St Paul Crime Trends (Minneapolis, St. Paul: fit in, crime rate, buying a home)

[Beenhere4ever]

Wow, this makes interesting reading. For example, 2011 shows 8 homicides for the whole city for the whole year. That should be comforting for people considering buying a home there. Especially since homicide often involves people who know each other. No way to tell how many of the 8 fit in this. I do know I've read actual stories where all parties knew each other.

And the second trend that is obvious is that crime is not only low but declining. Again, good for St Paul. Minneapolis does have the declining trend, but I don't think it is quite "low" in the same sense as St Paul.

Then there's the one statistic that bucks the trend: Home burglaries. I'm sure the leaders of the SPD have had many meetings over that. I can't really answer whether that number, though increasing, is high enough to be worrisome, but with minuses everywhere you look on the chart, the one plus is hard to ignore.

Yeh, of the two core cities, St Paul definitely (at this point) looks like a better bet. I live in Minneapolis, but my neighborhood is about as safe as anywhere in St. Paul. Truth is, I did want to move there when I had a downtown St Paul job, but various circumstances kept it from happening. But I do a lot of business in the town across the river.

http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/20869

[rogead]

On one level, this has the makings of a Minneapolis vs. St Paul thread. I'm going to resist going in that direction and simply point out that, for all practical purposes, the entire metro area shares a common "crime rate". Unless one lives in a neighborhood which is saturated with crime (and there are very few of those in this metro area), the likelihood of exposure to criminal activity is based far more upon your personal lifestyle than it is upon where one resides. You can live in the most tranquil neighborhood imaginable, but your risk of being subjected to most crimes is based upon where you go and what you do.

If you work downtown, you expose yourself to the crime downtown. If you go to a Twins game, a downtown club, a concert at the Ordway, Mystic Lake Casino, or the super-ultra-mega-mall; you become a part of that environment, and are thus subject to the same sociological realities of those around you. This isn't unique to MSP. It is one of the basic realities of urban structure.

Some people aren't cut out for city living. For them, the best solution might be to build a cabin in rural Montana, and live off of squirrel meat and boysenberries.

[Beenhere4ever]

"Common crime rate". Is that like Kenwood "sharing" a crime rate with Powderhorn or Jordan? I guess that means you can buy a home anywhere knowing how low the crime rate is in Kenwood.

Not really. But I sure understand how some Minneapolis residents would like to share the St Paul crime rate, even though we don't share police departments. Mac-Groveland doesn't even share the crime rate of East St Paul. And that's why its able to price houses higher (well, one of several reasons)

[rogead]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

"Common crime rate". Is that like Kenwood "sharing" a crime rate with Powderhorn or Jordan? I guess that means you can buy a home anywhere knowing how low the crime rate is in Kenwood.

Not really. But I sure understand how some Minneapolis residents would like to share the St Paul crime rate, even though we don't share police departments. Mac-Groveland doesn't even share the crime rate of East St Paul. And that's why its able to price houses higher (well, one of several reasons)

No, "common crime rate" means that you live in a culturally self-contained urbanized environment (the MSP metro area) which has a diverse assortment of neighborhoods, activities, events, destinations, work places, leisure activities, etc; and that, when you travel to or through any of these various locations, you are subject to the realities of those locations.

If you live in Kenwood and spend your entire existence in your home, locked behind nearly-impenetrable doors and walls, you will likely not be faced with anything more than burglars making feeble attempts to break into your home and take your valuable stuff. If, however, you have a life outside of the sanctity of that home, you will need to contend with other places and other circumstances.

I live in Minneapolis, and have never had cause to think about "sharing" or comparing the crime rate of my city of residence or neighborhood (North Loop), to any other. However, I work in the Midway area. This means that I spend a lot of time in that part of the metro. I have friends who live on St Paul's Eastside, as well as some who live in North Minneapolis. When I go to visit them, I become a temporary component of those parts of the metro area.

As for comparing crime in Minneapolis to crime in St Paul, there is far more in the way of cultural activities, entertainment, nightlife, and sporting events going on in Minneapolis. A lot more people circulating equals a lot more opportunity for crime. If you participate in those activities, you expose yourself to that potential crime. It's just another part of living in a vibrant urban atmosphere.

I've lived in Downtown Minneapolis for over four years. In my life, I've never been the victim of a violent crime. I've been victimized by property crime three times: In suburban Boston, I had my car stolen. In Coon Rapids, my garage was vandalized. Most recently, someone smashed the window of my truck while it was parked at work in St Paul.

I like cities. I accept the negative implications in order to experience the positive ones. My impression is that you really don't much like cities, or at least the one you live in. You seem to have an interest in crime rates which borders on obsessive paranoia. I understand that. I actually know others who think this way. But they all live either in small towns or rural areas. You would probably be better served by living in a different kind of environment than the one you're in.

[Beenhere4ever]

I've lived in the Twin cities continuously since 1972. I've never been a victim of violent crime. Needless to say, I've covered a lot of the landscape. I worked downtown when it was a lot safer. Which means I spent more time there than the majority of Twin Citians. And I never hunkered down in my house. BUT I also didn't go seeking adventure in places famous for high crime. Didn't live there. Didn't recreate there. Didn't drive through to see if I could witness some action. So it is false to say I "share" the crime rate. I share what I choose to share. Pretty much the way most people with no personal crime victimization do. But knowing where such things OCCUR is part of making that choice. To blur it all as if it is some monotone landscape is burying one's head in the sand. St Paul's rate is lower, and that's important. Poor neighborhoods in both cities are higher, and that information is useful too. Seems like the first reaction to any documented information on crime anywhere is to try to make the case that it is unimportant. Well, none of us can really say what is important to everybody. Just ourselves. Which makes me think it would be more sensible to ignore topics when you know going in that the information doesn't matter to you.