Lewiston and Auburn

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by lrfox

to paint Lewiston as a "zoo" is unfair and misguided

I did not call Lewiston a zoo.

I did imply that it is showing the early signs of becoming a zoo.

The current problems are likely to get much worse over the next ten years.

Is anything being done to end the current crime wave in Lewiston?

So what's to prevent the criminal class from becoming ever bolder and growing its numbers?

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

In New York City, Real estate appreciated so much in the past fifteen years, that the criminal element can no longer afford to live in NYC.

That's likely the biggest reason crime in NYC has dropped--but the politicians and police want us to think they did it.

As for Lewiston compared to the rest of America: the statistics speak for themselves, however one tries to rationalize them away.

Of course appreciation in NYC is the key reason crime has dropped. I'm one who believes that "police presence" has very little to do with controlling crime. Of course, a complete lack of it leads to chaos, and too much, leads to a police state which is almost equally as bad. I'd credit NYC's decrease in crime to the skyrocketing real estate costs and to a lesser degree, excellent urban bones and economic vitality (only Tokyo has a higher GDP) before I'll credit police presence and politics. Regardless, it's dropped significantly to the point where it has very few peers among major cities in terms of how low the crime is. Lewiston certainly doesn't have skyrocketing real estate to help it, but crime (overall) is still just as low as New York City's.

I don't get your comment about Lewiston v. America... the stats show that Lewiston is well below the national average in terms crime, what's the beef?

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

I did not call Lewiston a zoo.

I did imply that it is showing the early signs of becoming a zoo.

The current problems are likely to get much worse over the next ten years.

Is anything being done to end the current crime wave in Lewiston?

So what's to prevent the criminal class from becoming ever bolder and growing its numbers?

If you look at the data from 2000-2008, Lewiston's crime has DECREASED over those years... by quite a large margin (the link is the first one in my previous post).

What evidence leads you to believe it will get worse when it has continually improved? Furthermore, what's the "crime wave" that you speak of? As the numbers that we've both posted show, Lewiston (and New York City, your point of comparison) have pretty low crime numbers overall and in the case of both of those cities, those numbers have actually dropped over the last decade... not increased. And unless you have information that you're not sharing, nothing points to an increase in crime (for either city, actually) other than your speculation. What are the "signs" that it's becoming a zoo? Is it the fact that crime has progressively decreased over the past decade, or the fact that it still has a very low crime rate overall, because I'm confused on where your coming from?

When I'm in Lewiston, I don't feel unsafe. The people I know that live in Lewiston don't feel unsafe. Statistics point to the fact that Lewiston is safer than the majority of the communities in the United States and far better than most similarly sized cities even in Maine, the safest state in the nation. So what's the problem?

If Lewiston is becoming a zoo, what does that make Bangor, Waterville, Augusta, Portland (all Maine cities with more overall crime than Lewiston)? I sense a general dislike for urban environments altogether (which I've seen from others on this forum too). That's fine, you're allowed to dislike urban living (I detest rural living but I won't try to ruin it for those who enjoy it with wild tales of how awful rural living is); but making illogical, poorly supported arguments (I'll take it back if you can show me something that points to Lewiston's crime rate increasing in the near future) is misleading and unfair to people who are looking for information on communities like Lewiston. Basic research shows that Lewiston is a small urban area. As such, it has some urban problems and anyone who can read a quick overview of Lewiston knows that. The facts still show that Lewiston isn't an unsafe city... not by a long shot. It's safer than the majority of cities in the country and has done nothing other than improve over the past decade. So once again, how is it turning into a "Zoo?"

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

I did not call Lewiston a zoo.

I did imply that it is showing the early signs of becoming a zoo.

The current problems are likely to get much worse over the next ten years.

Is anything being done to end the current crime wave in Lewiston?

So what's to prevent the criminal class from becoming ever bolder and growing its numbers?

I have no idea what point your making.. What "crime wave" are you talking about??

Lewiston is a poor city and its crime reflects that as does most of Maine. Most of Maine suffers from the exact same problems Lewiston has..

Yes..There are affluent areas along the coast and around Portland that are somewhat prestine and one can always trade in conventional living and go off the grid sort of speak.. But if you live in Maine and are living in any populated area, then chances are your area has the exact same problems Lewiston has.. Domestic violence.. drunkeness... teen issues... theft...burglary... ect ect.

You cannot look at NY city and compare crime rates to determine what the quality of life is like as apposed to somewhere else.. And depending what you want NY city is one nice place. I lived in DC when it was the murder capitol of the states and was unaffected by crime and probably even more effected by it here living in Maine.

Newton Ma has over 80k people and borders Boston and has lower crime rates then most maine cities and towns... And there are areas of NY city with even more people and less crime.

there are definately issues effecting the L/A area and Maine in general.. but they are hardly the ones you mentioned..

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by lrfox

If you look at the data from 2000-2008, Lewiston's crime has DECREASED over those years... by quite a large margin (the link is the first one in my previous post).

I looked at that link you posted, which is more complete than others I've seen--I am pleasantly surprised and do admit I was mistaken.

Do you have any idea why the crime rate has been declining?