Waco vs Killeen crime (Corpus Christi, Temple: crime rate, home, schools)

[mrfoe]

Which area do you think is more dangerous? Both areas have high crime for the population.

[As Above So Below...]

Killeen has higher crime.

[texasdiver]

Waco also has a lot of more upscale suburban areas that are relatively free of crime, mostly to the south and west in Hewitt, Woodway, China Spring, etc. It's mostly the central city and poorer areas that have higher crime.

[TXStrat]

Aside from the crime rates, the two areas are entirely different. Waco is a city, and as such, looks like one. There is a downtown, and to some degree, suburbs. There has been a lot of recent gentrification in downtown Waco over the recent years. Killeen, in contrast, is a more of a town, which comprises only a part of what is commonly referred to as the Centroplex, consisting of Killeen, Copperas Cove, Harker Heights, Belton, and Temple. Killeen indeed has a higher crime rate than Waco, however, this should not be the sole factor considered when looking at the area. I lived in the area on three separate occasions, and each time chose to live in Belton, or Temple. It's a short commute, the schools are better, lower crime rates, less traffic (depending on where you live), etc.

[C24L]

I would figure Killeen.

[jackalope48]

There's very little random violent crime anymore. Your about three times more likely to die in a car accident than be murdered in the U.S. Unless you have an abusive home life, get in bar fights, or are involved in the drug trade your odds of being a victim of any sort of violent crime are much lower. So "safe" for the average person is a place with good medical care, short commute times, and good ems service. In other words a city. It's why urban life expectancy is higher in the U.S.

Most differentiation in crime rates is due to poverty rates, population distribution, and reporting. For instance I'd bet Killeen has a higher crime rate because it's the commercial hub for a giant army base with a large population. When the sliver of privates that get into bar fights get recorded it goes on Killeen. However, Killeen doesn't have the people on the base counted when you divide total crimes by population. This is why crime rates are higher in downtown or entertainment areas. You can easily have an actual population(and the crime that goes with it) many multiples higher than the residential population. For instance Downtown Corpus Christi has a daytime population of nearly 30,000(tourists and office workers) but an actual residential population of around 2500.

Some cities and counties will also log some crime types on the city/zip code where the crime was reported even if it didn't happen there. How do log the location of a cyber crime for example? Lots of places will put it on where the report was generated, usually the police headquarters or county courthouse and those are usually in the center of the biggest city on the county.

[CosmicAries]

Both suck. Waco is the better option but thats not saying much.