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Actually, if city-data's crime index is to be believed, Denver's 2008 crime index (the most recent data available) at 350.9 is substantially lower than Seattle's (440.3), Portland's (439.7), Albuquerque's (573.0), San Francisco (486.1), Reno (420.5), or Salt Lake City (654.2). That said, It is (not surprisingly) higher than the much smaller city of Boise (218.2), or suburban cities like San Jose (236.3). I'd bet that it's also quite a bit higher, than say, Highlands Ranch (no data).
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Denver doesn't have real problems with crime. All I'm saying is that it's certainly no worse than most of its peer cities, and in some ways I'd contend better than average. It's also fair to point out that Denver has had a rather noticable drop in crime over the last 5 years. In decades past the crime rates have certainly had their share of ups and downs.
The cities and neighborhoods have less to do with crime than your choices that put you at risk. You will learn, as you age, that most crime happens among young men, at night, involved with alcohol, drugs and woman. So, to increase your chances to live to the age to learn this lesson: avoid groups of young men; stay away from alcohol, served at night; avoid illegal drugs and do not fight for the possession of woman.
I have lived and been through many rough areas and I follow those rules and I have survived. Now that I am an aging senior, I find the company of young men, annoying and boring. I am too tired to stay out at night; and I cannot drink because of all the medications I take, which also make illegal drugs unnecessary and dangerous. I and my ego have no desire to take possession of any woman; and none of those troublesome beings, find me interesting. Now, I am just part of the overlooked and ignored elderly. I exude no threat, evince no hostility because my existence is faintly seen; and my presence less desired.
You provided some facts, but also some conclusions that didn't really correspond to the facts nicely. The one fact that I liked was that crime stats are misleading
My wife is a criminologist and teaches at UCD (how's that for a credential!?) and we looked into this extensively before we moved here. Details aside, we found that:
1) Like most big cities Denver has crime, bad neighborhoods, safer and less safe areas, and the usual problems with an urban areas.
2) Compared to most cities of comparable size, Denver is very safe. There is simply less crime here.
3) What crime there is in Denver tends to be less violent and more property.
But you really don't need the stats to see this - drive around. I'm from LA and a 'bad' neighborhood here isn't nearly is striking as a bad neighborhood there. Less gunshots, less police activity, less everything.
Denver is a fairly safe city for it's size.
Yes, Denver has had a drop in crime in the last 5 years. And i think we'd all agree that LA has problems with crime. BUt if you look at citydata.com and you look at LA's murder rate (the murder rate per 100,000 residents) its about the same as denver. the last 5 years LA's murder rate has been 13.4, 12.6, 12.4, 10.2, and 10.0, so is LA safer than most big cities? the size of a city certainly has to be taken into account. if you go to citydata.com for LA and Denver. the rate at which murder occurs in generally the same. the rape rate in denver is way higher. the assault and robbery rate in LA is way higher. the burglary rate in denver is way higher. larceny theft is higher in denver but generally pretty equal. the auto theft rate in denver is also higher. theres no debating that LA has more crime sreported. of course they do, there city has 4 million people and over 14 million in the LA metro area. but crime rate (per 100,000) for LA is generally the same. again i'd never argue that denver is as bad crime wise as LA, NYC, PHILLY, MIAMI, HOUSTON, DALLAS, DETROIT, CLEVELAND, etc. but it does have crime problems and known gang problems in schools and neighborhoods.
again i'd never argue that denver is as bad crime wise as LA, NYC, PHILLY, MIAMI, HOUSTON, DALLAS, DETROIT, CLEVELAND, etc. but it does have crime problems and known gang problems in schools and neighborhoods.
Again, it's very hard to work with these broad statements with any degree of accuracy (including my own). And, it's very hard to use any specific index or crime stat and extrapolate it to learn a lot about a whole city.
It takes quite a bit of analysis to understand the crime activity in a city, and while a measure like x 'crime per y residents' is helpful because it adjusts for city size, it leaves lots of questions.
For example, there is a neighborhood not far from here that has very high crime stats for the Denver area. The amount of sexual assault per x residents was frighteningly high. The reason? There was a large hospital that received patients from quite a few surrounding areas that had moderate crime, and an disproportionate amount of police reports were taken at the hospital address because the incidents were poorly documented or occurred outside, etc.
There are lots of things like that, so be careful with the stats and indexes. And you can't disregard anecdotal evidence, such as what you see and hear with your own eyes - obviously that's not much of a scientific method either but it's valid. I can tell you that my block here at 23rd and High St has few sirens, people shouting, police actions, and suspicious behavior than my old house in LA at near Venice Blvd and Glendale Dr. To me, it seems much safer on my block and I'm pretty confident it is.
Stats aside, I am still convinced that overall Denver is very safe for it's size.
Actually, if city-data's crime index is to be believed, Denver's 2008 crime index (the most recent data available) at 350.9 is substantially lower than Seattle's (440.3), Portland's (439.7), Albuquerque's (573.0), San Francisco (486.1), Reno (420.5), or Salt Lake City (654.2). That said, It is (not surprisingly) higher than the much smaller city of Boise (218.2), or suburban cities like San Jose (236.3). I'd bet that it's also quite a bit higher, than say, Highlands Ranch (no data).
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Denver doesn't have real problems with crime. All I'm saying is that it's certainly no worse than most of its peer cities, and in some ways I'd contend better than average. It's also fair to point out that Denver has had a rather noticable drop in crime over the last 5 years. In decades past the crime rates have certainly had their share of ups and downs.
