Dangerous areas? (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach: apartments, low crime, home)

[Rock Newman]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Personal these areas I wouldn't walk at night alone:

Most of the NW section of Miami-Dade
Miami Gardens
Hialeah
Downtown Miami
Overtown
Florida City
Homestead
Goulds
Naranja
West Coconut Grove
Little Havana
Little Haiti
Brownsville
Opa Locka
Parts of Cutler Bay
El Portal
Westchester
Sweet Water

Would agree with most on this list except Westchester , Hialeah or Sweetwater ... they are not areas that I would live in and there is not much to see and do there except for good Cuban or Nicaraguan restaurants ... but these are not unsafe neighborhoods ... you are incorrect here .... these are relatively safe , hispanic working class neighborhoods with some good people ... yeah some tacky paint schemes on the homes and the burglar bars .... but not unsafe .

[citizen477]

Wow! Most of the posters live in such fear. Interesting. I've walked/ridden bicycle in all sorts of neighborhoods at all hours of night and day, whether it be because of coming from an event or getting my bus/train connections, and I've never been approached negatively by anybody. Must of the time, it's somebody asking for spare change or information on bus routes, or some homeless guys seeking conversation. I know that I'm male, African-American and 6'3" and 245lbs, but that's beside the point. I've stepped off the bus in WEST and east Miami Gardens and in Opa-Locka at 11 p.m. I used to work at MEEC in Liberty City, and my shift would end at 10 p.m., and used to cross the street and catch the Rte.77 North to Miami Gardens, and this was before the shiny new Edison Plaza went up. I used to catch the bus with female students, too. Along the way, the 77 would pick up FEMALE nurses and hotel workers, and they would go about their business everyday... Just regular people. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the Route 77, but it's really not that bad.

The fact of the matter is when your time comes, it comes. Just be prepared when it happens. Just a little anecdote: I have a friend, who incidentally is African American, and she always said that she'd never be caught dead in any of the neighborhoods that many of you mentioned, and sure enough she MOSTLY lived her life avoiding doing business, dining or visiting those neighborhoods though once in a while she would attend the occasional house party in Carol City. Guess what? Some punk held up her and her friend at knife point in East San Francisco, while on vacation, when they were walking back to their hotel after a night out. Luckily, they weren't hurt, just mostly shaken up, and the cops came pretty quickly to assist them. The punk just took jewelry and some cash and her friend's Blackberry. This never happened to her in South Florida. Goes to show that, though fear can help keep us out of danger, when it comes to so-called "safe" and "unsafe" neighborhoods, it mostly comes down to chance and coincidence.

[Rock Newman]

Originally Posted by citizen477

Wow! Most of the posters live in such fear. Interesting. I've walked/ridden bicycle in all sorts of neighborhoods at all hours of night and day, whether it be because of coming from an event or getting my bus/train connections, and I've never been approached negatively by anybody. Must of the time, it's somebody asking for spare change or information on bus routes, or some homeless guys seeking conversation. I know that I'm male, African-American and 6'3" and 245lbs, but that's beside the point. I've stepped off the bus in WEST and east Miami Gardens and in Opa-Locka at 11 p.m. I used to work at MEEC in Liberty City, and my shift would end at 10 p.m., and used to cross the street and catch the Rte.77 North to Miami Gardens, and this was before the shiny new Edison Plaza went up. I used to catch the bus with female students, too. Along the way, the 77 would pick up FEMALE nurses and hotel workers, and they would go about their business everyday... Just regular people. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the Route 77, but it's really not that bad.

The fact of the matter is when your time comes, it comes. Just be prepared when it happens. Just a little anecdote: I have a friend, who incidentally is African American, and she always said that she'd never be caught dead in any of the neighborhoods that many of you mentioned, and sure enough she MOSTLY lived her life avoiding doing business, dining or visiting those neighborhoods though once in a while she would attend the occasional house party in Carol City. Guess what? Some punk held up her and her friend at knife point in East San Francisco, while on vacation, when they were walking back to their hotel after a night out. Luckily, they weren't hurt, just mostly shaken up, and the cops came pretty quickly to assist them. The punk just took jewelry and some cash and her friend's Blackberry. This never happened to her in South Florida. Goes to show that, though fear can help keep us out of danger, when it comes to so-called "safe" and "unsafe" neighborhoods, it mostly comes down to chance and coincidence.

