Gallup Poll - Crime Takes a Bite out of L.A.'s Image
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This pretty much puts the lie to Mayor Jim Hahn's promises and claims that he's making Los Angeles the safest large city in America:
The Gallup Poll has concluded that L.A. is the third unsafest city among the nation's 14 largest - at least in the eyes of people taking the poll.
In other words, though our crime rates have dropped, people all across this fair land agree with Hahn's election opponents in assessing his ability to stop Angelenos from assaulting, robbing and killing each other ...
Sure, the crime rate for most part 1 crimes (excluding homicide) have gone down, and the ood news is that we're not as bad as Detroit or Washington, DC. The poll report says:
Among 14 of the largest cities in the country, the public rates Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles as the most "unsafe" to live in or visit, and Minneapolis and Seattle as the safest, according to a recent Gallup survey. Between 2000 and 2001, the number of Americans rating each city as "safe" increased for Minneapolis, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, and perceptions in these cities have remained steady since then. Philadelphia experienced the largest decline this past year in its safety rating, as its rating is now down to levels found prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 ... Like Miami, Los Angeles usually rates as one of the more unsafe cities in the country. Fewer than 3 in 10 Americans rated Los Angeles as safe between 1990 and 2000. Polling in 2001 showed that 39% said Los Angeles was safe. The latest poll results show little change.
I guess it's not what you're doing, or even say you're doing.
It's what you look like you're doing that counts.
Exorbitant housing costs, plus frequent natural disasters plus the appearance of being a crime-riddled metropolis worse than New York do not add up to a happy haven for economic growth.
Hahn's had control over at least two of those items for the past three and a half years. Not that anyone would really have noticed.
Here's the city-by-city breakdown:<table cellSpacing=0 CELLPADDING=2 border=0>
<td vAlign=bottom colSpan=3>Are the Following Cities Safe or Unsafe?Oct. 11-14, 2004
