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This thread has pointed out (check the OP) that crime in DC is not confined to high crime areas in DC, and your post was a further reminder of that.
I'm not sure why "gang initiation" necessarily means "gentrification pushback" and it looks like it was not a gang initiation.
yes, different types of crime create different reactions. That being said, I do not think anyone browsing this thread should have a special fear of spending time in DC, where the most serious crime continues to decrease, even as the population grows.
At least now that the apparent perpetrator has been caught. You can bet that some people had started to avoid parts of Petworth in the late evening, and with very good reason, too.
There have been other incidents where people were bashed in the late evening/early morning in the Columbia Heights/Petworth areas. These remain areas where street smarts that may not be necessary in other communities come in handy. It's both silly and defensive to pretend otherwise, and many current residents of those communities have pointed this out.
At least now that the apparent perpetrator has been caught. You can bet that some people had started to avoid parts of Petworth in the late evening, and with very good reason, too.
There have been other incidents where people were bashed in the late evening/early morning in the Columbia Heights/Petworth areas. These remain areas where street smarts that may not be necessary in other communities come in handy.
street smarts are a good idea for anyone walking anywhere, especially after dark.
More caution is warranted in some areas than others:
Prince Of Petworth » Crime (http://www.princeofpetworth.com/category/crime/ - broken link)
That's the story we've already been discussing. And yes, we know it happened in Petworth.
It is nonetheless the case that walking alone, at night, caution is desirable regardless of what jurisdiction you find yourself in. Not long ago a teenager was sexually assaulted on a path near Pickett Road in Fairfax. The notion that by avoiding certain inner city areas one can jettison caution and street smarts is dangerous. I would not suggest it to anyone, and I am pretty sure the Fairfax County Police Dept would agree.
Of course I would never counsel anyone against using actual crime statistics as an indicator of the general danger level of an area - and while DC, especially in the transitioning zones between Rock Creek and the Anacostia, is improving in its crime numbers, its got a long way to go. But I wouldn't want to encourage a sense of terror among residents of that area, a sence of terror that is not warranted by the data, and that will not improve the area.
That's the story we've already been discussing. And yes, we know it happened in Petworth.
It is nonetheless the case that walking alone, at night, caution is desirable regardless of what jurisdiction you find yourself in. Not long ago a teenager was sexually assaulted on a path near Pickett Road in Fairfax. The notion that by avoiding certain inner city areas one can jettison caution and street smarts is dangerous. I would not suggest it to anyone, and I am pretty sure the Fairfax County Police Dept would agree.
Of course I would never counsel anyone against using actual crime statistics as an indicator of the general danger level of an area - and while DC, especially in the transitioning zones between Rock Creek and the Anacostia, is improving in its crime numbers, its got a long way to go. But I wouldn't want to encourage a sense of terror among residents of that area, a sence of terror that is not warranted by the data, and that will not improve the area.
No one should have an obligation to avoid discussing bad things that happen in certain urban neighborhoods in DC simply because they may not "improve the area." People who actually live in Petworth don't avoid talking about them, but you - a resident of suburban Annandale - seem to have a problem with it.
I would agree that, theoretically, what happened in Petworth "could have happened anywhere." But it didn't - it happened in Petworth and is, from my perspective, more reminiscent of other random acts of violence that previously occurred in DC than of anything similar that has taken place in recent memory in Maryland or Virginia. Whether such incidents are sufficient cause for someone to flee an urban neighborhood for the comparative, but not absolute, safety of the suburbs is a different issue that I wasn't proposing to explore.
Suffice it to say that I am also glad the police have apprehended a potential suspect. The killer who terrorized Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights in the early 1990s unfortunately was not caught for many months, and it was not a fun period to live in that area.
No one should have an obligation to avoid discussing bad things that happen in certain urban neighborhoods in DC simply because they may not "improve the area." People who actually live in Petworth don't avoid talking about them, but you - a resident of suburban Annandale - seem to have a problem with it.
I have no problem with the people here discussing the incident. When you, a resident of Mclean, pointed out a similar incident some years back, and tied it to the neighborhood, I was fine with that, and only pointed out that some bad crimes have happened in many areas we think of as better. My posting that seems to upset you. I do think that we should not tell people its wise to drop their street smarts when walking in the suburbs at night - and I think it makes sense to remind people considering living in the city to consider the crime statistics, and to put incidents like this in context. That was my sense of the general flow of comments on Prince of Petworth - I encourage people to read it if they wish to check.
Im not sure how that got turned into me having a problem with people in Petworth discussing the incident. (just as I'm not sure how preferring a consolidated regional forum got turned into wanting to "silence" NoVa people. This "he wants to censor me" rhetoric is tiresome, especially when it is in fact used to attempt to silence people)
And yes, I do live in Annandale. I am looking at opportunities to move to DC (which is one reason I frequent this forum - not to take pokes at DC). It is certainly not in my personal financial interest to talk up living in DC.
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