<p>I've heard many things about USC's crime rate and safety. Some say its safe and some say its not safe or even worse than UCLA. I'm confused about this and would like to know the truth.</p>
<p>This topic has been beaten to death. It is safer than before and crime has decreased with the addition of yellow jackets on many street corners and ID and fingerprint entry, etc. Don’t be stupid like walking alone at 3am in an area you aren’t supposed to be when its very dark, etc. On campus is very safe, north is generally mostly safe as well. West is more like 50/50 community people/students so it gets a bad rep but is just “okay” and does generally gets worse the more west you go towards Normandy. Probably shouldn’t venture south past MLK but you probably would never have a reason to. Same goes for east, probably better off not crossing the 110 unless you need to go to the Parking Center or other USC buildings in that area. Take campus cruiser or the trams or the Leavey lift if you need to go home late off campus and try not to live out of the boundaries (preferably north) and its perfectly fine.</p>
<p>I lived on campus, north and west of campus and never had a problem and this was before the implementation of more security so IMO its pretty overstated if someone says its “really really bad”. Yeah, there are neighborhood people roaming around, people collecting bottles for recycling, and some people asking for money but if you ignore them, they will usually leave you alone.</p>
<p>The tl;dr is stay within the boundaries and don’t be stupid and you’ll be fine. Most students will never see crime in their time at USC.</p>
<p>Thank you for the insight. I was truly confused about USC’s safety with people posting stats about the large number of crime. Specifically, the Usc vs UCLA thread in which they were also discussing the crime rate and the stats they posted kind of worried me.</p>
<p>Oh hey maxmillion thanks for this post :)</p>
<p>My cousin is at UCLA and UCLA is in a much nicer neighborhood than USC. In other words, you can go and walk to Westwood and have a great time at many different places. However, you need to still be cautious while at UCLA. USC is in a dangerous neighborhood, no getting around it. You don’t go have coffee in the “neighborhood”. You stay much closer to campus as you can be in a really bad place less than a 1/2 mile from campus. All that said, I still want to go to USC. It’s just that it is important to know where in LA you are and to be aware.</p>
<p>I honestly wouldn’t worry about safety and wouldn’t let that deter you from going to either school, or to any urban school. Yes, USC is easily in a worse neighborhood (although USC’s neighborhood is rapidly, rapidly gentrifying and you’ll see it when you visit) however the larger issue is going to an urban school. An urban school means that you have unparalleled access to internships, cultural events, guest speakers, and networking opportunities with top people in your field, but it also means having to watch your back at night and not do anything stupid.</p>
<p>IMHO the real issue is the fact that so many kids come to both schools (and many top colleges) from sheltered suburbs and are naive about the realities of urban living, and in USC’s case they downplay the safety issue because they have to soothe the concerns of parents while not alienating residents of the neighborhood. The university does plenty on the neighborhood side - running tutoring programs, admitting high achieving neighborhood kids with full scholarships, and hiring residents for staff positions - but could stand to do more on the student side.</p>
<p>Keep in mind when looking at the crime statistics that both USC and UCLA are huge schools - 30,000-40,000 students - so if there’s 5 rapes and 10 robberies or whatever that that’s still a VERY small number. However, if you’re a kid who grows up in a place like Thousand Oaks (one of the 2-3 safest large suburbs in the country) then everything is going to look dangerous to you. But USC is not Compton or Watts or Harlem, and even then, both L.A. and NYC right now have the lowest crime rates they’ve had in 50 years - seriously. Cities are not nearly as dangerous as they used to be.</p>
<p>Although UCLA is in a nicer (read: richer) neighborhood, there’s still going to be random crime. If you’re walking around at 3am showing off your laptop/phone, you’re going to get mugged regardless of where you are. USC is not in a “dangerous” neighborhood, as the poster above me said. People who go on and on about how bad USC is probably grew up in a significantly nicer area and have never actually seen bad neighborhoods. USC is in your typical, urban, lower and middle class neighborhood, and the cost of living is significantly lower than at UCLA. The area is populated mostly by students anyway, and USC has tons of security measures in place to protect you on the off chance that something does happen. </p>
<p>In fact, I’ve had more bad things happen to me in Westwood (my car got hit three times there) than at USC (nothing bad has ever happened to me before and I live pretty far west of campus and walk to and from class).</p>
<p>(For what it’s worth, I lived in projects in/around Chicago and USC is way nicer than those.)</p>
<p>They put the Space Shuttle Endeavour on permanent display across the street. If the area was that bad, the shuttle wouldn’t be there.</p>
<p>Wow thanks you guys your inputs have really helped :)</p>
<p>@simba9
Interesting I did not know that :)</p>
<p>The truth about USC’s safety? That I’ve never had anything happen to me, nor have any of my friends. If you’re being sensible, not flaunting your possessions, and being aware of your surroundings - as you should be /anywhere/ you go - you’ll be perfectly fine.</p>
<p>
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<p>Actually, you do.</p>
