Decius wrote:
] Jello wrote:
] ] in downtown, and mid-town... I've never feared for
] ] my safety in 5 years.
]
] !! Really? I've known people who've been mugged in the past 6
] months as far north as Dunwoody. I lived downtown for 5 years.
] I wasn't "afraid" but there was certainly a lot of crime.
] Beggars are a constant annoyance. Peachtree street crawls with
] prostitutes and pimps after dark. Any car that had anything
] valuable in it overnight had a smashed window in the morning.
] Mine got smashed one night for no reason at all other then
] that it was the last car in a parking lot one evening. On a
] regular basis chop shops would start up in the neighborhood
] and all cars of a certain make and model would disappear over
] the course of a month or so. People were constantly on the
] street selling crack and brandishing firearms. Then the
] muggings....
]
] After my window got smashed I started walking to work. Did it
] for about a month (December). Went out of town for Christmas.
] When I got back I picked up a paper and found out that 5
] people had been mugged by a perp with an **UZI** in the area I
] had been walking through at about the same time of day. I sat
] at the Krystal on Northside in the drive through one night and
] watch a couple guys hop out of a van at the gas station across
] the street and beat the living hell out of some dude who was
] filling up. Still went to that gas station though. I'm not
] afraid of these people, and the folks who run that station are
] good folks. But I certainly don't think of it as "safe."
]
] I'm not a good mark. I'm a 20 something male, rarely "well
] dressed," and I'm big. Only one person has ever tried to mug
] me, and the guy was stupid, and he failed. But if I was 5'5,
] female, and attractive, I don't know if I could handle it
] downtown.
]
] And what is the city doing about it? Well apparently they've
] cracked down on Graffiti. Great. Wonderful. Now the suburban
] kids aren't coming down to draw murals on the walls with
] krylon. Who gives a fuck. Downtown seems to be a lot more
] populated by actual residents then it did when I lived there
] before, but the streets seem just as sketchy as they ever
] were.
]
] The fact that we brought in someone from New Orleans is
] interesting. I hope the guy gets results. New Orleans used to
] be the murder capital of the United States. Now Washington has
] that honor. But I was in NO for a week and I saw someone boost
] a car right in front of me in broad daylight not two blocks
] from the french quarter. It ain't NYC or SF by a long shot.
]
] Part of the problem is police. Part of the problem is jobs.
] Part of the problem is culture. Government can address two of
] those problems, but everything is going to take time. There is
] a reason that people in other countries think American cities
] are dangerous. Its because they are dangerous. Toronto isn't
] Disneyland either, but it sure as hell isn't Atlanta.

Downtown has a problem, because aside from a few condo developments, very few people with any wealth live here. So the police don't give a fuck. At night the place is deserted except for the homeless, and drunk people. That is changing. I live across from Sci Trek, next to Renaissance Park. That whole park used to be brimming with crackheads and prostitutes. A year ago the Central Atlanta Neighborhood Association put up lights throughout the whole park. Now they raid it weekly. Things on Piedmont are alot better now. Ralph McGill is being renwed as a corridor into Centennial Park.

And as much as I hate to say this... Courtland St. right at the heart of downtown, is an inappropriate place for a homeless shelter, and a soup kitchen. This puts an army of panhandlers right in the business district every day with a place to sleep. Atlanta has its convention facilities and hotels, and its largest downtown homeless shelter right next to one another. Not smart. I wish the city, or someone in the neighborhood would build a kick ass facility to replace that one somewhere else. Don't throw your junk in my backyard and all that, I know... but I feel that the health of the business district is vital for all of Atlanta. There is somewhere better this thing can go. The fact that this occuring would raise my property values hugely... may have had some small effect on my opinion.

Also, the Altanta "ranger" guys that give directions and radio for the police... they've made a big difference downtown as far as curbing aggressive panhandling. And as paranoid as I am... I don't feel like its big brother watching over me. I feel like its a sort of police officer making sure no one sells crack on this corner.

As far as Pimps and Hoes on Peachtree... I don't see a problem there. A pimp won't rob you unless you're with one of his hoes. He's got a business model that doesn't require robbery. And if someone's with one of his hoes... well, not that they deserve it, but its their fault. If someone wants to pay for sex, call one of those numbers in Creative Loafing for christ sakes.

