<p>I'm from the northeast and we hear some pretty tragic stories about the "state of affairs" in New Orleans. Is the TU Campus an oasis or am I being misinformed??? I'm very interested in Tulane, but a little concerned about being isolated to the campus. Would like to interact with the community...the city.</p>
<p>By state of affairs I’m assuming you’re talking about the crime. New Orleans is a dangerous city. There you have it. However, crime is centralized in certain neighborhoods, is primarily drug related, and really has no affect on Tulane or really most of uptown in general.
Here’s a murder map for 2012:
[New</a> Orleans Murders - NOLA.com](<a href=“http://www.nola.com/crime/murders/]New”>http://www.nola.com/crime/murders/)
Tulane is the brown area to the right of Broadway and above St. Charles. The majority of the murders happen in central city, hollygrove/gert town, and treme/7th ward. There’s no reason for a Tulane student to be in those parts of the city, unless it’s with a community service group or something along those lines. Notice the lack of murders in Uptown, French Quarter and downtown. That’s primarily where everyone goes to explore the city. This is a city, and you always need to be cautious like in any big city, but you do not need to be worried about the crime. The bubble exists at Tulane but breaking it and seeing the city is easy, cheap, and something a lot of kids do.</p>
<p>There are numerous older threads about this canard. As jph says, every major city in the USA has areas that are more dangerous and areas that are safer. Tulane is in what is called Uptown (specifically the Audubon District) that is much safer than the drug-infested, high crime areas well away from campus. As jph says, look at the map. Tulane is right across the street from Audubon Park in the lower left part of the map. Center that and enlarge it some, and you will see a good picture of the area. No red dots for quite a ways from campus.</p>
<p>Like all college campuses, there is some crime in the area, almost all non-violent crime. Recently there was a perp (with an accomplice I think) that was doing armed hold-ups. Tulane, Loyola, and NOPD reacted by increasing patrols, making sure broken street lights were fixed, creating even more highly patrolled corridors between Tulane and the most popular off campus spots, and increasing the utility of the Safe Ride program. Bottom line, when you compare the crime stats at Tulane and the experience of Tulane students, it is very much the same as other urban universities. Which is to say that as long as one uses common sense, you can easily go through 4 years and never come close to being affected by any crime, much less a serious one.</p>
<p>On a more personal note, many of us have daughters at Tulane, and feel very comfortable that they are as safe as they would be at Chicago, Columbia, USC, WUSTL, Yale, Miami, so on and so forth. Mine walks and takes the streetcar all the time, she is just careful to stay on the major streets when alone rather than the numerous smaller streets. If there were a real problem, you can bet we would be insisting that they go to another school. Instead, she loves being in New Orleans and enjoying its very unique aspects. I like the fact that no matter where she ends up, she has experience in applying common sense measures to insure her personal safety. One can talk to their kids and have them take seminars all one wants, and that is important. But putting it into practice is even more valuable.</p>
<p>Finally, the best way to really see the difference between press hyperbole and the reality is to visit. Spend a couple of days and a night walking around the campus and its neighborhoods, talk to current students, sit in on a couple of classes, and check out the night life. I think then you will understand why we say what we say.</p>
<p>D is applying to TU and of course some of the same concerns occurred to us. But I have visited NOLA many times and JHP & Fallenchemist are correct. The areas around campus are safe. The areas that you would go to are safe. Travel to and from these areas is safe. That said, living in any big city means always being aware of your surroundings. Knowing where not to venture and trying to never be on the streets alone at night. I will give my D the same speech about safety no matter where she goes (and I will probably worry no matter where she end up). NOLA is one of the greatest cities because it is so dynamic but with all the good comes some bad. Which only means that it requires a certain amount of common sense and caution to enjoy it all. Don’t stay in the bubble.</p>
<p>I should have added that they appear to have caught the people responsible for the armed robberies and as far as I know there have been no more incidents like those since.</p>
<p>Well said, pushydad. Sounds like you have a good handle on this aspect of college life, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. I am sure my D would be happy to relate anything you or your D would want to know as well.</p>
<p>I am happy to report that Forbes has just released the top 10 most dangerous cities in America, and New Orleans did NOT make the list!</p>
