How bad is your city?

[Chobohoya]

I've always thought that there were a lot of problems with my hometown. Since I've started the research for a project at work, I've actually seen how badly Jacksonville compares to other cities and the state of Florida as a whole. We have a far higher percentage of births to teens, low-birthweight births, and preterm births than the state or the national average. We rank poorly in these indicators nationally as well.

Our educational system is horrendous too: we have 50-200% more crimes per student than comparable counties, fewer kids graduate, we score lower on our FCATs, and we score lower on our SATs, even though a smaller pool of kids takes them. A larger percentage of students receive out of school suspension, and all this is happening under economic circumstances that are about the same as in the other counties.

Check out your city (http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/rightstart/2002_city_rankings.pdf) and your state's Department of Education ( here is FL's (http://info.doe.state.fl.us/fsir/) ) for details, tell us how much your city sucks.

[pokerdirty]

i'm not going to click on that, but i'm sure NYC is worse.

[canis582]

Now this types of [censored] happens all the time (http://www.readingeagle.com/re/news/1439663.asp)
You gotta get yours before I gotta get mine. (http://www.readingeagle.com/re/news/1439654.asp)
Census data doesn't count illegal aliens (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42/4263624.html)

[Chobohoya]

[ QUOTE ]
i'm not going to click on that, but i'm sure NYC is worse.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd be wrong on 5 of the 8 indicators available in that link.

[Chobohoya]

Not really sure what the first two links try to prove, but from the third, this caught my eye:

Reading, PA: Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 (b) 37.3%

Jacksonville, FL: Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 (b) 4.2%

edit: Ok I figured it out. Reading is a factory town, I didn't know they still existed really...

Business QuickFacts Reading Pennsylvania
Manufacturers shipments, 1997 ($1000) 3,654,193 11,600,008
Wholesale trade sales, 1997 ($1000) 583,486 159,354,185
Retail sales, 1997 ($1000) 502,845 109,948,462

[astroglide]

racism is out of control in st louis.

wash u med school is situated in the central west end along with barnes hospital. our best hospital, our best school, and one of the nicer areas in town with multi-million dollar homes and lots of nice dining. it's about a quarter mile from ghetto city. as a result, phd students in the med school have to get escorts during broad daylight to avoid getting robbed at gunpoint or carjacked. police stand on the corners and it doesn't seem to deter them. i know of many people who have been robbed between the hours of 8AM-NOON on these busy and populated streets.

our crime rate really isn't bad overall and it's an easy place to live, but there are lots of areas - wonderful, destination areas - where you have to be constantly guarded and cannot visit during certain hours for fear of violent crime. downtown st louis is basically abandoned. there is one street in downtown st louis that it actually used, and it's only a nights/weekends club thing. a little away from the city there is laclede's landing which has a booming bar district (again nights/weekends). everybody basically lives in suburban areas which have plentiful shopping/dining and only end up downtown for sporting events.

i've received comments many times from people who are visiting, moved from other cities, and that sort of thing that we have the worst minority class they have ever seen.

[pokerdirty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i'm not going to click on that, but i'm sure NYC is worse.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd be wrong on 5 of the 8 indicators available in that link.

[/ QUOTE ]

eh, whatever. i'm sure the numbers never lie

[Los Feliz Slim]

New slogan for the marketing department:

Visit Los Angeles, #1 in Percentage of Total Births to Mothers Receiving Late or No Prentatal Care

[Chobohoya]

I suggested this to my boss a couple hours ago:
"Jacksonville : at least we're not Atlanta!"

[fnord_too]

I live in Norfolk, VA. It borders VA Beach, and usually these things use Norfolk or Virginia Beach to label the whole area (there are several cities all together here).

If you want to find VA Beach, they are on all the lists, up high, and first in one case.

Also, IIRC, this is the worst area (from a guys perspective) for male/female ratio, and at least to be the most obese city in the country (maybe just for females, not sure).

