How bad is the crime really? (Miami, Fort Lauderdale: sales, for rent, HOA)

[TriCounty]

Originally Posted by LordyLordy

I am not taking them out of context, it is you who is doing that.

I posted direct stats. They can only be taken out of context if someone tries hard to spin it that way.

[StreetSmarts]

Originally Posted by ByeByeLW

I will also add that part of the reason Delray was able to make "progress" was that so much of the crime was hushed up. I'm not talking about recently; I don't keep up now. If people really knew what was happening it could have scared people off and slowed the redevelopment.

Lake Worth has so much bad press and that is hurting the town. This has also set residents against each other: some believe the crime should be publicized so more action can be taken; others accuse those folks of wanting to "ruin the city" because bad press impedes development. I find it really uncomfortable to live here right now lol.

Years ago Delray had a serial killer named Duane Owen. There is also the unsolved murder of Jimmy Sheppard, which many feel was covered up by the police. There is more to that cover-up than just Omar Galvez the drug informant.

This stuff never really affected the ordinary citizens, of course. However, there was a really nasty redneck gang back in the day that the police just brushed off as "good ole boys". Most of the members were from one family. The police chief was the one guy's brother-in-law. I know this from experience as I was terrorized by these guys for years. The one person interested in these guys was Virginia Snyder. The police considered her a wack job. In some ways she was. Read her book "And Justice For All" for a good history of Delray and PBC's wicked past. There is also a section of the library(?) at FAU full of her research. She was a private detective.

In my 28 years in Delray I was robbed 4 times and worse. But this was a long time ago.

Back then the drug dealers were super-rich guys who lived on the Intracoastal . Google my old neighbors, the DeLisi family lol. And their coke-dealing lawyer down the street.

Those things never affected most people either.

One of my neighbors (in my present town) had been in prison for dealing drugs and was released before I moved here. My other neighbors wanted to run him out of the neighborhood and tried to enlist me to "spy" on him. When I wouldn't, the neighbors decided I must be involved with him and turned against me .

So, they threatened to "ruin my life" which they did to an extent. I don't even smoke pot (which these neighbors do), let alone deal drugs.

This is why I am not a huge fan of Lake Worth. As one fed-up deputy put it, "The place sucks. You can't tell the good from the bad." Yes, I would say that most LEOs here assume you are guilty of whatever it is your seemingly "nice" old law-abiding neighbors say.

If you're going to move somewhere, make sure your potential neighbors aren't single old women with nothing to do!

The small town area to which I was hoping to move (near the beautiful but possibly dangerous Ocala Forest) has quite a meth problem. There is also a gang problem (The Latin Kings-google those idiots) that is downplayed.

It's everywhere. I don't know what the solution is. You can see that Delray was never the "Mayberry" some people might want to remember.

It would be great to move to a town that has an established, static identity. But with developers beginning to buy up everything in Central Florida (which is a consideration for me), it's going to get even tougher.

holy crap!

[klaucka]

byebye, you need to write a book . first the 9/11 hijackers now a serial killer!!!!! what next?!? definitely ordering up that book, although will probably keep me from a restful night's sleep.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by TravelingBluesBrother

I've heard a lot of stories about how scary certain parts of South Florida are and people listing off neighborhoods to avoid (like anywhere that isn't a suburban gated community for millionaires). But I've lived in some supposedly "rough" neighborhoods up north and know how to handle myself.

I know Florida's crime rate is higher than average, particularly with the gun laws. But, is this is a place where drive-by's with full-auto glocks happen in broad daylight? Or is it just a place where you don't want to walk down the street at night by yourself? Do people get mugged, shot, assaulted randomly, or is it most of the crime between people who know each other and altercations that start at a bar and lead out into the streets?

Burglaries and car break-ins happened in my old city, but if you took some precautions, burglars wouldn't bother.

I don't know, just trying to gauge how dangerous it really is versus the perception. Sometimes I think it's just people who afraid of any minorities and automatically assume any poor neighborhood is like a warzone.

If you aren't on welfare, don't worry about crime. There are so many ultra safe areas you can live throughout South Florida. My buddy just came to visit me in San Francisco and I had to keep telling him you can't leave your jacket in the car, you can't leave a paper bag in the car, you can't leave ANYTHING in your car because it will get broken into. He replied by saying, it's hard to get used to because I don't worry about that stuff in South Florida. He lives in Boca Raton and that's where I used to live in South Florida too. It's very safe! Some other safe areas would be Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Weston, Wellington, Coral Gables. Enjoy!

[TriCounty]

Mod edit

Even the West Palm Beach crime rate is higher in comparison to New York when you compare cities.

