<p>Separate conversation about Berkeley can be read here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/509240-final-straw.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/509240-final-straw.html</a></p>
<p>Many parts in the area around Northwestern are pretty dangerous (believe it or not).</p>
<p>Students just tend to make good targets.</p>
<p>Columbia University is not in a bad part of NYC. Decades ago the upper west side and morningside heights were not desirable, but that changed years ago.</p>
<p>Oooh oooh… can anybody say… Temple? Decent school, but the surrounding area evokes some interesting thoughts: “Have I practiced my handgun-wielding abilities at the firing range recently?”</p>
<p>
Location not so appealing? Are you kidding me? It’s on a hill overlooking the Golden Gate…SF is a 20 minute BART ride away…The weather is nearly perfect (except today it’s gonna be a scorcher)…I’d say the location is ideal.</p>
<p>
UCLA Band Mom, why did you post that random link? One thing Berkeley teaches you besides getting a world class education is that you need to develop thicker skin…welcome to the real world.</p>
<p>I think Hopkins is another top university which has a bad reputation in terms of safety. One of my friends who goes there has been mugged on two occasions freshman year alone. If i’m not wrong the Hopkins med school is in even worse part of Baltimore..not sure about that though</p>
<p>^Yeah, Baltimore isn’t very good, but the JHU campus is top notch when it comes to safety. I believe it was ranked #1 safest campus in some report I read, can’t recall which one.</p>
<p>U. of Chicago is NOT in a “bad” neighborhood, unless you venture several blocks south of the campus. It is not in downtown Chicago, but in the neighborhood called Hyde Park, very residential.</p>
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<p>Can you explain this list? It’s like a non sequitur.. hard to tell if you’re joking.</p>
<p>Note that top universities in bad parts of their towns generally have outstanding on-campus security, because their viability as an institution depends on it. Oklahoma City IU.'s location is a little sketchy. Others I’ve heard concerns about on CC are U. of Cincinnati, Trinity (CT), and Union (NY).</p>
<p>I also agree with above comment about University of Chicago. Way back when it was a great neighborhood. Then it deteriorated. In the last 2 decades it has become a nice neighborhood. Go some blocks beyond the area, and it gets rough. In general, Chicago neighborhoods change quickly from block to block, especially going in from the lakeshore.</p>
<p>Penn’s immediately surrounding neighborhood, which is known as University City, is also not a “bad” neighborhood. In fact, Penn, neighboring institutions, and private entities have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in University City in the past couple of decades, and the area is booming–lots of commercial and residential development including hotels, condos, restaurants, stores, restored Victorian rowhomes, etc. In fact, University City now has some of the higher property values in the city.</p>
<p>Of course, like U. of Chicago, if you go 10 blocks west of Penn’s campus, it’s a different story. On the other hand, Penn is about to spend millions of dollars expanding green space and development on its newly acquired 24 acres on the east side of campus, and several blocks further to the east of that is the hustle and bustle, scenic neighborhoods, and cultural, dining, and entertainment amenities of Center City Philly.</p>
<p>UChicago is in relatively unsafe neighborhood. Why would they have blue emergency phones everywhere and one of the largest private police forces in the country if it were not in an unsafe part of town? That is not to say that the campus itself is not safe, which it is.</p>
<p>Sperling’s BestPlaces.net rates towns and cities nationwide for relative safety using an index based on FBI crime statistics. Their ratings use a scale of 1-10(10 representing the highest rate of crime) in two categories: 1) Violent Crime (Murder, Assault, Rape) and Property Crime (Theft, Vandalism, etc.). A total crime rating of 2-20 is computed by adding the figures for the two categories. The national average is 6 (3+3 in each category). This figure includes crime stats from small towns, villages and rural areas not rated by Sperling.</p>
<p>I would note that in terms of assessing the safety of individual colleges and universities the ratings are probably more useful for smaller communities, since a large city with bad stats – such as Philadelphia – still boasts many extensive, safe neighborhoods. Below are some selected college towns and their “safety ratings.” I’ve indicated the municipality/college, the violent crime rating, the property crime rating and the total crime rating. </p>
