We're considering buying a house in UC. The reports of car break-ins are, of course, disturbing to me, especially as they seem to happen so frequently. How do you feel about the overall crime level there? Muggings? Burgleries? If you get home at 2 am and can't find a parking spot right at your house, how comfortable do you feel on that walk home? How about in the middle of the day? Do kids, like 10-12 year olds, play outside without their parents having to be there? Thanks!

I think the simple answer is that I don't think University City is any more dangerous than Fairmount, where it appears you currently live. I don't have any actual crime data on hand to back this up, but I do recall that Fairmount was also experiencing a bit of a crime wave over the summer. I think the simple explanation is that University City and Fairmount are both middle class neighborhoods that border more impoverished areas.

That being said, I've heard from plenty of folks who have never had a single bad experience in the area. I think if you are out at 2am anywhere in the city you are taking a bit of a risk.

The children in my neighborhood seem well behaved. My next door neighbor sends their children to Masterman, but I NEVER see them playing outside. In fact, I see a lot of parents with strollers, but very few actual children playing outside. I think over in Spruce Hill there are probably more kids.

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Is there any decent neighborhood in the entire city where this isn't true?

Thank you PHA. Thank you for scattering your crime, out of control children and double digit percentage of drug dealers everywhere. Thank you.

Yes, Roxborough and Andorra in the Northwest, and most of the Northeast, north of Horrocks Street/

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I'm comfortable with the level of crime in my neighborhood, though I've only been here three months, so I have to qualify that with a "so far." I've generally felt very safe, and I walk quite a bit. I think my neighborhood is considered "Spring Garden"- I'm near 22nd and Spring Garden. There are several high-rises nearby, so there is always plenty of foot traffic, even at night, plus the police station is like 3 blocks away. I guess UC won't have those benefits, but I hear U Penn patrols some areas in addtion to the regular police? Can you feel the affect?

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We just moved our family to the Garden Court section of University City this summer, so I too qualify this with a "so far". During the day, I'm very comfortable walking around the neighborhood and don't feel that the crime is a problem at all. On our block there are lot of kids and depending on their age, they play without their parents supervision. The kids next door who are between 10-13 regularly play outside all the time without their parents watching them. I go out and watch my son who is 8 when he plays in the alley. But I let him play in the front yard and back yard without being outside with him. We live a quiet block with an alley, and I don't think this is common throughout all of UC.

As for the crime in the evening, I'd be cautious of walking around at 2 a.m. as I would in any part of this city. There have been a number of car break-ins and one of our neighbors was mugged at 1 a.m. right after we moved in this summer.

I agree with gap that UC in general probably isn't much different from Fairmount, crimewise. Spring Garden may be a bit safer (at least West of 18th), but it's hard to say.

As far as kids, I regularly see kids who look like they're in the age range you mentioned riding their bikes around my neighborhood (West Powelton), or playing right in front of a house without any adults outside (sometimes I see them right inside an open door as I walk by, but not always). A couple houses on my block have kids, but it seems like the parents are always outside when their kids are and don't let them go out of sight (they look like they're mostly under 10, though).

I've also noticed that most of the kids in Spruce Hill/Cedar Park seem to be in strollers. It could be that most of the families are too young to have kids older than 5 or so.

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"Spring Garden may be a bit safer (at least West of 18th), but it's hard to say."

Just speaking personally since I live in Spring Garden east of 18th.
I've been there 11+ years. Nothing has happened to me yet.