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I've been doing some research into cities that may be better for my career in software engineering and have come across some surprising statistics. According to city-data.com, Springfield's overall crime rate is about double the crime rates of New York, Denver and Seattle. Springfield even beats (or looses depending on how you look at it) these cities with a higher murder rate.
I've lived in the area for 20 years now, and can say that I've never felt unsafe in any part of the city, even while making late night pizza deliveries during my college days. Is crime just getting that much better in these cities? Or is crime in Springfield really getting that much worse and I've just been insulated from it?
This may seem like I'm trying to bash Springfield, especially if you take my other thread about wages into consideration, but I'm truly just trying to figure out if I should stay in the area or move to a bigger metro. This area has been good to be so far, I'm just wondering if the grass may be greener somewhere else.
edit. **
Just thought of another question, are the statistics that the website is reporting skewed in some way? Maybe the cities differ in the way they report crime.
Springfield, compared to the cities that you mentioned, is MUCH safer. Of course, comparing Springfield to those much larger cities is like comparing apples to oranges. The only areas of Springfield that should be avoided, IMHO, are a few pockets of the central and north sides of town. The worst area seems to be within a few blocks north or south of the BNSF freight yard on the north side. That is where most of the violent crime seems to happen.
I'm not sure why people sugarcoat the crime problem here. For one, the crime areas are solidly divided, so unless you roam the streets on the north side frequently, and the ****-strips that North Glenstone and Kearney have become (really, Kearney has always been a ****-strip), then you're not going to see much. Downtown isn't too bad, unless you walk two blocks west of the square. I live on the south side and feel safe enough to not even bother owning a firearm or have an alarm system in our house. But I do have friends who live in several different locations who have plenty of stories. One of them lives in the Cherry St. and Glenstone area, had the SWAT team break into the neighbor's home, and two years ago they had problems with people tricking residents into letting them into their home and tying them up while they took all their valuables. They were smart enough to not let a stranger "use their bathroom" and just shut the door on her face and threaten to call the police. The other family I'm close with lives in a condo with a door sporting knuckle marks and knife holes. Neither of them can afford to move to safer areas even though they both have BS and BA degrees respectively, thanks to our "wonderful" economy.
So if you want to move to Springfield and feel safe, make sure you can afford housing south of Sunshine, or at the very least south of Chestnut Expwy and between National and Campbell. I've lived here for 15 years and have gradually worked my way south residentially and I now feel like the luckiest man in Springfield.
All this being said, I'd also like to bring up that the huge meth problem we have probably inflates those numbers. Though I'm sure not all meth related crimes are victimless, most of them probably are. That, and the assumption that crime in these larger cities is the equivalent of an English speaking Rio de Janeiro also distorts things. Those larger cities are relatively safe as well but people tend to think they somehow lucked out by not having to live in them, even though they've never been there.
I'm not sure why people sugarcoat the crime problem here. For one, the crime areas are solidly divided, so unless you roam the streets on the north side frequently, and the ****-strips that North Glenstone and Kearney have become (really, Kearney has always been a ****-strip), then you're not going to see much. Downtown isn't too bad, unless you walk two blocks west of the square. I live on the south side and feel safe enough to not even bother owning a firearm or have an alarm system in our house. But I do have friends who live in several different locations who have plenty of stories. One of them lives in the Cherry St. and Glenstone area, had the SWAT team break into the neighbor's home, and two years ago they had problems with people tricking residents into letting them into their home and tying them up while they took all their valuables. They were smart enough to not let a stranger "use their bathroom" and just shut the door on her face and threaten to call the police. The other family I'm close with lives in a condo with a door sporting knuckle marks and knife holes. Neither of them can afford to move to safer areas even though they both have BS and BA degrees respectively, thanks to our "wonderful" economy.
So if you want to move to Springfield and feel safe, make sure you can afford housing south of Sunshine, or at the very least south of Chestnut Expwy and between National and Campbell. I've lived here for 15 years and have gradually worked my way south residentially and I now feel like the luckiest man in Springfield.
All this being said, I'd also like to bring up that the huge meth problem we have probably inflates those numbers. Though I'm sure not all meth related crimes are victimless, most of them probably are. That, and the assumption that crime in these larger cities is the equivalent of an English speaking Rio de Janeiro also distorts things. Those larger cities are relatively safe as well but people tend to think they somehow lucked out by not having to live in them, even though they've never been there.
Don't kid yourself. The South-side may have a reputation for wealth & safety, but in REALITY, it is no safer than the North-side these days.
I know, because unlike you, I have lived in both areas of Springfield.
Springfield has a crime problem, but compared to much larger cities, it's just different although the overall crime rates might look similar.
I wouldn't live in just any area of Springfield, but on the other hand, I've never felt horribly unsafe in any part of that town.
