America's Most Dangerous Cities

[roadwarrior]

Well, once again, the sewer we call Memphis finishes 2nd:

The top 5 most dangerous cities

1.      Detroit

2.      Memphis, Tenn.

3.      Miami

4.      Las Vegas

5.      Stockton, Calif.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=19959696&gt1=35000

>

[Siebert Outdoors]

suprise suprise.  Detroit made #1.

[SirSnookalot]

Living in the Detroit area and owning a business in the inner city I have a hard time believing that article. Yes Detroit is a rough town, no question about it, but over the last 10 years the population has shrunk so much that there is no one there anymore, crime is way down. I find South Florida to be much rougher and scarier than Detroit ever was, but this is just my opinion being a resident of both areas, I'm sure the writer didn't live in either place.

[Pitchinkid]

With guys like J Grouch and Johny Bassterd its no wonder that Detroit is number 1. With them 2 i figured they would be 1, 2, and 3.

[GLADES]

I miami, there are some areas the cops are leery to go to.

We get AK47 shooting on a weekly basis now adays. Home invasion robberys with automatic weapons. A couple of days ago, a guy mowing his lawn was shot 4 times at random. Drive by shootings,road rage shooting, as well as the usual armed robberies, etc.

One time, I was on an expressway in Miami and I noticed a bumper sticker on a car in the lane next to me. It was a yellow smiley face that said " Thanks for Not Shooting".

[roadwarrior]

Well, these and several other cities could all be lumped together.

New Orleans, St. Louis, East St. Louis, Washington D.C., Philly and

Gary, Indiana all come to mind. I'm sure there are other "favorites".

[Muddy]

The FBI has recommended that Detroit and New Orleans be removed from statistical analysis , because of their rapidly diminishing populations. The report cited was put together for real estate appraisal and for corporations to see where to locate. This report was attacked by both local and federal law enforcement before it came out

The people who still live in Detroit, because of a highly decimated tax base and smaller police force are in fact suffering some of the worse crime, citizen to citizen in the country. I ain't a stats guy myself, as they can be manipulated

A lot of you fellas know I work with prisoners on a voluntary basis and for what it's worth I have been to a lot of hard places and dealt with a lot of hard fellas. Detroit and North Philly are the only 2 places I fear and the most hardened and desperate cons I have worked with in recent times come from both of these locations

I am sure many citizens in New Orleans are suffering the same way. There was a time when I would walk the streets of Bedford Stuyvesant, and I was cautious, but having visited North Philly ( aka the badlands) I found myself truly frightened for the first time

[burleytog]

Surprised Baltimore and DC didn't make the list.

[Root beer]

Las Vegas? Really? I figure their security force be better due to all casinos..

I was expecting Compton or Oakland, California to be on the top 5...wow.

[Dan:]

#6 Orlando, Fla.

#7 Little Rock, Ark.

#8 Charleston, S.C.

#9 Nashville, Tenn.

#10 Baltimore, Md.

#11 New Orleans, La.

#12 Baton Rouge, La.

#13 West Palm Beach, Fla.

#14 Charlotte, N.C.

#15 Philadelphia, Pa.

[Root beer]

. I ain't a stats guy myself, as they can be manipulated

My statistic professor quoted some famous mathematicians "There are three kinds of lies: lies, d**n lies, and statistic."

Detroit shrinking population with less samples to use for statistic can make the percentage of crimes look higher than it really is. I never believe statistic unless I did the calculation myself. Simply because you do not know what kind of populations and samples the people doing the survey used.  

[roadwarrior]

Hmm...

You would think being 2008's "Muder Capital"

would move Philly a little higher on the list.

[Muddy]

HEY RW: Probably they tally all felonies.

Then Misdemeanors and then Quality of Life Complaints

I don't know if this study also figured in Unemployment rate, Basic hourly wage, families under or at the poverty level,  Human Service Availability,property value and mortgage foreclosure rates.

All, some or most of these things can be looked at in these kinds of studies. Their information is frequently to red line an area for banks to turn down mortgages or charge a higher rate on them based on risk

[Root beer]

Hmm...

You would think being 2008's "Muder Capital"

would move Philly a little higher on the list.

I think, after winning the world series they no longer want to kill each other. ;D

[Muddy]

North Philly has the single worst crack and heroin problem I have ever seen.  Since the hey days of the Heroin trade in Bushwick Brooklyn and Harlem>>>They desperation and hopelessness in bone chilling.

On top of this issue they have very organized street gangs, and this is usually wrapped around the drug trade. It is a very dangerous situation

[roadwarrior]

Muddy,

The fundamental problem here in Memphis is political corruption.

It flows from the top down. Prosecution has generally been successful,

but many of the felons have been re-elected or politically appointed

to other positions after incarceration. As the mayor of 17 years stated

after re-election: "If you don't like the way I run this city...leave."

Street crime universally has a common denominator: drugs. Most

social issues seem to have another general cause: the lack of family

support.  I don't have THE answer, but in my small suburban

community, we have addressed the problem with greater numbers

of law enforcement personnel.

>

[MALTESE FALCON]

My wife was telling me of an article she read stating that Detroit has had a large group of foreign artists move in, converting some homes into art studios.

