<p>I'd like to know from people at Swarthmore or any alums or parents:</p>
<p>I've read that Swarthmore's a very safe campus. Having visited there for a weekend, I agreed. But some articles on the Internet suggest that Philadelphia has a high crime rate, for example, this article from The New York Times:</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure high crime isn't happening in the suburban area surrounding Swarthmore, and that Swarthmore is indeed a safe campus, with the following as a rare exception:</p>
<p>As a Philadelphia native and someone who has spent a lot of time in the 'burbs, Swat included, the campus is definitely safe after dark. That was a weird incident, with the attempted kidnapping, but I've never felt unsafe on campus.</p>
<p>Philadelphia...again, I'm biased, since I'm from Philadelphia, but if you stay in places you know and especially if you're in a group it's really not as scary as people make it seem sometimes. Yes, Philadelphia has a very high crime rate, but the crime rate is due to a high rate of incidents in certain regions of the city. Downtown, where most people end up visiting, is pretty safe. I'm not sure I'd recommend venturing out there alone if you've never been there before, but that's just because getting lost can seem scary no matter where you're from or what you're used to. I walk around downtown Philly by myself every day, and went to school there. I don't really feel unsafe in downtown Philadelphia unless, as I said, it's really late and I'm by myself and it's an unfamiliar place. Maybe that's just a general city-person thing. You can make your own judgement call. :]</p>
<p>Swarthmore has a sweet campus. I attended a soccer camp there in the summer and it's extremely safe. I couldn't even tell I was even close to Philly. As for Philly, it has a high crime rate with respect to other cities. This crime rate isn't dangerously high for anyone to worry about unless you're into drugs or hanging in the shady areas, which I'm guessing you're not. Please don't write off any schools in Philly because of the crime rate. that's just ridiculous. What forgetmenots said was perfect. stay in a group, know your surroundings with respect to time and place. good luck.</p>
<p>You would have a hard time finding a safer campus than Swarthmore's unless you go a hundred miles away from the nearest city out in the sticks. Although not detailed in the Phoenix article, it's pretty obvious reading between the lines that the "attempted kidnapping" was probably a gay pickup, solicitation scenario. I can only recall one confirmed mugging that made the Phoenix in the last ten years -- a late night attempted wallet snatching in the tunnel under the railroad tracks about eight years ago. Ironically, the other violent attack was a high school kid who was (allegedly) beaten to pulp by Swat frat boys after crashing a party and hitting on somebody's girlfriend.</p>
<p>As for Philadelphia: crime stats are, more than anything, a function of the denominator. Where are the city limits? How much population is in the city limits? What are the demographics? If the city limits include a lot of fancy neighborhoods, the crime stats look better. If they are drawn tightly to just include urban urban, they stats look worse.</p>
<p>Crime in big cities is mostly taking place related to activities and neighborhoods that don't involve Swarthmore students. You just don't have any reason to be hanging out in unsafe neighborhoods after dark unless you are clueless or shopping for crack. Anywhere you would want to go -- downtown, South Street, etc. -- is perfectly safe in a group of people at night. No different than Seattle. There are places in Seattle that you wouldn't want to walk around alone at night.</p>
<p>Thank you, Forgetmenots, for that reassurance.</p>
<p>Yes, the author of the article suggested that such an attempted kidnapping did not escalate to any violence and wasn't a huge deal. It's pleasant to know that downtown Philadelphia isn't the major crime scene. And downtown Seattle is pretty safe at night. Perhaps not the coziest or most desirable place to be at night, especially due to the large amounts of homeless people and those who are dangerous and mentally ill, but okay when you're with a group.</p>
<p>Downtown Phila is nice at night. Tons of restaurants with sidewalk seating and so forth.</p>
<p>Best meal I've ever eaten was at Morimoto's restaurant in downtown Phila. There are also a ton of college budget ethnic places.</p>
<p>My daughter and her friends ended up going to the restaurants in downtown Media -- a whole slew of trendy restaurants just a few miles from Swat.</p>