Most core/anchor cities are largely working class and poor. Most have crime. Springfield isn't much different. Although, Springfield is one anchor city I can't think of anywhere at all I would feel unsafe.
The neighborhoods west of Grant between Grand and, say, St Louis are pretty dodgy. I had a friend who lived out way whom I used to visit and he told me a bout a lot of the stuff that went on that never made the papers.
One day I was helping a friend who is a CO for County (who, as you know also houses all of City's prisoners). I stopped to get some gas at one of the C-stores on Kerney (not too far from BBC) and when I was done I noticed that he couldn't wait to get out of there. When we pulled out I asked him what was wrong and he explained that in just the few min we were there, he'd seen at least 7-10 people he "knew" from the Jail...and I don't mean the other COs. Most of them were "frequent fliers" (repeat offenders) and at least one had some pretty serious crimes on his rap sheet. He said he was thrilled to get out of there w/o being spotted, because he was seriously concerned that he would have been jumped if they had.
Springfield is a really odd place because it's "ghetto area" is spread out in clumps all over the city, instead of being one continuous zone.
The crime numbers in general are probably a bit lowballed in some aspects. The PTB don't like to see frank discussion about crime, esp gangs...it scares the tourists staying over in town for Bass Pro or for day-tripping out to Branson.
I moved from Seattle to Springfield in July. The crime in Springfield does not compare to Seattle. The first thing I noticed is that most people are white, with a sprinking of blacks throughout the city and Mexican food joints on Glenstone but no Mexicans in site. The second thing I noticed is the lack of grafitti. That is a real stunner. No grafitti. The Jehovah Witness women that came to my door were white. In Seattle most Witnesses are black or brown. Churches are everywhere and I don't believe they are social progressive type that exist in Seattle. Springfield does not have the Brigade of the Outraged marching over every little insult or downturn. I am not sure what a Springfield gangster looks like because I have not spotted anything that looks like a Seattle thug. My nightly run is done without my conceal carry and I listen to music with earbuds. Would not do this on Capitol Hill nor anywhere in Seattle during darkness.
I lived in Springfield for a year in 2013. I have lived in L.A., S.F./Oakland, Portland, Seattle, Charlotte N.C., Atlanta, etc.. In my opinion Springfield was the safest feeling place I've ever lived. I have a theory that the numbers spike higher in Springfield than most cities with the same population number simply because of the race difference. In my opinion, and I'm probably going to take heat for this statement, but minorities tend to call the police much less than white people. Take a city filled with low income minorities for instance, when many crimes occur, people don't call the police simply out of fear of or dislike for the police, or simply because it is not socially acceptable to call the police. White people tend in my opinion to not have the same fear or dislike, or the same problem with social acceptance. When looking at the pie chart for races populating the area, Springfield is predominantly white, hence in theory more calls/reports would be calculated than other cities where its obvious there is much more crime, but in areas filled with people who seldom call the police. Hope that makes sense.
"In my opinion, and I'm probably going to take heat for this statement, but minorities tend to call the police much less than white people"
LOL! Seriously?
Why do some whites come up with the lamest things instead of admitting they are capable of being violent and commiting crimes just like blacks. The fact of the matter is when whites are put in the same social economic situation as blacks, you're going to get the same results.
It's just that whites haven't experienced a bad situation as much in America. But go to impoverished Russia or Eastern Europe, gangland & thuggery in those places will make Detroit look like child's play
Don't kid yourself. The South-side may have a reputation for wealth & safety, but in REALITY, it is no safer than the North-side these days.
I know, because unlike you, I have lived in both areas of Springfield.
You missed the part where I said I've here for 15 years and gradually made my way to the South side, didn't you?
First rental was 4 or 5 blocks NW of Kearney and Glenstone. Back when North Town Mall was still a place, and they weekly had bluegrass sessions.
Second rental was between Roberson and BBC, two blocks from Kearney. Around 6 years (I think) in both places combined. Maybe 5.
Now if you're referring to north of 60, near Campbell, then I would agree.
On the original subject,
I talked to a lawyer friend of mine about these stats a while back. He said that aside from the meth problem in Springfield and mostly surrounding areas, there is also an increase in domestic violence, which could account for the increase. He said that the concern was more of a socio-cultural problem rather than street violence.
Since I originally posted in this thread in 20912, violent crime appears to have increased significantly in Springfield. We've never felt unsafe in the city when we've visited (we live 60 miles south and rurally) but decidedly take precautions now when we visit. The instances of drive-by shootings, assaults, burglaries/home invasions and murders have decidedly been on the increase.
The city administration has long wanted to turn it into a big city and "celebrate" its diversity. Now it's paying the predictable and inevitable price.
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