Seriously, how bad is crime in Philly outside of the North? (Philadelphia: crime rate, neighborhoods)

[mark7]

I mean, the city's official murder rate per 100,000 is 21.2, which is very high, as it puts Philly in the (notorious) Top 10 in the country among cities with over 250,000 people.

But, the FBI itself warns against using sheer numbers to make direct comparisons between cities, so I'd like to know first-hand just how bad the crime really is in Philly (and I assume it is pretty bad, outside of North Philly. Is it worse than Chicago and/or Baltimore?

Let me add that I really like Philly as a city, and would move there tomorrow if it had less crime.

[rotodome]

I'd say it's roughly comparable to those two. Good and bad areas in all three.

[frankgn87]

Its as bad as the numbers suggest. They don't lie.

[NJhighlands87]

I think it depends on what kind of crime you're talking about. Crime maps I've seen show a ton of crime in Center City, but that's because it's the most heavily trafficked area of the city, so there's a high volume of small-time thefts and whatnot, but it's obviously a completely different environment than North Philly. West Philly and South Philly have their trouble spots I guess, but I don't think they're as bad as North Philly.

[pman]

Originally Posted by NJhighlands87

I think it depends on what kind of crime you're talking about. Crime maps I've seen show a ton of crime in Center City, but that's because it's the most heavily trafficked area of the city, so there's a high volume of small-time thefts and whatnot, but it's obviously a completely different environment than North Philly. West Philly and South Philly have their trouble spots I guess, but I don't think they're as bad as North Philly.

north philly has the most trouble spots but parts of south philly, particularly southwest, can be pretty bad..same with west philly.
frank-the stats don't lie but they also don't tell you everything. they do say that philly is less dangerous than baltimore and mroe dangerous than chicago but chicago has a few neighborhoods on the most dangerous neighborhoods list, philadelphia has none. think about that for a minute, for all the talk about north philly, no part of north philly made the most dangerous neighborhoods list. since chicago has a lower crime rate and worse neighborhoods, it means that the good portions are either better than the good portions of philly or greater in proportion, thus resulting in a lower average. it also means that the bad neighborhoods must be really frigging bad. there are also decent parts of north philly. It would be nice to see the homicide rate drop to under 15 but 19/20 is better than near 30 which is what it was not too long ago.

[LHM]

There are lots of bad neighborhoods outside of North Philly.

[Cnote11]

Originally Posted by pman

north philly has the most trouble spots but parts of south philly, particularly southwest, can be pretty bad..same with west philly.
frank-the stats don't lie but they also don't tell you everything. they do say that philly is less dangerous than baltimore and mroe dangerous than chicago but chicago has a few neighborhoods on the most dangerous neighborhoods list, philadelphia has none. think about that for a minute, for all the talk about north philly, no part of north philly made the most dangerous neighborhoods list. since chicago has a lower crime rate and worse neighborhoods, it means that the good portions are either better than the good portions of philly or greater in proportion, thus resulting in a lower average. it also means that the bad neighborhoods must be really frigging bad. there are also decent parts of north philly. It would be nice to see the homicide rate drop to under 15 but 19/20 is better than near 30 which is what it was not too long ago.

The murder rate per 100,000 is currently on track to be 15.3 for this year.

[Cnote11]

Should also add that the murder rate per 100,000 in Center City was 0. Numbers don't lie, right Frank? Other crimes aren't that big of a deal in places not North Philadelphia, not far West Philadelphia, and not Southwest Philadelphia. There is a fair amount of crime in Center City, but it isn't a big deal compared to the amount of people who are in Center City everyday. So yeah, crime in Philadelphia can sure be a problem if you move into a crime-filled neighborhood. That is rather obvious, though.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Cnote11

The murder rate per 100,000 is currently on track to be 15.3 for this year.

I don't want to count any chickens before they've hatched but I hope its not an anomaly but a new normal ... only time will tell

[Cnote11]

Originally Posted by pman

I don't want to count any chickens before they've hatched but I hope its not an anomaly but a new normal ... only time will tell

I wouldn't be surprised if it were an anomaly, or that we at least end up with something between this year and the last five years. With such a drastic drop, I can't expect another drastic drop next year.