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There you go again...."Most people......". You continually feign knowledge of what the majority of people are *thinking* or *saying* in our fine city, yet when pushed for details all we get is that you heard from someone on a message board or that you had a few conversations with neighbors......etc. etc.
And your tone has also shifted yet again to "I'm moving away because it's dangerous for me!" to "I'm moving away because I'm generally opposed to the Jax PD/Mayor's office for not doing more for crime!"
Ok, I'm just going to let you reply to Thundarr457 from now on. And, I have nothing against the JSO or the Mayor! Crime is going to continue in Jax until a hurricane blows it away...........which will be way, way after I'm gone (if at all).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida2014
There you go again...."Most people......". You continually feign knowledge of what the majority of people are *thinking* or *saying* in our fine city, yet when pushed for details all we get is that you heard from someone on a message board or that you had a few conversations with neighbors......etc. etc.
And your tone has also shifted yet again to "I'm moving away because it's dangerous for me!" to "I'm moving away because I'm generally opposed to the Jax PD/Mayor's office for not doing more for crime!"
The OP is absolutely right here, but most people here just simply won't admit that Jax has a problem like this. "As long as it doesn't affect me personally, why should I care what the crime rate is", seems to be the all-around statement. But, then again, people try/do downplay the crime rate here just like people in Denver, Co downplay their winters. We don't downplay either! We know what the crime is like here, whether it's in the "hood" or on the Southside, just like we know how winter is in Denver, Co metro.
And that's how it should be. If someone chooses to live in Chicago despite the crime, then "it doesn't affect them." If someone living in the Southside of Jacksonville continues to be afraid of the homicides around the Moncrief area, whether because they visit that area or simply because they are altruistic loving humans always thinking about others, then "it does affect them." The fact that the entire city of Jacksonville isn't completely devoid of people suggests that there is a significant number of people for whom "it doesn't affect them." Whether or not said folks care about the the actual crimes and/or victims does not even need to come into play. One can be concerned about crimes and yet still not let it have a strangle hold on one's life.
And that's how it should be. If someone chooses to live in Chicago despite the crime, then "it doesn't affect them." If someone living in the Southside of Jacksonville continues to be afraid of the homicides around the Moncrief area, whether because they visit that area or simply because they are altruistic loving humans always thinking about others, then "it does affect them." The fact that the entire city of Jacksonville isn't completely devoid of people suggests that there is a significant number of people for whom "it doesn't affect them." Whether or not said folks care about the the actual crimes and/or victims does not even need to come into play. One can be concerned about crimes and yet still not let it have a strangle hold on one's life.
Agreed! I've got a few dozen other things on my "Worry Priority List" than some gang on gang crime in neighborhoods 40+ miles away from me that I don't ever frequent. These holier-than-thous pretending this upsets them are not being very honest.
And if I'm dedicating concern to something, how about feeding the homeless, curing cancer, saving the manatees, or a million other more deserving priorities than that.
Been following this thread, and just wanted to chime in with our family's experience. Our son and daughter, ages 21 and 25, share an apartment in Riverside. They love where they live - the walkability of it, the shops and eateries, the under the bridge market, the art scene, museum... They also like their apartment, in an old historic building that spans a block at the intersection of Copeland and Riverside Avenue. It's close to the river and shares the street with beautiful, older stately homes.
Last November, however, they were awakened, at 3:00 am, by two men who had kicked in a panel to their front door, and easily flipped and slid locks to gain access. They were ordered to lay face down on the living room floor. One of the men stood over them with a gun, while the other turned the whole place upside down. They ended up taking both kids' phones, my son's wallet (had no cash in it, just a driver's license and debit card) and rifled through my daughter's wallet, only taking her insulin pen from it.
They continued to lay face down until the men left, and not able to find their car keys in the mess, they walked to the nearby 7-Eleven, where a security guard offered his phone for them to contact the police.
There has not been any closure on this incident. Their apartment was processed as a crime scene, the kids were interviewed by a detective weeks after the incident, and we have heard nothing since. Our son's wallet was found later that day by a stranger, intact, on top of a pile of trash at the Bold Bean. Their door was replaced, locks were amped up, and the whole complex was given keypads on all entryway doors. Our kids decided that they wanted to remain in Riverside.
Two weeks ago, our son was being dropped off back home by a friend, who also wanted to first stop to get something at the same 7-Eleven mentioned earlier. This was at about midnight, on a Saturday. My son stayed in the car as the friend went in. My son then saw a man enter the store with a towel over his hand, and a shirt pulled up over his face. He then watched as the clerk, and his friend, were held up at gunpoint. The robbery suspect made off with $50 and cigarettes from the store, and $6 from the friend.
Guess what? My kids still love Riverside. I am simply offering what has happened to our family as a caution to you. Be careful.
Back in November, when we rushed to meet our kids after the home invasion at gunpoint? There we found them in the middle of the street, along with the crime scene van and police cars lining the street. The police assured us that this was one of the nicest areas of Riverside. That something like this was unheard of there. And as we stood there hugging our kids, a very elderly lady passed us, strolling in her crocs, at 4:00 am. Just taking an early morning walk, she said.
I can relate to that. We had something like that happen to us when we first moved to Philadelphia. The only difference is we slept through the whole thing (we're sound sleepers). After that - we moved to a high rise - and didn't have any issues when it came to Philadelphia.
