Interesting that your parents are going on the word of a friend vs. news stories/crime stats.
Assuming that it is not truly dangerous and just one person’s opinion based on hearsay, I’d collect actual crime stat data showing that it is a relatively safe place. Any college with a real crime problem would experience a lot of bad PR, which would lead to a decline in applications…
Also, there is a difference between a campus being “dangerous” and the city it is located in being unsafe. I’d probe more deeply into this before giving up on your dream.