<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am brand new to this listserve and happy to have joined you all.</p>
<p>My daughter will be applying to the University of Pittsburgh and I'm concerned about the safety of the campus and surrounding areas. I've been told that students have been mugged in the university area. Can anyone who knows the current situation at Pitt enlighten me?</p>
<p>Thanks,
jstern</p>
<p>I think Oakland is pretty safe overall, especially if you use some common sense. The muggings you speak of occurred last spring on the somewhat secluded stairs behind the Chevron chemistry building. Students from a city high school near there were allegedly responsible for the muggings as well as some break-ins at the Chevron building and parked cars, but I don't know if this was ever substantiated. Most of the students living in dorms up on the hill take the Pitt shuttle bus back to their dorms, especially at night. </p>
<p>There may have been other incidents, but these were in the news and the only ones I am aware of.</p>
<p>Other common sense tips for safety include avoiding the bar areas late at night, avoiding Schenley Park at night, walking with a friend and being generally aware of your surroundings.</p>
<p>The good thing about the Oakland campus is that it is bustling at all hours of the day and night. I think it would be unlikely to find yourself alone anywhere at Pitt!</p>
<p>Hey! We just got back from installing D at Pitt, and I would have to say it seems to be about as safe as is humanly possible to make an urban campus be. In some cases safer as the dorm security is the tightest I've seen in the various campuses we've toured/experienced with 2 college students.</p>
<p>As for the Chevron bldg., I read about that in a "Welcome Students" newspaper that was out for orientation. The article said that the university and the college cops were taking steps to make that part of the bldg less "secluded". They were removing shrubs and other obstacles to seeing the stairs clearly, adding or improving the lighting and also doing something with the security cameras to make it more visible for surveillance. Also seemed to be doing something to perhaps have the campus police be looking at that area more.</p>
<p>An alum that was showing us the Heinz Chapel voluntarily brought up the safety subject and emphasized that if you took common sense measures like not walking around alone in the middle of the night, you would be pretty safe. A student tour guide told us about the Saferider bus system that will come get you and bring you to your dorm or wherever if you feel uncomfortable. She had even used it to get from a friend's off campus apt. back to her dorm.</p>
<p>I doubt that Pitt has any more problems and probably less than any other urban campus, such as UChicago or Columbia. Our other D goes to more of a small town traditional campus and they had to contend with a serial killer (now caught and in jail). Phoenix, and hence Arizona State, is now worrying about a serial killer and a lot more crime than I realized they had. I think anyplace has the potential to be dangerous and a healthy dose of commons sense street smarts is necessary for just about any college.</p>
<p>Pitt does a good job of protecting the students from what I've seen so far.</p>
<p>As a 20 year Pittsburgh resident who lives about 2 miles form the Pitt campus, I would agree with the above comments regarding safety around the campus. The Pitt/CMU campus is about as safe as any urban campus with a metropolitan area over two million.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman in Baltimore and she feels no where near as safe as she did walking around Pittsburgh. </p>
<p>And there are plenty of things to do, places to go and things to eat and drink in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.</p>