<p>Regarding New Haven, it used to be somewhat run-down in the 1980s/early 90s, like New York City was, but it has turned into one of the best college towns in the country. Yale isn’t even the largest college there. Students flock to the downtown area by the thousands. Million-dollar apartments and condos, movie theaters, bars and restaurants are being built all over the area of downtown New Haven, around Yale and elsewhere. Real estate there is going berserk. The reputation hasn’t fully adjusted to what it’s like down there, but if you know the area more than superficially, you know what I mean.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t give too much credence to any comparative figures about burglary. Just about any minor “theft” can be considered a burglary and much of it is between students. Some schools consider stolen pencils a burglary while others do not. But, the second part of your data, on violent crime, is a somewhat valid comparison:</p>
<p><a href=“STALCOMMPOL: Crime Data and Methods of Analysis”>STALCOMMPOL: Crime Data and Methods of Analysis;
<p>The first number is offenses reported, the second is crime rate
Harvard University (unadjusted) 215. 86.52
University of Pennsylvania 149. 64.11
Harvard, adjusted* 122. 49.09
Yale University 48. 41.84
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 40.5 39.17
University of Chicago 49.5 35.64
Columbia University (incl. Teachers Coll.) 72. 33.77</p>
<p>Also, regardless of all of this, keep in mind the thing by far most likely to hurt or kill a student is an automobile accident. Therefore, you could easily make the argument that rural schools are actually much more dangerous because students there are more likely to drive. Although, several students at schools with a large amount of automobile traffic in the area - namely UPenn and Harvard - have seen a large number of student pedestrian fatalities in recent years. But being injured in a violent crime of the sort reported here is highly unlikely, and if it does happen it’s most likely caused by another student (example: the Harvard student who murdered her roommate; the Cornell student stabbed by another student this year). </p>
<p>Of course, many people think otherwise, but statistically speaking, inner-city urban areas, even lower-income ones, are actually much safer than suburbs because of the increased risk of automobile accidents in the suburbs, where people drive much faster and more often. And much of the inner-city risk is due to drugs and prostitution, so if you aren’t a young man involved in drugs or a prostitute you’re probably going to be okay, especially relative to a suburban resident who is driving everywhere. If you’re a middle class or wealthy, white, non-drug using/selling person or college student, you’re 200 times more likely to be injured or killed by an automobile than by random urban violence.</p>
<p>In terms of crime, you need to also consider that much of the risk can be reduced by staying in well-populated areas and being aware of who is around you. Judging from the amount of crime experienced against students in seemingly quiet, rural locations, the risk is surely present at rural and suburban schools as well as urban schools if you’re not aware of what’s going on around you. Student-on-student crime is much more common than many people believe, and surely much more common than crime caused by non-students. But honestly, evaluating risk is about much more than considering crime.</p>