I completely agree. and yes has had a drop in crime the past couple of years. but at citydata.com but i was speaking generally about murder rates when i was comparing denver to seattle, portland, albuquerque, san fran, reno, and salt lake. and yes denver did have a low rate of crime in 2008. but if you look at all the previous years between 2000-2007 it was generally the same as its peer cities for a total crime rate and had a higher murder rate. i dont think theres debating that generally denver has a higher murder rate than seattle, portland, salt lake, reno, and about the same murder rate as albuquerque. denvers crime index since 2000. (445.5, 420.0, 446.9, 459.3, 495.6, 547.1, 574.3, 490.0, 409.7, and 350.9) so yes denver had a drop of crime in 2008 but generally from year to year its on par for a total crime rate with its fellow southwest USA cities except for phoenix and vegas and has a higher murder rate usually than seattle, portland, salt lake, reno, etc. so pointing out only one year where crime in denver was down is not fair. the murder rate in seattle has only been above 8 one time in 2000 when seattle had 45 murders. and portlands murder rate has only been above 6 once in 2000 when portland had 35 murders. and the murder rate in renohas only been above 10 one time in 2006 when reno had 23 murders. and the highest the murder rate in salt lake has been was 9.7 in 2001 when salt lake had 18 murders. the murder rate in albuquerque and tucson is along the same lines as denver for the past 10 years. also denver has a higher criem and murder rate than san diego, and is san diego as suburban city? also as i mentioned in the an earlier post, the crime rate in denver can be very misleading, seeing as how 200,000 of denvers 600,000 people live in south denver, and lower east denver which are very nice upscale city living. most all of the crime stats in denver happen int eh other areas of the city where the other 400,000 people reside.
Again, it's very hard to work with these broad statements with any degree of accuracy (including my own). And, it's very hard to use any specific index or crime stat and extrapolate it to learn a lot about a whole city.
It takes quite a bit of analysis to understand the crime activity in a city, and while a measure like x 'crime per y residents' is helpful because it adjusts for city size, it leaves lots of questions.
For example, there is a neighborhood not far from here that has very high crime stats for the Denver area. The amount of sexual assault per x residents was frighteningly high. The reason? There was a large hospital that received patients from quite a few surrounding areas that had moderate crime, and an disproportionate amount of police reports were taken at the hospital address because the incidents were poorly documented or occurred outside, etc.
There are lots of things like that, so be careful with the stats and indexes. And you can't disregard anecdotal evidence, such as what you see and hear with your own eyes - obviously that's not much of a scientific method either but it's valid. I can tell you that my block here at 23rd and High St has few sirens, people shouting, police actions, and suspicious behavior than my old house in LA at near Venice Blvd and Glendale Dr. To me, it seems much safer on my block and I'm pretty confident it is.
Stats aside, I am still convinced that overall Denver is very safe for it's size.
i would completely agree. however at 23rd and high street i belive your in the city park west neighborhood or city park. not sure. and yes the crime and demographics in city park and city parkw est has certainly changed over the last 10 years. a lot fo gentrifying has been done in city park west, city park, capitol hill, etc. and made the areas a lot nicer in my opinion. the lower income residents that lived in city parkw est and city park have seen rising rent prices int he last ten years and moved to north aurora and west aurora which have turned crappy. and my aunt lives in east long beach and hears sirens every now and then but not very much so does that mean that the crimes do not happen in eastside long beach? and my father lived in south gate CA on the southeast side of LA and did not hear many sirens any more frequently than he does in denver. so soes that mean that southeast LA is nice and super safe? i dont think so. and yes thats why i always say i'd never compare denver to cleveland, oakland, philly, etc. but to say it doesnt have any gang problems or crime problems is not true at all.
i would also urge you to see the city as a whole. and not just around 23rd and high street in city park west. go into upper east denver in non gentrified parts of five points, and into whittier, cole, clayton, swansea, skyland, east colfax, montbello and theres way more crime and gangs in those neighborhoods in east denver than the lower east side of denver in capitol hill, uptown, city park west, city park, congress park, cheesman park, montclair, hale, etc. also go into north denver in sunnyside, chaffee park, globeville, etc and into west denver in sun valley, west colfax, villa park, valverde, burnum and into southwest denver around south federal blvd and south sheridan blvd. in westwood, athmar park, mar lee, ruby hill, college view, harvey park etc. again, south denver by south high and lower east denver are both super nice and safe with no gang prblems. but the other areas do have gang prblems and higher crime.
also because of rising rents in certain areas in east denver and north denver, many lower income residents have been forced to move to adjacent places not in city limits. such as, north aurora, west aurora, commerce city, sherrelwood, twin lakes, lakeside/east wheat ridge, edgewater, north east lakewood/molholm two creeks, east lakewood/north alameda and south alameda. so theres areas have significantly changed as well in the last ten years
i would also urge you to see the city as a whole. and not just around 23rd and high street in city park west. go into upper east denver in non gentrified parts of five points, and into whittier, cole, clayton, swansea, skyland, east colfax, montbello and theres way more crime and gangs in those neighborhoods in east denver than the lower east side of denver in capitol hill, uptown, city park west, city park, congress park, cheesman park, montclair, hale, etc. also go into north denver in sunnyside, chaffee park, globeville, etc and into west denver in sun valley, west colfax, villa park, valverde, burnum and into southwest denver around south federal blvd and south sheridan blvd. in westwood, athmar park, mar lee, ruby hill, college view, harvey park etc. again, south denver by south high and lower east denver are both super nice and safe with no gang prblems. but the other areas do have gang prblems and higher crime.
I live in Whittier, not City Park W.
I have seen the city as a whole, thanks
I was also a paramedic for Adams Ambulance in Southgate, CA for a long time when I was younger (it's not in Los Angeles, btw).
Again, you are right that some areas have gang problems and higher crime. That isn't much of a statement. I am simply maintaining my position that Denver is a safer city than other cities of it's size, in general, and that there are not nearly as many gangs/violent crimes/etc. here as people might think.
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