Camden, NJ named most dangerous city for 2nd time in a row

Jstas

Still beating out Detroit which has a strangle hold on the 2nd place ranking, Camden, NJ retained the throne of Most Dangerous City averaging about 1 murder per week. Kinda sad but yet when the city has very little else going for it, there is a perverse solace in being the best at being the worst. I just wish there was a brighter future for my home town. It's an old city and there is a good deal of history and heritage there. It's a shame to see it in the condition it is.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/21/camden.crime.ap/index.html

BIZILL

hope you remain strapped.

ohskigod

that city is no joke. they have some cool stuff there though, namely the Battleship. I heard the money the state is dumping into there isnt doing much though.

PolknPepsi

Wife and I were on a driving vacation out east one time and we missed our exit so we drove on. The exit we took to get started back the other way was a Camden NJ exit. That ranks right up there with the southside of Chicago as a really rough looking area.

Fallen Kell

Yeah, Camden is one of those areas... When there is a major event (concert, or something) where there will be lots of people who are not normally in Camden, the cops litterally block off roads and force/direct traffic when people leave to keep people from going places where they will most likely be car-jacked and/or attacked.

I can remember as a kid going there with my parents from time to time to take the L into Philly (that was 20 years ago). I can say now that there is no way I would go there anymore to do that. Ever since all the manufacturing plants, ship yard(s), and docks closed down, the place simply went to hell. There isn't really much you can do about it either. I mean aside from re-training all the people who live there that do not have the skills to do other work, the city will be in shambles. Even with simply dumping money into the city like the state has been doing, you can't fix the problem that there are no jobs for so many of the people. Some new businesses have moved into there taking advantage of the huge state subsities. But you won't see that helping the city anymore then the added tax revenue, since the jobs are mostly going to workers with BS/MS/PhD's, which the poor neighborhoods in Camden simply do not have people who can qualify for positions...

It is a shame... Although lately I havn't felt as unsecure going thru the city on the way too/from the bridge to Philly and/or to the waterfront area.

BIZILL

jstas, ever plan on hosting a polk gathering in your 'home' town?

Jstas

I don't live there anymore. It was where my family was living when I came in to this world and alot of my family still lives in areas in Camden. The only people in my family who don't live there are my parents and my brother , my sister lives in Vermont and my uncle and aunt live just outside of Camden. Aside from extended family on my dad's side (cousins, 3rd and 4th removed) most of my family still lives in Camden. It's where I'm from, the city has been a huge part of my life and how it has been shaped to make me, me. It's my home town because it is where I was born and where my family is from but not necessarily where I live right now. The crime rate is the main reason I don't live in Camden. If it was the way it was when I was younger, I would not be so inclined to avoid the place and raise a family there. Right now though, I don't feel that by living in Camden, I can give my future children every opportunity I can to help them succeed in thier lives. As what was said already, the jobs aren't there, the demographic of the majority of the population is abject poverty, the city government is corrupt and even the police fear the city. I don't go there anymore unless I have to because of family or I have a police escort like when driving the ambulance. It's not a nice place and it makes places with bad reputations like Compton and South Central, LA look like freaking Disneyland.

And no, I don't plan on hosting a Polk gathering.

BIZILL

it's gotta suck when your memories are rooted in a place that has gone downhill. makes you wish you could do something to change things for the better.