Posted on 07/18/2011 9:32:28 AM PDT by Vigilanteman
Not long ago, we had an interesting discussion on the 25 most liberal and conservative cities in America based on voting behavior. That thread is on the source URL.
I showed this list to a libtard acquaintence and suggested we compare crime rates. Of course, he tried to dismiss it stating factors other than liberal voting accounted for the high crime rates. We agreed to compare just the top five cities in each category just to sample his theory. So I am listing the top 5 cities in each category followed by the (total crime rate, violent crime rate, property crime rate). A score of 100.00 is exactly the national average. Thus, a score of 50 would be half the national average, a score of 200 would be twice the national average.
These can be verified on the Home Facts website.
You can explain some of it, but not all of it, by ethnic makeup. But I'm curious as to why Plano, Texas (#5 on the list) has less than one-third the crime rate of the two other Texas cities which made the list.
I'm also curious why the liberal showcase city of Berkeley still has crime rates significantly higher than 3/5th of the most conservative cities in the top 5. The most visible ethnic group in Berkeley is Asian who commit crimes at rates well below the national average.
The evidence is compelling. Regarding your question about Plano. It is a suburb of Dallas and is fairly affluent. It has no significant old part of the town as it just growed. Abilene and Lubbock are old cities with an urban element.
Yeah, it’s a bit of a mind-twist. Is Berkeley higher in crime because being liberals, they love more laws, so no matter what, you’re breaking some kind of law?
Some might suggest Texas Tech plays into that...
Actually, you can explain almost all of it by looking at ethnic makeup, in particular the percentage of African-Americans.
Lots of blacks, lots of crime. Call me racist, I don't care, but it's true. Political ideology has little to do with it except that blacks tend to be concentrated in Democrat strongholds.
You want to live in a safe neighborhood? Break out those census demographics. If the ethnic makeup is greater than 15% African-American, it's probably not the safest place to raise a family. Even Hispanic neighborhoods are safer than black ones.
Ok, what part can't you explain?
Yeah, a real mind twister. A college town (easy pickings) right next to Oakland.
I'd think that Berkeley's crime rates are probably influenced upward by its proximity to Oakland. The two cities are right next to each other.
Interesting. I went to Wiki and looked at the demographics for all three. Plano was strikingly different.
Comparing Provo and Plano to Detroit and Gary is about as honest as the “See BS” poll on the debt ceiling with a D+11 polling sample.
May be a good question for a statistician like John R Lott.
Liberals the enemy of any free society,except say Cuba and the like!
No, the real mind-twist is: do they vote Dem and have a crime rate because they’re poor vs vote R and have a low crime rate because they’re affluent? That would be the lib mantra — must send the lib/crime-ridden cities more money......
There are other factors, but it's even more un-PC to discuss those than it is to discuss the liberalism of those cities.
Berkeley has some of the worst housing projects near Oakland, Emeryville and San Pablo, along with Latino gangs competing for the drug business.
Berkeley, as expected, has lax drug and homeless laws, so there is a natural market that evolves due to the lack of police enforcement. The violence comes as a direct result of the competition to bring drugs to their willing customers.
Also, Berkeley has a weird Goa/Climate Change/Secular-Progressive/incence/hippie culture that somehow approves of filthy streets and every vice known to man.
I hate Berkeley with a passion and the university produces good Marxist pupils...
The ironic twist is that in the Berkeley Hills, the far-Lefties live in multi-million dollar homes, far away from the vomit and urine of the Socialist policies created by the poltiicians whose names grace the bumperstickers of their Prius.
I live in the upside-down world of Northern CA.
That same statistic also works well for how good a particular public school is going to be relative to the others nearby.
Provo is a small-medium sized city in a very conservative state, Plano is an affluent suburb, and Detroit and Gary are both old industrial rust-belt cities.
Provo is a small-medium sized city in a very conservative state, Plano is an affluent suburb, and Detroit and Gary are both old industrial rust-belt cities.
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