Our fear of big cities driven by politics, not facts

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Philip Bump / The Washington Post

Crime has risen in the United States since the pandemic began. That includes homicides and violent crimes as well as property crimes and quality of life crimes. This is worrisome, certainly, though a dearth of national, updated data makes it difficult to assess whether or to what extent the trend is continuing.

We do know, though, that things in the past have been much, much worse. In New York City, for example, there have been about 115,000 crimes that fall into the most violent categories tracked by the New York Police Department through the end of November: assaults, car thefts, rapes, burglaries. There have been about 391 murders so far this year.

But in 1990, near the peak of the city’s worst period of crime, there were nearly 530,000 crimes that fell into those most-violent categories, including more than 2,200 murders. That was at a point when the city’s population was 14 percent smaller than it is now. Crime in New York City is up; but it has been far worse.

-snip-

Which raises the question: Why do so many people think it and other cities are hopelessly dangerous?

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-our-fear-of-big-cities-driven-by-politics-not-facts/

[Wingus Dingus]

1. It's not "politics" to believe that people have generally gone crazy over the last few years.

Trump-MAGA/pandemic was a one-two punch. For me, it's not so much a city thing as it is a people thing. There's also way more homeless/panhandlers, even in suburban areas like where I live.

[Midnight Writer]

2. A couple of friends of mine who live in NYC visited me here in rural IL. They were scared to death.

They expected a "Deliverance" type environment.

I think your feeling of safety rests partly with your familiarity with the environment. If you live someplace and have few safety problems, you figure you're in a safe place. If you watch the media depictions of places you are not familiar with, you may assume those areas are dangerous.

By the way, my friends left here after staying a few days still convinced this is a dangerous place. Nothing they saw here changed their minds. As for me, I have no desire whatsoever to visit NYC or any other city, though my concerns are more about the hassles of crowds, traffic, getting lost, unfamiliarity with city transit systems.

[Casady1]

3. Fear of black people

[LisaM]

4. Have you been to downtown Seattle lately?

First, they took away the bus in favor of light rail. I have seen more incidents on the light rail in the year I've been forced to use it than in all my years of riding the 41. I was on my way to the airport a few weeks ago when the whole train had to be stopped to eject a violent person, and I never ride it without seeing several people who clearly have mental illness and seem dangerous, sometimes openly drinking or using drugs.

Every time, and I mean every single time, I have been in Seattle in the last year I have seen open drug use on the street.

I am usually by myself and if you think it feels safe to be a woman alone in Seattle, be my guest and try it.

I spent $80 to take a cab home from the airport because I simply don't feel safe riding the light rail alone late at night. I never felt like that on the 41.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. That's too bad

I've ridden the Link several times and never had a problem. Maybe I've been lucky.

[LisaM]

7. Well, I have to ride it, almost the full length.

I get on at Northgate and it takes a full hour to get to the airport. There are almost always sketchy people riding it. We took it to the airport last year and my boyfriend was shocked. He drives most of the time, but I have to put up with this. Try being the only woman in the car, and one of the three people who seemed fully sober. Not fun. I can't believe people tout it as a great system. Along with the stoned and potentially violent passengers, the train stops are inconvenient for the most part and involves transfers that put me out on the street alone in the dark.

This city doesn't care about the safety of women or disabled people.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. I've taken it to Seahawks games

Traveled from Northgate to the stadiums. Maybe there's safety in numbers.

I've heard 3rd Avenue is a mess. Mayor Harrell has said he wants to crack down on this but has been called out as a meanie by some so-called liberals.

The point of the article however (which I wasn't able to include because of the 4 paragraph limit) was that crime is a problem whether we're talking about a large city or small.

I remember Tiffany Smiley tried to pin Seattle's problems on Patty Murray. I know several people from the Tri-cities area where Smiley is from. That area has its own problems with crime, drug gangs being one of the largest ones.

[LisaM]

10. Definitely not Murray's fault.

I have taken it to games and it works very well in those cases.

[moose65]

5. Don't watch Fox News, then!

Every day and evening on Fox News there are stories about the hellholes that are our big "Democrat-controlled cities" as they say.

Yes, crime is up, but that is across the board, even in rural areas. How safe would we all feel driving through the mountains of West Virginia or Kentucky at night?

The last time I was in NYC I didn't feel scared or threatened at all. Of course, these days the idea of riding a subway car that was as crowded as the ones we rode in 2019 scares me, but not from a crime standpoint!

[lees1975]

8. I live in Chicago.

I usually drive to work since COVID, but still take the bus and the "L" to meetings or appointments downtown. Most of the incidents that are reported take place in the early morning hours, in places that are empty and isolated at night. Biggest thing I've seen on the train is someone smoking. I have taken the train to Cubs games, the station is a block away from Wrigley and it involves me having to ride downtown and change to the red line. But even after the game, riding back, changing in the underground station downtown, it's well lit, there are always people around, and security in the booth and I have never felt unsafe even at 10 or 11 at night.

I'm a block off a major east-west avenue, and I feel safe walking my dog at night.