<p>Aloha, OK. I admit it. I am the over-protective dad everyone hears about (when we had a farm, I was the one wearing the Ive castrated every male on this farm T-shirt when dates arrived). My Junior Ds top choice by far is Macalester, and I was hoping someone can give me a boots-on-the-ground report of campus security and whether you feel safe all the time, most of the time, and not at all. Do you have firsthand experience of witnessing a crime? Do you know someone who was a victim?</p>
<p>I have read some not so glowing safety reports from the Hamline campus (less than 8 blocks away from Mac).</p>
<p>Thanks and Aloha.</p>
<p>I’m a parent, not a student, but was just on campus a few weeks ago. St. Paul is the safest city of its size in the US, and Mac is in the safest neighborhood in the city. There might be petty theft every blue moon, but it is in a lovely area of mansions, including the Governor’s mansion. When asked about safety, the students confirm that it’s a very safe campus and safe area.</p>
<p>Thank you ProudMama. Good to here. Aloha.</p>
<p>We used to live about 6 blocks from the campus, and my ex-H lives a few blocks on the other side of it now. I can vouch for the fact that is a safe area. I lived there for about 15 years. I am aware of a couple of property crimes in our neighborhood over the years, but nothing that was safety related. My D is looking at Mac (HS junior right now), and I have absolutely no qualms about it (and I am the embarrassing mom asking a lot of questions about security on every college tour). The people I know who live in the blocks around the Mac campus are teachers, nurses, retired executives, newspaper writers, antique store owners, attorneys, IT managers, chemists, etc., most with kids. </p>
<p>Hamline is a couple of miles north, across the freeway and in a bit less stellar neighborhood. I wouldn’t compare them.</p>
<p>
Hamline is about 22 blocks north of Mac – about two and a half miles.</p>
<p>First, there really aren’t any very distressed areas at all on the western side of St. Paul (perhaps on the eastern side, depending on your standards). Probably the Frogtown area just west of the Capitol is higher-crime, but that’s a couple of miles east of Mac and still a neighborhood with intact and viable communities. As was mentioned, the Midway neighborhood around Hamline is much less residential and a little more rundown than the Mac-Groveland neighborhood. But even in the Midway area I wouldn’t be concerned with my daughter walking by herself on or near the Hamline campus in daylight hours. I would expect her to be more cautious at night and walk with a friend, but still no major concerns. The Macalester neighborhood is still less concerning. Your daughter will be able to walk for many blocks beyond campus without a problem. There are thousands of nice people in the residences around campus living a peaceful existence. I would suggest she (and anyone) adopt a moderate level of city-awareness when out at night, but you’ll see that there isn’t much to worry about if ever you get there. You might even consider doing a streetview walk around campus in Google if you want a peek beforehand.</p>
<p>Map of St. Paul neighborhoods: <a href=“http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=5055[/url]”>http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=5055</a>
Description of St. Paul neighborhoods: <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhoods_of_Saint_Paul[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhoods_of_Saint_Paul</a></p>
<p>You should probably be more concerned about the non-castrated males that she will be going to school with.</p>
<p>Again. Great information. Thanks everyone for sharing. That was my mistake on the proximity of Hamline to Mac. We visited last summer and memory was faulty on that one. They seemed so close when we visited each in the same day. My D will be coming from a rural area and she is craving a big city experience. We are looking at the Twin Cities because she has grandparents in Mpls. Thanks again and Aloha.</p>
<p>Another parent chiming in . . . we live in a small town (but, having been brought up in a big city, I always lock our doors, much to my kids’ amuse/bemusement). My daughter loves Macalester and the cities and I agree with others that the campus is in a safe, lovely neighborhood. My daughter, has related a couple of criminal events to me, however.
First, sophomore year, friends who were sharing a dorm suite left their door unlocked and several items of value (laptops, ipods, etc . . ) were stolen. My daughter’s (and I assume, her friends’) reaction was disbelief that any student at Macalester would steal. I don’t imagine that anyone was apprehended and I doubt if it could be determined if it was a student or someone who, unchallenged, followed a student entering the locked dorm entry. Second, last summer my daughter was sitting outside reading and was approached by a youngish man who struck up a conversation with her, told her a hard luck story, and scammed her out of some money. She found out that the same weekend he had practiced the same ploy on a couple of people she knows. I did tell her to report the incident to campus security, but I don’t know if she did.
So, I’d say that both incidents, marked by naivete and a lack of reasonable caution, could have been prevented.</p>