On Wed, 17 Apr 2002, Michael Edison wrote:

> The fear of New York was strong among the locals I worked with in
> upstate New York, some 25 years ago. They had a very definite "don't
> go there - it's not safe" attitude. It can be contagious. I remember
> walking in my old NY neighborhood at midnight after several years
> away, thinking those people just didn't what the f--- they were
> talking about.

I lived in Detroit for three years during law school, including two years
in the once notorious Cass Corridor, had no car, took buses everywhere at
all hours, did my laundry at urban laundromats, walked home at midnight
from the library or the Amtrak station, etc., etc.

Admittedly, I'm over six feet tall, and I look like Shrek with a beard.
But it was hard to take seriously the terror of NYC that I heard whispered
among Cornellians.  Compared to Detroit, NYC is a middle class oasis with
(even then) less than a third as much crime per capita.

Of course, terrible violent crimes can happen anywhere, even in bucolic
rural Vermont, as the media have been reminding us lately.  But
statistically, a New Yorker runs a risk of being (say) murdered that is
not that much above the national average.

                                   Larry

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
Washtenaw County Commissioner, 4th District
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com
Ebay Page, http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/potifos/
Mailing address: P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106

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