Crime Visualization of San Francisco • Hacker News Board

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#21

Post by enf » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 10:52 PM UTC

dongle wrote: post #17

enf wrote: post #14

If you want more details, sanfrancisco.crimespotting.org has them, or you can download the raw data from datasf.org. The hot spot at 16th Street BART is drug dealers and in practice there is no reason not to go there.

I'm going to have to disagree. Its accessibility via the muni and the bart, combined with the proximity to the hard-drug areas of town means that there are a number of quick and dirty smash-n-grab robberies of transient ne'er-do-wells. Admittedly I'm biased because I experienced a single one of those datapoints first-hand.

OK, I shouldn't have dismissed it so quickly... there are some real issues there too. But I have spent a lot of time there without worrying about my safety.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#22

Post by jorgeortiz85 » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 10:53 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #13

This is very interesting. A friend of mine who lived on Frederick St, just a few blocks up the hill from Haight, said that crime was much lower on her block. Her theory was that bad guys didn't like to climb hills. And in fact there seems to be a correlation between altitude and crime rate. There are probably other reasons too. E.g. that the hills are fancier neighborhoods. But her explanation makes sense. If you're…

There's also fewer homeless people the higher the altitude.

If you're walking around outside all day, and have no particular place to go, and are possibly pushing around a shopping cart full of stuff, it makes sense that you would tend to gravitate to areas with lower potential energy.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#23

Post by ericd » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 10:54 PM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #9

So most of Hunter's Point is crime free? Is this data correct?

This is why I'd like to do violent/nonviolent versions. I've heard it described that the Tenderloin has a lot of non violent crime, and that Hunter's Point has much more violent crime. Ultimately, I'd rather be in the Tenderloin if that's the case.

I believe the data is correct, but I'm not sure what the SF police's data policies are. There could be some withholding, etc. The data comes from http://sanfrancisco.crimespotting.org/.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#24

Post by ericd » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 10:57 PM UTC

dongle wrote: post #5

Wow, this is excellent. I'm looking at moving to San Francisco later this year and this is such important information. I knew that places like the Tenderloin were dangerous, but there's an unexpected hotspot in the middle of the Mission that I know to avoid now. Thanks.

Cool. It's available on PadMapper itself as an overlay, so you can see where the apartment listings sit on the crime map. It's a bit buried - have to maximize Filters and then Super Secret Advanced Features.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#25

Post by rdouble » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 10:58 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #13

This is very interesting. A friend of mine who lived on Frederick St, just a few blocks up the hill from Haight, said that crime was much lower on her block. Her theory was that bad guys didn't like to climb hills. And in fact there seems to be a correlation between altitude and crime rate. There are probably other reasons too. E.g. that the hills are fancier neighborhoods. But her explanation makes sense. If you're…

I lived on Beulah, one of the flat streets between Cole and Haight. There were countless bums from GGP & haight street milling about my block, which was considered "Cole Valley", a relatively yuppie neighborhood. My apartment was burglarized and my TV was stolen. I moved up to Stanyan and Rivoli, considered to be the same neighborhood, but straight up a very steep hill, and never saw another human soul again.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#26

Post by ericd » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 10:59 PM UTC

enf wrote: post #14

If you want more details, sanfrancisco.crimespotting.org has them, or you can download the raw data from datasf.org. The hot spot at 16th Street BART is drug dealers and in practice there is no reason not to go there.

Yeah, it's definitely not all dangerous crime. I still wouldn't want to live in a drug dealer hotspot, though...

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#27

Post by ericd » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 11:01 PM UTC

rdouble wrote: post #25

pg wrote: post #13

This is very interesting. A friend of mine who lived on Frederick St, just a few blocks up the hill from Haight, said that crime was much lower on her block. Her theory was that bad guys didn't like to climb hills. And in fact there seems to be a correlation between altitude and crime rate. There are probably other reasons too. E.g. that the hills are fancier neighborhoods. But her explanation makes sense. If you're…

I lived on Beulah, one of the flat streets between Cole and Haight. There were countless bums from GGP & haight street milling about my block, which was considered "Cole Valley", a relatively yuppie neighborhood. My apartment was burglarized and my TV was stolen. I moved up to Stanyan and Rivoli, considered to be the same neighborhood, but straight up a very steep hill, and never saw another human soul again.

Interesting. Maybe crime actually does flow downhill to some extent? It would be interesting to see if there's a correlation between crime rate and relative elevation.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#28

Post by steadicat » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 11:01 PM UTC

All I knew about SF crime was that the Tenderloin felt quite dodgy when I visited. So I opened the map ready to be suprised. Instead it turns out my feelings were right. Looks like the crime rate in SF is an inverse function of the distance from the Tenderloin.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#29

Post by rdouble » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 11:04 PM UTC

enf wrote: post #14

If you want more details, sanfrancisco.crimespotting.org has them, or you can download the raw data from datasf.org. The hot spot at 16th Street BART is drug dealers and in practice there is no reason not to go there.

I would say the off streets right near the 16th street bart are pretty sketchy. I've seen lots of tweakers and crackheads fighting on Hoff and Capp. A crazy guy smacked me in the head "hit and run" style over there, and a roommate was mugged by 3 guys waiting for him in a car.

Re: Crime Visualization of San Francisco

#30

Post by stellar678 » Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 11:07 PM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #9

So most of Hunter's Point is crime free? Is this data correct?

Probably the issue is that Hunter's Point has a lower population density than many other parts of the city. The Tenderloin is chock full of huge apartment buildings, SROs, etc... so even if the per-capita crime rate is the same (or lower), the total number of crimes can be much higher.