Actually,

I have had a PM discussion going on with the guy from China about Tibet and other things and he is not a clueless moron, he seems quite intelligent. He is asking advice on certain aspects of the city. He understands that their are dangerous areas as well as there are dangerous areas in China.

Telling him Philly is like Baghdad is not helping anything because its not. We are not telling him Philly is "safe" but satistically, if you are aware of your surroundings and keep away from certain areas, you shouldn't have any problems.

A person will be fine in center city and the surrounding nerighborhoods as long as they are SMART. Weren't you mugged walking from Snyder Ave to Fitler Square at like 23rd and Tasker at 3:00 AM? Walking through one of the worst neighborhoods in S.Phila is NOT BEING SMART.

I only remember because that set off your rants of how unsafe the city was because you thought you were in center city or some ridiculousness like that

My point is that you have no credibility. I've lived in Philly for 16 years (in West Philly, Germantown and now Manayunk). I have also worked in Center City for the past 12 years. Never once was I the victim of a violent crime or attack. I'm not saying that muggings never happen, but in my experience (and the experience of many other long time Philly residents who post here) they are rare in well-trafficked, "upper scale" neighborhoods like Center City. All I'm saying is post some stats to prove me wrong. And the fact that your bartender buddy was almost mugged doesn't count.

To the thread starter:

Coming from Caracas, Venezuela (southamerica) I can tell you that Philadelphia is the safest place in the world (comparatively).

I don't think theres such a thing as a zero crime city, Hell! even inside The Vatican the Pope gets attacked in St. Peter Square and there must be a lot of muggings with all those people in the piazza.

Im not familiar with China to be honest, and I don't think that searching for official statistics on crime from china will be really helpful, but I dont think Philadelphia would be more dangerous than a similiar size/density metro area from China. Even without knowing the facts, I can be certain that Philadelphia is way safer if you make that comparision.

That being said, as anywhere in the world, just be careful and you'll be alright.

As a Philadelphian that has visited large cities in China, I can't begin to tell you how much safer one feels in China. I've been lost walking around poor neighborhoods in Shanghai late at night and never felt unsafe. No one has a gun in China, excluding the military and special police forces - that fact alone makes a huge difference.

Yup here we go. I didn't see this coming or anything. My incident actually occured above Washington in what I guess we're calling Southwest Center City. We drove around and figured that out a while ago. Thanks for bringing that up.

Off the top of my head, I'd have trouble thinking of anything I care less about than not having credibility w/ you or anyone on this thread except the fellow from China who is being lied to.

Who said he was a clueless moron? You guys are treating him like he's a clueless moron, that much is obvious. But I don't think any of you actually came out and called him that, which is actually surprising. I give you guys credit.

Then why should the fellow from China treat you as credible source?

If you want to talk about being a credible source for information, I think such incidents are important to point out because they point towards a lack of city smarts which points to a lack of credibity, thats all. Trust me, Im not trying to pour salt on wounds or anything or wish harm, I'm just saying If I was seeking advice on the city I wouldnt listen to somebody's opinion who thought that was a good idea.