West Palm Beach average = 478.7
New York City average = 256.1

[TriCounty]

Originally Posted by LordyLordy

I am not taking them out of context, it is you who is doing that.

Anyways, OP: We lived in Loxahatchee (unincorporated PBC to the west) and everyone talked about drug raids, helicopters etc. We were there for 5 years, nothing ever happened. Got to know all my neighbors, working class people, very nice and quiet - knew everyone on the street and even people a few streets over.

Is Riviera Beach a nice area to live in? You must know it all based on your experience of living in one area (Loxahatchee, which in the middle of nowhere).

Originally Posted by zimanet

+1
Same applies to my 3 years life in Royal Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Boynton Beach. I feel absolutely safe in my home and during my long bike rides all over the area.

Have you ever tried riding your bike on MLK in Boynton Beach?

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by TriCounty

Is Riviera Beach a nice area to live in? You must know it all based on your experience of living in one area (Loxahatchee, which in the middle of nowhere).



Have you ever tried riding your bike on MLK in Boynton Beach?

Do you frequent the ghetto or Riviera Beach? How does the highly localized crime affect you at any time?

Are you afraid to go out at night? Wall yourself up in a gated community, perhaps? Do you think 90% of residents or tourists would ever find themselves buying a home in the ghetto on purpose?



Here are some facts: The crime rate in WPB has dropped 50% in 10 years. Same thing with New York. New York has been rapidly pricing-out of lower income people, and its demographics are changing. (West Palm Beach's crime rate is essentially what New York's was in 2000. New York's has fallen since then).

West Palm Beach has essentially begun the same thing -- only a decade or so behind the trend.

New York's crime is highly concentrated as well (easy to get by when you don't frequent Queens or Harlem).

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by TriCounty

Is Riviera Beach a nice area to live in? You must know it all based on your experience of living in one area (Loxahatchee, which in the middle of nowhere).

Oh, I'm sorry - NYC doesn't have bad parts of town? (since you used the NYC vs WPB crime stats in a separate post)

Why not ask me about Palm Beach Gardens or Jupiter or Wellington areas being nice to live in instead? Why pick the worst? (unless you have some kind of an agenda in mind?)

Have you ever tried riding your bike on MLK in Boynton Beach?[/quote]

No but I rode my horse a lot around Loxahatchee and I was just fine. If you open your eyes and exercise proper judgment you will ride the bike where you should and avoid the places you should not be in. The world is not black and white, it is in shades of gray and no matter how hard you try you will never make it clear cut.

[TriCounty]

Exactly the point I was trying to make. Some of you are wondering why people complain about the crime and you brag about living in a nice area of town and say "derp, I haven't experienced crime so it doesn't exist here!". When someone counters your comments you try to act like they can't talk about the bad sections because you think only your viewpoints matter. You are not being balanced.There are very nice areas of PBC but also many real high crime areas. Tri, some people can only afford to live in areas like Riviera Beach. Stop looking down on low income people with your snooty comments. Also, good job trying to stereotype where I live or how I act.

[LordyLordy]

Originally Posted by TriCounty

Exactly the point I was trying to make. Some of you are wondering why people complain about the crime and you brag about living in a nice area of town and say "derp, I haven't experienced crime so it doesn't exist here!". When someone counters your comments you try to act like they can't talk about the bad sections because you think only your viewpoints matter. You are not being balanced.There are very nice areas of PBC but also many real high crime areas. Tri, some people can only afford to live in areas like Riviera Beach. Stop looking down on low income people with your snooty comments. Also, good job trying to stereotype where I live or how I act.

Jeeebus

First off I said I lived in Loxahatchee, not exactly the nicest part of town but you shut me up by saying it was "some place in the middle of nowhere".

You are the one bringing up NYC. Well hello, NYC has portions of it that are high crime and portions that are low crime. Manhattan, for example, got cleaned up some time ago by aggressive policing. However, more importantly, it is also a place where rents start at $1500+ per month for 200 sq ft toilet and you can forget about owning your own place. When there is such concentration of wealth, it is likely people will finance whatever police they need to make it safe. You keep harping on PBC but PBC is a huge county with varied demographics. If you have the means, you live in a posh place on the beach. However, nobody stops you from owning an apartment on the beach or near the beach in Juno - that's a quiet little town with low crime AND it is affordable. You can easily afford PBG, Jupiter, Loxhahatchee, Wellington or Royal Palm if you are a middle class professional. Now if you are **** poor, it won't matter where you live - NYC, Riviera or East St. Louis but that goes for everywhere USA. Heck, I have been to Thackerville, Oklahoma, population "nothing" and it had a "bad part of town". Just accept it.