<p>Umm, yeah. I missed that comment before (only read original post) and yes, USC students go out for coffee all the time. There’s a Starbucks in the University Village just across the street from campus and one of my TAs held his office hours there. There’s a Coffee Bean just southeast of campus on Figueroa that has a really nice courtyard and of course there’s always good ole Denny’s in the UV as well.</p>
<p>People exaggerate the neighborhood issues and, frankly, it depends on where you’re coming from. As I said above, the vast majority of students are naive, sheltered suburbanites (i.e. kids whose parents drove them everywhere in minivans) rather than kids who took the subway all around New York City on their own starting around age 12. They’re not streetwise and that’s where the university needs to be more honest in teaching them the realities of urban living. To thugs and criminals, USC and UCLA students (and NYU and Columbia students, and Penn students…) are easy, soft targets because they make stupid decisions. The university does just about everything it can but the reality is that you can be mugged in any city anywhere. </p>
<p>Still, I would rather live in the city any day of the week rather than have gone to school in the middle of a cornfield… how boring. And if you spend any amount of time at any of the L.A. hotspots that USC and UCLA students frequent - L.A. Live, Hollywood, Sunset Strip, Third Street Promenade, Pasadena, etc. - you’ll meet teenagers and college students who drive 2 hours each way to get there because the place that they live is so boring to begin with.</p>
<p>^^Another Starbucks in Icon Plaza as well right across the street.</p>
<p>Both my kids attended USC, as did their friends. All have been safe and crime free there (other than S who had wallet and phone stolen when foolishly leaving them unattended at the gym). D also had a phone stolen when she left it on floor of auditorium. </p>
<p>Making good choices, not flashing bling, not walking alone while drunk at early hours of the morning and you should be fine in most urban environments.</p>
<p>Just to corroborate the random crime stuff: one of my classmates announced today that, while at the beach, someone broke into his car and stole his wallet, phone, and computer. Not a bad neighborhood at all. </p>
<p>My dad was stunned when he came with me to USC one night and saw the security, lighting and general quiet of campus. When he went there, none of that was in place (which is basically the reason why USC had such a bad reputation in the first place). But the area has improved significantly. </p>
<p>Westwood is a really great neighborhood–if you’re in the nice part. There’s a bad side to Westwood, too, and I hate being THERE after dark.</p>
<p>^ Um, please don’t tell me he had his wallet, computer, and phone out and in sight in the first place? If so, what do you expect to happen? There’s nothing “random” about that crime. Common sense: You leave something nice and shiny and easily accessible out in the open, please don’t be surprised when it you find it missing. </p>
<p>Back to the original topic, there’s going to be areas of high crime in the outskirts of most (all?) large cities; that goes for Chicago, New York, Dallas, whatever. LA isn’t special nor the exception.</p>
<p>This brings to mind an infuriating conversation my aunt caught yesterday between a parent of an upcoming USC freshman and an alumni. (My aunt, by the way, lived in LA for a good portion of her life-I also lived in LA for a while before moving out.) But that’s besides the point. </p>
<p>All I can say is, unfortunately, the world isn’t always a safe place, nor is it forgiving to people who have zero street smarts. So don’t be stupid and a “soft” target for others. STAY within campus if you can, ALWAYS travel with a group at night, and, most importantly, DON’T wave your phone, wallet, or anything other valuables around for everyone and their mother to see. </p>
<p>That goes for any school, anywhere.</p>
<p>I love reading the responses on this thread. Some of them should be used on an LSAT test for prospective law students to point out logical fallacies. Let me paraphrase some responses:</p>
<p>“Have you guys ever been to Chicago? USC’s area is heaven compared to the slums there!”</p>
<p>“UCLA and Westwood are dangerous. It has nothing to do with USC and doesn’t answer your question, but hopefully it’ll deflect you away from the fact that South Central has nothing to offer.”</p>
<p>“Westwood can be dangerous too. You know that one dark alley that is miles and miles away from campus and is borderline geographically part of Westwood? Yeah, that little small square feet of land can be quite terrifying.”</p>
<p>“USC only looks dangerous to spoiled rich kids! We prefer to be called urban.”</p>
<p>“The neighborhood is slowly going through gentrification. Last year, we had a couple from Europe move into Compton! It was quite the experience. Diversity, yay!”</p>
<p>“Bad neighborhoods don’t hurt people! People hurt people!”</p>
<p>“Crime happens everywhere, therefore, your concerns are invalid.”</p>
<p>“There’s a space shuttle in an extremely secure museum a mile or two from campus. Again, it has nothing to do with USC and it’s not like those security enhancements are applicable to USC and it’s students, but yay, space shuttle!”</p>
<p>“Nothing happened to my kids or me personally. Therefore, your child is guaranteed to be fine.”</p>
<p>^ oh lol </p>
<p>c8</p>
<p>
Actually, the space shuttle is directly across the street from USC. I have walked there (and to the other museums in Exposition Park) with my younger kids many times while visiting their sister at USC. How irresponsible of me…</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.expositionpark.org/[/url]”>http://www.expositionpark.org/</a>
<a href=“http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/[/url]”>http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/</a>
<a href=“http://www.nhm.org/site/[/url]”>http://www.nhm.org/site/</a>
<a href=“http://www.caamuseum.org/[/url]”>http://www.caamuseum.org/</a>
<a href=“http://www.laparks.org/expo/contact.htm[/url]”>http://www.laparks.org/expo/contact.htm</a></p>