Truth about New Haven.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I was reading this board:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=20122&page=1&pp=20%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=20122&page=1&pp=20&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and started writing a reply to it, but decided it was probably a good idea to post it for everyone to see, since many people seem to have questions or concerns about Yale's location.</p>

<p>I've lived in New Haven for... just about 9 years now (and i volunteer at the hospital so i've walked the area aroudn yale quite a bit as well), and I'm going to have to disagree with like10thousand's impression of the city (in the other thread) and agree with bigndude. If you were to drive down the road from Hamden into New Haven on Whitney Avenue, you'd have quite a different impression of the city than if you were to drive down Dixwell, that's for sure. As with most cities, there are definitely project-like areas and shady roads and alleys, but as long as you exercise common sense, you will not end up a victim of crime. You know, the typical stuff: don't walk down deserted streets alone at night, give the homeless people a buck or two if they start to follow you around and bug you, don't attract attention to yourself, don't flash money... etc etc. </p>

<p>New Haven is very polarized and patchy in that on one hand, you have the terribly shady neighborhoods, but on the other hand, there are beautifully rich areas as well - filled with your typical upper-middle-class snobbery. The Lighthouse Park region, for one, is what you would imagine your nice suburb to looks like- beaches and everything, along with much of the area of New Haven around Whitney. In fact, my dad said something the other day about the lighthouse region wanting to annex themselves from New Haven (just hearsay though, and quite unrelated one at that...).</p>

<p>The area of New Haven around Yale University is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful parts of the city. You have the New Haven Green - a very nice stretch of space with trees and grass surrounded by a few pretty busy roads. Really, New Haven in all its glory circles the Yale area. Chapel street - where I think like10thousand said she lived, is in that area - i think it might pass through the yale campus (but then again, with New Haven, you never know where the university ends and the city begins). </p>

<p>My chemistry teacher just called me O.o</p>

<p>Anyways, back to my walking tour of Yale's surroundings ;), right around the Yale campus, there are the big buildings of New Haven, the hotels, the banks, the nice stores. In fact, there's this stretch of stores and eateries on..... broadway I believe, that I visit quite often (and this is basically inside the Yale campus - though not the old campus area of course). Parking is horrendous, but Yale students don't have to worry about that nightmare, and I see them there all the time. It's quite a nice place.</p>

<p>So, don't let the crime statistics scare you away (whatever they might be). I'm a big fan of Cambridge myself ;) BUT I don't find New Haven (esp the part around Yale) very scary. The truly bad parts are a good distance from campus, and there's NO reason that you would need to venture into these areas alone.</p>

<p>Hope I've been of some help! I can answer any questions as well ;)</p>

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<p>Here are linka at which you can get statistical data about New Haven in a number of categories, and compare it to other college towns. The categories include not only crime, but climate, housing, educational attainment and various "quality of life" categories.</p>

<p>The first site:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.monstermoving.monster.com/Find_a_Place/Compare2Cities/results.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.monstermoving.monster.com/Find_a_Place/Compare2Cities/results.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>... and another site:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bestplaces.net/city/ccmain.aspx?Lcity=0952000&Rcity=2511000&=%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bestplaces.net/city/ccmain.aspx?Lcity=0952000&Rcity=2511000&=&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Numbers are interesting too, but personal experience is probably best.</p>

<p>Thanks for the links anyways, Byerly.</p>

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<p>Personal reports can be interesting, but must be taken with a grain of salt since they represent the views of one person, who may not be exactly objective, and who may not have an adequate frame of reference.</p>

<p>Statistical data from a neutral source with no ax to grind and not engaged in "selling" a city are invariably more reliable.</p>

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<p>But as you're walking around the campus of Yale, you're experiencing it personally, not through a veil of numbers. Raw numbers are great for initial comparison, however, it simply does not tell the whole story - such as the fact that the university is located away from most of the crimes of the city.</p>

<p>Besides, I certainly do not gain or lose anything based on people's opinions of the city. I have no desire to make Yale look good, or bad, I just wanted to offer the personal description that numbers really can't provide. I'm not even going to any ivy league college next year so you can rest assured I have nothing riding on your decisions.</p>

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<p>I'd have to agree with pebbles. I've lived in Hamden all my life and I work at the medical school, which is right on the tip of the "bad neighborhood" - Yale is a *very*polarized community. The downtown area is actually very chic, with several boutiques, a Starbucks, Yale University police all over, a Yale Barnes and Noble, multiple small eateries, and, of course, the gorgeous gothic architecture that are consistently surrounded by undergrads milling about. </p>

<p>Once out of the 5 mile radius of Yale's center, though, the area becomes worse and worse - as I said in a separate link, I was mugged this summer walking to Yale's campus from the medical school, a walk I have made every day for the past two years, practically. </p>

<p>Essentially, Yale undergrad is safe, very safe, and it also is a very comfortable environment. The area has beeing improving for years, and right now it is at a peak it hasn't seen for decades. The area on Dixwell Avenue going into Hamden is definitely not as nice, and I most definitely would not want to get stuck by myself on the outskirts of the campus at night. </p>

