Crime rate:TV vs. other towns/comparable population
 

Some comments I've read recently piqued my interest so I went looking at crime rates in comparable cities by population. If this doesn't interest you, move on to the next post.

I found a website (bestplaces.net) which gathers data from FBI data. The results made me pleased we chose TV to live, and put local crime reports in perspective (as in, not much to write about so they search hard to find stories of possible interest, sometimes missing the mark totally!).

Here's what I found:
(city, state, violent crime, Property crime)
Evansville, IN , 56.9 , 61.3
Allentown, PA. , 66.6 , 61
Charleston, SC. 54.1 , 51.4
Clarksville, TN. , 65.4 , 50.4
Gainesville, FL. , 70.8 , 60.6
Miramar, FL. , 59.5 , 50.2

THE VILLAGES, FL. , 1 , 18

I recognize that the demographics of the other cities differ significantly, but that doesn't change the data.

FYI. :-) :pepper2:

The demographics differ is an understatement.

Of course, you can always compare TV to Gary, Indiana or maybe Camden, NJ.

One of the things I love about this place is the low crime rate and we don't have our own police force. The surrounding sheriff's departments are very good at what they do.

I don't think there are many places this safe in the U.S.

The problem that I've run into, is that there isn't really an accurate census of just...The Villages.

If you use the official Census Data, it under-represents the actual residents by quite a bit.

My guess is that they are only using one zip code, are adding some TV'ers to surrounding areas and not actually counting all of us who live inside TV itself.

Even in 2010, there were more than 51,000 residents in TV and some other data I've seen show only about 65,000 in 2015...which we know is incorrect. :shrug:


http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/tab...045215/1271625

No bad neighborhoods here.

True, but the data alone is reassuring. It would be difficult, if not impossible to find another community this large with these demographics.

I would hazard a guess that one doesn't exist in the United States...if not the entire planet. :shrug:

I feel 99.9 percent safe in The Villages but still use reasonable sense. I have a monitored alarm system.

The only other city I felt this safe was Singapore. The reason crime is so neglible there is the harsh punishment for offenders.

A taxi driver told me that private gun ownership is forbidden. But, if you do a crime and have a gun on you (and get caught) that it is a life sentence. If the gun is fired during the crime - DEATH penalty!

Two systems- I will take The Villages!

That website was one of the things I researched before choosing this community. The excellent fire and emt response were important, too.

Overall, I feel quite safe here. Still lock the doors though :evil6:

The CNBC Global CFO Council listed the best states in a number of categories. for example: Quality of life #1 Hawaii #2 Minnesota #26 Florida

Cost of living #1 Mississippi #2 Kentucky #28 Florida

I take such statistics with a grain of salt

Statistics mean nothing if you become a victim of a crime

I opine others can decide

I certainly believe our crime rate here is low, however any statistics are probably not accurate. Crime statistics are reported from law enforcement. Here we have 3 county sheriff departments, Wildwood Police, etc. so the statistics for The Villages only probably do not exist. Google how crime statistics are collected. The suburb I lived in had a murder one year. The next year the crime statistics showed a 100% increase in the murder rate. So much for statistics.

OP: thanks for the info.

Violent and property crime in TV is very low...but not any better than some of the places many of the residents came from. I doubt anyone here lived in an inner city.

Of course, there are no stats for felony DWI...of course, enforcing that would cut down on Town Square revenue.

I take it you don't drink. I hope that you have not suffered some terrible loss due to a drunk driver.

There are many who drink socially here that are responsible people and many with alcohol addiction too.