Good post ...... actually I have a Cuban American friend of mine who now lives in Sarasota but was raised in Hialeah and he claims he was never the victim of any type of property or physical crime of any kind in South Florida in his 32 years down here ... yet he got his ass kicked while being mugged in front of his hotel one July evening while on a business trip to get this ............ Toronto , Canada .... yes Toronto !!!!

It can happen anyhwere I guess ??

[Eduardo983]

Westchester is perfectly safe.

[♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥]

Originally Posted by citizen477

The fact of the matter is when your time comes, it comes. Just be prepared when it happens. Just a little anecdote: I have a friend, who incidentally is African American, and she always said that she'd never be caught dead in any of the neighborhoods that many of you mentioned, and sure enough she MOSTLY lived her life avoiding doing business, dining or visiting those neighborhoods though once in a while she would attend the occasional house party in Carol City. Guess what? Some punk held up her and her friend at knife point in East San Francisco, while on vacation, when they were walking back to their hotel after a night out. Luckily, they weren't hurt, just mostly shaken up, and the cops came pretty quickly to assist them. The punk just took jewelry and some cash and her friend's Blackberry. This never happened to her in South Florida. Goes to show that, though fear can help keep us out of danger, when it comes to so-called "safe" and "unsafe" neighborhoods, it mostly comes down to chance and coincidence.

I agree. I lived in the most dangerous city during that time Medellin Colombia during the Pablo Escobar years and was never a victim of anything, not even my pencils were stolen in school. I have lived in Miami also for more than 15 years, same thing. Went to Paris, and the gypsies stole my wallet.

Now using common sense and being aware of your surroundings helps a lot. I was careless in Paris because I didn't have anything valuable in my wallet and was not aware of Eastern europeans tactics. I did get my wallet back and the full $5 dollars in cash I had there.

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by Rock Newman

Would agree with most on this list except Westchester , Hialeah or Sweetwater ... they are not areas that I would live in and there is not much to see and do there except for good Cuban or Nicaraguan restaurants ... but these are not unsafe neighborhoods ... you are incorrect here .... these are relatively safe , hispanic working class neighborhoods with some good people ... yeah some tacky paint schemes on the homes and the burglar bars .... but not unsafe .

I would walk there during the day alone, but as my post stated they are places I as a woman would not want to walk ALONE at NIGHT in. Never said they were unsafe, just that I personally wouldn't walk there at night alone. I wouldn't feel safe, everyone of us has their our own opinions of what is a safe area for them to walk in. These are just mine.

[cagey cretin]

WOW, what a bunch of wimps. Il ived every where from Pinecrest to Blue lakes to S Miami Heights. They used to bus us into Goulds to attend Mays JR high school. I spent a good part of my childhood in that ghetto and I was a 90lb white boy.

I'd say dont carry anything vauable and you'd be safe walking almost anywhere.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Rock Newman

Would agree with most on this list except Westchester , Hialeah or Sweetwater ... they are not areas that I would live in and there is not much to see and do there except for good Cuban or Nicaraguan restaurants ... but these are not unsafe neighborhoods ... you are incorrect here .... these are relatively safe , hispanic working class neighborhoods with some good people ... yeah some tacky paint schemes on the homes and the burglar bars .... but not unsafe .

I might even argue that Westchster/Sweetwater is "safer" than Kendall, or possibly even the safest part of Miami-Dade. Really. It actually makes sense, considering how distant this area is from any really "bad" areas and the fact that it's working class nature doesn't make for a particularly fertile ground for criminals. Burglars are going to target an area like Kendall or even Doral instead because there is perceived to be more wealth, and unlike some other working class areas, there isn't a huge amount of street crime in the Westchester/Sweetwater area to cause a dramatic amount of local issues. Hialeah on the other hand has more street crime, drugs, etc but still isn't as bad as they come. It may not be the most "desirable" area but more due to aesthetics/overall location.

[k060]

What do you think about the East Little Havana area? I see an apartment online that looks really nice and it's near sw 8th st and 16ave. I Google mapped it and did some browsing around the area and overall it looks fine to me. It looks nothing like, say 8th and lejeune. How do you all think safety is in the area I mentioned? I'm a grad student and I'd be living alone, but I'm fluent in Spanish and most people assume me to be Dominican, so I wouldn't be obviously out of place in that way

[k060]

that area is by Tower Theater and El Pub, by the way. I still haven't been to East Little Havana (only West, where I wouldn't dare live), but I've heard about it all