<p>Anyway, I don't disagree with you, Byerly, but I don't agree with you. Unless you've lived here and experienced the atmosphere firsthand, you wouldn't know, despite your statistics sites. For some at/going to(/just obsessed with?) Harvard, you should know not to be so insistent over seemingly inconsequential details. Or maybe you're just not blessed, socially.</p>

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<p>You can skip the gratuitous personal insults, fracklybeckly. They add nothing to the persuasiveness of your comments.</p>

<p>Suffice it to say that one person's impressions can be interesting, but may well be of little value without context; you are familiar, are you not, with the tale of the blind men and the elephant?</p>

<p>The issue we are talking about stems from a claim (demonstrated to be false) that the crime rate in New Haven is lower than the crime rate in either Cambridge or in Providence.</p>

<p>On this thread, the discussion has morphed into a discussion of whether this person or that person would or would not feel "safe" in this or that neighborhood of New Haven at various times of day.</p>

<p>I hope you will agree that claims along this line may be of dubious value when the testimony comes from somebody from Hamden - or New York City - rather than from a small town in Minnesota. Further such testimonials do not address the relative "safety" of other college towns - assuming that "safety" is a critical issue for certain people.</p>

<p>This is where comparative statistics provide useful context.</p>

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<p>Yes, Byerly. The comparitive statistics do provide a useful context when trying to determine which city is generally safer. However, I believe that what these people are trying to say is that, despite the statistics, they don't feel any less safe in New Haven than they probably would in Cambridge because of the personal experience that they have in New Haven. Ultimately it comes down to this: no one person can be right in this argument, so it just seems kind of pointless to drag it on. Am I right or am I right?</p>

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<p>Hm....pebbles is right....i was at Yale for month in the summer and I noticed that Yale is in a nicer part of town...just down the road though it turns into the ghetto. My parents were coming into New Haven from I-95 and were wondering where the "nice" part of the city was because i had told them it was a nice town. A few miles later it turned drastically different.</p>

<p>Pebbles: In fact, there's this stretch of stores and eateries on..... broadway I believe, that I visit quite often.</p>

<p>I remember Broadway.....i would always eat at Gourmet Heaven :)</p>

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<p>People with limited experience in one city ought not to make gratuitous judgements about the relative merits of another city or cities - particularly about such fact-specific issues as crime rates and "safety." Wholly without regard to your feelings, and the significance of comparative crime rates, many people feel perfectly safe wherever they are ... until the first time they are mugged.</p>

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<p>...so says the almighty god of campus safety....</p>

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<p>I didn't read what was discussed in the thread that this one sprouted from (maybe I should). However, not one person made "gratuitous judgements about the relative merits of another city or cities" in this thread. pebbles started this one from the other in order to give light to what she thinks New Haven is really like, behind the veil of high crime rates and supposed lack of safety. I was the only person who mentioned another city (Cambridge) and I said nothing about the merits of the city. You're turning this debate into something completely different from what it was intended to be... not a debate at all. Personal insight and experiences were offered, and you feel you must "challenge" anyone to prove what they say to be truthful.</p>

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<p>Oh my god. This is getting rediculous.</p>

<p>New Haven has its bad side just like EVERY city has its bad side. Just use common sense. If its 2 in the morning, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take a stroll through the bad part of town. When I was there this summer, I went jogging at like 1 or 2 in the morning many nights and I didn't get killed, mugged, or anything. As long as you use common sense, you'd be fine almost anywhere.</p>

<p>And Dani - remember the Avery incident? lol!</p>

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<p>Hahahhahaha that was so funny!</p>

<p>For anyone wondering about the Avery incident: Ok, Avery's a girl. The worst thing I experienced during my five weeks in New Haven this past summer is some dumbass guy riding past us and slapping my friend Avery's ass. She proceeded to chase him and yell profanities at the top of her lungs. Funnnnny.</p>

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<p>By all means use "common sense" wherever you are and the chances are you'll "survive."</p>

<p>But that doesn't mean every place is as safe/dangerous as every other place, or that the issue is irrelevant.</p>

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<p>BYERLY, why must you argue about EVERYTHING?</p>

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<p>Yes, Byerly. WHYYYYYYYYY???? just chill. Go give some helpful advice to some needy Harvard RA person on the Harvard board.</p>

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<p>There is more misinformation here that need to be dispelled. Lux et Veritas. The great risk on boards like this is that innocent readers will be given misinformation.</p>

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<p>They become even more confused when you try to refute stupid things. For example, if I said the sky was blue.....you'd probably come up with some answer like....</p>

<p>"Actually the sky is a light shade of violet mixed with the darker shades of blue that are deflected from the sun's rays"</p>

<p>.....or some BS.</p>

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<p>You can make whatever wild claims you want on other topics, and the chances are I will ignore them; but when it comes to issues involving college admissions, claims made on this site should, ideally, be factual or have supporting links.</p>