There also have been a number of movie production companies set-up shop in Detroit. All stating that the lower property costs, lower tax base, and lower crime rates were the reasons they chose Detroit.

Falcon

[Muddy]

Thanks RW, I can only really comment on Brooklyn and Philly,both of which I have current first hand experience.

Memphis is a city close in my heart, the birth place of WCHARDING and home of STAX!!!!! I hope we all live to see them overcome their problems and get out from under that corruption you are talking about. I have met many great folks from Memphis, played with a few, and got to eat some of the best ribs I ever tasted and go on a fishing trip with one of it's finest citizens!

[Muddy]

My wife was telling me of an article she read stating that Detroit has had a large group of foreign artists move in, converting some homes into art studios.

There also have been a number of movie production companies set-up shop in Detroit. All stating that the lower property costs, lower tax base, and lower crime rates were the reasons they chose Detroit.

Falcon

This is a good thing Maltese, it helped both the Lower East Side of Manhattan and many areas of Brooklyn. Once the artists start moving in , next comes the Urban Pioneers (aka Yuppies with Balzz) and then the yuppies. Once the yuppies get there the party is over, neighborhood feel is gone, all the shops sell is Tofu and Shemano reels :

[tyrius.]

I don't know if this study also figured in Unemployment rate, Basic hourly wage, families under or at the poverty level, Human Service Availability,property value and mortgage foreclosure rates.

It looks like it's simply a calculation of violent crime rates per 100,000 people.  For example, there are 12,000 violent crimes reported in City A.  City A has 1,000,000 people in it.  That gives it a violent crime rate of 1,200 per 100,000 people.  Who knows what they considered a violent crime though.

[Siebert Outdoors]

Muddy,

The fundamental problem here in Memphis is political corruption.

It flows from the top down. Prosecution has generally been successful,

but many of the felons have been re-elected or politically appointed

to other positions after incarceration. As the mayor of 17 years stated

after re-election: "If you don't like the way I run this city...leave."

Street crime universally has a common denominator: drugs. Most

social issues seem to have another general cause: the lack of family

support. I don't have THE answer, but in my small suburban

community, we have addressed the problem with greater numbers

of law enforcement personnel.

>

Sounds like the "Southern Chicago"

[grimlin]

My wife was telling me of an article she read stating that Detroit has had a large group of foreign artists move in, converting some homes into art studios.

There also have been a number of movie production companies set-up shop in Detroit. All stating that the lower property costs, lower tax base, and lower crime rates were the reasons they chose Detroit.

Falcon

I don't know about lower crime rate,guess depending on where they are located,but everything else is true.Detroit isn't 100% unsafe. There is a county here(Ypsilanti) that is doing the same thing.They are filming movies down that way because it's so cheap to film it there.Has a lot to do with the same reason as Detroit.

People wonder why i stay far,far away from Detroit as much as i can.I don't want to be down that way...specially on the east side.What i can't figure out is why people take so much pride in the city of Detroit with the reputation that it holds.   :-/

[CWB]

Muddy,

The fundamental problem here in Memphis is political corruption.

It flows from the top down. Prosecution has generally been successful,

but many of the felons have been re-elected or politically appointed

to other positions after incarceration. As the mayor of 17 years stated

after re-election: "If you don't like the way I run this city...leave."

Street crime universally has a common denominator: drugs. Most

social issues seem to have another general cause: the lack of family

support. I don't have THE answer, but in my small suburban

community, we have addressed the problem with greater numbers

of law enforcement personnel.

>

X2 on the family support thing.

What is the common denominator in all these cities?

Find that out and don't be afraid of what the answer is and we could find the solution.

[SirSnookalot]

The riots of 67' marked the beginning of the decline of Detroit. Prior to that Detroit was a vibrant city that had an outstanding public education, wonderful cultural history (thanks to the auto companies) and a robust economy, that has all changed. We all remember Coleman Young, he was the architect of the demise and Detroit has spiraled downward since.

Artists have been moving back into the heart of the city since the 80's. A few attempts to revitalize, some urban development, shopping and residential, casinos, RenCen,Hockeytown, Ford Field and Comerica Park, all for naught. Nothing seems to click like Baltimore or Cleveland.

The brightest spot is the budding movie industry in Detroit, it's pumping a few bucks into the local economy, but affects too few people.

Street crime universally has a common denominator: drugs.  Most

social issues seem to have another general cause: the lack of family

support.

Says it all !

[Muddy]

That says part of it. I had a wonderful family, but chose not to live right for 27 years. I had a father who worked us out of the Italian Ghetto, by working his back off, and a loving mother. This was the case for most of the fellas I was up to no good with

It is time for society to realize what I did, I made bad choices, no one forced me to become an active drug addict and all the criminal behavior that went along with it. I spend a good portion of my life now trying to get other folks in the same boat to understand this

It is how I got 17 years clean and became an active and respectful member of society

There are some family issues, I am not naive, there are also poverty issues but if you stay a victim of that you die like that. If you do not hid behind excuses, change beyond your wildest dreams are possible

What society needs is the ability to understand that many mess up, serve time, get them selves right and could use  a break and a shot like I got into to return to the positive side of society.