Is Myrtle Beach really safe?

[myrtlesquare]

In your opinion, do you think that Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand as a whole is a safe area? I really don't think that the area (and yes, I do live here, so I know what I'm talking about) is a fashionable tourist destination. Most of the area seems to attract the seedy elements. The area ranks as the 6th most dangerous meto in the United States (Morgan Quitno, 2006) and Horry County is one of the ten most dangerous counties (The Sun News, 2006). I personally would not walk around any part of Myrtle Beach after the sun sets. Is there something that I am not getting about 15 million tourists coming to the 6th most dangerous metro in the United States? I know that those statistics may be skewed because of the small year-round population, but you cannot doubt that Myrtle Beach is not the safest place in the world.

In addition, I find that there is a large economical gap within the city. There is a wide difference between Grande Dunes and the neighboring subdivisions and those on the other side of town. With the rising real estate values, there appears that there is no middle class in the city. I would argue that Carolina Forest provides an economical balance, as the home prices are "reasonable" compared to the city of Myrtle Beach.

Also, please explain to me how Yahoo users rated Myrtle Beach the world's best beach when I am afraid for my own safety whenever I go east of the Waterway? The article is at http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtl...ne/17045748.htm. Apparently, it is rated a better beach over Miami, Cancun, and Sydney. I do not understand how this is even possible.

[monsoon]

I think the crime statistics are not representative of what most people see there. Let's keep in mind that summer population of the Grand Strand can hover somewhere between 400K - 600K, easily the largest city in the state. And along with that comes the crime of that many people. But when national rankings are generated they calculate per/capita crime using just the local population which is a lot smaller.

I also think for the most part that Myrtle Beach has gotten very trashy in some areas, namely from around the Yachtsman down past the giant roller coaster park to maybe 7-8 Ave south. In in this stretch, there is a huge amount of trashy housing that has been neglected for decades, that sits between Ocean Blvd and Kings Hwy. It's a rather odd situation as one would think this would be some of the most valuable property in South Carolina and it makes me wonder what is going on.

Outside of this part of town, it has gotten very expensive to visit and/or live in Myrtle Beach.

[krazeeboi]

While Myrtle Beach isn't crime-free, I think it's also important to note that South Carolina tends to report the vast majority of its crime data, whereas this is not true for other states--which explains, in part, why some of our cities rank as high as they do when it comes to crime rankings.

[Spartan]

I've never thought of Myrtle Beach as an unsafe place. I'd wager Myrtle Beach is easier to get to and a lot cheaper than those other beaches and it offers just as much if not more in terms of family tourism. I can see where it would be #1, even though I may not have voted that way.

[rockhilljames]

Not only that, but a lot of the "violent" crime that gets reported is drunk high school and college kids getting in fights and getting arrested. I walk around MB all the time and I've never feared for my safety.

[Spartan]

The only exception is crossing any street other than Ocean Blvd. The City has way to many 6 lane highways with poor pedestrian accomodation- not to mention the rest of the Grand Strand

[digital_sandlapper]

Not only that, but a lot of the "violent" crime that gets reported is drunk high school and college kids getting in fights and getting arrested. I walk around MB all the time and I've never feared for my safety.