<p>How safe is Rice and its surrounding areas considered to be?</p>
<p>Houston is heavy for crime, wild drivers, and is around number 5 in the ruddest cities. It's alright in my opinion not really a "college town" like College Station or Austin but it's pretty cool.</p>
<p>Houston is high in crime, but Rice's neighborhood is pretty upscale - museums, Texas Medical Center, nice housing and shopping. There's definitely crime, but for the most part as long as you are aware of your whereabouts, you're fine.</p>
<p>Kunnel_25. Yes, on the wild drivers. Rudest cities? We've always had great experiences in Houston, with friendly people. College Station is an ugly, squalid sort of town, and I would definitely not call it a college town. Austin is a huge city, and most students commute quite a distance to UT. I live in Austin, and would definitely NOT call it a college town. The area around Rice is lovely, green, with large trees, big houses, light rail right next to it, big park and zoo across the street, eclectic shopping area with great restaurants just a few blocks away. Parts of Houston do have fairly high crime rates. The area around Rice is quite safe. Biggest problem is bike theft. I agree that Houston is not a college town - it is a huge city with many wonderful resources.</p>
<p>I would sure hope that Houston is not considered a "college town." Come on, it's the 4th largest city in the U.S.! College towns are overridden with 19 & 20-somethings thinking they own the world. Fortunately in Houston, its handful of colleges are tempered with a variety of other populations.</p>
<p>West-U (Rice's neighborhood) is considered to be quite nice, with expensive houses and unique shopping areas. I would consider it to be a safe area, but of course, crimes can happen anywhere. Rice also makes special efforts to create a safe environment for its students. There are campus police and security guards, a blue-light system, around-the-campus shuttles, and other systems in place to protect students.</p>
<p>There are dangerous parts of Houston, just as there are dangerous parts of any major city. However, it's very easy to avoid them.<br>
The area around Rice is pretty safe. You probably want to avoid running or walking around the outer loop (the running trail/sidewalk surrounding campus) or coming back on the lightrail by yourself (especially if female) really late at night (I go jogging at all hours of the night, but usually with another person or two and have never felt threatened in any way). </p>
<p>On campus is very safe - except for the extreme edges of campus (out beyond the stadium and such) it's pretty safe to wander around at any time - even at 2 or 3 am there are usually some other students wandering around and Rice police are never more than a few seconds away.</p>
<p>I agree with most comments on here, but the rudest city thing I disagree with...</p>
<p>"They" (I don't remember who) did a study on the friendliness of most major cities. For the experiment, they had a guy drop his briefcase full of papers and recorded how many times people would help (and how many people each time) pick up all his papers... anyway, they were amazed at how many Houstonians helped the guy... I think it was the 'friendliest' city in there study. And New York was lowest on the list, so I guess it really played to the stereotype...</p>
<p>But yes, there are definitely places to avoid... Watch the local news regularly and stay away from the areas that have constant crime... especially the area in/around Briar Forest & Wilcrest. Bad stuff, but easy to avoid.</p>
<p>There's a lot of talk about Houston in this thread, but I think what is far more relevant is whether Rice itself is safe, since that's where you will be spending about 90% of your time unless you live off-campus.</p>
<p>Rice itself is incredibly safe. I have walked back to my college alone from working on the Thresher at four a.m. several times and not once have I felt unsafe. (It is worth noting that I am a male.) After midnight all of the entrances to the campus are blocked off except for the one that is right next to the police station. RUPD (Rice University Police Department) are really committed to what they do, and their first priority is keeping you safe--not getting you in trouble. Also, RUPD has more officers on-duty at any given time than West U.--the closest local precinct.</p>
<p>If I may digress for a moment, I'd like to say that RUPD are awesome. They like to get to know the students and hang out in the colleges' commons quite often. I have a good rapport with a good handful of the officers (not for the reason you think...), and I've rode in the back of the squad car to Whataburger a couple times.</p>
<p>I wouldn't venture too far off-campus alone after midnight, but when you're with friends most parts of Houston feel pretty saft.</p>
<p>Go someplace that's out in the country or in a small town, like Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"They" (I don't remember who) did a study on the friendliness of most major cities. For the experiment, they had a guy drop his briefcase full of papers and recorded how many times people would help (and how many people each time) pick up all his papers... anyway, they were amazed at how many Houstonians helped the guy... I think it was the 'friendliest' city in there study. And New York was lowest on the list, so I guess it really played to the stereotype...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I dunno if that really says much about how rude a city is as opposed to other factors. Maybe New Yorkers are busier -- when people are on a deadline, they're probably gonna be less likely to help others if it takes more than 5 seconds. The specific place where these experiments occurred might also make a difference.
And I don't even know how not helping someone equates to rudeness. -_-;</p>
<p>ehhh <em>shrugs shoulders</em></p>
<p>I didn't mean anything against NYC, I just thought is was funny that they were last only b/c that is what most would expect.</p>
<p>Ya, I also thought about how location would affect the 'experiment'... mainly just thought it was a funny little story I've heard more than once.</p>
<p>Oh, and like I said, the study wasn't on how rude, but how friendly/helpful, so I don't think anyone in the study was labeled 'rude'.</p>
<p>Btw, just because Houston's down south doesn't mean people aren't as busy/ in a hurry. ;)</p>
<p>well the survey i read about the "ruddest city" deal on Houston might be wrong i dont truly know that. But i do agree on the fact that it has the wildest drivers without a doubt.</p>
<p>Kunnel - you are a rising high school junior from North Texas. How much experience do you have in Houston??? ;)</p>
<p>"Wildest drivers without a doubt"... in the US? in TX?</p>
<p>If you mean in the US, I'd say that's totally and completely wrong. It's probably Miami for sure.</p>
<p>As for TX, in my experience Dallas is much worse when it comes to driver courtesy and dangerous speeding in heavy traffic.</p>
<p>But being the nation's 4th largest city, Houston definitely has its fair share of traffic.</p>
<p>The area around Rice is a nice, quiet neighborhood. You won't find too much crime or crazy driving.</p>
<p>Haha, the drivers are really crazy. When I visited, I constantly saw cars zip across multiple lanes.</p>
<p>:] I just like picking apart surveys and studies.</p>
<p>Houston drivers are...strange. ;]</p>
<p>kunnel- you truly don't know what you are talking about.</p>
<p>whatever it was a experience... it always happens whenever i make a visit to Houston .</p>
<p>who doesn't zip across multiple lanes?!</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>Btw, if you go to Rice you don't really need a car. Passport to Houston makes the public light rail FREE, and well as the Rice shuttle. Of course, I'm sure it's nice to have a car, but it'll cost you $400 a year in parking alone.</p>
<p>Btw, we are SO off topic! :)</p>