Why is San Jose so Safe (relatively speaking)? (Los Angeles, San Diego: low crime, houses)

[RunTheDistance476]

Just kind of curious...to have a city population of 950000+ (and be a city in California no less), how could it possible rank 100 points BELOW national average? That is insane. Any explanations?

Also, just want to be blunt, I have never been to San Jose before and would like to visit (not necessarily live). What are considered the "bad areas", if there are any, in this area? East side? West side? Northeast?


Thanks guys!

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

Just kind of curious...to have a city population of 950000+ (and be a city in California no less), how could it possible rank 100 points BELOW national average? That is insane. Any explanations?

Also, just want to be blunt, I have never been to San Jose before and would like to visit (not necessarily live). What are considered the "bad areas", if there are any, in this area? East side? West side? Northeast?


Thanks guys!

San Jose has less of an entrenched welfare underclass than other large cities and a larger working and middle class population.

By the way, I don't think crime in California's larger cities is any worse than other large cities when averaged out. Los Angeles may not be as safe as New York, but is probably safer than Houston. San Diego also has a relatively low crime rate.

The bad side of town is East San Jose. But it's generally considered safe to go to the East Side during the day (and many neighborhoods even at night). While there are more homicides on the East Side, the more everyday problems there are a plethora of smaller quality of life issues such as: more litter and stray shopping carts on the streets and sidewalks, generally less well taken care of homes (many with poorly maintained yards or front yards paved over with concrete), too many people packed into suburban type houses creating neighborhoods that are not designed for so many people, more traffic congestion than in other parts of town (because of those overcrowded neighborhoods), etc.

[crescent22]

Highest per household income of any urban area in the country- such a statistic is highly negatively correlated with crime.

East San Jose is a cakewalk compared to slums in other cities.

[JohnSoCal]

We lived in the San Jose area for many years. The ethnic groups are all mixed up and not segregated into separate neighborhoods like many cities. In other words the area is a true melting pot which I feel contributes to lower crime. There is no area of San Jose that I ever felt I was in danger.

As somebody else posted, in general most of California does not have a high crime rate compared to many other states. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose all have fairly low crime rates for large cities. The really bad areas are Oakland and the Central Valley like Stockton, Modesto, etc. Many of our smaller cities ( 100,000-350,000 ) are some of the safest in the country like Irvine, Murrieta, etc.

[Phil306]

It is, of course, going up:

San Jose crime: A matter of perspective? - SFGate

[Carlite]

I've always thought that for whatever reason San Jose doesn't have nearly as much of the social disintegration that other cities have. Being in the center of one of the country's most successful industries surely helps too. Finally, there's that pesky borders question again. San Jose contains 54% of Santa Clara County's population, so the city reaches well into more affluent suburban areas. As a contrast, Oakland only contains 26% of Alameda County's population (roughly 1/2 the proportion of San Jose), so many well off areas lie outside the city's boundaries.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by crescent22

Highest per household income of any urban area in the country- such a statistic is highly negatively correlated with crime.

East San Jose is a cakewalk compared to slums in other cities.

^This.

Dare I say it...lower income areas, primarily populated by Hispanics and African-Americans, are not as expansive or large a part of the city's population as in other cities. Including SF, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, L.A., Long Beach, and even Santa Ana, all here in California.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Phil306

It is, of course, going up:

San Jose crime: A matter of perspective? - SFGate

This is a valid point, although the crime rate in SJ is still relatively low, we should not be complacent about it.

[bigdumbgod]

Bay Area is seeing a pattern: Less cops, more crime; More cops, less crime (being proven in Richmond).

[Carlite]

Originally Posted by EclecticEars

^This.

Dare I say it...lower income areas, primarily populated by Hispanics and African-Americans, are not as expansive or large a part of the city's population as in other cities. Including SF, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, L.A., Long Beach, and even Santa Ana, all here in California.

Say any nonsense you want, but you'd be wrong. San Jose is 33% Latino, compared to Oakland being 25% Latino and San Francisco 15%.