Minneapolis: closing in on Detroit on violent crime rates and yet so good at ignoring Minneapolis massive problems (Racine: live, dangerous)

[JenLee]

MAttDen, would you PLEASE post where the heck you got those statistics about

The violent crime rate for the nation as a whole in 2005 was about 500 per 100,000 people

Minneapolis rate in 2006 was 1728.8 per 100,000 or 6,483 for a population of 375,000 people. That is more then three times the national average.

I'm finding that there are so many people in this discussion who are quoting statistics and numbers from so many sources that they just don't seem to make much sense.

[The Icy River Vagabond]

Actually, Philadelphia has more than twice as many people than Detroit, but it has less murders than Detroit, so that would lead me to believe that Detroit is at least two times more Violent than Philadelphia, sooo bluandpink, your statement is pretty far off base.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by ajf131

The Midwest is D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S and getting moreso all the time.

Regionally, the South has always had by far the highest crime rate in the country, and the northern tier of states the lowest. Oddly enough, one reason is winter: crime rates are universally higher in warm weather. Ever wonder why National Days (Independence Day, Bastille Day, etc.) are always at the peak of summer? It's because it's too d--- cold to riot in the middle of winter (unless you're Ukrainian, I suppose).

Certain cities have higher rates -- especially economically depressed communities, of which the Midwest and particularly the eastern Great Lakes has more than its share -- but averaged out over their metro regions, or across the entire multi-state area, your statement is untrue.

Also, a word of caution about rape statistics: most rapes everywhere go unreported, and different jurisdictions define "rape" and "sexual assault" differently. Hence, a city with "more rapes" might actually have "more rapes reported to the police" -- which is a good thing.

[green_mariner]

When it comes down to which city is safer, I would live in Minneapolis or St. Paul over Atlanta. Yes, Minneapolis does have problems with crime, but coming from an Atlanta perspective, I find Minneapolis to be safer. I'm not saying Minneapolis doesn't have problems but to say it's closing in on Detroit is a lie. The last time I checked many people flee from Detroit to the Twin Cities because Detroit is so violent(and for jobs too). What I see is that it sticks out for its region, but if it was located in GA, CA or FLA, it would look like the safest place. Keep in perspective that Detroit has over 300-400 murders a year.

[Jake1256]

Minneapolis has big crime problems, it is in fact gaining on Detroit. Detroit is losing crime problems, and the downtown is very safe, while minneapolis is gaining crime problems.

[Camden Northsider]

I do not believe that Minneapolis is an unsafe place to live in the least, really I find it to be one of the safest/ most livable cities in the nation. Not to diminish real problems that do exist in some of Mpls' neighborhoods, I have worked in the heart of the Jordan neighborhood in North Minneapolis for over two years now and have never felt a threat to my personal safety.

In February we purchased a home in the Victory neighborhood of Camden (northwest corner of Minneapolis) and couldn't have dreamed of a better neighborhood to live in- surprising as you can still find some affordable homes in the area. We are close to everything (suburban shopping, downtown, many major highways), enjoy the extensive Victory Memorial Parkway (part of the grand rounds system) just blocks away, frequent the family-owned neighborhood restaurants close by, and there are tons of neighborhood activiites going on on a regular basis. Our neighbors have all been great (either long-time residents/homeowners or younger couples/ families buying homes in the area). Despite being a neighborhood in North Minneapolis, we've yet to see nor hear of any crimes take place in our area.

[Rich-CA]

The metro area population is not that important. Fact is Colorado Springs has a slightly larger population than Minneapolis and the county where it is located has a population equal to Minneapolis/St. Paul together. And crime in the Springs is one of the lowest of any city I have looked at in my RE investment research. It is a fair comparison.

Especially when you consider that the city of 100k I live in in the San Francisco area once had the highest murder rate in the US, passing out even Miami and other very large cities. The issue is not size, its crime and what the people and their government do about it. I had just started looking at Minneapolis for investment and saw the crime remarks and decided to move on. I'll bet a lot of businesses looking for less expensive places than CA to operate from are doing the same thing.

[Old Paint]

Try your hand at coming to New Orleans. It really wasn't all that safe before Katrina. Now it's like the wild west in some areas.

[K-Luv]

Minneapolis, like every large US city has it's share of violent crimes, sometimes it might be above average, sometimes below. So what!?! To say that it is closing in on Detroit is a joke, even though Detroit is trying it's hardest to clean up.

After living in California for 23 years, I find Minneapolis to be a breeze.

[CTownNative]

I've never been to Minneapolis but I've seen the crime rates for it,and I've seen pictures of the Northside of it.The crime rate is pretty high,and the pictures made the Northside look pretty bad,but most cities in the Midwest are bad.Good thing is the metro areas of the big cities of the Midwest are pretty low.Im pretty sure Detroit's metro was the only Midwest metro in the 25 most dangerous.So yeah,while most cities in the Midwest aren't doing to well right now,thier metros are all pretty safe.