Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What makes some cities less dangerous than others? Look up any list for top 10 safest/10 most dangerous American cities and the types of cities won't change.
Go ahead and tell me what differences you can tell, should be pretty easy.
The safest (I've seen) usually are along the lines of: San Jose, Honolulu, NYC, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, etc.
The most dangerous: St.Louis, Detroit, Memphis, Stockon CA, Camden, NJ, Kansas City, etc.
What makes some cities less dangerous than others? Look up any list for top 10 safest/10 most dangerous American cities and the types of cities won't change.
Go ahead and tell me what differences you can tell, should be pretty easy.
The safest (I've seen) usually are along the lines of: San Jose, Honolulu, NYC, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, etc.
The most dangerous: St.Louis, Detroit, Memphis, Stockon CA, Camden, NJ, Kansas City, etc.
What do you guys think?
Ah Memphis - we are always competing with Detroit and New Orleans (where is NO?) for the FBI's list of most violent and crime ridden city each year. It's good to be number one in something.
Without getting into the subject I think you want to get into, the reason is socio-economics and politics. It's self feeding and perpetuating. Memphis keeps on electing the same corrupt politicians, don't ask me why. The cities you mentioned as safe either broke the cycle or didn't have the cycle to begin with.
I think too often people try to make the statement "people who are poor commit crimes because they are poor", but I think the statement is a fallacy, and people are only poor because of their behaviors and choices.
For example, you don't see the murders being college graduates (most of the time), why not? Is it because they got an education or because they are the type of people who would choose to get an education?
And, no, "minorities" is not what I am getting at, although it is pretty statically clear even in the "safe" cities that I listed, the proportion of crime committed by those individuals of color have an extreme rate...however, to say "minorities" would be ignorant as cities with minorities (like Seattle, yes it is 65% "white" it is still 20% Asian/8% black/5% Hispanic) don't have such a high rate. But small cities like Bellevue, WA have an above average number of minorites (in this case, Asians) are considered some of the best places to live in the country. Another example would be Tempe, AZ, which has a significant minority population, but is considered one of the better places to live in the country.
Take a look at the stats for cities that are diverse (NYC, SF, ATL, KC, etc.) and they will tell you all you need to know. But, that's a huge coincidence, isn't it?
I think too often people try to make the statement "people who are poor commit crimes because they are poor", but I think the statement is a fallacy, and people are only poor because of their behaviors and choices.
For example, you don't see the murders being college graduates (most of the time), why not? Is it because they got an education or because they are the type of people who would choose to get an education?
And, no, "minorities" is not what I am getting at, although it is pretty statically clear even in the "safe" cities that I listed, the proportion of crime committed by those individuals of color have an extreme rate...however, to say "minorities" would be ignorant as cities with minorities (like Seattle, yes it is 65% "white" it is still 20% Asian/8% black/5% Hispanic) don't have such a high rate. But small cities like Bellevue, WA have an above average number of minorites (in this case, Asians) are considered some of the best places to live in the country. Another example would be Tempe, AZ, which has a significant minority population, but is considered one of the better places to live in the country.
Take a look at the stats for cities that are diverse (NYC, SF, ATL, KC, etc.) and they will tell you all you need to know. But, that's a huge coincidence, isn't it?
Some of the reason may be due to the result of gentrification on certain urban centers, combined with urban sprawl. NYC and SF for instance are highly gentrified, while the traditional "hoods" have moved out of the city center. Basically, hoodlums couldn't afford to live there anymore. Same with Atlanta which is sprawled out almost to the Alabama border now. I am not sure if these crime studies are looking at the urban centers or including the entire metropolitan area.
NYC also tailored a "broken windows" policy of law enforcement (enforcement on each little crime, in the hopes that it would thus reduce the big crimes), under the Gulliani's administration as mayor that appears to have worked.
The data on such studies is somewhat misleading in that it does not separate violent crimes committed against random victims vs. people who were associated with the assailant. Random crime does happen, and innocent people are sometimes hit by stray bullets as well. That said, most of the violent crime I read about in the US is related to someone known by the victim.
Newark seems to have turned itself around. Not that it's such a big city, but Cory Booker did clean out the corruption from the top and that seemed to have started the ball rolling. New housing, jobs, cleaner and safer neighborhoods.
Most people in bad areas, I think, just take the easiest way out. They're lazy. It's easier to go along with the hood than to study hard day after day. It's easier to be a drain on society than to have self respect, do something with your life, and eventually move out. It seems easier to have kids than to find a job and push yourself to do better and get ahead.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