<p>[Detroit</a> Tops The 2012 List Of America’s Most Dangerous Cities - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/10/18/detroit-tops-the-2012-list-of-americas-most-dangerous-cities/]Detroit”>Detroit Tops The 2012 List Of America's Most Dangerous Cities)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your input. It is my Son that is applying. Don’t get me wrong, we have our share of crime and infestation up here also. It is just that up here I know that you can escape if desired, into more relaxed areas. I was wondering where my S might escape to?? From what you say, the students can find outlets.</p>
<p>lkwpske - There are numerous places for the kids to go, both with and without alcohol involved. Here are a few highlights:</p>
<p>1) Probably the most frequented off-campus area is the Oak/Maple Street area. If you go to that same map and enlarge it again, then look just west of Broadway and a couple blocks north of St. Charles. That is Maple (you will see Maple Street Books highlighted) and a few more blocks north is Oak. You can see it named west of S Carrollton. It is highly residential there, but scattered throughout that area are restaurants, bars, and novelty places (yogurt shops, etc). Other than The Boot which is the bar right next to campus at Zimple and Broadway, this is the most popular area. BTW, you will see a place called The Camillia Grill on the map. Be sure to check it out if you visit with your son.</p>
<p>2) Magazine Street South of campus, about 2/3 of the way through Audubon Park towards the river, you will see Magazine Street. This goes all the way downtown, and quite a bit of it has lots of specialty shops and restaurants. Some of the places have live music (as do some of the Oak/Maple venues) and dancing. Audubon Park itself is a great getaway during the day, with the zoo, golf course, and it is just beautiful. If you haven’t seen the live oaks there and on campus, along with the magnolias, they are spectacular.</p>
<p>3) Frenchman Street Lots of music and fun places, not to be confused with the French Quarter. [New</a> Orleans bar guide 2012: Frenchmen Street a pulsing microcosm of city’s culture | NOLA.com](<a href=“http://www.nola.com/bar-guide/index.ssf/2012/07/new_orleans_bar_guide_2012_fre.html]New”>http://www.nola.com/bar-guide/index.ssf/2012/07/new_orleans_bar_guide_2012_fre.html) Actually most students stop going to Bourbon Street after a short while. It gets really old really fast. But there are some other really great places in the Quarter as well, however Frenchman Street is better I think.</p>
<p>4) City Park This is where the Art Museum and Botanical Gardens are located, along with another golf course. The students don’t get here as much, but it is a nice resource to have if you just want to spend a day at a large museum once in a while. New Orleans also has some other interesting museums near downtown.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that the weather through most of the school year is far more moderate than up north. It can get down in the low 40’s or upper 30’s in the winter, but it can just as easily be in the 60’s or 70’s. So taking advantage of these outdoor activities is often a possibility.</p>
<p>5) Metarie The upscale suburb of New Orleans, Tulane runs a shuttle to the mall there which has a multi-screen theater. On the map just go due west of City Park and you will see Metarie marked. The shopping center is right off I-10. I think it is called Clearview.</p>
<p>There are so many other activities I couldn’t possibly go into them all. There are major and minor festivals all the time, obviously some major sports, and so many fun restaurants to try.</p>
<p>Of course that is only talking about off-campus activities. Tulane is always having concerts, guest speakers, and club/intramural sports. There is also the Greek scene if he is considering that.</p>
<p>Hope that helps a little! If Tulane is a serious possibility for your son, I strongly recommend he and at least one parent visit.</p>
<p>Thanks so much !!! Very helpful.</p>
<p>Tulane’s campus is about 5 miles from downtown. The surrounding neighborhood is residential and has palm trees, multi-million dollar mansions and swanky private schools where tuition is $20k+ per year. Think Boston College out in Chestnut Hill – a suburb close to an interesting city – rather than concrete jungle urban. </p>
<p>I’m less worried about my kid in Tulane’s neighborhood than I would be if my kid was cruising around the surrounding neighborhood of Georgetown, Penn, NYU, Fordham, Columbia, Yale, Brown, BU, Chicago, USC or Berkeley.</p>
<p>And since Katrina, Tulane’s student service program connecting to the city is one of its signature features.</p>
<p>I’d like to add one more neighborhood to the list provided by The Fallen Chemist, about a 10 -12 minute walk from campus. It’s Freret Street, (or known as the New Freret) east of campus. In the last three years, it went from a deserted area to about 1/2 mile strip of new restaurants, coffehouses/cafes, nightclubs, music, comedy, etc. I should know…my daughter graduated Tulane in 2010, stayed in the city, and opened up a music/comedy/movie house known as The Alamo Underground. (In fact, Robin Williams recently popped in). Check out “thenewfreret.com”</p>
<p>Thanks for that, lewmin. When I was there in late August I couldn’t believe how much that area has changed! I could see it was being totally renovated and coming back, but I didn’t realize it had come that far already. That is really good to see, there are some great homes there as well that just need some work.</p>
