They are based on potentials, according to US Geological Surveys and such. They are risks, not necessarily common occurrences. As you have yourself testified with the tornadoes ad the earthquake, they are possibilities in Memphis.
We're using the Onboard Informatics feed (which draws from the FBI Database) for the zip code specific crime rates.
For an easy tool to look up zip codes, you can go here: http://www.homefair.com/real-estate/city-profile/index.asp
What that does it tells you the amount over or less than the national average the area is. 100 would be average. 300 would be three times. The national average for murders is 7 per 100k, and for rape it's 33 per 100k.
By Mid-town Detroit we mean the area whose boundaries are the Ford, Chrysler, Fisher, and Lodge Freeways - it includes Brush Park, Brewster-Douglass housing projects. For this specific crime report, you can use zip code 48201, which is the zip code where those housing projects are (so more residential, less commercial.)
Great point about the population versus crime skewing the rates higher. I think for a future update of this application we might want to work the actual raw numbers of murders / crime into the equation we use to come to our crime index, so it presents a more realistic view of the risk in the different areas. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
One other thought. Downtown St. Louis might also be a victim of a similar skew like we were discussing with Key West and Ocean City, MD. Since it's a tourist area (think of how many people visit for a football or baseball game) it often has a lot more people than its official population would indicate. That may be skewing it upwards.
Nobody -
For us, this application grew out of a desire to know what to look out for. Before we get into a river, we want to know if there could be a gator in there. Before we go out at night, we'd like to know the crime rates. That's it really for us, it's good to be aware.
Yes, excellent point about Ocean City and Key West. That was my theory, too . The number of people in town swells but the population stays low so the rape incidence really isn't a complete view.
STL_Bob – Thanks for the insight. We're always working to improve our data, so maps like that help. One issue we deal with with maps like that is actually deriving a rate from it. For a standardized rate we have to rely on the latest FBI Crime Statistics, and they say for downtown St. Louis that the murder rates are:
63102 (where Busch Stadium is): 77 per 100k 63103 (Union Station, etc): 37 per 100k 63101 (Market Street / Jefferson): 93 per 100k
When you see that the rate for the nation is 7 per 100k and NYC as a whole is 13 per 100k you can see that, at least according to the FBI stats, these areas in Downtown St. Louis are, by the numbers, comparatively dangerous. Now in the article we probably should have said "sections of Downtown St. Louis" since we quoted the highest rate, that of 63101, now that I think about it.
Thanks again for you help, and if you want to email us any other suggestions for improvement, you can contact us through our website.
PS. I still fully intend to visit St. Louis, I know it's a beautiful city.
I actually would have loved to be able to say, "Detroit gets a really bad rap, but it's all hype. In reality, the city with the most crime is Fargo, North Dakota,," because that would have been fun and unexpected. But unfortunately the numbers were the numbers. However, I do know that there are large parts of Detroit that are wonderful. And a ton of these incidences likely occur at night, etc., when most people know not to be out on the streets.
But as a person who lives in the "most lethal city in the country," and also vacations every summer in the "rape capital of the east coast" and loves to visit "the AIDS capital of America," I can tell you that the stats are one thing, but actually being in those places can be a very different experience.
Author of the post here - we're just talking about the stats, and you're right, we've never been there. But I can tell you that Philly and LA rank pretty high on the crime list (parts of them, anyway) and they still feel safe when I'm there, so I know what you mean.
And yes, for both St. Louis and Detroit, there are parts that are safe as anywhere in the country, really.
The Downtown St Louis stats are derived by FBI numbers for the specific zip code that make up Downtown, so it is taking a smaller population into account, which will boost the rate. But we did the same for other smaller areas in other major cities and Downtown St Louis still comes out on top. Other parts of St Louis that ranked high were Wells-Goodfella, Dutchtown, and Jeff Vanderlou.
They are based on potentials, according to US Geological Surveys and such. They are risks, not necessarily common occurrences. As you have yourself testified with the tornadoes ad the earthquake, they are possibilities in Memphis.
For an easy tool to look up zip codes, you can go here:
http://www.homefair.com/real-estate/city-profile/index.asp
What that does it tells you the amount over or less than the national average the area is. 100 would be average. 300 would be three times. The national average for murders is 7 per 100k, and for rape it's 33 per 100k.
By Mid-town Detroit we mean the area whose boundaries are the Ford, Chrysler, Fisher, and Lodge Freeways - it includes Brush Park, Brewster-Douglass housing projects. For this specific crime report, you can use zip code 48201, which is the zip code where those housing projects are (so more residential, less commercial.)
One other thought. Downtown St. Louis might also be a victim of a similar skew like we were discussing with Key West and Ocean City, MD. Since it's a tourist area (think of how many people visit for a football or baseball game) it often has a lot more people than its official population would indicate. That may be skewing it upwards.
Nobody -
For us, this application grew out of a desire to know what to look out for. Before we get into a river, we want to know if there could be a gator in there. Before we go out at night, we'd like to know the crime rates. That's it really for us, it's good to be aware.
STL_Bob – Thanks for the insight. We're always working to improve our data, so maps like that help. One issue we deal with with maps like that is actually deriving a rate from it. For a standardized rate we have to rely on the latest FBI Crime Statistics, and they say for downtown St. Louis that the murder rates are:
63102 (where Busch Stadium is): 77 per 100k
63103 (Union Station, etc): 37 per 100k
63101 (Market Street / Jefferson): 93 per 100k
When you see that the rate for the nation is 7 per 100k and NYC as a whole is 13 per 100k you can see that, at least according to the FBI stats, these areas in Downtown St. Louis are, by the numbers, comparatively dangerous. Now in the article we probably should have said "sections of Downtown St. Louis" since we quoted the highest rate, that of 63101, now that I think about it.
Thanks again for you help, and if you want to email us any other suggestions for improvement, you can contact us through our website.
PS. I still fully intend to visit St. Louis, I know it's a beautiful city.
But as a person who lives in the "most lethal city in the country," and also vacations every summer in the "rape capital of the east coast" and loves to visit "the AIDS capital of America," I can tell you that the stats are one thing, but actually being in those places can be a very different experience.
And yes, for both St. Louis and Detroit, there are parts that are safe as anywhere in the country, really.
The Downtown St Louis stats are derived by FBI numbers for the specific zip code that make up Downtown, so it is taking a smaller population into account, which will boost the rate. But we did the same for other smaller areas in other major cities and Downtown St Louis still comes out on top. Other parts of St Louis that ranked high were Wells-Goodfella, Dutchtown, and Jeff Vanderlou.