As far as the Southside is concerned - my father lives in a senior complex there - Brookdale Southside. And an elderly woman 3-4 doors down from him was the victim of a home invasion robbery there in broad daylight (late afternoon IIRC). Within the last 6 months or so. She pulled the emergency cord in her apartment - and the noise from the alarm caused the robbers to flee. I am not happy with what is happening in that part of JAX (which used to be very safe) - but my 97 year old father doesn't have many options. Robyn
I can relate to that. We had something like that happen to us when we first moved to Philadelphia. The only difference is we slept through the whole thing (we're sound sleepers). After that - we moved to a high rise - and didn't have any issues when it came to Philadelphia.
As far as the Southside is concerned - my father lives in a senior complex there - Brookdale Southside. And an elderly woman 3-4 doors down from him was the victim of a home invasion robbery there in broad daylight (late afternoon IIRC). Within the last 6 months or so. She pulled the emergency cord in her apartment - and the noise from the alarm caused the robbers to flee. I am not happy with what is happening in that part of JAX (which used to be very safe) - but my 97 year old father doesn't have many options. Robyn
Burglaries seem to be the most common crime in Jacksonville, or one of the more common. Probably automobile burglaries more than home burglaries. Mind you, this is just burglaries I'm talking about. Not even home invasions, although there's no denying those will happen.
There's only been 21 home burglaries in Avondale in the last 365 days. Just looking at the map, about 8 of them seem to have happened just within blocks from the Riverside border. According to this site, there haven't been any home robberies in the last 365 days, which I'm assuming are home invasion's. There's only been 4 robberies of any kind in Avondale in the last 365 days. That might seem like a lot, but after running the numbers in Murray Hill and Riverside, there's been quite a bit more. I do feel pretty safe in Avondale, as do I in other parts of the city that I venture to. I know there's some terrible areas in Jax, but I never have any reason to venture there.
Like I said, I wouldn't mind moving to Mandarin or closer to the beach one day, but I have a VERY good situation here in Avondale. I have basically all but a brand new house. 2 years ago my buddy and I redid everything ourselves. I've put in $25k worth of work, and that's DIY work where the labor cost me nothing. I won't need to worry about a roof or appliances for years. I pretty much can easily convert the porch to a third bedroom. COMPLETELY rewired the entire house, my buddy who helped me worked as an electrician on the side and his dad was one. He had wired houses before. That was a big thing for me, since the wiring was pretty much original from 1946. The biggest complaint I have is that I'm right off of route 17 and the train tracks are right behind that. The train horn can get pretty loud, though I'm never woken up by it anymore. I got used to it. My fiance has too, she used to get woken up by it when first moving in with me. And the best part is that as of now, my mortgage will be paid off in 12.5 years from now, when I'll be just 46 years old. So I do like the situation I'm in and feel like I chose a great neighborhood here. I could have bought in Murray Hill for $20k-$25k cheaper or even more cheaper than that. And I'm not saying Murray Hill is a bad neighborhood, I don't want people thinking that. But I do prefer Avondale more. I'm not sure how accurate the statistics are, but I've seen that Avondale is one of the top 5 safest neighborhoods in Jax.
Maybe the title of this thread should be changed to "My one brush with violent crime in Jax"....that way you all can share your stories of knowing someone else who wasn't murdered (you know, the topic of this thread!). I know how seniors typically love this sort of thing.
I started this thread 2 weeks ago and there were 39 homicides and now there are 46. Anyone who thinks Jacksonville doesn't have a serious problem is kidding themselves. No one seems to care. As long as its people in the "hood" killing each other. You can imagine if this happened in PVB or other white suburb there would be a task force the next day. Its not so much I am worrying about getting killed if we moved there because we can avoid "those areas" but the utter inaction and disregard. This not a problem only in Jax but around the US in general including up here in Buffalo.
You bring up a interesting point about people in the "hood" killing each other because it does happen at a alarming rate.
A couple of years ago the Miami Herald analyzed the Murder rate in Miami for one year and 65% of the murdered were young black men under the age of 35.
This really is a indictment on our society if you look at the amount of murders in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend.
The rest were Domestic violence and very few were just random acts of Murder in some robbery,etc. in Miami.
What people fail to realize is that if you live in Jax or Miami or Orlando your chances of being "murdered" are very low unless you are in some nefarious illegal activity or you have a domestic abuse issue.
If random murder were a issue Florida would have lost it's Tourism base & economy a long time ago.
You bring up a interesting point about people in the "hood" killing each other because it does happen at a alarming rate.
A couple of years ago the Miami Herald analyzed the Murder rate in Miami for one year and 65% of the murdered were young black men under the age of 35.
This really is a indictment on our society if you look at the amount of murders in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend.
The rest were Domestic violence and very few were just random acts of Murder in some robbery,etc. in Miami.
What people fail to realize is that if you live in Jax or Miami or Orlando your chances of being "murdered" are very low unless you are in some nefarious illegal activity or you have a domestic abuse issue.
If random murder were a issue Florida would have lost it's Tourism base & economy a long time ago.
There was a time when it was an issue (early 1990's). And it did have an effect on tourism back then:
Think you need more respect towards seniors............you'll be one someday!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida2014
Maybe the title of this thread should be changed to "My one brush with violent crime in Jax"....that way you all can share your stories of knowing someone else who wasn't murdered (you know, the topic of this thread!). I know how seniors typically love this sort of thing.
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