Moving to MPLS and scared! (Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park: apartment, to rent, crime rates)

[future_minneapolitan]

Those are some broad, broad generalizations.

[lalife]

Originally Posted by relopez1

Nouth and South mpls are not the best place's to live. I grew up there so I know. I moved to Anoka Co where I just love it!!

Anoka County is anywhere USA. If one wants to feel urban culture that is unique to the area itself, then South Minneapolis is it.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by relopez1

Nouth and South mpls are not the best place's to live. I grew up there so I know. I moved to Anoka Co where I just love it!!

Strange, I'm like the exact opposite of you. I grew up in the northern suburbs and went to Anoka High School. Then later I moved to South Minneapolis and I love it here.....absolutely zero desire to move back to Anoka County.

[salif]

Looking at the Minneapolis crime map on spotcrime and comparing it to other cities, I'm wondering what's up with all these shootings all around the city ? I always thought Minneapolis was a safer place.
God, it's still February and I can only imagine what it's gonna be like when it warms up..
I'm guessing I should be worried if I rent a place for ~500 bucks around down/up town and have no car coming home late after work..
It's a good thing I am a guy because I see Minneapolis is pretty much one of the rape capitals of the US too..
Right now I am seriously divided between Minneapolis and Denver as I have to make the move quite soon.

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by salif

Looking at the Minneapolis crime map on spotcrime and comparing it to other cities, I'm wondering what's up with all these shootings all around the city ? I always thought Minneapolis was a safer place.
God, it's still February and I can only imagine what it's gonna be like when it warms up..
I'm guessing I should be worried if I rent a place for ~500 bucks around down/up town and have no car coming home late after work..
It's a good thing I am a guy because I see Minneapolis is pretty much one of the rape capitals of the US too..
Right now I am seriously divided between Minneapolis and Denver as I have to make the move quite soon.

If you're that paranoid about it maybe it'd be a better idea not to live here. If you're referring to those crime maps you need to understand that those are reported crimes taking place over the course of a week. Then they blow up those crime logos so they take up half of a city block on the map. When you actually put that data is perspective it isn't really that bad. Since we bought this house in 2008 there have probably been 7 or 8 times where one of those crimes was on our very block and I never saw any of the crimes happen.

[audadvnc]

In addition, most violent crime is the result of feuds and turf wars between groups of bad boys. If you like to buy crack from some stranger on the street or go to parties where drug gang members hang, you could be at risk, but otherwise you're much more likely to get in a traffic accident, just like you would anywhere else.

I live in North Mpls. And I heard gunshots the other night - in Burnsville.

[Lunabell]

I grew up across the river from Washington, D.C. and lived in the city in my 20's. Minneapolis does not scare me at all. I think how worrisome it is depends on your frame of reference.

[uptown_urbanist]

A University of Virginia study found that, of the metro areas they studied, the differences in danger between exurbs and inner city were greatest in the Twin Cities. The dangers were greater living in the exurbs of the Twin Cities than they were in the core:

"Differences in danger between inner and outer parts of metropolitan areas were
greatest in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Eight counties on the fringe of this
metropolitan area had higher combined traffic fatality and stranger homicide rates than
Minneapolis and St. Paul. Two counties had the same rate as Minneapolis and only two
counties had slightly lower rates than St. Paul. Both safer counties, Hennepin and
Ramsey, bordered the central cities."
http://www.arch.virginia.edu/exurbia...in-exurbia.pdf

The study's a bit outdated, but the general gist of it presumably remains the same. The odds of getting in a traffic accident are greater than being the victim of random crime.

Even in the suburbs (although the old city/suburb split is changing when it comes to things like gangs, etc.), homicides and serious crime is still most likely to be between people who know each other. There was just an article in the Star Tribune about the high domestic abuse rates in Anoka County, for example. And while domestic abuse is obviously a horrible thing and counties need to be prepared to address the issue, it's also presumably not the sort of crime that people are worried about when looking at overall crime rate of a neighborhood. In other words, it's not directed towards random people.

I have no idea how it compares to Denver, safety-wise; my main point is simply looking at numbers alone doesn't give the whole picture. If crime or safety (of any kind) is a concern (as it is for most of us), then looking at metro-wide numbers isn't much use from a practical standpoint.

[west336]

I think the paranoia of homicides, for example, is that it's a crime in which you have zero control of your fate, whereas with car accidents, most people feel that they are better drivers and know the risks when they get into their cars. Another example may be bites or stings: people are MUCH more scared of being bit by a spider or stung by a bee than they are of getting an allergy shot/booster shot or letting a puppy chew on your fingers -- even if the latter can be much more painful. Obviously, this doesn't apply to every single person on the planet (a disclaimer for those ready to make that argument).

I just think that people feel most comfortable when they have the most possible control in a given situation, and most people are petrified of being randomly attacked or killed, even if it's highly improbable. Similarly, I'd avoid a bees nest any way possible but I hardly think twice about being bit by mosquitoes (which carry several deadly diseases). I can't explain why.

[uptown_urbanist]

West, I think the problem is that the person concerned about Minneapolis considered the entire metro area to be the bee's nest. There are undoubtedly parts of Minneapolis that are far safer than parts of Denver. Just as there are parts of Denver that will be safer than parts of Minneapolis. Looking at metro-wide, or even city-wide, statistics isn't very useful in this case.

I think you're right about people feeling like they can control car accidents, although I think it's another example of how people react more to irrational fear than to logic.