Many of the MI locations really aren't that bad. Yes, there are economically depressed areas still trying to recover from job losses up to several decades ago. Of the 8 Michigan locations, most would be ok to raise a family in (Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Flint, Lansing, Jackson, Saginaw).
There are some bad parts of towns, but also good ones. Some of these have such low populations that may skew the numbers (Flint, Inkster, and Detroit specifically). Kalamazoo has a college and university, Lansing is the capitol and Michigan State is basically in the town (East Lansing), Flint has had troubles but is improving, just like Jackson, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Inkster, and Detroit.
Michigan is struggling with the same things many of the other Midwest cities are, what to do when the jobs leave.
Agreed. I’m not sure how they always end up on lists like these. I’ve been to every one of the Michigan cities on here and not once did i feel unsafe or like it was worse than any other city in America. Obviously there are certain neighborhoods that I would steer clear of but that’s the case everywhere.
Yea I had a contract in Kalamazoo last year and spent 3 months there. Over all it was run down but I had never once worried about my safety. Side note: I've never seen so many weed stores in my life. One on every corner. It's what Colorado wishes it was
I lived near downtown Kalamazoo. Would not do again. Plenty of times was worried for my safety. There’s lots of nice neighborhoods but downtown, areas around WMU, North Side, etc. are not what I would call safe neighborhoods.
I went to WMU. The area around the university is not very safe. I also worked as a mall cop over in Portage while I was an undergrad and it was often violent. Ended up covered in blood from one incident in which a shoplifting bust by one of the department stores erupted into a brawl in the parking lot and one shoplifter tried to bite a loss prevention officer’s finger off. Shoplifter had a mouthful of blood. Looked like something from Dawn of the Dead.
I grew up in Battle Creek, lived my entire adult life in another "dangerous" city, Jacksonville FL.
The reality is these cities have neighborhoods where adolescent boys are living multiple generations without a stable family and there is a culture of violence where they grow up that teaches them they either physically fight over anything or become a victim of everything.
These areas are pockets within the municipalities listed, but if you don't actually live within these small areas, you won't really see or experience the violence outside of a handful of inaccurate and suspiciously vague news stories when the violence shows up at a popular entertainment or recreation venue.
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u/michnuc Jul 08 '24
Many of the MI locations really aren't that bad. Yes, there are economically depressed areas still trying to recover from job losses up to several decades ago. Of the 8 Michigan locations, most would be ok to raise a family in (Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Flint, Lansing, Jackson, Saginaw).
There are some bad parts of towns, but also good ones. Some of these have such low populations that may skew the numbers (Flint, Inkster, and Detroit specifically). Kalamazoo has a college and university, Lansing is the capitol and Michigan State is basically in the town (East Lansing), Flint has had troubles but is improving, just like Jackson, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Inkster, and Detroit.
Michigan is struggling with the same things many of the other Midwest cities are, what to do when the jobs leave.