(Updated January 15, 2019)
In each of the Top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods lists that NeighborhoodScout has published since 2013, a Michigan neighborhood (or several) has made an appearance. But in the online hyperlocal real estate database's 2018 list, no Michigan neighborhoods were named.
However, nine Michigan cities were listed on the site's 2019 100 Most Dangerous Cities list. Detroit topped the list in the 5th spot. You can read more about that here.
Original Post:
With all the problems in Flint and Detroit, it's no surprise we see these cities end up on "most dangerous cities" lists.
The lists are generated using violent crime statistics from the FBI's annual "Uniform Crime Reports."
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But all cities have neighborhoods prone to crime and many other neighborhoods that are not. They are safe, for the most part.
Location, Inc. says they took data from the FBI and other "exclusive data" developed by the company to rank the safety of specific neighborhoods around the country.
Earlier this month, they released their list, Top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America, on their website NeighborhoodScout. There are six Michigan neighborhoods on the list. The top three are in Detroit.
(Click on the street names below to see a map of the neighborhoods.)
- Detroit (West Chicago / Livernois Avenue)
- Detroit (Mack Avenue / Helen Street)
- Detroit (Gratiot Avenue / Rosemary)
- Detroit (Wyoming Street / Orangelawn Street)
- Saginaw (East Holland Avenue / East Genesee Avenue)
- Flint (Chambers Street / Stonegate Drive)
The FBI warns against using its data to make lists on jurisdictions. They warn:
These incomplete analyses have often created misleading perceptions which adversely affect geographic entities and their residents. For this reason, the FBI has a long a long-standing policy against ranking participating law enforcement agencies on the basis of crime data alone.
They say things like population density, family conditions and even climate affect crime in an area - so the stats shouldn't be used to judge the effectiveness of crime prevention in a city.
Location, Inc. writes that they agree, but that the stats help reveal the overall safety of certain areas, which is worth knowing about.
This is like rating the safety of automobiles. As such, the public has a right to know how safe a car is, just like they have the right to know how the safety of any place compares to others. It is not a judgment of law enforcement as circumstances are different in each locality and law enforcement does the best they can.
The company describes itself as "a leading builder and source of location-based data and risk analysis information for corporate users nationwide."