I guess you're right. As a 5'5" hottie, I wouldn't walk around downtown after dark. I guess its just all relative to me after Moscow... where you got thugs, neo-nazi's, gold digging girls, and the militsia after you. Not to mention the ever present threat of shit being blown up by Al-Queda linked Chechyn terrorists. Like my local McDonalds at Yugo Zapadnaya. And the militsia, the guys that might show up some time after you call them... they'll just fucking rob you. Maybe beat your ass if one of them isn't sober to restrain the others. You don't call them for help. The daily document check, heart rate hitting 180bpm because instead of renweing your residence permit and dealing with the hassle and bribe involved, you changed the date that was in blue ink with a purple pen... doesn't help to look Caucasian. Not to mention the cars that TRY to run over you, for daring to place yourself in front of their car. You get used to it, but you are never safe. After that... Atlanta seems serene.

I don't think that Atlanta will ever solve its crime problem until the poverty stricken areas of SE and SW Atlanta are made into places where armed robbery and slinging crack aren't your best career opportunities. The rest is just icing. We need urban renewal BAD. Borrowed a book called "Sprawl Atlanta" from a friend of mine. 90% of the new jobs in Atlanta in the 90s were in Northern Atlanta, meanwhile the southside is dying. Instead of urban renewal, we got people moving further and further from Atlanta, commuting for hours a day generating horrible traffic and polluting our air. Meanwhile the problems get worse in the city, and no one really gives a shit, cause they're safe at Braves games. And they never come down here anyway. The suburbs have divorced themselves from the city, culturally and economically. The closest most suburbanites come to the city of Atlanta each day is by watching death porn on the local news. "Shiver. Glad I live up here where its safe. Maybe we should move further north?"

The business district downtown needs to be renewed with multi-use developments that incorporate residential as well as business and commercial space. Get people living there, and more clubs and restaurants open after 6pm, and these residents and businesses will demand police protection. Crack down on aggressive panhandling. Once you've got a downtown where people have a reason to stay after dark... then you've got a city thats an asset, instead of one that people are afraid to visit. The movement of Atlanta's late hours club scene from Buckhead to Underground will help. The city can help downtown achieve a new renaissance by... well, fucked if I know. By however cities go about directing development. Changing zoning, tax incentives, all that. Unfortunately, though... the city if broke.

How to save the SWATS? Fucked if I know. The usual line about increased funding for community projects, all that. Tax incentives for businesses to locate there.

As for the police... I've met some good Atlanta cops. I've met some totally apathetic ones. And I've seen them assault an average joe and beat his ass simply because he smarted off to them. Its a mixed bag. Overall... they're under staffed and overworked. Atlanta is broke. I suppose we can't really afford a timely response to a robbery that will never be solved anyway.

But hey, were you calling 911 while you were hiding from a car full of guys chasing you, and it STILL took 2 hours? I'd file a complaint on that one.

I suppose depending on your perspective, gentrification of Grant Park, Cabbage Town, Reynolds Town, East Atlanta, etc. is equivalent to renewal. In the least, these "renewed" neighborhood provide a sort of buffer against the empoverished areas south of them, for downtown. Sure is nice to be able to walk out of Mary's in East Atlanta (BTW: BEST KARAOKE IN ATLANTA!) and not have to seriously fear getting your ass beat. I hear it used to be a major problem.

I'm a gun owner. Not a proud one. Decided to learn to operate an AK-47 before going to Russia. Stupid, I know. But I didn't know what to expect. I was thinking of living in Uzbekistan too. Even though I don't like guns, lately I've been thinking of getting a Colt 1911 .45 (the gun from crytonomicon, "designed to stop filipinos") for the glove compartment of my car. So, hmmm... maybe this indicates that I'm feeling this lack of safety thing, and I'm in denial ;)

I had a friend get shot off his motorcycle, in the head twice, on Ponce. The helmet saved him, even though the guy stopped after he wrecked and shot him in the head again. Good fucking helmet. Scars, but he lived. But I've also walked most streets between 19th and Memorial at all hours of the night, and been fine. I'm not sure where I stand on this at this point, and I think its that sleeping pill kicking in. So I'm gonna stop babbling now.

And yes, I agree that Canada is superior. After visiting my brother up there, I want to get my ass to the University of British Columbia as soon as possible. SO NICE. I saw the police arresting a guy for, well "We've arrested you on this corner 6 times for trafficing in narcotics. When are you gonna get it through your head: WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE SELLING DRUGS IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER." Almost polite, almost fatherly, to this repeat offender that would likely be in an ass-rape prison for life if he were in America. God, I want cops like that. I'm sure he's been hit up with charge #7 on that same corner by now. I heard Gas Town was the ghetto. It was fine. Canada is so nice.

RE: Atlanta is the most dangerous city in America