<p>College towns with crime rates below the national average: </p>
<p>Princeton, NJ/Princeton University (1+ 1=2
Gambier, OH/Kenyon College (1+1=2)
Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest College (1+1=2)
Madison, NJ/Drew University (1+1=2)
Hamilton, NY/Colgate University (1+3=4)
Brunswick, ME/Bowdoin College (1+4=5)
Swarthmore, PA/Swarthmore College (2+3=5)
Geneseo, NY/SUNY at Geneseo (2+3=5) </p>
<p>College towns with crime rates at or slightly above the national average:</p>
<p>Davidson, NC/Davidson College (2+4=)
Oberlin, OH/Oberlin College (3+3=6)
Delaware, OH/Ohio Wesleyan University (3+4=7)
Hanover, NH/Dartmouth University (2+ 6=8)
Middletown, CT/Wesleyan University (3+5=8)</p>
<p>College towns with crime ratings of 9 to 12:</p>
<p>Williamsburg, VA/College of William & Mary (4+5=9)
Chapel Hill, NC/University of North Carolina (4+5=9)
Saratoga Springs, NY/Skidmore College (4+5=9)
Lewiston, ME/Bates College (4+5=9)
Ithaca, NY/Cornell University (3+6=9)
Bethlehem, PA/Lehigh University (5+5=10)
Carlisle, PA/Dickinson College (4+7=11)
Cambridge, MA/Harvard University (5+ 6=11)
New York, NY/Columbia University (6+5=11)
Schenectady, NY/Union College (6+5=11)
Middlebury, VT/Middlebury College (6+5=11)
Burlington, VT/University of Vermont (5+7=11)
Annapolis, MD/US Naval Academy (6+6=12)
Easton, PA/Lafayette College (6+6=12)
Syracuse, NY/Syracuse University (6+ 6=12)
Charlottesville, VA/University of Virginia (6+6=12)
Newport, RI/Salve Regina University (6+6=12)
Troy, NY/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (6+6=12)
Worcester, MA/College of the Holy Cross (6+6=12)
Towson, MD/Goucher College (6+6=12)</p>
<p>In the next post I’ll list some of the “least safe” college towns.</p>
<p>Alexandre,</p>
<p>I agree that Durham has some bad areas. However, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Durham has some very nice areas as well, not far from the Duke campus. We really enjoyed the Brightleaf square area (some good restaurants) and outdoor entertainment. The Southpoint Mall area (about 12 minutes from campus) was extremely nice! Upscale stores, very well designed, and some good restaurants and movie theater.</p>
<p>These areas have improved even in the past four years.</p>
<p>OK, so what are some of the country’s least safe college towns according to Sperling’s BestPlaces.net?</p>
<p>College towns with crime ratings of 13-16 (out of 20):</p>
<p>Allentown, PA/Muhlenburg College (6+7=13)
New London, CT/Connecticut College (7+6=13)
Frederick, MD/Hood College (7+6=13)
Durham, NC/Duke University (7+7=14)
Rochester, NY/University of Rochester (7+7=14)
Lancaster, PA/Franklin & Marshall College (7+7=14)
Charleston, SC/College of Charleston (7+7=14)
Collegeville, PA/Ursinus College (7+7=14)
New Brunswick, NJ/Rutgers University (7+7=14)
Providence, RI/Brown University (7+7=14)
Poughkeepsie, NY/Vassar College (8+6=14)
Philadelphia, PA/University of Pennsylvania (8+6=14)</p>
<p>Baltimore, MD/John Hopkins University (7+8=15)
Washington, DC/Georgetown University (8+7=15)
Reading, PA/Albright College (8+7=15)
Richmond, VA/University of Richmond (8+7=15)
New Haven/Yale University (8+8=16)
Hartford, CT/Trinity College (8+8=16)</p>
<p>Again, rates are community-wide and not just for the neighborhood in which the college or university is located. Would I have a problem if my daughter wanted to go to Yale (assuming she was admitted)? NO.</p>
<p>I’d be intererested in seeing how Sperling’s BestPlaces.net gets their data and assigns their ratings.</p>
<p>I think a big thing with safety is that if you’re in a city, you need to constantly remember that YOU’RE IN A CITY. Things are different there. You need to pay attention, you shouldn’t be alone if it’s dark or if you’re in a bad part of town, and you should know your surroundings and know where you can get help. There are ways to make an unsafe city safer, and one of them is to not be naive and assume you’re always safe.</p>
<p>Iv heard UMaryland - College Park is in a pretty crappy place…</p>
<p>^^^Jahn1012— I agree about Temple - my brother was mugged in his dorm even. All his friends were held up at one time or another. He eventually switched to Tyler School of Art, Temple’s arty relative.</p>
<p>JHU Med school is in a definitely worse section than the homewood campus. I didn’t walk alone at night in Baltimore, but crime wasn’t an issue unless you went 5 or 6 blocks off campus. It wasn’t an issue for me, like Temple was for my brother.</p>