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Everyone is so quick to respond with "Well, every city has X". Um, okay? I think we all know that. popnfrresh did not once say that this is the only city where violent crime exists, just that it's the only city where this has occurred to him.
popnfrresh, you'll notice the small handful of Rochester posters tend to bicker, because there isn't much else to talk about that would please the majority (positive things).
yeah well when you specifically mention NEWARK NJ as a place of comparison, you have to expect that kind of reaction. Give me a break.
First, Cheerbaby, I'm sorry to hear your story. I'm glad you appear to have gotten everything in your life back together after such a horrible experience. I mean that sincerely. A couple of personal anecdotes -
I used to live on Girton Pl, right off Park ave, and probably 7 years ago, a 14 year old kid driving a stolen car was shot and killed by the police on the corner of Girton & Park. Pretty serious stuff if you ask me, and right on Park ave. A year or two later, walking home from Monroe ave ~1 a.m., a girl was stumbling and crying on the corner of Park and Cambridge. I thought nothing of it at first (maybe she was dumped by her boyfriend? Maybe she had a fight with her friends?) but she started crying for help. I ran over to see what was up, she said she had been mugged (for ~$20 and her phone) and pistol-whipped. Dumbstruck, my buddy and I hurried her to my place on Girton where we woke my girlfriend and called the police. We waited with her until an ambulance showed and took the victim away and officer took a report from me. In another instance, several years later when I lived on Granger, a guy was robbed and shot in the leg on Park (I believe near Jines), and drove his car to our street before stopping and calling the police himself. All pretty serious incidents, and whether the were ever extensively covered in the media (aside from the first one, of course) I'm not sure. My points are these -
1) If these incidents can happen on Park, why not in Browncroft / North Winton Village? The bad guys own cars, too.
2) The victim is the last person you should be blaming. No one is ever "asking" to be a victim. If you are secure in the safety of your neighborhood, why would you be looking around for a dude with a shotgun? You're wondering why this guy is getting defensive, it's because instead of listening to his story, people are just blowing it off and calling him a liar. Cheerbaby, no disrespect, but if someone doubted your story you might get defensive, too.
3) How people react to being assaulted varies. No two people are going to respond the same way. I don't understand why it is so hard for people to get that popnfrresh's reaction is "I'm getting the f out of here". CB, maybe your opinion of Ybor city didn't change, but his of Rochester's has, so why can't he voice it? Why should his negative experience and opinion be silenced?
4) These may be isolated incidents, but people should not try to brush city violence under the rug. Just because it "happens everywhere" doesn't absolve our city of any responsibility, and just ignoring the problem does no one any good. Let's fix it.
I've been mugged too but I still return to the area and still think it's overall safe. I do not make blanket statements based on my personal anecdote. In the grand scheme of things, me being mugged was something that was not very likely to happen. Hundreds of thousands of people shuffle through the city on a daily basis without being the victims of crime. To say that an entire city is a dump based on an incident like that shows a lack of better judgment. I'm not brushing anything under the rug. I"m just saying it is unfair to make a generalization based on a personal experience.
I can't seem to access to police report that was posted on here (the message says it is private) - can someone be kind enough to tell me the corner on which this mugging occurred? Thanks in advance.
I always hear people say that Rochester is bad but how bad is it. When I saw bad, are we talking about Newark, New Jersey bad or Detroit bad?
Replying to the OP's post, I have been here in Rochester four 3 months now. I grew up in and around Detroit as well as Vallejo,CA (in the bay area), and have lived the last few years in San Diego county in what some would consider not the best areas (by SD standards at least). With all that being said, Rochester has a lot more going for it than most rust belt cities and is far from Detroit,Cleveland,Flint,Chicago,or even Buffalo. I've been staying just north of downtown near some of the worst the city has to offer, and I feel completely safe. Sure you have your urban neighborhoods with typical problems, but most of the crime I here about is pretty much isolated to those that choose to engage in criminal activities. When I lived in Detroit, it wasn't a matter of "if" you become a victim of a crime , but when. Here I definitely don't get that vibe. Like I said I've been around, and Rochester is probably one of the best cities I've had the pleasure of spending time in (and I'm saying this coming from beautiful San Diego). Even where I live in the "ghetto", I'm close to awesome natural beauty, museums,dining,shopping, etc. Rochester is very diverse and cultured for a city of less than 250K. Nowdays, you need to watch your back ANYWHERE, but compared to many larger cities, especially in this region, Rochester is a hidden gem!
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