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We all tend to relate gangs to just teens or young youths. Gangs in 2010 are comprised of out-of-work grown men and women who are forced to join the ranks
of their children and form GANGS. Go to any city or area in the US, there you will
find a gang. Gangs are a group of people without a purpose, white, black, yellow and red. "Gang-ism" starts when one just simply gives up on life....
Hardly. And why would NYC media be discussing gang issues in Charlotte anyway?
Estimates are the while there may be as many as 85-150 "gangs" in Charlotte (about 500 in NC) including the worse ones like MS13, there are only about 5000 actual gang members in Charlotte. In a metro of about 700,000, 5000 is certainly not anywhere close to cities like NY, LA or Chicago. It is extremely possible to live in Charlotte and never even see a gang member.
Very true 5000 is hardly anything. Back in LA our gang population was estimated at 150k+ members and that was just in Los Angeles county alone.
I've seen what appears to be evidence of gangs in Charlotte, but I don't have any real concerns about them. It seems like most of the problems are gang v gang or some idiot had his new shoes stepped on in the club.
If you're changin your mind about a move based on what you hear, maybe you should come check it out for a weekend or so and see what you think. Its very easy to sensationalize any crime problem. That doesn't mean its not a problem, but it might not be as bad as you would be lead to believe.
Did anyone see the special on Gangs in Charlotte awhile back? I remember them discussing how Charlotte was one of the worst hit cities in the US since many of the major Gangs have moved their Southeastern HQ out of Atlanta and up to CLT.
When I get a chance, I'll see if I can find it on-line.
More about drug distribution networks, I think. Charlotte, like many other medium-sized cities, was ripe for exploitation and profit from the drug trade as the bigger cities got increasingly saturated and competitive.
Yes, really
Prior to the coming of the NFL (and no, I am not BLAMING professional sports for the advent of gangs in Charlotte) this was a very middle class city.
Once the NFL, then the NBA arrived more and more companies followed, many moving their headquarters and executives with their executive salaries here.
This infused a lot of cash into our local economy. This in turn encouraged more growth in terms of folks with more disposable income relocating here - hence all the McMansions that began popping up all around Union County and other parts of Charlotte.
All organized gangs (Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, MS13 ect..) are into drugs, specifically trafficking drugs. Recreational users of drugs are those with lots of disposable income - gangs like to follow the money to increase their profits - THAT's what I was talking about.
Crime overall is much higher here than in NYC. I have "heard" that Charlotte is one of the worst gang cities in America.
Moderator cut: flaming
Yes, there are gangs here, and I HATE that. Most days I wish Charlotte could revert back to the nice sleepy big town it was 20 years ago - it was a slice of heaven to live here then. But with "progress" comes growth and with growth into a big city you get big city social ills.
Gangs are now very organized and located in just about every state in the Union. Fortunately, locally and state-wide, law enforcement is doing a better job than ever at tracking gang members and getting them either deported or imprisioned.
The Bankers vs. NASCARites rumble nearly every Sunday. It gets bad around Memorial Day and Labor Day, they seem to gather and prominatley display their colours. I am taken aback by the amount of Grey Pinstripe and Budweiser Red flowing through the streets.
The problem here is as much with "wanna-bes" as with actual gang members. The "wanna-bes" are not counted in estimates of gang membership. These are kids from ages as young as 8-10 who get involved in criminal activity and have rap sheets b/f they are even 18. A lot of juvvies are recruited for such things as drug sales b/c they are underage. The wanna-bes are more localized to neighborhoods but they do venture out and usually their crimes have to do with property crime and robbery.
So yes, we have gangs and thugs here. But then . . . what city doesn't?
NYC doesn't have a high percentage of gang life unless your talking about Harlem and it's on a totally different spectrum of a "city" so it's too hard to compare the two. I was scared of the gangs before moving to Charlotte too, I was literally in the same boat you were a year ago. I was doing research, reading these scary reviews about how dangerous Charlotte was - but I can assure that it's not something to be scared of just do research on the areas, but like any city, Charlotte has some ghetto areas (like Hidden Valley)...it got a bad reputation for having gangs but it's really blown out proportion if you ask me. I live in a pretty safe area, but now that I've lived here for a year I find there are many areas that are safe - Huntersville, Cornelius, Union County, Ballantyne, South Park, Berewick, ect. Charlotte has actually decreased in crime reports and I also find that its more car break ins and gang on gang crime. Unfortunately we live in a world where we can't feel 100% safe anymore, BUT i don't feel at danger here anymore than I did in NY. Good luck looking for a place and the best advice I can give you is to not put too much concern into not moving here because of the over-exaggerated "crime talk"....just DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH - I can not stress that enough!
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And why would NYC media be discussing gang issues in Charlotte anyway?
