how is the crime there? (Denver, Colorado Springs: low income, crime rate, loan)

[WestCoDude]

Originally Posted by Westyguy

Denver is above the national adverage in every crime!! People who live in Cherry Creek or Highlands Ranch dont know what real crime is untill they go into the more lower income parts of the city! And who says that the suburbs dont have any crime? Has anyone ever been to south westminster, federal heights, thornton, or aurora??

lol. Dude, I live in St. Louis. Trust me....Denver is fluffytown compared to St. Louis. Crime in Denver is there...but for the vast, vast majority of the metro area....it's pretty darn safe.

[DenverAztec]

Denver is a big city but only slightly above the national average and in specific areas. Property crime is high verses violent crime. Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed
You are more likely to have your car stolen then you being attacked physically.

[denverian]

I have yet to be murdered, raped, robbed or otherwise violated, and I live in Denver. The biggest crimes I've heard about are car break-ins.

[livecontent]

I have been here almost 30 years and the worse area of crime where I have been in danger of dying--that is the worse crime to your person--was on the roads and highways of this state. Having been almost killed in a bad collision with unlicensed driver; another young woman applying makeup on the highway; being hit by a car as a pedestrian; avoiding drunks and speeding maniacs--yes the highways and the roads are the most dangerous place, anywhere, in the Denver Metro Area.

Saying that, I have not been a victim of any crime away from the roads and highways in Denver. Only one incident of crime, when I was suckered punched and knocked out, when I managed a restaurant in the Suburbs--by a white car salesman who was dressed in a suit.

I have worked at night in many "bad" areas" in and around downtown; I have walked through the toughest and meanest neighborhoods that are in Denver/Aurora---all this when I was younger and the these streets and alleys of Denver were much worse than today.

Now I am older, disabled, and I have been helped, numerous times, by drunks, homeless, tatoo-latinos in groups and single people, groups of black men at night, drunken tough white youths. I have had my car broken down in the worse areas of North Denver and off of Martin Luther King, in the days before cell phones--there was always help from the most unlikely type of people.

I grew up near the East side of Buffalo--very bad crime and gangs; lived and worked in Manhattan--some very bad areas back then; got stranded in Harlem, car broke down in the South Bronx; strolled and walked through the worse areas of Brooklyn; got lost in some seedy areas of Baltimore and DC; Car Broke down in the ghetto of Dallas. In addition to all this, very bad combat infantry army posts and dangerous towns nearby. These were all very bad nightmarish experiences.

However, I have never seen or come close to any area or situation in Denver Metro that was comparable to the places that I experienced in my youth. So Relax, if you can stay alive on the roads, you will have less to fear on the streets of Denver.

Livecontent

[DenverAztec]

So true Denverian and Livecontent, the only crime I have experience in all my years (41) here is a broken into car. I have been hit by drivers not paying attention, and one was also a woman applying her makeup while on her cell phone. This is only my experience, but my sibilings and co-workers will say the same. We are fortunate.

However, I have been grabbed and threatened a few times on the NYC subways, chased by a crazed homeless woman in San Francisco, had to walk in a group in San Diego (Mission Valley and Hill Crest) because the local gangs were randomly and brutally attacking anyone alone at any hour of the day as initiation rites (over 90 attacks in as little as 60 days back in 12-2006), was threatened by thugs at a gas station in Philly because they refuse to let any drivers pump their own gas and then demand a tip or they will dent your car or you (none of them actually work for any of the gas stations), and had thugs threaten me on the El in Chicago because they wanted my coat. This is just a summary of business trips in the past two years and I am finding that the women in my department at work are asking more and more not to travel due to safety issues in other cities.

Denver is not free of crime and growing up in west Denver, a gun or knife fight was not uncommon. You don't hear constant uzi gun fire like you use to in Cabrini Green in Chicago or off of sections of Broad Street in Philly, but you do have areas that I still refuse to drive through at night. However, Denver does not have any slums or ghettos and if anyone doubts that, by all means travel to other cities and experience reality. Caution must be used anywhere at anytime and we can never say never to being a victim. Again, we are fortunate in Denver.

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

but you do have areas that I still refuse to drive through at night.

I'm curious what those areas are? Where are the most rock-bottom, dangerous places in Denver?

[DenverAztec]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

I'm curious what those areas are? Where are the most rock-bottom, dangerous places in Denver?

For me, this would only apply during the warmer months because the cold is not conducive to delinquents roaming the streets randomly. In addition, because I am no longer a young buck, I am more worried about a flat tire or car accident then random gun fire. Any of the streets that are near two or more blocks of government housing. Sun Valley projects at Federal and 10th, Westwood projects at Irving and Kentucy, Atzlan Park and the projects at 47th and Lipan, Curtis Park projects on the east end of Curtis Park, Lincoln Park projects and La Alma park at 11th and Zuni, and Montebello. This is my form of using caution and not putting myself in harms way. I have ventured into these areas with friends to eat at some of the hole in wall places or because Federal was jammed with Bronco traffic.

Surprisingly, Commerce City is changing and not as rough as it used to be, not sure what all is happening there. I do know that Lofts are being built beyond the Ballpark neighborhood, north of the train tracks and toward the Commerce City area. But nothing beyond I-70, yet. If the stockyards decide to move east to Aurora or further out and the city is able to convince Nascar or another entertainment type of organization to move in, Commerce City could change.

[tfox]

Sure, there's some crime. But take a look at the city-data crime rankings and you'll see a steep downward drop in crime, with 2008 having the lowest crime in many years (409.6). Most who live in Denver can qualitatively attest to what the numbers are telling us: crime is much lower than it once was.

Compare Denver's crime numbers to peer cities, particularly ANY city of comparable size in the southeast or southwest.

[PpcPpcPpc]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

lol. Dude, I live in St. Louis. Trust me....Denver is fluffytown compared to St. Louis. Crime in Denver is there...but for the vast, vast majority of the metro area....it's pretty darn safe.

I'm moving to Denver from St Louis this fall and was wondering about the crime too. Don't go too heavy bragging about being from St Louis if you're calling yourself Lord Chesterfield, though. I grew up in West County and can say that there is nearly zero crime there. I live in South City now and don't see much crime here either (minor property thefts mostly), so I'm hoping Denver will be a breeze.

[cecilia0909]

Originally Posted by gnomad

It has a gang problem and personally I wouldn't live there. There are outlying areas that are nice, but expensive.

Seriously? Denver? I disagree

We moved out to Cleveland for a year and just came back to Denver. Crime is nothing like how it is there. I really think Denver is a pretty safe city, but of course crime is everywhere.