City people... when is enough enough re: crime
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Anonymous
And what good are strict gun laws if a violation of these laws simply leads to a slap on the wrist and no real consequences whatsoever? |
Anonymous
No, it shouldn’t and isn’t for most people. |
Anonymous
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I don’t quite understand the argument that people should leave the city due to crime, when suburbs also have troubling crime? People are cherry picking a scenario where a family is living in east Capitol Hill (which, yes, has seen a troubling crime uptick) and moving to, like, Olney or Potomac or somewhere with less crime.
We live in NE DC and while there is crime and we don’t like it, the suburbs we can afford and that make sense in terms of commute have similar crime problems. There are upsetting violent crimes in places like Wheaton, Hyattsville, Arlington, etc., all the time. Our friends in the suburbs complain about carjackings and shootings near their homes. The gun laws in VA make a lot of people (me included) anxious about gun violence there. We are looking to move out of DC due to the school issues, but don’t view there to be a clear difference in crime between where we live in DC and where we might move in MD or VA. Many close in suburbs have fairly similar crime stats to where we live now, and moving very far out means spending a lot more time commuting (plus worrying about traffic accidents with all the added car time). |
Anonymous
That’s why most people take high/paying work from home jobs these days. Then you could move to Olney or Potomac and not worry about the commute. |
Anonymous
Not everyone wants to hole up in their big house in a distant suburb all the time. First off, many jobs can’t be done remotely, including many high paying jobs (doctors must work in person, many Big Law and consulting firms are requiring 3-4 days a week in person, etc.). But even beyond that, a lot of people want to leave their homes during the day. I have been WFH full time for a decade and I have to live somewhere with people around, ideally places I can walk to during the day to work or just take a break. I love the flexibility of WFH but it is not healthy for me to be at home all day every day. |
Anonymous
There is absolutely a difference between urban areas and suburbs with mostly educated families. White flight is a real thing. If you move to most suburbs or towns you’ll find a local government that does everything it can to fight and prevent crime along with zoning and other laws to keep crime out. The best way to avoid crime is to not live anywhere close to public transportation and to not live where there is inexpensive housing. |
Anonymous
This is really the key to the whole thing. Where there is density and poor people there will be crime. We can argue all day about policies, and some certainly don’t help, but those two items are the only ones that really make a meaningful difference. |
Anonymous
This is contradictory. If public transit and density lead to crime, then your point about how there’s “absolutely” a difference between the city and suburbs in this respect is false. Many parts of MoCo are denser and have more public transit than parts of DC. Foxhall has lower crime than Wheaton. But someone who can afford to live in Foxhall isn’t going to move to Wheaton, and vice versa. But someone who lives in Petworth and is tired of crime probably can’t afford Foxhall or, importantly, its suburban counterparts (Falls Church). The could probably afford a neighborhood like Homewood, between Kensington and Wheaton. It’s less dense than Petworth but only a bit, and crime in and around Wheaton metro will be on their radar. How much have the won in terms of less crime in this deal? Maybe a bit. But say it adds 30 minutes to their commute daily. Worth it? For many people: no. This is not the no-brainer y’all make it out to be. |
Anonymous
Semantics. Most places in the US with greater access to public transportation and higher density have more homeless people and crime. You need to live somewhere the undesirables can’t afford and can’t reach you. The best way to have a high QOL in this country is to move somewhere with mostly UMC families and no public transit or one train stop max. My town doesn’t have any public transportation, is all white educated people and there aren’t any apartment buildings. Practically no crime. You don’t need to lock your doors. Our local police don’t allow for any homeless. One time there was some random guy with a grocery cart walking down a suburban road and the cops were called. Never saw the guy again. He likely got taken to a nearby city and dropped off. |
Anonymous
As someone who used to live in Homewood, there is a big difference between a neighborhood like that and Petworth. It is about 2 miles from the Wheaton metro station so there is a buffer from the crime there, it is also basically equidistant to the much safer Forest Glen station. The crime at Wheaton mall would be a much bigger issue (although I went to that Target and Costco all the time), but you could avoid that by not shopping at that Giant, going to the Starbucks on Connecticut instead, and going to the Target just off Rockville Pike. You can walk your dog at after dark in the neighborhood without being fearful. The only crime that was persistent in the neighborhood in all the years I lived there was cars being rifled through if you left them unlocked. All of this is a far cry from Petworth. |
Anonymous
Racist |
Anonymous
I am not sure what is racist about this poster's description. The poster describes my hometown, and as a rare poor person living in a small duplex in that town, i could see close up that what this poster says is largely accurate. Perhaps you are saying the residents are racist; that may or may not be the case. I do know that it is the residence of some Chicago Bulls players, and a few Chicago Bears as well. This includes Michael Jordan, who had kids who went to the high school (Jordan's ex is a Northwestern MBA and the kids were good students), who cannot sell his all too unique expensive house. My guess is that any concerns for these kind of celebrities about racial harmony were and are overcome by the quality of the schools, and the pleasant virtually zero crime environment. Ironically, I competed in athletic events that had many black athletes at the top (as I was) and finding a way to get to the the southern suburbs from Cream Puff central to compete (i.e., Chicago Heights, Dolton) was a constant struggle as it was a 60 mile trip one way for my single mom. And the kids from the southern suburbs, not so much my high school friends, remain my friends to this day given college level D1 competition connections. So I don't think there was anything manifestly racist about the town, although clearly, like the Chicago metro area itself, it was and is segregated more than almost any other big city. Given my socio-economic circumstance, I preferred to train in athletics with a group in much tougher and diverse Waukegan, 14 miles north, easier to get to than the southern suburbs, but found my classmates very bright and supportive, who in a good peer pressure way insisted I be a good student just like them. Note that because the town had money there were kids in got into some trouble with drugs - beyond dabbling in pot - so I don't want to paint the place as nirvana. But it was a good place for good outcomes if you made good decisions. |
Anonymous
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Murder at Navy Yard metro this morning.
But, repeat after me, “things were worse in the 90s.” |
Anonymous
That was a shooting on the train not at the station but yeah … point taken. |
Anonymous
"is all white educated people". you are welcome |