Living in Downtown (Philadelphia, York, Washington: apartments, violent crime, safe area)

[madeyes4u]

I'm 20 years old and I'm thinking about moving to Philidelphia to go to college at The Art Institute of Philidelphia, but I don't know what's it's like because I've never been to the city. I've heard that the crime is just horrible, so that's one reason why I'm afraid to move there. I have no idea what being a college student there is like either (obviously).

[newmarlig]

The Art Institute is in a very good area of center city. You will be safe (using common sense, of course). The school does offer housing in the area. You might want to check into that. If not, I suggest you look into Washington Square West, which is a few blocks from the school.

[KansastoSouthphilly]

IMO crime is very overstated in Philly. The crime is terrible in certain areas, but it is very easy to stay out of those areas. The Art Institute is in a great area and if you live near there you will probably have no problems unless you are completely incompetent when it comes to city life.

I am a grad student in the city and I think it is a good city to be a student. There are thousands upon thousands of college students here. There are lots of things to do.

[centercityrenter]

There is a lot of crime in New York, too. It may still be the safest city of its size in the US, but hundreds of people die in homicides every year; thousands of women are raped; tens of thousands of cars and apartments are jacked, burglarized, and vandalized; many more people are beaten and assaulted, etc. But what I know about the city applies to a place like Philly, to which I'm moving shortly and have visited frequently: most violent crime is *clustered* in bad neighborhoods.

Here in Manhattan, if you *don't* live in Harlem, Inwood, or the Lower East Side (poorest and most crime-ridden nabes by far) you reduce your probability of getting shot, raped, or beaten in a random act of violence by like 95%. Does that mean nobody ever dies, is raped, or is beaten randomly in nice neighborhoods? Nope, it happens. But it's rare, and if you can live in the nicest suburbs around and the same infrequent but tragic crimes will happen there, too. (They are tragic, if you think about it, precisely because they are so rare and unpredictable.)

Now, if you compare the Compstat reports from NYPD with Philadelphia's PD, or look at Boston or Washington's crime distributions on a GIS map, you'll see the same disproportionate clustering of violent crimes into predominantly poor and minority neighborhoods. Sucks but that's life. Ergo, don't live in those neighborhoods, and you maximize your safety. It does not mean you become superman/superwoman. It does mean that if you spend most of your time in core Center City neighborhoods, just like if you are living say in SoHo or the UWS in Manhattan, or Back Bay or Charlestown in Boston, there is an extremely *low* possibility of anything awful happening to you.

Can it still happen? Yes. Even if you live in a nice rich suburb... it can happen. But if you want to live in an urban environment where nothing bad can ever happen to you, then you need to find a iron-clad bubble in a fortress somewhere because in statistical terms, low-level crimes *will* happen in the wealthiest and most heavily white areas of big cities--LA, Chicago, Houston, NYC, Washington, Boston, Philly, San Diego, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta--it's just so statistically rare that you are safe in assuming it won't be you.

[madeyes4u]

thank you for the info, everyone. If anyone else has something that you want to share, go right ahead. The more, the merrier.

[FindingZen]

If you already have experience with cities, then it will be just a matter of getting the lay of the land. As others have mentioned, the Art Institute is in one of the nicer sections of Center City which itself is one of the more desirable parts of Philly. If you are female, then it may be advisable to walk in pairs or more late at night although that's the same advice I'd give for a young lady in any new city. Besides the one building that the Art Institute rents out as a dorm, they should also have listings in their housing department as well. (Many moons ago, I considered one of their programs and looked at listings myself.) Good luck!

[Torresdale]

I graduated from the Art Institute (about 10 years ago). I loved it there and the building is in a nice area of the city. It was nicer 10 years ago when they didn't allow traffic down that part of Chestnut St. and we'd play hacky sack in the middle of the street between classes, but it's still a safe area.

[madeyes4u]

Oh that's cool! I feel less worried/suspicious about things now. Good, good.

[john_starks]

i pass broad street everyday to & from work. the art institure seems like a great place to go to school. i see the students hanging outside. definitley a bunch of "characters" in that school.

[newmarlig]

Originally Posted by john_starks

i pass broad street everyday to & from work. the art institure seems like a great place to go to school. i see the students hanging outside. definitley a bunch of "characters" in that school.

I believe the OP is talking about the Art Institute on 16th and Chestnut. You may be referring to the University of the Arts, which is on Broad and Spruce. Both locations are fine though.