Wilkinsburg with a family? (Pittsburgh, Edgewood: violent crime, school district, property taxes)

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by kovyman1127

Google "Wilkinsburg shooting" and tell me how many hits you get...

Exactly what I meant. "Just make sure to get all the facts before making a move" is great advice, really. However, if that means writing off all of Wilkinsburg, including the part closer to Edgewood (i.e. Regent Square), I disagree.

I lived in that neighborhood for two years and it's the greatest neighborhood I've lived in. While I miss Pittsburgh in general, I miss that neighborhood even more.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by caroline2

Sure, so long as it "doesn't matter" whether you end up with a "small cut on your hand" or slaughtered on the street.

It's pretty rare that murder is a crime between people who don't know each other. Even in the most dangerous neighborhoods if you stay out of 'their' business you won't be bothered.

[kovyman1127]

Originally Posted by barneyg

However, if that means writing off all of Wilkinsburg, including the part closer to Edgewood (i.e. Regent Square), I disagree.

Define "writing off"....If I'm living down the street from ganglands...I tend not to take chances being that close to bad stuff going down. "Down the street" is relative...and yes, I would write it off. Its not like Wilkinsburg is Fairfax County, VA.

[kovyman1127]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

Even in the most dangerous neighborhoods if you stay out of 'their' business you won't be bothered.

I feel so much more comfortable moving now...knowing that once I feel the bullet hit me, that I know it wasn't "intended" for me...

Walking my kid to school, I could say "Ignore that man bleeding on the street little Johnie from the gunshot, just stay out of his business and you will be ok."

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by kovyman1127

I feel so much more comfortable moving now...knowing that once I feel the bullet hit me, that I know it wasn't "intended" for me...

Cities Safer than Suburbs (http://www.allbusiness.com/professional-scientific/scientific-research/244291-1.html - broken link)

And I quote from the above article

Researchers ranked 60 U.S. metropolitan counties and nine central cities--Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis--St. Paul, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh--on combined traffic fatality rates and rates of homicide by strangers....Outer suburbs are more dangerous than cities and inner suburbs mostly because of the automobiles, Lucy's study concludes. In 2000, there were about three times as many traffic fatalities as homicides in the United States.

It's more dangerous for you to live in Cranberry and drive than it is for you to live in the city. Of course old habits die hard, but facts are facts.

[kovyman1127]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

Cities Safer than Suburbs (http://www.allbusiness.com/professional-scientific/scientific-research/244291-1.html - broken link)

And I quote from the above article


It's more dangerous for you to live in Cranberry and drive than it is for you to live in the city. Of course old habits die hard, but facts are facts.

Traffic fatalities? Yes, if you include that in the equation, of course, because they drive more....and driving is the most risky thing that a person does in their life. But, this is like stating firemen have a bigger danger of getting hurt on the job than an accountant...its simple math. But, lets talk "living" in an area...not the commute from an area.

And notice the study said "homicides by strangers" not "total" homicides....you guys have to read more carefully next time.

[kovyman1127]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

Cities Safer than Suburbs (http://www.allbusiness.com/professional-scientific/scientific-research/244291-1.html - broken link)

And I quote from the above article


It's more dangerous for you to live in Cranberry and drive than it is for you to live in the city. Of course old habits die hard, but facts are facts.

Lets rephrase: police "incidents" (shooting/robbery/break in, etc

[kovyman1127]

Also, if you think that "living" in Cranberry is more dangerous than "living" in Wilkinsburg (by extension)...you are CRAZY!!!

[BrianTH]

Again, for a small city, Wilkinsburg has some really distinct areas. The Regent Square part of Wilkinsburg, where we live, really isn't proximate to any of this stuff, and I really do think our risk from cars is WAY higher than our risk from crime.

[caroline2]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

It's more dangerous for you to live in Cranberry and drive than it is for you to live in the city. Of course old habits die hard, but facts are facts.

It's an incorrectly designed study. It's perfectly reasonable to remove known-assailant homicides, under the rationale that the safety of an area should be normalized to people who don't engage in reckless behavior, i.e. someone dying because his drug deal went bad isn't as scary to me, someone who doesn't deal drugs, as someone dying from a random home invasion.

But similarly, they should then exclude traffic self-fatalities. I don't drive drunk and I don't speed down roads late a night and I don't swerve in and out of traffic during snowstorms, or agree to ride in the cars of people who do. That other people do these things and kill themselves and their passengers doesn't affect the normalized safety of the location. They should only include not-at-fault traffic fatalities.