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How do we rank?


upstate29650

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You just have to take crime stats for what they are... an attempt to generalize a localized trend over an entire region. As a result, the numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt. Every city mentioned on that list has crime-ridden areas and areas where crime is virtually non-existent. Crime itself is something that varies from one block to another.

Any time you put numbers on an issue, especially one that is as rare as violent crime, the results will often be misleading. Just one violent crime can completely change the numbers for a small location like Florence.

And of course, crime stats themselves are nebulous. In a small town like Florence, virtually all crimes that are tracked in these kinds of studies will get reported. In a location like Detroit or New Orleans, crime numbers are woefully underreported.

I think a better way to look at this would be to somehow group the metropolitan areas by size and rank them... and then look for trends over a series of years to see if any of the areas remain near the top. It's still inadequate, as it goes back to the central issue... trying to generalize a localized trend over an entire region, but at least it's comparing apples to apples.

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The original study for that can be found here, and it was actually Myrtle Beach that had the highest number AND rate for SC metros; the article was mistaken, as Myrtle Beach's MSA is located entirely within SC.

After Myrtle Beach, Columbia comes in with the 2nd highest number of thefts, but the Anderson MSA actually has the next highest rate of all metros located totally within state boundaries, which is more important than sheer numbers since Columbia has the largest MSA in the state, so it will naturally have a higher number of thefts. I find it interesting that Greenville and Charleston's MSAs are nearly equal, yet Charleston's rate is lower than Greenville's by 100.

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The original study for that can be found here, and it was actually Myrtle Beach that had the highest number AND rate for SC metros; the article was mistaken, as Myrtle Beach's MSA is located entirely within SC.

After Myrtle Beach, Columbia comes in with the 2nd highest number of thefts, but the Anderson MSA actually has the next highest rate of all metros located totally within state boundaries, which is more important than sheer numbers since Columbia has the largest MSA in the state, so it will naturally have a higher number of thefts. I find it interesting that Greenville and Charleston's MSAs are nearly equal, yet Charleston's rate is lower than Greenville's by 100.

Numbers can always be skewed, but when one metro has an increase in one year of over 500 auto thefts, that's a lot. It isn't like Columbia is some massive metro like Atlanta. It may be the largest in state, but not by far. That's a sad number of increases. :( Hopefully the police force and city government are working to bring down Columbia's crime.

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I'm not doubting that, but as I said, when taking rate into account, it gives a more complete picture. When comparing Columbia with other similarly sized metros (~650K+) such as Knoxville and Baton Rouge, it's no worse there than in those two metros. However, Anderson's rate is the kicker here IMO; we don't have numbers for any of the Upstate's metros, since they were broken up between reporting periods. But none of our metros are crime free (mine ranked highest of all in this category), so none of us can afford to point fingers; we can rank high in one category and low in another.

But after having checked the stats of the NICB (the reporting agency) against those of the FBI in its last report, things don't really seem to correspond. In the latter report, the rate of motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 inhabitants is as follows for our 3 largest metros, with actual numbers in parentheses:

Columbia: 390.3 (2,653)

Charleston: 422.9 (2,447)

Greenville: 345.1 (2,021)

Discrepancy?

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I'm not doubting that, but as I said, when taking rate into account, it gives a more complete picture. When comparing Columbia with other similarly sized metros (~650K+) such as Knoxville and Baton Rouge, it's no worse there than in those two metros. However, Anderson's rate is the kicker here IMO; we don't have numbers for any of the Upstate's metros, since they were broken up between reporting periods. But none of our metros are crime free (mine ranked highest of all in this category), so none of us can afford to point fingers; we can rank high in one category and low in another.

But after having checked the stats of the NICB (the reporting agency) against those of the FBI in its last report, things don't really seem to correspond. In the latter report, the rate of motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 inhabitants is as follows for our 3 largest metros, with actual numbers in parentheses:

Columbia: 390.3 (2,653)

Charleston: 422.9 (2,447)

Greenville: 345.1 (2,021)

Discrepancy?

No one is pointing fingers. Remember, these are rankings, and unfortunately some of SC's cities don't rank very well with crime. They are high on rankings as having crime issues. That's sad. :( These rankings are what people see, so unfortunately some of our cities are seen as having higher crime than they should. Any finger pointing should be at mayors, police force and citizens in these cities to bring down crime. Hope they can work on it.

