fnarf999

Well, to be fair, there's quite a number of crimes that fall short of actual murder. I don't think the murder rate is all that valuable a statistic, actually.

And even murder rate is hugely variable with cities; in some years the murder rate in Manhattan below 59th Street is ZERO.

Actually, the murder rate AMONG TOURISTS is probably very close to zero in just about every place that is set up to take them. I know when a tourist is murdered even in a place like Mexico or Thailand it's huge news.

Crime is also heavily dependent on who you are and what you're doing. If you avoid buying or selling drugs on the street corner, your personal crime rate drops precipitously. If you're a tourist, your rate for some crimes goes up (pickpocketing), while for others goes way down (arson, assault and battery).

But the perception of crime has absolutely nothing to do with the actual crime rate, as a few seconds talking to a Fox News viewer in any American suburb will reveal.

Josh

'"London is reknown for pickpockets on the underground and knife crime in the city center... "

Balderdash. Complete and utter lunacy.

No-one's ever tried to pick my pocket on the tube in half a century. The only knife crime I've ever seen in central London is the rotten job chefs make of slicing meat in carvery restaurants.

And the only fear about terrorism in London comes from lilly-livered Americans who've never left their own murder-ridden country.'


Balderdash. No one's ever tried to murder me in one third a century.

MademoiselleFifi

<< I live in Budapest and was asked on the weekend by clients if the city is safe. Of course it is i replied>>

I got the same impression. When I was there earlier this year, I walked around taking photos of art nouveau apartment buildings and was amazed that whenever residents on their way in or out saw me doing so, they would let me in to look around the beautiful old lobbies and staircases! Budapest must be very safe for them to be so trusting of complete strangers-- I can't imagine anybody here in my city doing so.

logos999

>they would let me in to look around the beautiful old lobbies and staircases!
Just common courtesy, nothing more.

MademoiselleFifi

<<common courtesy>>

Yes, but if your city had big problems with theives, vandals, or worse, you wouldn't let strangers wander into secured residential buildings just to appear courteous, would you? Granted, I look harmless, but I can't imagine getting away with it in Barcelona or anywhere else I've been.

WillTravel

That list is a bit suspect, however. Would anyone believe what Saudi Arabia says its statistics are? Where does jailing and torturing the occasional Western worker (or more than occasionally for Third-World worker, for that matter) play into those statistics?

logos999

>but I can't imagine getting away with it
Just try it. Most people really don't expect any stranger to be a criminal or even consider the possibility. Just ring somewhere and they'll open to let you look around. It's not their appartment, just the lobby. Who cares.

tippler

I've been shot to death three times in London, but only the last time was really painfull. I chalk it up to the fact that the last guy who shot me was pretty focused; he didn't seem like he had too much else on his mind.

Beatchick

tippler - LOL!

So does this make you a ghost writer???

Dukey

After just returning I think Tokyo has to be one of the safest places I've ever been in at night.

farrermog

All cities have their share of ugly incidents, some involving ugly tourists. As a tourist, I pay particular attention to reports of the attitude of the local authorities and bystanders to criminal activity targeting tourists. See, for example, 'Barcelona' in this forum.

MarkvonKramer

&quot;<i>After just returning I think Tokyo...</i>&quot;

Dukey AND degas in Tokyo at the same time? People are going to start talking.

MvK

gard

Hi

A city that I felt very safe in was Tokyo...well, Japan in general felt very very safe

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Reisender

&quot;Vancouver is very safe&quot; - I do not disagree with that statement. However, I have traveled all over the world and rented cars everywhere. Vancouver BC is the only city that I have had my rental car window smashed out so the boot could be opened (which was empty) so the would-be thief could see what was in it. The only thing about that was heartwarming was the blood left behind where he/she cut his/her arm reaching through the smashed window.

PalenQ

Barcelona or Madrid

because whenever i mention that muggings are rife there lots of folks take offense and say these cities are totally safe and they must know more than I

sampik

Athens is for sure one of the most safe cities.
http://www.in2greece.com/blog/2007/0...ns-greece.html

logos999

&gt;&quot;Vancouver is very safe&quot;
The area around the bus terminal at night was frightning. Many Drug dealers an junkies there, but that was was while ago. Maybe things have changed by now?

WillTravel

Logos, I don't think things have changed in Vancouver, and I don't think that area has improved.

As for whether it's safe, I find it hard to define. It's most definitely not safe for rental cars, as noted above. My mother has been forcibly robbed (by a female prostitute and junkie). My sister had her purse snatched by a thief on a bicycle. My daughter has had her locked bicycle stolen. A friend of a friend had her purse snatched off a sidewalk cafe table. Lots of people have had break-ins. But is it worse than anywhere else - probably not - but then I wouldn't say it's better.

kerouac

I drove to the bad section of Vancouver one night to buy drugs with my Pakistani friend who was living there. I sat in the car, terrified, while he went to see the dealers. He has died since then.

kerouac

I should also mention that I have other, nice, friends in Vancouver, who immigrated from Singapore. They are not at all rich but have always lived in a nice neighborhood, away from the problems of the big city. Yet they have been burglarized and had everything of value stolen from their house.