk to rob. As long as your kids are not trying to score drugs and know not to get in a car with a Richard Simmons impersonator, I think they'll be fine just about everywhere.
When I was 10-years old growing up in Tucson in 1994, I discovered public transportation, which opened a world freedom to me. For just 60 cents, I could go to the 4th Avenue District (the hippie part of town), friends' houses, the pool, downtown, the mall, or the record store whenever I wanted. I was never home then after. I got my first job at 15. That year I took the greyhound bus to San Diego for my first vacation by myself. The next year I booked a plane ticket to New York City, alone.
Tucson is slightly safer than average in terms of violent crime and significantly worse than average in terms of property crime. That said, I never encountered anything remotely dangerous as a tween bumming around 4th Avenue and traveling by bus.
But, assuming your kids have street smarts and know how to read a map, my sense is that the downtown areas with a high population density, lots of people out and about, with a diverse mix of businesses would probably be the safest.
What U.S. cities--small, medium, or large, are kids (let's say tweens and up) most likely to be able to wander around town (mainly the downtown or commercial areas) and be relatively safe?
I can't think of any U.S. city that does NOT have a safe downtown/commercial area. (Gotta watch out for traffic though.) The blighted areas of certain cities are usually in the residential areas.
Okay, here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:
Saratoga Springs, NY--great city for kids (or anyone) to wander around in.
Troy, NY--not so much.
Chapel Hill, NC--fine.
Wilmington, NC--not really.
San Francisco, CA--pretty good, in parts.
San Bernardino, CA--are you kidding me?
Now, maybe all of these places don't have a real sort of "downtown" but where are the places that do and where can kids generally wander around on their own safely?
Please don't tell me I have to move to Finland.
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