Why does San Diego have such an insanely low crime rate, and San Francisco so sky high? (dangerous, statistics)

[HeyHolliday!]

Originally Posted by Uptown Oakland

Wrong, San Francisco has plenty of crime ridden housing projects and their own city based gang and drug violence. Another one brainwashed by the fisherman's wharf media.

lmao. SF definitely has it bad areas but crime spills over from neighboring towns. It goes both ways. It's sort of like how the majority of the crimes in Windsor, Ontario are mostly committed by people from Detroit.

[jrb724]

SF has plenty of its own crime problems, but it looks better because the city across the bay is in the top 5 most dangerous cities every year -2010 #3, 2009 #3, 2008 #5, 2007 #4. Assuming the list goes back decades, I doubt Oakland has even been out of the top 10 since the 70's (maybe even longer). It frequently joins places like Camden, NJ and Detroit, MI on these lists.

It's funny the OP shows SF's data when they reported 99 murders. I believe at least a murder or two was "reclassified" to keep the total under 100. Have to keep tourism up.

There's certainly some bias towards Oakland by the media. Seems like SF gate writes an article for every single Oakland murder and blasts it on the front page, while they pick and choose what SF crimes to report. Maybe more people click on the Oakland murder links and they generate more ad revenue?

[tribecavsbrowns]

In fairness to SF, there are a LOT more people on the streets there, so there are more potential crime targets. I'm not just talking about homeless people -- I'm talking about people who walk home from the bus or go to the corner store to get a gallon of milk late at night. Some of those people, unfortunately, end up robbed or assaulted. In most neighborhoods in SD, people don't walk. You'll almost always have a lower crime rate when everyone is in the safety of his car.

[Cheeto]

I live in SD, grew up in Detroit and the bay area (Vallejo), my $.02 is that the city of SF itself is virtually void of any middle class. The cost of living within the city limits is outrageous, this creates a small but bitter underclass stuck on the streets or in crime infested public housing. Combine that with the second highest population density in any major american city, and you have a breeding ground for crime. Everybody in SF city is either well off or poor, there is no hard working middle class to create a buffer zone. Most of the middle and working class jobs are outside of the city too, so for the broke and desperate, crime is sometimes the most viable career option. SD is a pretty expensive place to live also, but there are many middle and mixed income areas that cushion the gaps between the haves and have-nots.

[Cheeto]

Originally Posted by Tia 914

not being sarcastic, but considering the proximity to Camp Pendleton, maybe criminals don't want be around all those Marines?

go out to downtown oceanside whe all the marines are out on a friday or sat night, many of them ARE the criminals! I saw two young well built drunk marines taking turns pushing a 40 some year old guy out walking his dog just after nightfall...disgusting!! Unfortunately some of those guys just sign up because they like violence!! I support are troops and all,( I work at 32nd street naval base), but some them are just punks!

[rah]

Originally Posted by Cheeto

I live in SD, grew up in Detroit and the bay area (Vallejo), my $.02 is that the city of SF itself is virtually void of any middle class. The cost of living within the city limits is outrageous, this creates a small but bitter underclass stuck on the streets or in crime infested public housing. Combine that with the second highest population density in any major american city, and you have a breeding ground for crime. Everybody in SF city is either well off or poor, there is no hard working middle class to create a buffer zone. Most of the middle and working class jobs are outside of the city too, so for the broke and desperate, crime is sometimes the most viable career option. SD is a pretty expensive place to live also, but there are many middle and mixed income areas that cushion the gaps between the haves and have-nots.

I agree with what you say in regards to SF having a "stuck underclass" and many very well off people, as well as density having a big part to do with the crime rate...but as an SF native and a current SF resident i'll also say that there most definitely IS a middle class in SF. It's quite a bit smaller than it was 20 years ago, and it may be smaller than the average middle class populations in other big cities, but it is definitely there. If there were no middle class, than about 75% of my friends, family, and acquaintances who live in SF must not actually exist. Most people i know over here are not impoverished, but they sure as hell aren't rich either.

[Phil306]

Man, how much BS can you liberal people shove down one's throat? ONE of the reasons the crime rate is so high in SF is: YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. Yes, race fans, the liberal, tolerant, love one another mentality, ENCOURAGES crimes in the city.

The flower child, fruit and nuts juries, don't want to "convict" someone. They want them to have diversion, second, third, fourth, and fifth chances. They elect Kamala Harris, who ran on a platform of NO DEATH PENALTY. SF is a cesspool, by its own design and, the people who live there, deserve all they get and then some. You wanted a hands off approach to law enforcement and you got it.

And just look at Gavin Newsome. Lets see: A drug addict, drunk who cheated on his wife, with his best friends wife. You elected him and wonder why there is a problem? Until he has some transient sitting on the sidewalk in front of his house. Then he has a cow and passes a law making it illegal. What a liberal tool.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by andyadhi01

...3. Cultural acceptance of drug addiction, homelessness etc
4. Large number of young, transient, self-centered population who are completely apathetic to the living conditions around them.

Correct. You spend time in downtown in SF and you'll find it both dangerous and a eyesore largely because of "tolerance"

On the other hand trying mucking around in downtown San Diego esp. the Gas lamp district and the police will tell you to get moving or you'll be arrested.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Phil306

Man, how much BS can you liberal people shove down one's throat? ONE of the reasons the crime rate is so high in SF is: YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. Yes, race fans, the liberal, tolerant, love one another mentality, ENCOURAGES crimes in the city.

The flower child, fruit and nuts juries, don't want to "convict" someone. They want them to have diversion, second, third, fourth, and fifth chances. They elect Kamala Harris, who ran on a platform of NO DEATH PENALTY. SF is a cesspool, by its own design and, the people who live there, deserve all they get and then some. You wanted a hands off approach to law enforcement and you got it.

This sounds like a description of Berkeley.

[ttocs99]

I don't know, maybe I'm naive, but I never felt threatened in San Francisco. I moved to SF in 1999 and moved back to NYC in 2006. I hear 99 murders in a year, and being a NYer, that doesn't sound like much. Hell, back in the 1980's, 99 murders seemed like a normal WEEK for NYC. I never was worried walking around SF. Maybe it's a NY attitude, but if someone in SF tried to mug me, I'd probably laugh. NY has gotten so much better in the last 20 years, that they had their lowest amount of murders since 1962. So now I feel safe in both cities.