Bad areas of Sac... (Sacramento, Oakland: violent crime, neighborhoods, schools)

[italian31]

Can someone tell me 1.) What are the bad areas to stay away from 2.) are they really that bad? 3.) What ethnic groups are in these neighborhoods?

Thanks

[wburg]

Here's a link to the Sac PD annual crime report:

http://sacpd.org/pdf/publications/ar/ar09.pdf

Page 11 has a map of violent and property crimes by neighborhood. Areas with high rates of both property and violent crimes are most likely the most dangerous neighborhoods. Note the dark area in the lower right--that's probably the largest fairly dangerous part of town. The chunk you can't see, outside the city limits but surrounded on 3 sides by Sacramento, is just as bad or worse considering that Sac PD has no jurisdiction there and the Sheriff's Dept. is spread even more thinly. The other dangerous neighborhood is north of downtown, along Del Paso Boulevard, not as bad as South Sac and environs but still fairly dangerous.

Areas low in violent crimes but high in property crimes are often wealthy areas where people have better stuff to steal, or places with big parking lots (like Arden Fair Mall or the State Fairgrounds) and lots of retail areas where things like cars and stores get ripped off but aren't physically risky to people. Midtown also gets an enormous amount of vandalism--people come from all over to tag things here--and since it's the city's de facto "nightclub district" there tend to be the inevitable drunken fights at bars and clubs, some of which carry out into the neighborhood.

That being said, "are they really that bad?" is a matter of degree. If you're used to East LA or the worst parts of Oakland, the worst parts of Sacramento will seem fairly nice. If you're used to living in small, quiet towns or HOA-administered exoburbs where crime is limited to kids TP'ing a friend's house, I imagine they would seem fairly rugged.

[Think About It!]

Originally Posted by italian31

Can someone tell me 1.) What are the bad areas to stay away from 2.) are they really that bad? 3.) What ethnic groups are in these neighborhoods?

Thanks

The main three or so are usually Oak Park, Del Paso Heights and Meadowview. I am sure you can add Northgate / South Natomas / North Sacramento into that.

If you are thinking living in the un-city South Sacramento / Florin or North Highlands.

I am sure there are other "bad" areas.

I live in a "bad area" and I'm still alive and ticking after several years. Each area has different or multiple ethnicities. Most of them have a large population of black people, south east Asians and Hispanics and some white people too. I think the worst thing about these areas are the schools but of course I live in a good part of a bad area. I would avoid some of the worst streets or blocks.

Pay attention to the schools and that is usually a pretty good idea of how the neighborhood / area is. I have seen numerous threads about this topic so I'm sure a quick search would reveal a whole lot of information regarding this topic.

If your thinking about one of the bad areas I would drive around and check it out in the day/afternoon/night, also check the crime stats and talk to neighbors.