How is Penn and Philadelphia?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
21

<p>Look, Philadelphia is a big city and has big city woes. There's no use pretending that the crime level is the same as in rural Kansas or even what it is like say at Haverford or Swarthmore, 15 miles away. Generally speaking you won't get killed, but thefts of unattended property (especially laptops) at the library are common, bicycles have their locks cut off and the bikes stolen, cars get broken into, etc. This is the price of urban living - you have to accept the bad with the good. Similar stuff goes on in a lot of schools that border on ghetto areas. But don't pretend that everything is perfect at Penn, cause it ain't. It's not to the point where you feel under constant threat but it could be a lot better too. And it would be a lot worse except for the fact that the campus is VERY heavily patrolled and monitored - it gets far more policing than the rest of Philly. The folks in the hood know this and all but the stupidest and most desperate generally choose easier targets elsewhere.</p>

<p>What I find sad and pathetic is that some of the guys that they catch are so old. Look at campus crime log here:</p>

<p>Interactive</a> feature: crime log - News</p>

<p>Elton Lewis, 48, of the 5800 block of Stockton Road, was arrested by Penn Police at around 10:40 a.m. for allegedly cutting a cable lock and removing a female student's bicycle from a rack outside of Huntsman Hall, located at 3730 Walnut St.</p>

<p>Jerome St. Claire Davis, 57, of
the 3500 block of Fairmont Avenue, was arrested by Penn Police in Stemmler Hall, located at 3450 Hamilton Walk, at about 11:00 p.m. for being in possession of items that a female student had reported stolen. </p>

<p>48, 57, historically this is WAAY past the retirement age for criminals. Sad really.</p>

22

<p>What is the median retirement age for criminals? And what kind of pension can they expect? </p>

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<p>If you're smart, you go there when there's a big line!</p>

23

<p>Median age for criminals at time of arrest is somewhere in the mid 20s, with "career" starting in the teen years, so usually by the late 30's you either settle down or are dead. Really hard to run from the cops when your knees are bad - maybe that's why the guy wanted a bike. Pension benefits suck.</p>

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<p>mattwonder, I don't think that you can tell that someone's not decent only by what he says in a discussion board, I don't mean to be an a$$ here, but seriously, there is SOME logic in what I said. I mean I have close friends in Stanford and MIT. San Francisco is like 25 minutes driving from Stanford's campus. Yes, a police officer may get shot in San Francisco, but not within 2 minutes driving distance from Stanford's campus. never heard of something like that. And for God sake, how would someone attempt to steal a student bike right in front of Huntsman hall, where are we in? Baghdad? Jerusalem? Personally I have no problem with Philadelphia, I drive around the ****ty areas all the time at night and I don't see anything but peace, I forgot my expensive sweater in the engineering building once and found it in the same place I left it in, two days later. I dropped my phone somewhere around 5th St and I got a call about an hour later from someone telling that I dropped my phone and he wants to give it back to me. I think Philly is OK but from what you hear everyday it sounds like a really unsafe place. and this is only my personal opinion</p>

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<p>where did he call you?</p>

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<p>^^ on my friend's cell, which was the first number on my call list, smart</p>

27

<p>Did you read the DP report on the attempted Wachovia robbery? It is rather pathetic:</p>

<p>[blockquote]A man entered the bank, located at 34th and Chestnut streets, at about 9:30 a.m. and gave the teller a note demanding money and indicating that he was carrying a gun, officials said. </p>

<p>The teller refused to give the suspect money. The man did not display a weapon and left the bank. He then fled west on Chestnut Street. [/blockquote]</p>

<p>Thug: "gimmie money, i've got a weapon"
Teller: "what? no way."
Thug: "oh...kthxbye"</p>

<p>Pledges could pull off a similarly effective heist.</p>

28

<p>It's not particularly bad. You're much more likely to die or be seriously injured while driving yourself to campus at the start of the school year, than you are while you're there. It's for that general reason that urban campuses are typically much safer than suburban or rural ones. </p>

<p>Philly itself is a large city, with some good areas and many very bad, completely desolate areas. It has been in the international news many times this year for the hundreds of murders just so far this year - 340 killings so far this year, at last count. By comparsion, most Northeastern cities, such as Ithaca, Providence, Greenwich, New Haven, Stamford, etc., just have just 5 or 10 killings so far this year; even large ones like Boston have had "only" 60 or 70 (guess I shouldn't say "only" 70, because crime is a major issue in Boston - a 13 year old was randomly shot and killed last week). One of the worst in Philly was a 14 year old boy who was shot to death just because he was crossing the street and got in the way of someone's SUV. Also, Philly has 40,000 abandoned buildings -- most Northeastern cities just have a couple hundred or so -- so it is a national symbol of urban decay, kind of like Detroit. There are some large areas of Philadelphia that are literally out of some kind of apocalyptic movie: where literally every single house, block after block, has been torn down, burned down, or boarded up, mangy stray dogs roam the remaining piles of rotting bricks, and an occasional gang loiters in the alley. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have some nice parts, too (though you have to be very careful in them, too). And it is certainly nicer than Baltimore.</p>

<p>Like I said though, the campus itself isn't too bad. Federal Campus Crime Stats from last yr:</p>

<p>Brown 0 murders, 2 robberies, 2 assaults, 49 burglaries (incl 44 in dorms)
Yale 0 murders, 4 robberies, 0 assaults, 82 burglaries (incl 28 in dorms)
Harvard 0 murders, 2 robberies, 6 assaults, 451 burglaries (incl 119 in dorms)
UPenn 1 murder, 19 robberies, 5 assaults, 33 burglaries
Columbia 0 murders, 4 robberies, 6 assaults, 113 burglaries (incl 42 in dorms)
Cornell 0 murders, 2 robberies, 16 assaults, 68 burglaries (incl 34 in
dorms, plus 15 assaults and 1 robbery in dorms - Cornell was the only Ivy with crime in its dorms other than burglaries)
Princeton 0 murders, 0 robberies, 2 assaults, 63 burglaries (incl 37 in dorms)
Dartmouth 0 murders, 1 robbery, 0 assaults, 36 burglaries (34 in dorms)</p>

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<p>The robbery statistic is most telling - every one is a finger twitch away from murder (as the Philly cop found out this week). If you notice, Penn is by far #1 in the Ivies in this category.</p>

30

<p>I live in Philadelphia, and spend alot of time on Penn's campus. The city is full of traffic and angry drivers (as in any large cities). Some parts of the city are unsafe. Right on campus it is pretty safe and there is plenty of security all the time, seeing as penn is right next to drexel. Philadelphia is a great city, if you get into Penn definately go. My mom graduated from Wharton, and she said it was the best experience of her life. As for me, I perfer the midwest.</p>