This city sucks, but I won't be here too much longer.

[tolbiny]

Cleveland-
percent births to teens 18.2%- rank 46/50
percent births to teens who are already mothers 25.5 rank 42/50
total births to unmarried women 68.5%, rank 4950
births to mothers with less than 12 years of education 31.3, rank 32/50

children born with little/no prenatal care 6.4 rank 37/50
mothers who smoked while pregnant 18.4%- rank 41/42

low birth rate 12.4% rank T46/50
preterm births 16.3% rank 45/50

i am to depressed to look up educational stats right now

[Indiana]

Yah Norfolk is a real chit hole. Actually, that entire part of virginia around the ches. bay area is a chit hole. What about Newport News or Hampton? My family is from Norfolk. Nasty.

Indy

[fnord_too]

[ QUOTE ]
Yah Norfolk is a real chit hole. Actually, that entire part of virginia around the ches. bay area is a chit hole. What about Newport News or Hampton? My family is from Norfolk. Nasty.

Indy

[/ QUOTE ]

My family is from here, too. Only reason I am here, but I am moving to Charlottesville within the next three years, hopefully on the soon end of that range.

[Cancer Merchant]

Conclusion, based on the first .pdf: Fewer people can afford to raise a family in SF, explaining the good numbers.

Of course, raw numbers would have been useful as well as percentages.

CDC live births by County and City, 2000. (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statab/t002x01.pdf)

[Chobohoya]

Wow. Cleveland sucks. All of these indicators correlate with crime and education. Also, on another part of that site you can look at all of these results on a line graph and compare them to other regions over at least 12 years, for even more depressive goodness.

[canis582]

East Cleveland is the second scariest ghetto ive ever been in (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/3923380.html)

Right behind this doosey (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34/3410000.html)

[Chobohoya]

Why would you ever go to either of those two places?

[B Dids]

Define "worst" in the phrase "worst minority class".

Are you talking in terms of actions or in terms of just the situation in which they live?

[Chobohoya]

The two are inextricably linked.

[thatpfunk]

San Diego is an interesting city because it is so spread out. I do not feel uncomfortable at all leaving my door unlocked while I am out for a few hours despite the fact that there are quite a few homeless people running around Pacific Beach. There are some some super swanky areas and some typical suburban areas.

There are, however, some really shitty areas. But, because the most problematic areas are in southeast San Diego, about a half hour away, there is a huge disconnect for many people. I know kids who have gone to school here for 4 years and have never seen San Diego's ghettos.

All in all, I can't imagine many other major US cities that I would feel safer in.

[Georgia Avenue]

http://hbo.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p1807754reg.jpg

Need I say more?

[HopeydaFish]

I live in Ottawa, Canada, and there isn't a single place in the city where I wouldn't feel comfortable walking around at night. We have some "poorer" areas, but they're nowhere near the ghettos that you see in American cities.

[The Goober]

From the first link, seattle is in the top 5 for everything except "receiving late or not prenatal care (tied for 6th) and "mothers who smoked during pregnancy" (13th).

[MonkeeMan]

[ QUOTE ]
East Cleveland is the second scariest ghetto ive ever been in (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/3923380.html)

Right behind this doosey (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34/3410000.html)

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey now, I was born and raised in that doosey. We're #1 (in danger (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6555449/)). That's why I can proudly say "I'm FROM Camden".

Just be glad you escaped too.

[Chobohoya]

[ QUOTE ]
From the first link, seattle is in the top 5 for everything except "receiving late or not prenatal care (tied for 6th) and "mothers who smoked during pregnancy" (13th).

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a good thing (http://www.aecf.org/cgi-bin/rs.cgi?action=graph&area=Jacksonville%2C+FL%3BClev eland%2C+OH%3BSeattle%2C+WA&variable=Percent+of+to tal+births+to+mothers+receiving+late+or+no+prenata l+care&year=1990&year=2002&x=35&y=8) .... you know that right?