As I'm endlessly fascinated by suburbanites hating on the city, I was reading through the
comments thread on the relatively low murder number for the city. The important thing to remember is that while all of these murders are tragic, and there are way too many, it doesn't mean that I actually wander about the city worried that someone is going to murder me. To put it bluntly, most murder victims are not people like me. Most are black males in high crime/high poverty communities. The crimes are generally not random, but instead against people are targeted over various grievances. While muggings and the like of course happen, there aren't roving bands of gunmen shooting up tourists. The victims, and the perps, are largely members of the underclass. That doesn't make it better, of course, but it does impact the answer to the question: How likely is it that I will be murdered? The answer is, not very likely. I'm reasonably sure the chance of being hit by a car - either through their fault or mine as a careless pedestrian - is much, much higher.
Still I liked this in the comments thread.
MontcoPaul
WOW! WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE TO VISIT WITH THE KIDS!
While of course cities do encourage and appreciate tourism, because of the various ways it brings dollars into the city coffers and provides additional demand to support goods and services that locals can also enjoy, the city ain't your urban theme park. It's a place where people live and work, and not simply a place for suburbanites to visit, with or without their kids. Have fun in Montco, the King of Prussia mall is great, if you like that kind of thing.
