<p>My dad insists that Columbia is in a bad part of the city. I'm sure he's right... if we're talking about last time he lived in New York, New York.</p>
<p>How is the neighborhood now? I'm thinking of transferring and at this point he'd actually flip out if I decided to go.</p>
<p>UWS is one of the safest hoods in town as long as you stay above morningside park and below 125th st. even those areas are changing for the better. now columbia medical way uptown is a different story....</p>
<p>Your dad's wrong.</p>
<p>Gentrification, baby. Morningside is in Harlem, but its a very safe environment. A lot of students and young adults with a few crazies (especially in Nussbaum) though there was a statistical spike in incidents last semester. Don't think it's a trend. Those kids were just stupid.</p>
<p>Unless you really go past the borders (which very few students do) you won't even feel an environmental difference. Juste don't be stupid. Walking around alone at 3am? Stupid almost annywhere you live. Doing it while talking on an iPhone? Too retarded to deserve to own one.</p>
<p>yeah about what he said on the iphone thing, I've lived in New York for 15 years now, and Harlem definately ranks with parts of brooklyn and Jamaica.</p>
<p>Dont show off expensive things when in public unless plenty of people are around you! I got pick pocketed on the subway a few months ago :( It sucks.</p>
<p>But if you have common sense nothing should really happen to you, I only got pick pocketed for letting my guard down in a such a crowded subway.</p>
<p>"I got pick pocketed on the subway a few months ago It sucks."</p>
<p>it's important be aware of what's around you in very sparse or crowded situations but this has nothing to do with columbia neighborhood safety.</p>
<p>"I've lived in New York for 15 years now, and Harlem definately ranks with parts of brooklyn and Jamaica."</p>
<p>as in it's highly unsafe? or about average? For NYC which is (one of) the safest big city in the US, Harlem isn't particularly dangerous anymore, it has more crime than, say the upper east side, but parts of the Bronx and Brooklyn are definitely much more dangerous, poor people are being driven out of Harlem and into those areas.</p>
<p>I think Morningside itself is an extremely neighborhood.</p>
<p>sorry, morningside itself is an extremely __________ neighborhood? haha that's a very important adjective...</p>
<p>Ok so let me preface this by saying I am probably one of the most paranoid people when it comes to safety. For example, when meeting up with people at a bar near campus at 1030 pm I took a cab, with a friend, from 110th and amsterdam to 109th and columbus because I was just way too sketched out. For any non new yorkers, that's about 2-3 blocks lol.</p>
<p>So, that being said, I generally feel very safe around campus. Broadway and west of that is very safe with tons of restaurants, shops etc. Going east of broadway towards amsterdam and columbus I personally do not really feel safe. Especially not by myself at night. Keep in mind I'm a 5'2 girl from the burbs lol. Generally though unless you live in university apartment housing or in an apartment in that area you would never really venture there alone. </p>
<p>I hope this helps you.</p>
<p>you took a cab 2 blocks on cathedral parkway? at 1030 at night theres absolutely no reason for that even if youre a 5'2 15 yr old girl. im a dude so i guess i cant speak but my ex used to live in the heights and walk home alone at 3 am on 171st AND she was white....</p>
<p>yea I'm not 15, but that's totally irrelevant. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm pretty paranoid about safety. That's pretty creepy though about your ex I would never walk around there by myself that late! Then again, my friend lives in the heights and she feels totally safe.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>I think Morningside itself is an extremely neighborhood.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Extremely neighborly?</p>
<p>
[quote]
UWS is one of the safest hoods in town as long as you stay above morningside park and below 125th st.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The UWS isn't created equal 72nd and CPW is one of the safest hoods in town. However, Morningside isn't nearly as safe.</p>
<p>To the OP: to answer your question: Mornignside is very safe, just don't do anything stupid, which is a rule you'd apply everywhere. Why don't you visit? You'll see what I mean. The campus itself, is totally safe, as is the immediate area around it.</p>
<p>Rcl: wow, you're really paranoid!</p>
<p>I'm 5'1" and a chick and I would make the trip from East Campus to 112th and St. Nicholas Ave--on the other side of morningside park--late at night (my boyfriend at the time lived there) on foot pretty frequently. I never ran into any trouble, it's decently well lit, and there are lots of people around. I only began taking cabs there because I got lazy :D</p>
