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Exactly, I dont think this is a clumsy PR play as the OP suggested. All big cities are experiencing increase in homelessness, crime and violence, drug use. Yo

by ProAm 5y ago

Exactly, I dont think this is a clumsy PR play as the OP suggested. All big cities are experiencing increase in homelessness, crime and violence, drug use. You see it in Austin, Denver, SF, Seattle, LA, Chicago. Many of these cities were already bad and are getting worse, but others used to be 'good' cities and are now moving into thunderdome territory.

saila 5y ago
The city I live in has been an ongoing target of this kind of "thunderdome" rhetoric, and while there are well-known problem areas, the reality is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be. With regard to things getting worse over the past couple years, I'm not sure what people were expecting to happen when sky high rents intersected with a global pandemic, especially in places where there's not much of a safety net.
softwarebeware 5y ago
There's two things happening. There's a "{{YOUR_CITY}} is dying" narrative that is constantly being pushed by far-right-owned media companies. It has been going on for years. (see https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/24/fact-check-linking-city-violence-democratic-politics-reach/3248102001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/24/fac...). And that narrative is now having some success. It is getting people to apply a confirmation bias such that they perceive their city as crime-infested. Meanwhile, crime statistics in many (most? all?) of these cities are actually down or flat. And compared on a per-capita basis look like even weaker support for that narrative.
- ProAm 5y ago
  I dont think its being pushed by far right or far left, I see both sides complaining about it which means there is factual evidence and experience to prove it a real issue. Crime is up in a lot of cities, example of a recent study in Denver, sure it depends on what you measure and how, but that is how statistics work: - While Colorado’s rates for homicide, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft rose by more than 10% in 2020 over the average of the prior three years, rates for rape, larceny, robbery and burglary stayed relatively level or declined. - Increases in aggravated assaults — which include shootings and stabbings — and motor vehicle thefts are the biggest drivers of increased rates statewide of violent crime and property crime. - Colorado’s communities are not a monolith. Trends in the state’s largest cities differ from each other, as do those in medium-sized towns. Colorado’s 2020 violent crime rate was the highest it’s been since 1995, but is lower than it was between 1985 and 1995. The state’s 2020 property crime rate was the highest recorded since 2008, but is less than half the rate recorded in the mid-1980s. - While Colorado’s violent crime rate jumped 10% between 2019 and 2020 — the largest single-year increase since 1990 — that increase came as part of a six-year upward trend. The state’s violent crime rate increased by 8% year-over-year in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
  - softwarebeware 5y ago
    I'm skeptical when percentages are named because I remember seeing one study like this where it was like, "homicides are up 10%" and then when I looked, there were 10 homicides last year and 11 the next.
    - ProAm 5y ago
      For sure that is why I said "sure it depends on what you measure and how, but that is how statistics work". But it was a pretty comprehensive study. Crime is still up. You can travel to any of these cities and notice a visible difference. Going to SF, Austin and Denver from trips several years ago to this year was noticeably different. From tent cities, trash, drugs, crime and the general voice from the locals.

by ProAm 5y ago

saila 5y ago

The city I live in has been an ongoing target of this kind of "thunderdome" rhetoric, and while there are well-known problem areas, the reality is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be. With regard to things getting worse over the past couple years, I'm not sure what people were expecting to happen when sky high rents intersected with a global pandemic, especially in places where there's not much of a safety net.

softwarebeware 5y ago

There's two things happening. There's a "{{YOUR_CITY}} is dying" narrative that is constantly being pushed by far-right-owned media companies. It has been going on for years. (see https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/24/fact-check-linking-city-violence-democratic-politics-reach/3248102001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/24/fac...). And that narrative is now having some success. It is getting people to apply a confirmation bias such that they perceive their city as crime-infested. Meanwhile, crime statistics in many (most? all?) of these cities are actually down or flat. And compared on a per-capita basis look like even weaker support for that narrative.

ProAm 5y ago
I dont think its being pushed by far right or far left, I see both sides complaining about it which means there is factual evidence and experience to prove it a real issue. Crime is up in a lot of cities, example of a recent study in Denver, sure it depends on what you measure and how, but that is how statistics work: - While Colorado’s rates for homicide, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft rose by more than 10% in 2020 over the average of the prior three years, rates for rape, larceny, robbery and burglary stayed relatively level or declined. - Increases in aggravated assaults — which include shootings and stabbings — and motor vehicle thefts are the biggest drivers of increased rates statewide of violent crime and property crime. - Colorado’s communities are not a monolith. Trends in the state’s largest cities differ from each other, as do those in medium-sized towns. Colorado’s 2020 violent crime rate was the highest it’s been since 1995, but is lower than it was between 1985 and 1995. The state’s 2020 property crime rate was the highest recorded since 2008, but is less than half the rate recorded in the mid-1980s. - While Colorado’s violent crime rate jumped 10% between 2019 and 2020 — the largest single-year increase since 1990 — that increase came as part of a six-year upward trend. The state’s violent crime rate increased by 8% year-over-year in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
- softwarebeware 5y ago
  I'm skeptical when percentages are named because I remember seeing one study like this where it was like, "homicides are up 10%" and then when I looked, there were 10 homicides last year and 11 the next.
  - ProAm 5y ago
    For sure that is why I said "sure it depends on what you measure and how, but that is how statistics work". But it was a pretty comprehensive study. Crime is still up. You can travel to any of these cities and notice a visible difference. Going to SF, Austin and Denver from trips several years ago to this year was noticeably different. From tent cities, trash, drugs, crime and the general voice from the locals.