The truth about USC's safety/crime rate?

<p>Yes, the space shuttle is between USC and the Colleseum. We walked past it on the way to and from the football game when we were in town for Parents Weekend. Each has to decide what they’re comfortable with.</p>

<p>@notaznguy that was funny, thanks for the chuckle!</p>

<p>Having a student at USC, I noticed after the tragedy last year, security was way up, they had their patrol people in yellow vests everywhere in the patrol boundary. Was just there for a few days, didn’t see any of them.</p>

<p>I have a daughter at USC. I can sum up campus safety for you in one sentence.<g></g></p>

<p>You are safe, you bike isn’t. The biggest problem is bike theft.</p>

<p>Our S solved any interest in having his or D’s bike stolen by buying really junker bikes for <$10. They stole D’s lock and chain but left her bike alone. Neither have had anyone wanting to steal their bikes. Believe S sold the bike for about what he originally paid for it when he graduated from USC. Both bikes function fine.</p>

<p>Bikes aren’t really stolen, they are borrowed if/until you find it again. I listened to a bunch of guys talking about seeing their bike is stolen after class so they steal a different one to get home and eventually randomly finding their bike again and stealing it back. Was a pretty funny story actually. But for sure, junkers are the best.</p>

<p>On campus safety is good/excellent, it is how far off campus you live that can be an issue and in which pocket. I wouldn’t want a D that far off campus. From what I saw last week, the outer perimeter doesn’t have the coverage it did a few months ago. I feel they are slacking security again.</p>

<p>Same bike problem at Stanford. Everyone rides ugly, clunker bikes around campus.</p>

<p>USC and UCLA are both wonderful institution. There is nothing wrong with USC neighbor. I dont think anything would happen to you. Both schools have reported crime scene. If it happen, there is nothing you can do about it.</p>

<p>Visited the Natural History Museum with the family this very weekend. We rode the Metro Expo line, walked around campus a bit, my youngest climbed on the roots of the amazing magnolia trees in Exposition Park, and then we walked across the Rose Garden to the NHM. The entire place was teeming with families.</p>

<p>The opening of the Expo Line, the arrival of space shuttle Endeavour, and the renovation of the Natural History Museum are all welcome improvements to Expo Park.</p>

<p>In the summer, crowds also come out for outdoor concernts and movies: [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.streetfoodcinema.com/home.html]home[/url”&gt;http://www.streetfoodcinema.com/home.html]home[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Worse than UCLA? UCLA is pretty safe being in Beverly Hills.</p>

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<p>Fixed that for you.</p>

<p>Bikes has been stolen at least once per year for both my sons while attending USC.</p>

<p>University of Stolen Cycles? :)</p>

<p>My S’s solution to bike theft was to buy cheap clunker bikes for him and D. It worked–neither of them had bikes stolen while attending USC. In fact, D was offended that they stole her chain and lock but left the bike. ;)</p>

<p>Last year my daughter wasn’t on campus for more than 2 weeks with her new bike when someone stole her front tire because the back tire and frame were locked to the rack. They stole the entire bike next to hers minus the front tire. This was right in front of Marks Tower. I ordered her a new tire and a second lock for the front tire to be locked to the frame. This was more work for her but it did fine the rest of the year.</p>

<p>However I also heard that bike theft went way down when the Campus was went to be being a “closed” campus after the Halloween incident. (Interesting that the dorm insurance that I’ve bought for the her the last 2 years specifically excludes bikes at USC.)</p>

<p>I second the clunker bike thing. If you’re going to have a bike around USC, just get a clunker. There was a bike shop in the UV that sold them and as you can imagine there’s a good degree of turnover with them. But bike theft is a problem on most every college campus, as are so many generic crimes of opportunity - unattended laptops in the library is another big one. You’re working on your laptop at all hours of the night and get up to go to the bathroom and pick up some pages you printed off and then you come back and it’s gone. Same thing with personal belongings left in plain sight in locked cars.</p>

<p>As I’ve said on other threads, so much of this just goes back to common sense streets smarts, which so many students matriculating to USC from the suburbs don’t have. It’s not an indictment of their character per se, but a reflection of the fact that kids going to college today haven’t exactly been riding subways and buses all around cities on their own for 5-6 years before they come to college. They don’t know how to watch their backs and they’re painfully naive that way.</p>

<p>We were warned away from L.A. Bikes. There are some pretty detailed complaints online about them. But we went to Lions Bikes which is about a block or so away from them and they had good service and cheap prices. </p>

<p>I second the issue about common sense. My daughter had to point out to a classmate that you can’t count your money (especially a lot of it) on a city bus in full view of riders and expect to remain safe.</p>

<p>But on campus issues, i’m finding that sometimes the thefts are “internal” - i.e. other students. Wish there were more security cameras around.</p>

<p>No one can honestly refute the fact that USC is located in a pretty bad neighborhood. But some common sense and street smarts do go a long way. Don’t walk alone at night more than a couple of blocks away from USC property. Don’t attract unnecessary attention to yourself while out in the public. Always be alert and don’t make stupid decisions.</p>

<p>My S bought his and D’s bikes from an auction and put in enough elbow grease so they were rideable but NOT attractive. My brother and I did the same thing decades ago. We ultimately sold it for the price we purchase the bikes for, so free use of the bikes and NO one was interested in stealing them. They also fared decently when they fell. ;)</p>

<p>Yep! So true.</p>

<p>On the other hand, there are pockets of “bad” anywhere you go in the country, but relatively speaking, we were braced for “bad” and arrived to USC to find “meh!” </p>

<p>Yale is near a sketchy area and so are the colleges like Harvard and MIT in the Boston area. If you’re not going to school in a rural area with idyllic meadows and pastures, you’re going to be near neighborhoods that aren’t completely crime free.</p>

<p>UCLA made the list of top 25 schools with safety issues. So the best advice is to use common sense (which has sometimes been lacking on campus). </p>

<p>@JohntheChemist was spot on. Don’t count out your wad of cash on a city bus. If you buy a flashy bike it may (will) be a potential theft target (including some people on campus). Watch your surroundings, don’t go exploring the area at night without company or without someone knowing where you’re going.</p>

<p>But in general the area between USC and downtown was a bit run down and so was the area near the grocery store - but in general we never felt unsafe while there.</p>