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This is true, and Florence, Sumter, and especially Myrtle Beach gets beat especially hard in such cases. But as long as a city is providing economic opportunity and a good quality of life, people will still move there; they will just avoid the crime-ridden parts. These rankings aren't stopping anyone from moving to Charlotte or Atlanta or Myrtle Beach, the fastest growing metros in their respective states which also ranked at the top for vehicle thefts in their states as well. In cases of auto theft, this is something that can be easily prevented if people would primarily excercise common sense. Breed's advice above is just as timely here.

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This is true, and Florence, Sumter, and especially Myrtle Beach gets beat especially hard in such cases.

Agreed. Several South Carolina cities take a hard hit on crime:

This ranking is the for the 25 metro areas in the nation with the worst crime. South Carolina has 5 metros on the list.....one fifth of the top 25 worst crime metros are from our state.....not good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

National rankings:

Columbia #10

Charleston / N.Charleston #12

Myrtle Beach #18

Florence #19

Sumter #23

http://encarta.msn.com/media_701500211/Met...ted_States.html

Hopefully action is being taken to change this. :thumbsup:

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Expansion Management released its "Five-Star Knowledge Worker Metro" list not too long ago. Such metros are described as follows:

For those companies whose competitive edge depends upon their being able to always remain on the cutting-edge of technology, being located in a place that is able to supply highly educated workers in sufficient quantity and quality is their No. 1 site location requirement.

It

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I would like to see where Greenville ranks. It is too bad that only the extreme best and worst are ranked.

Here is one that does. Not sure exactly what year these rankings reflect (I'm guessing 2004).

And again, while lists have their place, you also have to take into account the reporting procedures used by each state. The complete FBI report shows that Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina, which all had more than one metro listed in the MSN rankings posted by gsupstate, reported more of their information than other states. Florida's four largest metros get a mention before ANY of our metros are listed, yet no city in South Carolina can even come close to touching the Florida metros in terms of growth and economic strength. Go figure.

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Florida's four largest metros get a mention before ANY of our metros are listed, yet no city in South Carolina can even come close to touching the Florida metros in terms of growth and economic strength. Go figure.

You can't say because a place is gowing, then crime is OK....crime isn't OK. Any city in South Carolina could add 50,000 thugs and grow....these thugs will commit crimes. I would rather have small growth, with less crime and HIGH quality of life. It's about quality of life, not growth....the two don't always go together (in fact in this day and age, seldom go together). Anybody heard of cities around the country putting a limit on growth......they want to protect their quality of life. May be elitist, but it's fact.

Less crime equals a higher quality of life. I've lived in much larger cities, that were growing rapidly, and the quality of life sucked and the crime was high. Give me LOW growth and HIGH quality of life ANYDAY. :thumbsup:

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You can't say because a place is gowing, then crime is OK....crime isn't OK.

But I didn't say that.

I live in the metro area with the highest crime rate in the Carolinas, but the quality of living aspect here is hard to beat--else, why would people keep moving here? Crime ratings, while important, are but ONE aspect of quality of life. Just because an area has a low(er) crime rating doesn't necessarily equal a great quality of life. It would be jumping to conclusions to say that Florence has a better quality of life than Charlotte, or Greenville has a better quality of life than Columbia, simply based on one factor. And high growth often translates into a robust economy, which means higher household incomes, which represents an aspect of quality of life as well. Look at the BIG picture, while focusing on specifics, in order the gauge the totality of the situation.

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Numbers can always be skewed, but when one metro has an increase in one year of over 500 auto thefts, that's a lot. It isn't like Columbia is some massive metro like Atlanta. It may be the largest in state, but not by far. That's a sad number of increases. :( Hopefully the police force and city government are working to bring down Columbia's crime.

What's truly amazing is that I've lived in Columbia for 33 years and I only know 1 person who has had their car stolen. Seeing as how I work with hundreds of people AND work with the public how could I miss this extreme number of car thefts?

Has anyone stopped to wonder why South Carolina has a high rate of crime? It is because we are one of the poorest states in the country. Building more prisons and throwing people in jail doesn't lessen crime; economic opportunities for all citizens and a quality education are items that lessen crime.

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^Absolutely Matt. People will look at the metros listed and attribute crime to the state as a whole, and not just a few areas. We as a state have got to get our act together. And throwing $100 million in taxpayer money under the table at a 100+ year old historical artifact doesn't help.

