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In response to the OP question asking if Durham is always like this, I say yes. From the time I first went to Durham in the 1960's, I felt it was dangerous. It was scary to drive through the east side of town after dark and it seems it's still that way.
Using the crime data map posted in this thread, Durham has had almost twice the number of crimes as Raleigh, both in people killed and injured. If the numbers are extrapolated to equate Durham's population to that of Raleigh, the results are even more alarming. 832 total crimes in the Bull City vs 240 in Raleigh. 273 killed in Durham vs 84 in Raleigh and 762 injured vs 237. A ratio of over 3:1. That's a significant difference.
I don't know why this is. Maybe the social makeup of the two cities is the root cause. Raleigh seems to be and has been a more middle class town with state government the largest employer. Durham's cultural roots go back to the days when the town was divided into two cultures; the east side minorities who worked in the tobacco industry vs the others on the west side associated with Duke University and the medical facilities.
But whatever the reason, the numbers speak for themselves.
See, this is why Durham gets a bad reputation. Other cities with crime issues address them, but in Durham it's you just get called names when you say "hey maybe it's not cool that people are getting murdered daily". It's like the locals are OK with this stuff and go "if you don't like it go to Cary" after yet another person gets slain. I'm prepared to be called a few more names in this thread while I'm just supposed to shrug off shootings and murders. Its the Durham way.
So, complaining about every murder in Durham on this message board is going to solve the problem? What's your purpose of this thread, it seems every time a crime happens in Durham, you post here and say "See I told you..." This just becomes a long running complaint thread that does nothing to give useful information to anyone. I lived in Durham all my life, 48 years, and myself or any of my friends and family have never been the victim of a violent crime. So, I don't live in fear when I go out in this city. If you are not happy here, just move to Raleigh where you can let your guard down, live free and be happy. So, this thread can slowly die and can be replaced by another thread that is actually gives useful to information to someone.
I don't think anyone is arguing no one should do something about crime.
Most of us are arguing it seems silly to be panicky or bothered by crime that is very unlikely to impact anyone who isn't a criminal or otherwise at risk. The security guard thing is very sad, but yeah...that was kinda my point. I tend not to walk down alleys at 3AM (possibly for the sole purpose of confronting suspected criminals given it was a security guard). The other two murders were in residential areas known to be downright awful that I can think of zero reason I would be spending time in.
I'm not saying it isn't unfortunate that these things happen...I just don't see how this impacts my life in any meaningful way given where/when it occurs and who it typically involves. I'm not exactly concerned about gangs busting in and randomly assassinating me while I'm sitting in Mateo having dinner at 6PM and then walking over to Carolina Theatre for a show. That said, if you are really that concerned about it and there is nothing keeping you here there is no harm in leaving. I do get it, the news subsists off making people anxious. I just try to take a balanced perspective since there is only so much we can do to minimize risk in our lives. I'm personally probably a helluva lot more likely to die in a car accident driving to/from work than in a gang shootout. If I get a head injury, its most likely something I did to myself playing sports versus someone clubbing me over the head to take my wallet...
Correct.
To each their own. If you don't want to live in Durham you don't have to. No reason to essentially proclaim that nobody else should want to live there. Very silly.
So disturbing. I was considering buying a condo in Durham
Quote:
Originally Posted by wood_lake
So my wife and I are originally from Raleigh, but we moved to Pittsburgh for awhile for jobs. Last year my wife got a job in Durham and we decided to move back to the Triangle, but this time we were going to give Durham a shot. We moved to the South Durham area and the neighborhood itself is quite nice.
We did a lot of research in regards to the crime and such and the general consensus online was that "it's just bad in parts" and "it's better than it was". We were living in a really bad area in Pittsburgh (houses on the market for like $50k for reference) so we thought we could handle it well. However, that has not been the case.
There was a shooting last year at a store we go to on occasion:
We hear gunshots off of Fayetteville Road at night and often times cops never follow up. Police have showed up in our neighborhood posted up to look for criminals a few times. Last year someone was followed home in Hope Valley and was murdered in their drive way.
We frequent downtown Durham and we were told it was fine crime wise. Yet there have been multiple shootings downtown in 2019 from bagel shop shootings to shootings in front of the court house. There have even been unreported ones where I saw bullet holes in the window of a storefront for no reason, or some of the places we go to have been robbed at gunpoint (Pokeworks). Not to mention the panhandling has got really aggressive to the point where things escalate.
The neighbors tell us American Tobacco Trail is nice, but don't take it all the way downtown because you could get robbed in the area just south of downtown. Why use it all to get to downtown by bike at all if that's the case?
My question is, is Durham always like this or this a particularly rough time (fall 2018 through now)? I really want to love this city and I want to give it a fair shot but it's really difficult.
when relocating to this area 20 years ago from out of state, family friend who grew up in Durham & still lived in Durham as a middle aged adult when we were moving in recommended we completely skip Durham as a possibility for moving.
Recommended Winston Salem, Greensboro, Cary & Raleigh. Said don't even think about Durham.
As nice as the area is around the DBAP and concert hall has become, I've lived here now long enough to be glad we listened to this person's advice and chose Cary instead. Really ashame about Durham's deserved sketchy reputation, but as someone else said, it's apparently been this bad for 50 years.
As nice as the area is around the DBAP and concert hall has become, I've lived here now long enough to be glad we listened to this person's advice and chose Cary instead. Really ashame about Durham's deserved sketchy reputation, but as someone else said, it's apparently been this bad for 50 years.
I'm curious what will happen as Eastern Durham County gets filled in with subdivisions from Sherron rd to Olive Branch and starts getting a "cary" vibe. I wonder if the crime around the 98 corridor in that vicinity will increase because of the "prime" targets, or if it will actually be displaced and move back towards downtown.
Yeah.... I'm tapping out. This city is a crime ridden mess and it's not worth taking the risk to live in. Still can't get over hearing gunshots often and people telling me to shrug it off. I gave it a try and now it's time to leave.
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So disturbing. I was considering buying a condo in Durham
