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Tuesday, June 10, 2008

But Big Cities Are Scary!

posted by on June 10 at 12:25 PM

The Seattle Times ed board on May 28 calling for draconian new security measures shooting at Seattle Center after a shooting at Folklife…

Still, we have to face certain facts. Seattle is changing, and in some ways, not necessarily for the better. Streets are a bit meaner these days.

The Seattle Times today

Following a trend across much of the nation, violent crime in Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma saw a significant drop in 2007, according to statistics released Monday by the FBI.

Nationwide, violent crime appears to have declined in 2007 for the first time in three years, with major cities showing the most significant drops, according to the preliminary FBI report. Violent crime decreased nationally by 1.4 percent from 2006, according to the statistics.

In Seattle, police investigated 24 homicides and 90 rapes in 2007, compared with 30 homicides and 129 rapes in 2006.

“Last year was the lowest in either 39 or 40 years,” Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said about crime rates.

RSS icon Comments

1

Maybe by "a bit meaner" they're referring to the influx of non-native Seattleites (like me) who aren't passively nice by default. Damn us. :-)

Posted by James | June 10, 2008 12:30 PM
2

That's still 24 homicides and 90 rapes too many.

Posted by Greg | June 10, 2008 12:49 PM
3

Dan, I think you miss the point. When The Times says, "streets are a bit meaner these days" they literally mean STREETS.

I can't even begin to count the number of times in the past few months a street has been aggressively rude to me - why just last week I had a run in with a MEAN street that's left a bruise the size of a football on my left forearm.

Posted by COMTE | June 10, 2008 12:53 PM
4

You're right, Comte. My co-worker just had a very nasty run-in with a street while on her bike. Had to get stitches on her chin. Everyone needs to watch out for the streets.

Posted by Abby | June 10, 2008 12:58 PM
5

The Seattle Times has a continuous attack on Seattle as a city and on its residents. Sometimes it borders on me almost thinking they were paid by the Redmond Chamber of Commerce. Schools, crime, taxes, etc...are all better on the east side...yet in reality, with a little planning all are better here AND you have a short walk/bike/bus rid/drive to work.

Posted by StrangerDanger | June 10, 2008 12:59 PM
6

The rails for the SLUT have made the streets meander; ask Golob.

You know, blowhards reflexively claim that crime is always up and the young always have a shorter attention span, no matter what.

Posted by elenchos | June 10, 2008 1:03 PM
7

Ah, perspective. It's always kind of sad to hear about parents keeping their kids under an extremely tight leash out of the mortal fear that the world has become unsafe for kids, apparently unaware how much safer their kids are than they were as kids themselves.

Posted by tsm | June 10, 2008 1:13 PM
8

@5 Hey, we have crime over here in Redmond, just last weekend a Redmond police officer shot a knife wielding guy. Hmm, I'm defending Redmond based on the fact that we have crime, I think a screw has come loose in my head...

@3 & @4 That sounds like a Fox special waiting to happen "When streets attack..."

Posted by PopTart | June 10, 2008 1:16 PM
9

It's a nationwide trend. Except in the Red Bushie states in the South.

So anyone who says [insert city] is doing a good job is not just insane, they're LYING to you.

Let's ban people who shoot dogs instead.

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 10, 2008 1:20 PM
10

The streets have certainly felt a lot meaner since I started riding a scooter with 12-inch wheels.

Posted by lostboy | June 10, 2008 1:29 PM
11

I think this very-common trend was instilled by over-steeping our brains in too much judeo-christian bullshit –– the core of which taught us all that the world is in a continual down-ward spin, and will remain so until it all burns in a fiery disaster and the so-called King of Peace kills everyone he doesn't like and assumes his tyrannical rule.

Seriously, some people just assume that the world gets worse every year, and then they trot those lines out whenever they can reinforce the idea to fit their theory.

Posted by Timothy | June 10, 2008 1:39 PM
12

and if you tell people the world is getting better you're an out of touch free market asshat out of touch with "every day life"

Posted by Bellevue Ave | June 10, 2008 1:55 PM
13

The Seattle Times staff should go live in Baltimore or New Orleans for a while to get perspective on "mean streets".

Posted by laterite | June 10, 2008 2:49 PM
14

Or Memphis, which is the most dangerous city in America. Crime is skyrocketing in midsized cities in some parts of the country, which makes the overall drop even more remarkable.

Posted by Fnarf | June 10, 2008 3:00 PM
15

It's the suburbs - not enough money for gas, they keep getting poorer, so they start attacking the neighbors.

Live in the big city - it's cheaper and safer. Only gangsters live in suburbs ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 10, 2008 3:51 PM
16

"We have to face facts" always seems to mean "Mexicans and Negroes are using our ATMs and driving down our streets".

Posted by Fnarf | June 10, 2008 4:16 PM
17

@15 Are you calling me a gangster? Does this mean I have to start listening to rap music?

Posted by PopTart | June 10, 2008 4:19 PM
18

Oh, PopTart, we know you love to rap ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | June 10, 2008 4:59 PM
19

@12,

Yes, because most people who say that want to absolve themselves of trying to make things better, kind of like this asshole.

Posted by keshmeshi | June 10, 2008 5:48 PM
20

Dan, for timid folks, no amount of rapes, killings, and folk-fest-freakouts is tolerable.

For the fear mongering politicians (I hear it started with Nixon), there will always be some crime, so they will always be able to run against it, trends and stats be damned. Oh, and city = BAD, country = GOOD, has been going on since... Jefferson?


For the timid? careful? cautious? rational? breeder suburban types? Well, maybe they don't want to live in a place where

- their child sees somebody get shot
- where, when you ride the bus, some loud fat guy yells/raps into his phone for the whole trip
- homeless people are crapping in parks and slashing people with knives


The issue isn't just, how bad is Seattle, really? But how does it compare, per capita, to the bland, sterile burbs nearby? Or not so nearby? Where the better paid members of the Seattle Times staff probably live.

And yes, I've seen this same no-idea-what-scary-is, living in a wee city in the red state South. What people think is "rush hour traffic" or "scary neighborhood" is... hilarious. But I only say that because I grew up in the orbit of NYC in the 70's.

And amen, keshimeshi, superhappy conservatives like Stephen Moore are putzes. Don't touch that knob! Don't twiddle that dial! You have no business peeking behind the Wizard of Oz's curtain! Things are getting better and you peons have no business touching the fancy levers and buttons! And if things aren't working well in any particular area, (sigh), there is nothing to be done (revert to previous conservative crutch) life is but a vale of tears, maybe in the afterlife...

Posted by CP | June 11, 2008 5:19 PM

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