Pratt Institute? Is it a really bad area?

<p>I'm a junior considering Pratt for interior design (they're second best in the country) but after doing research I'm a little nervous about the area. I read its located in Bushwick, Brooklyn - one of the most "ghetto" parts and has an extremely high violent crime rate. I've grown up in a really posh suburb of Chicago so I might have higher standards than other people, but any native new yorkers or people who know more about Pratt would really help! Thanks!</p>

<p>my cousin who went to pratt lives right in that area and i was staying there for three weeks- was better than i expected. i was really nervous going there at first too (i live in ohio), but it wasn't so bad. i'd say it's pretty safe around the daytime- you just gotta be careful like anywhere else. i applied to pratt, but the neighborhood is one of the things that i don't like about the school. the subway kind of sucks and i don't think i'd like living there for 4 years. obviously wouldn't walk around in the nighttime. i always came home by a taxi or car after dark. but considering that pratt is a top school for what you want to major in, go visit the school sometime.</p>

<p>I agree with ablazex. The trend, of course, is very positive. Crime is down every year and that area in particular has a lot going on. Google Brooklyn Academy of Music to get a feel for it. If you're interested, see the movie Notorious. Filmed a few blocks away.</p>

<p>Nah it's okay. I did Pre-college there, I had not one problem with safety. The security guards are really helpful, they advised my friends and I on where not to go on certain days due to events going on that had the potential for unsafe situations. I mean it's a school in a city... you have to be careful. But I think it's safer than the area surrounding MICA, my friend who did Pre-college at MICA had to be escorted everywhere by faculty& staff at the program. Just don't get off at the wrong subway stop really late at night by yourself & don't egg people on, that would probably not be a good idea.</p>

<p>& it's actually not Bushwick, it's in an area now called Clinton-Hill. Look it up on Wikipedia, it's quite nice. Lovely brownstones & lots of families.</p>

<p>It's in Clinton Hill... Bushwick is a bit far away from the neighborhood (about 12 "long" blocks away)</p>

<p>Clinton Hill is generally safe- if leaving the campus, try staying on the western edges (a couple of blocks east of the school is Bed Stuy which is... probobly worst than Bushwick) I've been to the neighborhood during the day a couple times during the day- saw some people who appeared to be lowlifes, but I didn't have any trouble with them- just always walk in groups.</p>

<p>And remember, it doesn't matter if your in Clinton Hill or on the Upper East Side- you can still get mugged any where you go.</p>

<p>The one thing I would stay away from is the G train- it's a desolite line that no one rides- what seems like the perfect place for someone to get mugged.</p>

<p>O, and another bit of re-assurance- I spoke to someone who goes to Pratt while on a tour- and he only knew of one person who has ever gotten mugged while attending the school- she was drunk, singing to her ipod, while texting at three in the morning- so the statistics are good.</p>