TN claimed as 2nd worst in violent crime? (Memphis, Knoxville: crime rate, felony)

[hiknapster]

It does. That's always been very controversial. For instance, Florida reports its crimes very differently than Tennessee. It's not a big surprise. Florida is a tourist area.

Anyway, TN will take a criminal with several charges that occurred on one occasion and separately count each one. Many other states do not do this. They lump them together, take the main charge and count that one. It makes for a huge discrepancy. The two different reporting systems are UCR and NIBRS.

Just living in both places you can tell the difference. I guess that's what happens when some people are worried about being accurate and others are worried about attracting tourists and snowbirds.

Of course the other consideration is how good your local law enforcement is. I know Lee County, Florida's department was one of the worst I have ever encountered. There has been long-standing charges of enormous corruption, even down to the chief being best buddies with a guy that use to be one of the top guys in the largest drug cartel in the world and a convicted felon. They've taken away their jurisdiction in some areas and drug arrests go up. It seems wherever that department works the drug kingpins are untouched. Hmmm...

Then there are the Knoxville cops, some of the best I've ever seen, and I use to work with cops.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Then there are the Knoxville cops, some of the best I've ever seen, and I use to work with cops.

And then there is the UTPD. Imagine a whole department of Barney Fifes.

[Ridgerunner]

I just read a Yahoo article saying that Tennessee is the second least peaceful state after Louisiana. Apparently the writer has never been to either state. Ridiculous!

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

I just read a Yahoo article saying that Tennessee is the second least peaceful state after Louisiana. Apparently the writer has never been to either state. Ridiculous!

I just read that list also. Seems like alot of the states are in the southeast. Then the most peaceful states were listed in the other column. All the New England states are on that one except Ct.

I don't know what criteria people use when writing all these lists that come out, but there is sure alot of them now days. I don't think we can completely go by them, but on the other hand perhaps some of the criteria used is factual.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I just read that list also. Seems like alot of the states are in the southeast. Then the most peaceful states were listed in the other column. All the New England states are on that one except Ct.

I don't know what criteria people use when writing all these lists that come out, but there is sure alot of them now days. I don't think we can completely go by them, but on the other hand perhaps some of the criteria used is factual.

Have you ever actually been to Tennessee?

Over the years you often write about being from Mass, living in Portland, saying you want a more down-to-earth area to live in, but somehow passively-aggressively making condescending remarks about Tennessee and The South.

Your remarks seem pretty throwaway. Very passive aggressive and not adding to the discussion.

I've heard that homeless teens and hippies are a huge problem in your city. But I don't get on that forum and start writing about things I've never seen.

[CookieSkoon]

Tennessee is not as violent as they claim. It's all based on Memphis and bad parts of Nashville, which HARDLY reflect the state as a whole.

I love Tennessee and have never had any problems there. The people are far nicer than even here in Louisiana and the crime is concentrated into very specific areas.

This list is bunk.

Now, to be honest, Louisiana really has shown to be rather violent all across. But that's a different story.

[fivekitten]

Even though TN was listed as the worst place to retire Tri-Cities has been on a few lists of best places to retire.

I don't know if someone mentioned this since I didn't read through everyone's post - but the "violence" was also measured by gun ownership. That's deceptive to me, because gun ownership is not equal to violence. AND I also want to point out that TN was listed as one of the country's "happiest" states in a different big survey.

[LABART]

They must have their data wrong. I have never felt unsafe in TN. I know there is crime here, but nothing like in FL. Just watching the difference in the news comparing Knoxville to Orlando is like night and day.
I would also visit Nashville before I would go to Miami.

And if it's such a bad place to retire why are so many people retiring here and loving it?

[ozlo]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I do, too.

Regarding these lists, I realized they were bunk a long time ago.

Originally, I was fascinated with those "Best Places" books, back in the 80s. They really were the precursor to City-Data.

But in 2005 when I was getting ready to leave Lee County, Florida I came across one of those lists and was amazed. It was calling southwest Florida essentially a paradise. Yet, there I was planning my escape. The list said that job growth was through the roof yet I knew that the pay was really low and based on hospitality or construction. I could see the housing boom was going to bust at some point, and probably fairly soon. It was touting the population growth when I saw the place as a madhouse of people with traffic jams and aggressiveness.

It just goes to show you that anything can be spun.

Exactly. These "lists" would have retired people living on a limited or fixed income believe that Florida, the massive ponzi scheme that it is, is the place to be! Yet EVERYTHING costs 30-50%+ more down here than much of the rest of the country and their dollar would not stretch as far as it would in say, Eastern TN.

It doesn't take too much to figure out which states' tourist boards fund these phony articles.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by ozlo

Exactly. These "lists" would have retired people living on a limited or fixed income believe that Florida, the massive ponzi scheme that it is, is the place to be! Yet EVERYTHING costs 30-50%+ more down here than much of the rest of the country and their dollar would not stretch as far as it would in say, Eastern TN.

It doesn't take too much to figure out which states' tourist boards fund these phony articles.

Exactly. From the moment we moved away from Florida we kept more money in our pocket. From day one our expenses were less. For example, our auto insurance was cut in half. Electricity in the Knoxville area is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, in the country.

Yet, the weather is lovely here in East Tenn and in my opinion it is much nicer than swFlorida, where it can be brutal in the summer, which lasts 6 months.