I second San Luis Obispo as a very safe area. My husband and I both attended and he is from that area so we are there often. That is not to say it is crime free- no place is. The surrounding area is safe overall also.
Op,
My DS started SJSU this fall. As for background, he was raised in LA area in So Cal. DS is an animation major at SJSU which is an amazing program along with the design program. DS attended an elite private HS so slightly sheltered. However, we have often driven though or walked through many sketchy areas in LA, but DS has ADHD so he doesn’t notice his surroundings even if I am pointing them out to him.
He said that it is kind of scary living at SJSU. I would liken it to being in downtown Los Angeles, but not in the corporate business section of it, if you know what I mean. I would say it’s LESS scary than around USC. Around SJSU it seems like there are more homeless (like downtown LA) and less gangs (less like USC). DS relayed a story of he and friends getting yelled at by some guy (maybe on drugs or a psych disorder) which kind of freaked him out. Also DS sees sofas or mattresses on the side of the road. My biggest concern was that the dorms are at the edge of campus, not nestled into the center. There are no protective walls around the campus, like there is around USC or say, Columbia, so it’s easy for non SJSUers to be on campus or around dorms. The SJSU library is a combo public library and college library so many homeless hang there during the day to sleep until the public hours end and then SJSU has exclusive use of the library. DS said that police often hang out near the dorms to keep an eye on things.
Living in LA area, I drive and walk through some pretty sketchy areas. Therefore, I was ok with DS attending SJSU and would have been ok with him attending USC (had he gotten accepted). As a side note, I grew up in Silicon Valley and I was held up at gunpoint in a pretty nice area of the Silicon Valley. I have not been held up at gunpoint in numerous bad areas of LA. That being said I have gotten to the point that homeless and poor people do not scare me much. It’s the gangs that scare me. And it seems like SJSU is not near any gang activity.
And, yes, suburban campuses like SLO and UCD are more bucolic and not afflicted with the homeless and the poor people.
Wow! Thank you for your reply YoHoYoHo, I can relate to everything you just said. I grew up in an area with gangs on the outskirts of town just 30 miles east of LA. Gangs scare me much more than the homeless. My son also has ADHD and doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings as much as he should. When we toured the campus over the summer, I did notice The Bricks at SJSU are not in the best location for freshman. The new housing (after freshman year I think) seems to be more centrally located.
Another common factor we share (unrelated to my original question)… DS is interested in the Graphic Design program at SJSU and is now taking AP Graphic Design. We have read so many great things about the art/design dept and the employment opportunities available in the SV after graduation. I’d love to hear more about your son’s experience so far.
Thanks again!
FWIW: SLO’s Occupy Wall Street movement consisted of about 3 people sitting under a nice awning - drinking lattes. Put’s things into perspective.
The SLO comment made me chuckle.
DS does prefer an urban environment. 30 years ago, I started to transfer from UCLA to SLO and found the pace at SLO too slow so went back to UCLA.
At SJSU, all the dorms: Bricks, Joe West, and Suites are all clustered on the SE side of campus, and they all edge the street. The doors to the suites face away from the street, so the building acts as its own barrier or wall to the street. But Bricks and Joe west doors are literally just a few steps away from the street. Yes the new dorm that will be open next fall 2016 is nestled away from the street. It will house frosh and the Bricks will then be demolished. DS is on the arts floor of Joe West.
As for the Animation/Illustration program, it is a ton of work with great and tough teachers. DS did precollege at Otis Art and Design with Animation and Intermed Drawing and HS classes at Art Center College of Art and Design in fig drawing, char design, environmental design, and he said that they do soooo much more drawing at SJSU in terms of the amount and time spent drawing. It’s truly like boot camp. He said that he is learning much more and the teachers are very good and are very careful to be sure that everyone learns.
Also, FYI, frosh are allowed to apply to the suites for housing. It’s just harder for them to get because of seniority, but I heard that some frosh got into the suites. You have to put in your housing application very early and put in the deposit very early. I put in the deposit even when DS was still trying to decide between SJSU and Chapman, because he really wanted to live on the arts floor of Joe West.
Also, not to scare you too much, but there was a guy who was wandering around DS dorm floor on the 2nd night after move in, in the middle of the night. DS was not sure how “they” or who got the guy out of there.