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<p>Have you ever even been to Georgetown??</p>
<p>Yeah, I thought the same thing when I read that Tom. I always thought Georgetown was the upscale area, but I am not familiar enough with it to dispute what northwesty said. Also the Brown area is way nicer now than 20-30 years ago, it is as safe as Tulane, WUSTL, many others. By which I mean common sense always needs to apply, but it is hardly crime infested. The really crappy, more dangerous areas of Providence are on the other side of the downtown area, away from the Brown/RISD campuses. Downtown Providence is pretty nice and safe now as well. Buddy Cianci may have been a crook, but he really cleaned up Providence. He just took more than his salary doing it, LOL.</p>
<p>I live right next to Georgetown and it is extremely upscale and is as safe as any of the suburbs. But I understand the poster’s point. On the whole, areas around colleges in big cities have gotten much safer. My dad went to grad school at Columbia and back then it was pretty unsafe. It’s now one of the safest precincts in the city.</p>
<p>“Safe” is of course a relative term. I grew up in Brooklyn where going to middle school was sometimes unsafe. I went to college upstate NY in as bucolic a setting as you can imagine and knew two girls who were raped near campus. We will always worry about our kids’ safety, but we have to hope we have taught them the common sense they need to feel confident in most situations. If you feel unsafe in a big city, you will feel unsafe in certain NOLA neighborhoods. If you are smart and aware of your surroundings you will likely do fine in most American cities.</p>
<p>That is the kind of point we often try to make here when this topic comes up, pushydad. Chapel Hill is gorgeous and charming, but a student was killed there about 5 years back. I think it was during a convenience store robbery. Cannot remember for sure, but that kind of thing can happen anywhere. And in searching for that incident, I see a student was just killed in her apartment near campus about a month ago. Such a shame.</p>
<p>Rape is generally a big issue around college campuses. I don’t know the situation today, but when my cousin was attending Ohio State it was a real problem there. And I don’t mean date rape or acquaintance rape, bad as those are.</p>
<p>So yes, I am not saying some of these places are as safe as some gated community in the hills of Silicon Valley. But they are much safer than the general statistics for crime in these cities would indicate, for the reasons already detailed. And of course assuming some common sense.</p>
<p>I’ve spent enough time in Gtown to have my car broken into twice there. Back in the 90s, DC probably had a worse reputation than Nola as a dangerous city. Remember Marion Barry?</p>
<p>The area around the Gtown campus is swanky, but is within relatively short/easy reach of some sketchy DC urban areas. Same as Tulane’s location, although Georgetown is more built up and urban. I wouldn’t encourage my kid to go running in either Audabon Park or Rock Creek Park after dark by themselves. </p>
<p>Since the OP (like me) is from the Northeast, my point was that I don’t think either Tulane or Georgetown has a particularly worry-some location. But you don’t see people asking about whether it is crazy to send their kid to college in DC or Philly or NYC or Boston.</p>
<p>I think that is true of many campuses that have been around a long time, especially urban ones. The areas right around them are often nice (although some are pretty bad almost immediately) but you don’t have to go terribly far to get to the bad areas. Of course that is often true of neighborhoods in general, college locations or not. Some are still pretty bad (USC, Penn, Temple, Johns Hopkins, Chicago for examples) and others are improving a lot, sometimes because the universities themselves have bought up the cheap property and sometimes just through renewal efforts.</p>
<p>Totally agree that some places, New Orleans in particular, get a bum rap when as you say these other places have plenty of crime, and often more crime in the area of concern, the campus. Also agree that going into any large park at night is questionable. Forest Park across from WUSTL would also fit that description. Great place, but one would be very foolish to go there alone at night.</p>
<p>Anyway, the bottom line on all this is not the impression the media gives, but the experience of many years of the students. As one can see from the boards here and from visiting, that has been exceedingly positive for the vast majority of students and crime has not impacted their experience. The exceptions are lamentable, but no more so than at these other schools we have mentioned.</p>
<p>This topic comes up time and again. Urban schools may have more of a safety concern than rural schools, but as they say, it ain’t necessarily so. Stuff can happen anywhere, but yes, students should be mindful and careful at night and when alone. There was an uptick in crime earlier this year, but I think the school and the local NOPD precincts have been responding to the concerns raised by parents and students. Is it a perfect place? No. That said, my DS is still there, having grduated and accepted a job locally. He lives with 2 grad students so still lives near campus. He spent a summer on another urban campus and had his car broken into there. This can happen anywhere.</p>