In an interesting ranking, it seems as though SC ranks 3rd overall for efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies. See here.

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^^ You're right, but I'd have to agree with Skyliner though. I mean THIS LIST really doesn't make too much sense to me when Greenville County is growing much faster than Anderson, Spartanburg, and Florence Counties. I'm not disputing Columbia's ranking, or Charleston's or MB's here.

BOOMTOWN- according to dictionary.com is a label placed on a town that is experiencing an economic or population boom.

Take the stats:

Population:

COUNTY--------------------2004 est.------2000 pop.---%change from '00-'04--- %change from '90-'00

Greenville County:______401,174______379,616_________5.7%________________18.6%_______

Anderson County:_______173,550______165,740_________4.7%________________14.2%_______

Spartanburg County:_____264,230______253,791_________4.1%________________11.9%_______

Florence County:_________129,679______125,761_________3.1.%_______________10.0%_______

(source: US census bureau)

Economy:

COUNTY---------------------2005 Unemployment----------change from 2004

Greenville County_____________5.6%___________________-.3_______

Anderson County _____________7.5%___________________+.4______

Spartanburg County___________7.7%___________________+.1______

Florence County______________9.1%___________________+.9_______

(source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and LAUS)

Personally, after looking at what a boomtown IS and the figures for the four counties in question from the list... ALL indications point to Greenville County to be ranked higher than Florence, Anderson, and Spartanburg Counties-- which can be correlated to the respective MSA.

I agree that Inc. Magazine's "Boomtown" rankings seem to be completely flawed. We had a discussion about this in the Grand Rapids forum and were similarly stumped about the rankings.

Michigan has 15 metros on the list. The Holland-Grand Haven metro has been the fastest growning metro by a wide margain (in population), growning 36.0% from 1990 thru 2005, adding 67,638 new residents. The Holland-Grand Haven metro also has the 2nd lowest unemployment rate. Yet, it is ranked 14th on the Michigan "Boomtown" list, almost dead last. The Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro has been the 3rd fastest growing metro, growing 19.4% from 1990 thru 2005, adding 125,271 new residents. It also has the 5th lowest unemployment rate. Yet, it is ranked 9th on the Michigan "Boomtown" list.

On the other hand, the Niles-Benton harbor metro has been the 12th fastest growing metro, growing just 0.8% from 1990 thru 2005, adding just 1,233 new residents. It also has the 4th highest unemployment rate. Yet, it is ranked 3rd on the Michigan "Boomtown" list. :dontknow:

How Inc. Magazine come up with this I have yet to figure out. Throwing darts at a map, perhaps?

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^They are. The home sales cycles are something else. One month I read that Columbia posts one of the highest home sales records, and in a few months it will have slowed down considerably.

I'm actually surprised that Aiken's home sales weren't shown; besides the coastal areas, Aiken County has recently been posting numbers that put some larger cities to shame.

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The State has a pretty interesting article in today's edition about the ripe condo market in DT Columbia and the "new downtowners." A study was cited by Pat Mason, co-founder of the Center for Carolina Living, which details the cities in the state that people would prefer to live, and where they eventually end up. No hard numbers or time frames are provided for each city, but the number of people sampled in each section of the study is given. I think I will email Mason for hard numbers for each city, as well as the time periods, to get a better feel of the trends. Bar graph graphics were used in the print version for this article. I just thought this listing was interesting nonetheless.

SC cities where people would prefer to live

1. Charleston

2. Greenville

3. Myrtle Beach

4. Beaufort

5. Columbia

6. Aiken

7. Spartanburg

8. Hilton Head

9. Rock Hill

10. Mount Pleasant

If the graphic in the print version is to scale with reference to the actual numbers, then Beaufort would have roughly half the number as Charleston here.

(Source: Center for Carolina Living; 2,628 most recent responder households registered with CFCL)

SC cities where people end up

1. Columbia

2. Myrtle Beach

3. Mount Pleasant

4. Charleston

5. Aiken

6. Hilton Head

7. Greenville

8. Summerville

9. Murrells Inlet

10. Blufton

Again, if scale was factored in here with the graphic, then Hilton Head appears to have half of Columbia's number.

(Source: 3,184 actual movers, based on National Change of Address audit on 28,500 responder households)

Since the last listing was based on change of address, this obviously includes those who reside outside of the municipal limits of the city they located to.

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