<p>1) crime: i’ve read somewhere that philly has the highest homicide rate among the cities in the US. is this at all applicable to areas around PENN?
2) public transportation costs: cited to be very expensive, but how much of it is discounted for students?
3) housing: better to live in the suburbs and commute, or live nearby campus?</p>
<p>1) Well, I live extremely close to Philadelphia, and frankly, the "brothers and sisters" are NOT running the city.</p>
<p>Penn's campus is extremely safe. Even once you go West of 42nd St. there isn't that much to be scared of, though I really don't see why you would do that on foot, as there isn't much there except residential areas. Going the other way, East, into the city, is also safe, as long as you use common sense. You're obviously not going to walk alone in a dark alley at midnight.</p>
<p>3) It's probably better to stay on the campus, rather than live in a suburb. To get to Penn, it takes about 20 minutes from the closest suburb, simply because of city traffic (it's also 20 minutes using SEPTA from the suburbs).</p>
<p>well, Mayor Street is probably the worst ever...but aside from that, crime isn't really that bad. Penn isn't in the "hoods" of Philly. Public transportion is no problem at all, considering alll the places you can go.</p>
<p>The LUCY (Loop around University CitY) bus runs from 6am to 7pm and it's free for PennCard holders. But walking around Penn is really convenient.</p>
<p>Most of the homicide is drug/gang related, between people who know each other, drug dealers fighting over turf, etc. and usually does not affect Penn students. Every few years a Penn student gets stabbed/shot in a robbery but statistically your chances of being murdered if you are a Penn student are extremely small - I'd worry more about getting run over by a car. Still use common sense and don't go jogging thru W. Phila. at 3AM.</p>
<p>Penn campus itself is pretty safe. A lot of those murders go on in parts of W. Phila., maybe a mile or two from the campus but it might as well be on the moon because the worlds do not cross. </p>
<p>Transit fares are lower per ride if you buy a pass. Mayor Street was bragging at a convention of his people. Blacks are a very large group of voters in Philadelphia but the power structure is mixed - in the next election there are black candidates and white ones - the mayor before Street was white, if anyone is counting.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to live on or near campus. You'll miss out on the social life if you commute.</p>
<p>LoL.... "every year a few penn students get stabbed/shot" -_-;...</p>
<p>It's weird how some of the great schools like Penn, Yale, and to an extent Columbia are located in such utterly crappy locations (morningside heights is extremely nice though for Columbia)</p>
<p>truazn, percy said "every few years" not "a few every year"... big difference</p>
<p>really, i dont think it will concern me that much. it's part of the trade-off for being in a city, not a small college town. yeah, there's a greater crime rate, but there are also thousands of advantages to being in a city that significantly outweigh the minor risk.</p>
<p>Big difference between New Haven and Philly - New Haven has very few upsides and lots of bad. Philly is a vibrant city with some bad neighborhoods.</p>
<p>And yes I said once every few years, not a few every year. I looked on the website and there was 1 murder in 2005 (most recent year I could find) and 0 for the 3 years before. There are also maybe 8 or 10 rapes and 60 or more robberies, so it is not paradise. But remember this is in a community of tens of thousands.</p>
<p>Again you have to exercise common sense - if you are a female don't go jogging by yourself at 3 AM. Come to think of it, not a good idea for guys either.</p>
<p>There was a murder I just read about in Boston involving a recent U. Mich. grad. She went to a club and then got invited to an "after hours" party in a bad neighborhood with some guys she met at the club. There was some name calling and a shots rang out intended for her new "friends" but she got shot in the head instead. It's great to be open minded and multi-cultural and all that, but if some Cape Verdean drug dealers invite you to an after hours party, don't go. This girl was valedictorian from a rural town, promising career, yadda yadda - all wasted in an instant. If you are going to be in the big city you have got to wise up and not just be book smart - not everyone has good intentions like your friends back home in Podunk, Kentucky.</p>
<p>The Penn campus is relatively safe. In University City, the further north or west you go, the less safe the area becomes. Thankfully for Penn students, Drexel Univ is north so it provides some buffer. To the east is Center City, which is considered to be the most upscale section of Philadelphia.</p>
<p>Why commute to college, you miss out on the whole experience. Do you really want to take Septa every day. You can not drive in, there is no place to park without paying a big fee.</p>
<p>lol percy you sound like an old wise hermit :) but yea, about those rape cases, i bet those were just drunk girls who found out they had sex the night before and filed charges...that happens a lot...but then again, maybe they were allegedly raped, who knows? =/</p>
<p>from what i could tell, the campus itself seemed very safe and vibrant, and even the areas immediately around it. it was kind of like columbia, where the campus and immediate surroundings are very nice, but are still right within or next to harlem.</p>