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Pretty funny that Wikipedia states East Palo Alto had "only" five murders in 2008, even though the population is 28000. From an European perspective even a sing

by nawitus 12y ago

Pretty funny that Wikipedia states East Palo Alto had "only" five murders in 2008, even though the population is 28000. From an European perspective even a single murder would be significant..

adventured 12y ago
That really depends on what part of Europe you're talking about. Russia has around a 10 to 12 per 100,000 murder rate. Belarus is around a 5.7 per 100k. Tallinn is over 7 and Tirana is over 6, and Chishinau is near 6, Riga is 5.4, Vilnius is 5.4, Amsterdam is 4.4. The murder rate in NYC is lower than those for example at about 4 per 100k. The US murder rate is about 4.7, so it's comparable to Amsterdam as a whole country of 320 million people, including the extremely violent parts of the US. The murder rate in Boise Idaho is about 1 or 2 per 100k typically. Seattle is in the 3's these days, comparable to Brussels. Mesa Arizona has half a million people at a 3 murder rate; Portland is around 600k at the same. San Diego is at around 1.35 million people with a 3.x murder rate. The US has numerous cities with severe murder problems, and it also has a lot of cities without such. You can find many cities in the six figure population zone with murder rates of 1 or 2 per 100k. Ultimately in the US you can live in whatever kind of world you feel like living in.
- nawitus 12y ago
  The typical intentional homicide rate in Western and Nordic Europe is slightly more than 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona...), which is a large contrast to about 18 of EPA.
  - adventured 12y ago
    Which is exactly why I was specific: it depends on which part of Europe you're talking about. Nordic countries have about 25 million people total. Well, the US has 320 million people, and a lot more people in the US live under a 1.x murder rate than do in Nordic countries. I typically see people make comparisons using the Nordic countries for everything in Europe, while ignoring the half of Europe that is problematic for those comparisons. The US compares extraordinarily well to the Nordic countries, if you want to do an Apples to Apples comparison, since the Nordics represent the elite outcomes of Europe - then let's compare using the elite outcomes of the US; ie the top 10% of Europe vs the top 10% of the US.

by nawitus 12y ago

Pretty funny that Wikipedia states East Palo Alto had "only" five murders in 2008, even though the population is 28000. From an European perspective even a single murder would be significant..

adventured 12y ago

That really depends on what part of Europe you're talking about. Russia has around a 10 to 12 per 100,000 murder rate. Belarus is around a 5.7 per 100k. Tallinn is over 7 and Tirana is over 6, and Chishinau is near 6, Riga is 5.4, Vilnius is 5.4, Amsterdam is 4.4. The murder rate in NYC is lower than those for example at about 4 per 100k. The US murder rate is about 4.7, so it's comparable to Amsterdam as a whole country of 320 million people, including the extremely violent parts of the US. The murder rate in Boise Idaho is about 1 or 2 per 100k typically. Seattle is in the 3's these days, comparable to Brussels. Mesa Arizona has half a million people at a 3 murder rate; Portland is around 600k at the same. San Diego is at around 1.35 million people with a 3.x murder rate. The US has numerous cities with severe murder problems, and it also has a lot of cities without such. You can find many cities in the six figure population zone with murder rates of 1 or 2 per 100k. Ultimately in the US you can live in whatever kind of world you feel like living in.

nawitus 12y ago
The typical intentional homicide rate in Western and Nordic Europe is slightly more than 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona...), which is a large contrast to about 18 of EPA.
- adventured 12y ago
  Which is exactly why I was specific: it depends on which part of Europe you're talking about. Nordic countries have about 25 million people total. Well, the US has 320 million people, and a lot more people in the US live under a 1.x murder rate than do in Nordic countries. I typically see people make comparisons using the Nordic countries for everything in Europe, while ignoring the half of Europe that is problematic for those comparisons. The US compares extraordinarily well to the Nordic countries, if you want to do an Apples to Apples comparison, since the Nordics represent the elite outcomes of Europe - then let's compare using the elite outcomes of the US; ie the top 10% of Europe vs the top 10% of the US.