<p>Okay, my question is somewhat ambiguous and generalising, but since I might go to complete my studies in the US, I would like to know if it’s worse there than in Europe in terms of crime.</p>
<p>I have never been to America, but I have lived in several European countries. Honestly speaking, I have never witnessed any serious crimes (murder, shooting, etc. etc.) and crimes like those constant mass shootings in the US are virtually non-existent in Europe. The same applies to gangs, ghettos in big cities (apart from some rotting northern English cities), etc - whereas I hear these things are wide-spread in the US (and well the news reports, etc.)</p>
<p>Furthermore, I have seen films like Saw, Friday the 13th, scream, etc. and judging from them there are countless maniacs and psychopaths in the US. I don’t know how much is exaggerated in these movies, but I’m bloody scared.</p>
<p>Can anyone who has lived in both Europe (UK, Germany, France) and the US tell me, what the real difference in terms of safety and crime is?</p>
<p>And generally is the US a better place to live? Compared to Western Europe again.</p>
<p>You are asking a very broad question that can’t be answered without looking at a particular city, and even then for the large cities you need to look at the section of the city. A google search came up with a website called <a href=“http://www.cityrating.com%5B/url%5D”>www.cityrating.com</a> that has statistics by state and city. </p>
<p>Don’t let the movies and news reports scare you off. There are plenty of very safe areas across the entire U.S. The vast majority of U.S. residents have never been the victim of any significant crime.</p>
<p>Depends on where you go. The rough parts of all cities are the same. Detroit/LA are comparable to Salford/Brixton.</p>
<p>I also don’t think basing your conceptions of a country based on horror/slasher films is rational. The US outputs many different genres of films. Hollywood is the highest grossing cinema industry in the world, so there are many different genres out there. We’ve also (sadly, in my opinion) produced the Twilight series, so you can’t really expect us all to be sparkling vampires either.</p>
<p>Most areas of the U.S. are fairly safe. As long as you stay away from the inner city, you are fine. In touristy areas, you have a lot of pickpocketing and related crime. In my town, most of the crime is associated with the mall in town.</p>
<p>Don’t base your opinion of a country due to horror movies. They are meant to scare and not be realistic.</p>
<p>Well, I lived in Ireland for a while. The only major difference that I saw was culture and weather, nothing really changed as far as crime goes. I live in oceanside now, so maybe im not the best judge IMO. But just like in other countries there are maniacs, pick pocketers, etc. but not excessive. I havent really seen that much difference even in the ghettos i.e. the bad parts of Escondido remind me a bit of the rough parts of cork. And yes, those movies are intensed to scare they are not AT ALL based off of real life. As long as you dont draw to much attention to your self (publicly being homophobic in San Francisco :P, Screaming I hate this country in the middle of a military base or area, or screaming offensive things against a majority of any kind) you should be fine. Yes, there are a lot of weirdos, hippies, druggies, gang members, etc. but you kind of come to embrace the ejits along with the brilliance ~ ot truly is a melting pot ;)</p>
<p>I’ve lived both in Europe and the United States. I’ve seen more ghetto things happen in America than I’ve ever wanted to see in my lifetime. I am contemplating moving to Europe again once my education is complete. Really, the United States has the best education in the world. It just isn’t the safest place to live. I’d say robbery is more prevalent than murder here. </p>
<p>Speaking as someone who was trying to study physics in my living room and heard my next door neighbor get shot 8 times, I’m going to say living in Europe was definitely a better experience. The guy who shot him didn’t get life, he only got six years!</p>