<p>My D is thinking of applying to Union for the fall but we are hearing disturbing info - can't walk around without a security escort, many instances of crimes and girls being accosted - is there truth to any of this?</p>
<p>I am a female and freshman at Union. While I wouldn’t recommend walking alone late at night, we live in a small city so it’s natural that students should be careful but not more so than say, a college in another city location. If I have a class meeting late at night, I normally just walk with one of my friends and there are normally a lot of students walking around campus late at night so you really don’t have to worry about walking alone. </p>
<p>As students, we do get safety notifications about students who are robbed but I have only gotten one such notification and this happened because a boy was walking alone after 10 pm in a parking lot on the outer end of campus.
As long as you’re not acting reckless- i.e. walking by yourself when it gets really late or have your iphone or something expensive out in the open after dark alone, you’ll be fine.
I wouldn’t say Union is any more dangerous than another other school. I have friends who go to college in other areas around the country and when I told them that it was sometimes annoying to have to always walk with a friend when going into town, they said it was the same sort of thing at their schools. The only way to really avoid this would be to go to school in a small town or such.</p>
<p>Also, I have never felt the need to walk with campus safety and I study at the library a lot late at night. Accosting is not something I have heard of happening at union either.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear this - we haven’t visited yet but have heard alot of great things about the school - this is actually the first negative we had heard. Thank you for your response.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for this information Emp. You are right that schools in cities are a bit different (I think both positively and negatively) than small town schools.</p>
<p>I wonder if you, or anyone else, could elaborate a bit on the safety issue. Are there particular sections of Schenectady that should be avoided? For example is downtown the most unsafe etc. I had heard the “stockade” area was interesting and nice, is this true? Also, is the Union campus area (school and surrounding neighborhood) more safe than Schenectady in general, less safe, or about the same?</p>
<p>Lastly, do you think there is resentment from folks in town regarding Union students? In other word do you think a Union student is more of a target than someone from the general Schenectady population, just because they go to Union?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I’m a senior guy at Union…I walk around campus all the time alone at night and have only once felt even remotely threatened. Late at night a guy on a bike followed me at a distance around campus then came up to me, noticed the emergency ‘Blue Light’ nearby, asked me what time it was and then rode away. In my four years at Union I’ve been around campus late at night countless times and that was truly the only time I felt threatened. Clearly I stay aware of what’s around me, I’m 6 foot 1 and male, but I think most of the perception that walking around campus is dangerous comes from an overall exaggerated fear of crime among women and the middle/upper middle class. Yes people get stopped and asked for their money around campus, no it doesn’t happen often. A few people a year at most.</p>
<p>Schenectady was once a booming city that declined for 50 years and is now returning quite nicely (downtown has come a very long way even since I’ve been at Union). That does mean, however, that there are some pretty questionable neighborhoods and parts of town to stay out of. Union is almost at the border of the Niskayuna to the east, which is the most affluent suburban area around Albany and quite nice, but the neighborhood north of Union along Van Vranken Avenue is pretty rough. The Stockade is very nice but a little rough around the edges…it’s home to some of the oldest houses in the area dating back to the original Dutch settlement. Small streets and a real feeling of early urban America.</p>
<p>On the last question above: there definitely has to be some resentment of Union students by Schenectady residents. The student parking lots have plenty of Mercedes, BMWs and Audis, the kids are all going to a school that costs more per year than the average Schenectady family income. Union students might be a target more than otherwise because they are generally affluent, all carrying cell phones and iPods, often out late at night and may be an easy target if they’ve been drinking.</p>
<p>Ultimately I feel safe at Union and like the fact that the school has a classic college campus in a city environment, even if the downside is increased chance of crime. The campus is heavily patrolled by campus safety, there are many blue light emergency buttons, lots of cameras and bright lights on the paths…I don’t worry too much.</p>
<p>Thank you, that is a very thorough answer. I am not surprised that there is some resentment towards students as this is the case in many cities. I was a bit surprised that the “Stockade” area is a little rough around the edges. I had heard that area, the G.E. plots and Union area were all quite good.</p>
<p>In any event, it is good to hear you felt safe at Union at almost all times.</p>
<p>Thank you again.</p>
<p>Is the cab service there safe?</p>
<p>yeah, i’ve used it quite a few times-airport, to go into albany, train station ect and it’s been fine.</p>