Submitted by Leading-Cranberry- t3_yp6p5w in ColumbiaMD
My boyfriend and I live in Navy Yard in DC and are considering moving to Columbia. The main reason for moving is the noticeable uptick in gang violence and crime in general in our immediate area. How do you feel about your area? If you’re female, do you feel safe about walking alone day or night? Thanks all.
I've walked and ran the trails at night. In 3 years maybe seen one obnoxious drunk. Otherwise it's just someone else on a late night walk. Sometimes with their dog
More afraid of running into a pack of deer than anything.
Extremely safe
It’s definitely more of a family vibe here in Howard county. It takes more effort to get to “night life” types of events, but there’s lots of good food and family friendly entertainment locally :-) (inclusive of breweries that you can take your kids to…and close on the early side haha)
Contrary to what you may hear (luckily, no doomsayers as of this post), Columbia (and Howard County in general) is one of the safest major suburban areas to live. You'll find people talking about "crime is rising" (especially since it's election time), but the per capita rate remains on a downward trend since the '80s.
As of the 2019 UCRs, Howard County's violent crime rate is over 70% below both state and national levels. The "worst" areas of Columbia, specifically, are still 60% below national levels for violent crime (and even lower for murder or robbery).
While no city this size has zero crime, and we do have incidents happen, you are statistically speaking unlikely to face violent crime in this area. Most stuff here is property crime, and even that is well below state and federal levels in most zip codes.
Yes, it is by far and aware considered safe by most standards.
“Columbia was named the “Safest City in America” by WalletHub for the fifth consecutive year and is the only Maryland city in the Top 150”
Yes, it's pretty quiet at night. If I'm walking around in the dark, I'm more afraid of running into a herd of deer than anything else. They're very skittish and I know they're more afraid of me, but I still don't like encountering them when I'm alone.
We love coming to Navy Yard from time to time but I agree living there is a little different. Columbia definitely feels a lot safer, especially if you’re looking in areas around HCC, towards Fulton, Clarksville, Ellicott City, Woodstock etc
I’ve lived in navy yard for a year now and my boyfriend for 5. I felt okay here when I first moved in but now it’s to the point where there’s shootings in broad daylight right outside our apartments.
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I’d recommend not moving to Columbia. Extremely expensive; high taxes. I’d recommend Carroll county or Baltimore city.
Columbia is such a peaceful place to live. A lot of cute things to do, unending walking paths, lots of educational opportunities, and in the center of everything. I've lived here most of my life, and besides my aunt's van getting stolen one time, I've always felt safe. You should stay at a hotel or an Airbnb in Columbia and try living here for a few days!
Columbia is literally the safest place in the country. Is it a crime-free wonderland? No, but it is very safe.
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I feel very safe here, and have felt that way since I moved to the area around 2005. I feel safe at night on local streets and often go for night walks.
As a female I can say I always feel safe anywhere during the day. I avoid walking along at night in my neighborhood out of an abundance of caution. However I have always felt fine walking alone from my car to shops at night.
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When my wife and I got married and ready to buy our first home, and start a family ,we wanted to do that in Columbia, now 15 years later alot has changed but we still feel safe , it's true that crime is up, taxes are rising, but we feel since there isn't much of a night life scene you tend to spend most of your time hanging out with friends, cook outs, fire pits, pot lucks etc... but like anywhere be prepared to protect yourself and family, the old adage applies prepare for the worst hope for the best.
Hello! You have made the mistake of writing "ect" instead of "etc."
"Ect" is a common misspelling of "etc," an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "et cetera." Other abbreviated forms are etc., &c., &c, and et cet. The Latin translates as "et" to "and" + "cetera" to "the rest;" a literal translation to "and the rest" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase.
Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.
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Okay
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AKnitWit777 t1_ivhqfon wrote
Yes, absolutely. Admittedly I don't walk on the trails after dark, but I've lived in Columbia for over 10 years and never felt unsafe. In most neighborhoods the crime is limited to car break ins.