|
| quote: | Originally posted by tatgirl
I SWORE I posted in this thread b4 (w/DC crime stats), but its not there....
tonybalogna- have we met yet? I'm a DC native too.
Not sure if u were there when DC was the 'murder capital' for 3 yrs running or not... but at its peak it was like 406 homicides for the year (population 500,000). Even then we never really felt threatened, and we went to a lot of sketchy areas for clubs. U just had to be more cautious & aware. Majority of that was gang violence anyways.
My 1st year here I LITERALLY FELL OFF MY CHAIR LAUGHING when I heard the distress in the news reporters voice that March of 2000, when she announced "its our seventh homicide of the year!!!!!"......
it was MARCH!!! In DC we'd have that by Jan.5th! Good thing things have calmed down there (its just moved out to PG County, MD instead).
On the average, TO's homicide rate has been about 40/yr since i moved here- this year is much higher, of course. Easily will hit 80 by years end. |
I only lived in DC for a year and a half. May 2002- August 2003. I moved to 8th and S st nw. It was quite sketchy, but got used to it. My roomate was awesome- traveled with tribe called quest for a few years then decided to open up his own yoga/ fitness center at 14th and R st NW. At least U st was close by, but even that was nothing special. Remember going to a club on 7th and H st NW- I think it was called Glow, which was OK.
Then moved to 1st st and N St NW, about 2 blocks North of the Sursum Corda housing complex. Also near the notorious 1st and O st. Behind me was Hanover Pl, which back in the early 90s I guess there was a murder on that one block street at least once a week- I was told by the neighbors the most notorious street in all of DC. The government eventually bulldozed most of the houses on Hanover and built new ones before I got there. This area was still terrible. I bought a house there and took advantage of a 5% no money down mortgage from Bank of America + $2000 first time DC homebuyer tax credit. Before buying, I checked the area at noon and again at midnight, figuring thats when all the shit would be going down. Boy was I wrong. The worst time was just before the kids got out of high school across the street until about 10 pm when the liquor store on the corner closes (yes there is a liquor store on almost every corner around the school). Fortunately, my property appreciated and I moved out the following summer due to outside circumstances beyond my control. I rented an apartment for summer 2003 at 5th st nw and Florida Ave which wasn't too bad at all- yuppies starting to move in around me, houses being remodeled left and right, and houses going for $350,000 plus. Also had some nice neighbors there.
You are right, "they" are just being moved out to PG county, whose murder rate is also increasing, along with other crime.
Right now, I'm just glad I'm doing my graduate work in Montreal.
|