Uneasy in the Big Easy (1 Viewer)

[Bayouboy]

For the first time in my life, I have seriously thought about the violence occurring in New Orleans. I'm staying the night on Friday (we're going to a concert) & I've carefully planned out what we will do and when. Obviously, this does not ensure our safety.....but until now, I've never really thought about safety much at all. I've always felt very comfortable going downtown and having a good time. For some reason, it's different today.

Is this just an emotional thought process due to the increase in violent crime? Or has New Orleans really become - uneasy???

 

[saintfan-n-alex]

not being a resident i cant say but the "uneasiness" is a state of mind, be the "uneasiness" be fear or other

 

[Brennan77]

It's an emotional response but it isn't unreasonable. I'm a resident and most of us have the same concern right now. The disregard for the value of life is plainly shocking. It's certainly got me considering our future in the city. We have a little one on the way and I have to ask the question as to whether this is an acceptable and good environment for a child. If I can't bring my child to the nearby park for fear of violent crime, do we really belong here at all?

I wouldn't let it stop you from your plans, but absolutely travel in groups and do not allow yourself to be a target due to inebriation or surroundings.

 

[T.P.]

It is bad when talking about crime New Orleans is used a a measuring stick on a national concern. It drove me crazy when talking about the crime in New Orleans I was met with "it happens in all cities". Well guess what New Orleans now leads the country homicide rate (43 homicides per 100,000 people). I am just disgusted. This apathetic approach is what got us to this point:

https://www.policeone.com/ambush/articles/370416006-The-10-most-murderous-counties-in-the-U-S/


DA Leon Cannizzaro: Mitch Landrieu, his 'pacifist policies' to blame for 'frighteningly dramatic increase' in New Orleans crime | Opinion | theadvocate.com

 

[tomwaits]

I thought St. Louis was still #1. They were at 59.3 in 2015.

This chart from March has new Orleans lower than St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit, but top 4 is still not where you want to be, and it also shows how much higher it is than the national average.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/03/daily-chart-23

Maybe if drugs were legalized and addictions treated as illnesses we could lower some numbers.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

probably the greatest anxiety i felt in life was Reagan and Chernenko waving their nuclear missiles in each others faces - it's really anxiety bc there was nothing i could do to avoid the possibility of nuclear war - but of course, media (news, movies, music) was a major factor in the anxiety as well

OP i'm still fairly sure if you drove to NO you're much more likely to be injured in the car than on the street - but we imagine we have control in the car but not on the street
statistics will show that most of the homicide victims knew their attackers - also most muggings (but not all certainly) happen to drunk people in the wee hours

HOWEVER - i do get the sense that the crime spike is significant
i've said before in other threads, that I'm nervous that NO's recovery has been speculative - i'm not sure we had a choice - we had to use the money when and how it was offered - and the money was mostly in real estate development (homes and office buildings)
people flooded into the city when it was flush - but we might be in a correction now
Jazz Fest attendance was down (yes weather was part of that) already in May 6 restaurants closed, and it looks like real estate has started to cool a bit. all of this points to the new/young money not staying
now with crime (aside from new developments moving into gang turf and moving them out and having to fight for new turf) it's very likely that new/young money was a goodly chuck of the drug trade - if they're moving out, then dealers are not as flush as before - making them more desperate - if that's the case, i don't see it getting better in the near future

 

[bclemms]

Don't worry, this new crime wave is surely temporary, because the City is adding in more traffic cams.

 

[saintbilly25]

The link wouldn't copy for me, but the headline on Nola.com this morning is that Orleans Parish is officially the most murderous county in the Nation. It has the highest homicide rate in the U.S.

 

[FootballLady]

I ask out of admitted ignorance: What should the city do to curb violent crime? Realistic, Constitutional options only, please.

 

[insidejob]

If the crime rate was a majority of random violence, I'd be concerned. But since it's mostly drug turf wars where the majority of these shootings/murders and other violent crime are occurring, I'm not all that concerned and I actually live here. I don't feel the least bit uncomfortable walking home from Finn's after midnight - but I'm paying really close attention to everything happening around me as well to not make myself a target.

 

[porculator]

I ask out of admitted ignorance: What should the city do to curb violent crime? Realistic, Constitutional options only, please.

Any long term fix involves reaching kids before the point of no return, which unfortunately appears to be really young in some cases.

Locking people up AFTER they kill someone is only so effective.

 

[buzd]

it's very likely that new/young money was a goodly chuck of the drug trade - if they're moving out, then dealers are not as flush as before -

I haven't seen this argument made before.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

It's an emotional response but it isn't unreasonable. I'm a resident and most of us have the same concern right now. The disregard for the value of life is plainly shocking. It's certainly got me considering our future in the city. We have a little one on the way and I have to ask the question as to whether this is an acceptable and good environment for a child. If I can't bring my child to the nearby park for fear of violent crime, do we really belong here at all?

I wouldn't let it stop you from your plans, but absolutely travel in groups and do not allow yourself to be a target due to inebriation or surroundings.

I see that you're in the Irish Channel... to me, the Irish Channel seems like a microcosm of New Orleans itself; some great homes, lots of charm but very sketchy in some parts... it fascinates me, having recently moved back after living out of state for many years-- how people in NOLA see violent crime as just part of life... in other major cities I've lived in-- Los Angeles, Houston-- violent crime just isnt something you think much about unless you go into very specific parts of town; i suspect it's like that most places and New Orleans is the outlier... i say all that to ask this: I'll be looking to buy a home in Orleans Parish in the next few months.. is there any place i can look that is actually low-crime? So far all ive been able to come up with is English Turn (ZERO crime, but too far for my tastes).. Uptown (there are sketchy areas within it, also extreme priciness) and Lakeview (doesnt seem as safe as it once did)... Are there any places I'm missing? It's sad how few options there seem to be without leaving the City.

 

[insidejob]

I see that you're in the Irish Channel... to me, the Irish Channel seems like a microcosm of New Orleans itself; some great homes, lots of charm but very sketchy in some parts... it fascinates me, having recently moved back after living out of state for many years-- how people in NOLA see violent crime as just part of life... in other major cities I've lived in-- Los Angeles, Houston-- violent crime just isnt something you think much about unless you go into very specific parts of town; i suspect it's like that most places and New Orleans is the outlier... i say all that to ask this: I'll be looking to buy a home in Orleans Parish in the next few months.. is there any place i can look that is actually low-crime? So far all ive been able to come up with is English Turn (ZERO crime, but too far for my tastes).. Uptown (there are sketchy areas within it, also extreme priciness) and Lakeview (doesnt seem as safe as it once did)... Are there any places I'm missing? It's sad how few options there seem to be without leaving the City.

Mid City Between Carrollton and Jeff Davis and Banks and Canal.(This could probably extend all the way to the cemeteries.)

Dig up the "shooting map/murder map" from last year and you'll see that there were like two in the whole chunk and they happened right on the edge by Jeff Davis and Canal.

I've lived on the same corner for almost 7 years now and there hasn't been a break in or robbery or anything in my block that I've heard about - and we talk about everything in my neighborhood.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I haven't seen this argument made before.

i'm not saying it's real or not - just weaving together some thoughts
i'd mentioned in other threads a conversation i'd heard that an asst DA and some detectives were having in reference to the housing projects coming down - they anticipated an sharp rise in violence because gangs in the PJs had to relocate and were going to have to go into other turf and fight for control
- it struck me that it not only made a lot of sense, but also that this was not the kind of information/speculation you are likely to hear on the news or read in the paper
i've thought about the dynamics of crime a lot differently since i heard that conversation