<p><a href=“http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20070622_Summers_beginning__Five_dead_in_one_day.html[/url]”>http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20070622_Summers_beginning__Five_dead_in_one_day.html</a></p>
<p>The city is just a day shy of the 200 murder mark, apparently.</p>
<p>I am SO HAPPY my son is getting out of this city.</p>
<p>He’ll be safer in Manhattan (NYU). I’d have been terrified had he ended up at Penn or Temple or Drexel…</p>
<p>The campus may be safe. But watch yourself if you actually go outside those borders. It totally sucks that a small subset of humanity is making life miserable for the rest of us.</p>
<p>yes, most of the murders are clustered in a few areas, but it’s so random sometimes…</p>
<p>All the banks within a few blocks of my house have been robbed (I was in one the day before a robbery). And someone was shot in the supermarket parking lot near my house.</p>
<p>UPENN and Wharton great schools but located in a DUMP!!!</p>
<p>Once again . . . Penn is not a dangerous place. At this point, there isn’t even really a gap between it and downtown Philadelphia – it’s pretty much continuous upscale development. You have to go considerably past the western edge of the Penn campus before you hit a “bad” neighborhood. Drexel is next door to Penn, so much of the same applies to it, except that it’s insulating Penn to the north, and it’s a little closer to actual poor people. (Temple is . . . well, sueinphilly is probably right about Temple. But the campus itself feels fine.)</p>
<p>Really, it isn’t Dodge City here. No gunplay on Main Street most days, and it’s been weeks since anyone robbed a bank while I was in it . . . (kidding, kidding).</p>
<p>Just back from a visit and mostly agree with JHS (we also used to live in the area). I’m not sure you have to go “considerably” past the western edge of campus, but Penn and the immediate area is fine. Downtown is fine, actually, if you use common sense. Now, as for sueinphilly, my wife commuted to Temple for law school for 3 years (just finished 2 years ago) and she loved it. Car (a fairly nice car) was never vandalized. She used common sense, walked in groups after dark, etc. – but never felt unsafe.</p>
<p>I’ve lived here all my life.</p>
<p>My mother graduated from West Philly High and temple.</p>
<p>I realize that the violence is localized and random</p>
<p>I know all about the gentrification and updating, yada yada. </p>
<p>I still think that Manhattan is safer than West Philly. Even if the crime isn’t directed at college kids, once they venture out, they are fair game…</p>
<p>Maybe in NY it’s a safety in numbers situation. It’s so crowded it’s hard to make a quick getaway thru the crowds :-)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t live in Philly because just the idea that people are dying in the streets this way infuriates me. The clown of a mayor Street is worried about issues such as extending a smoking ban to “outdoor cafes” and banning transfats, when his own people are being shot on a daily basis. Also I’m not too impressed with UPenn students and faculty who don’t seem to be mobilizing to do a d… thing about it either. Maybe JHS could correct me if I’m wrong about that.</p>
<p>When I was little the newspaper used to have a spot on the front page where it would count down the # of days until xmas. As a child I enjoyed seeing it there every day. Skip ahead 40 years and the Phil. Inquirer is having the same “box” where they keep count of the number of murders in the city for the year and how it compares with last year. I swear that since they started doing this the numbers have increased dramatically. It’s almost like they enjoy keeping track of this and seeing the numbers go up.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the article, but if it’s anything like Rochester NY (highest per capita murder rate in NYS) most of our murders are gang related. (Not that that makes you feel much better, but, you are a tad safer if you aren’t involved with the gang…) The media seem to have an aversion to talking openly about gang activity (perhaps with good reason), but that’s the real situation.</p>
<p>I grew up in the Phila suburbs and my son goes to Penn. I do not like the city. I know it is trying and Penn is trying, but I do not believe it is safe. Everyone keeps saying to “use common sense”. That doesn’t work, and besides that, many college kids (my son included) do NOT use common sense. Kids were mugged this past year on the steps of frat houses, very close to campus and a mom was mugged ON campus.</p>
<p>weenie: My xmas paper: Democrat and Chronicle :)</p>
<p>^ That’s about all it’s good for… (I presume you meant you wrap presents in it?)</p>
<p>no, I was referring to my post #8 :)</p>
<p>Clearly Manhattan is safer than Philly.
<a href=“http://www.city-data.com/city/New-York-New-York.html[/url]”>http://www.city-data.com/city/New-York-New-York.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.city-data.com/city/Philadelphia-Pennsylvania.html[/url]”>http://www.city-data.com/city/Philadelphia-Pennsylvania.html</a>
Crime index in Phil. more than 2x the national average. NY, below the natl. avg. Phil. murder rate 4x that of NY
Temple Campus is fairly safe, but surrounding area is truly frightening. UPenn not as bad.
HH - Who are Mayor Street’s ‘own people?’</p>
<p>Why look over your shoulder when you are going to school? Who needs it? With so many great schools HELLOOOOOOO!!!</p>
<p>Alright basically if you go three blocks north or west of Penn’s campus, you’re in a terrible area. Temple is in the ****s. But the campuses of Temple, Drexel, and Penn are all safe. Penn’s got the seventh biggest police force in the state! </p>
<p>As for gang violence… the really is not the problem Philadelphia has. It is mostly violence with no real reason. It’s quite unfortunate.</p>
<p>If college kids don’t have common sense, they need to get it! You just don’t go to West Philly by yourself at night… or during the day. Just don’t do it!</p>
<p>back in 1982 a friend wanted me to rent a house with a bunch of people, at around 56th and Osage. It was just a few years later when the Mayor burned a city block down a few streets away. My friend was from Wisconsin and didn’t understand that the neighbor was horrible. We were going to school around 30th and market (old bulletin bldg) and she thought of 30th and 56th as being the same neighborhood, NOT!</p>
<p>A parent (mother) was mugged ON the Penn campus while she was with her family right at the end of school- 9pm or so. Sitting on a bench. Penn students have beem assaulted and robbed just off campus and on the steps of a frat house this past year. If your kid stays in the quad and never leaves it on a weekend night, he or she is probably safe. Mine does not.</p>
<p>Sax: Oh dear!!! :(</p>
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<p>I can guarantee you that you are underestimating that.</p>