<p>This will probably get written off as "propaganda" but a tour guide told me that the crime in Columbia's precinct is the lowest in Manhattan besides City Hall's precinct.</p>
<p>Also, I got a good vibe from my visit. I have no idea what Harlem is like at night, but the lower part (120s ish) seemed like a nice neighborhood. And Morningside was extremely nice I thought.</p>
<p>Dear OP,</p>
<p>One important thing for you and your dad to understand is that there is no other "walking city" in the united states, although parts of SF and the Loop in Chicago might count. So the density of people - at all hours of the day and night - is likely to surprise both of you. Whereas in most cities, walking around instead of driving at night would mean you're alone and possible prey, in New York, it means you're among a crowd on the streets and are likely safe.</p>
<p>Pickpockets can happen anywhere. Don't do dumb things, and you'll be fine.</p>
<p>Within the actual Columbia neighborhood - 108th to 122nd, Riverside Drive to Amsterdam - the crime rate is the 2nd lowest in the city (behind the UES), for both property and violent crime. You can look at statistics on the NYPD website.</p>
<p>Outside of that, in South Harlem - below 125th st and west of Lexington Ave - it's quite safe although I can see how it would sketch girls out at night, because the people on the street, while harmless, would be a little creepier. And the parts north of 125th or east of Lex are in fact much more dangerous. But Columbia students rarely have any reason to go to South Harlem, much less the tougher neighborhoods. I used to go from the north end of campus to the B/D train stop on 125th st to take the subway to Yankee Stadium, and in doing so I'd pass two grocery stores, a block of restaurants, the School of Social Work, and a community housing project with kids playing in a playground outside. It doesn't exactly go "abandoned lot, liquor store, gun store, abandoned lot". Columbia is not in the ghetto.</p>
<p>In terms of general NYC safety, the ordinary person has nothing to fear during ordinary hours unless they're doing something extraordinarily stupid. For example, cabs, while a little crazy, are in fact always in control - they will not hit anybody unless the person does something really unexpected. Don't leave your wallet in an obvious pocket of your backpack, and leave your backpack on your back in a crowded subway. Don't go running in a park after dark (although, in the case of Central park, you actually could and you'd be fine). Follow some simple, common-sense logic and you'll feel absolutely no different than being at home in the pasty-white burbs. I'm from there too, and aside from learning to always lock my doors, I adjusted fine.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This will probably get written off as "propaganda" but a tour guide told me that the crime in Columbia's precinct is the lowest in Manhattan besides City Hall's precinct.
[/quote]
for murders, yes, the 01 precinct (includes all of financial district) is the lowest, because they had zero all of last year. If you look at petty / property crime rates though, Morningside beats out everybody except the Upper East Side.</p>
<p>"And the parts north of 125th or east of Lex are in fact much more dangerous"</p>
<p>I'm pretty open to venturing out into harlem (been all over west harlem in the day, walked and biked through narrow streets in the afternoon, been on 125th and neighboring streets on the west/central side well past sunset tons of times and been there at night a couple of times also), but I have never been N of 125 and E of lex (4th ave), I didn't really know if it was particularly dangerous, there simply was never an occasion when I've needed or wanted to go there. I can't see pull factors to the area, that are not replicated elsewhere, close-by. morningside might take safest ivy neighborhood after Dartmouth's, Not sure about cornell's.</p>
<p>"I'd pass two grocery stores, a block of restaurants, the School of Social Work, and a community housing project with kids playing in a playground outside. It doesn't exactly go "abandoned lot, liquor store, gun store, abandoned lot". Columbia is not in the ghetto."</p>
<p>the liquor/gun store was operating out of the back of the grocery.</p>
<p>Im really curious how the future expansion into Manhattanville is going to end up. the blueprints show the campus directly across for 3 housing projects. maybe they'll put up a 20 foot ivy blanketed wall and perhaps a mote....</p>
<p>This past spring my oldest and I toured the east coast top tier urban schools and I was floored my Morningside Heights. There are 7 colleges in the Morningside Heights area ... it is a residential/college are just north of Central Park. Yes it is in NYC and near Harlem so you need to be careful but the area right around campus is terrific (assuming you're looking for an urban school). Frankly, Columbia's location seemed much safer (and fun) than most of the other urban top tier schools in the east.</p>