Springfield is up there in the violent crime rankings. Is it safe for an incoming Missouri State student?

Submitted by viraxil359 t3_zflver in springfieldMO

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/most-violent-cities-in-america

https://www.safewise.com/blog/most-dangerous-cities/

I haven't cherry-picked the links, just whatever came up when I searched for "cities ranked by crime/violent crime".

I am an international student from India joining Missouri State in January. I have to choose this university for financial reasons. I haven't signed a lease yet but I plan to live in an apartment close to the university (hopefully I will find a place within a 15-minute walking distance to the uni). I won't have a car before graduation, so I will have to walk everywhere and pray that the transit system is good enough for my needs.

Looking at those statistics, I am very worried now. Both violent and non-violent crime and theft are top 10 in the country. Being a 5'5 brown guy (and frankly very alone and timid), I feel like I will be a big target as well.

How safe/unsafe is Springfield for me?

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Comments

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ybanalyst t1_izci71f wrote

Welcome! Missouri State is a great school, and there's a huge group of international students there. You'll find a home.

Violence in Springfield is limited geographically. The Missouri State campus is very safe, and the surrounding area, though prone to property crime, does not experience much violent crime. Lock up your stuff and you'll be good.

I always tell people, don't do drugs, and don't stand between others and the drugs they want, and you're unlikely to find yourself in a violent situation.

Hope that helps.

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mangogetter t1_izcwvq8 wrote

Don't do drugs, and if you do, pay your dealer promptly and in full. This is the beginning of wisdom.

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throwawayyyycuk t1_izckhi4 wrote

I just made a post saying this exact thing, yeah Stay away from the drug scene and you’ll be ok, our bus system is kind of junk! If you live near msu it will be ok though. There are a lot of Indian students that live in the apartments around the Panera bread on national street, which I frequent. They all seem really nice and do their thing.

Something I would recommend if you can stomach it is joining the church crowd even if you aren’t interested in Christianity because they will accept you and help you out.

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SweetSewerRat t1_izd3j3k wrote

You'll be okay, Springfield is honestly a pretty quiet town. Most of our crime is just meth related. I'm not sure if you guys have tweakers in India, but if you see an overly alert and skinny guy, just don't make eye contact and definitely don't talk to him. Follow that rule and you'll be fine.

I really hope you enjoy your time in Missouri. I've lived here my whole life, and I think we've got a couple good things on offer.

In my opinion, while you're in America, you need to try frozen custard, fried cheese curds, and the wonderful mess we refer to as Waffle House. If you listen to nothing else I say, please visit a Waffle House while you're in America.

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Snoo52682 t1_izdyjob wrote

And if you get a little bit out of the Springfield area, the frozen coffee at Quik Trip.

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CommunicationSad6246 t1_izepkh6 wrote

Sadly I won’t eat at Waffle House food was good but I have went there 4 times since I was a kid and I’m 32 now and each time I have went there has either been a knot of hair or entire hairnets in my meal and that sadly ruined it doesn’t help that these where different waffle houses through the us including mo, Tennessee and nc if I remember correctly. If it wasn’t for that I would like it probably.

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nickcash t1_izpvtcy wrote

That's just part of the authentic waffle house experience

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nofretting t1_izdahdz wrote

As a person that lives downtown west of Campbell, I'd suggest that you try not to live much further west than South Street. You will probably also need some warm clothes; the high tomorrow, for example, will be 14C.

The transit system used to be my only mode of transportation. I think a monthly bus pass for students is less than $25USD. It is okay once you understand that it can take two hours to get across town.

There is a free shuttle system called The Bear Line that has various routes downtown. See https://www.missouristate.edu/Transportation/BearLine/default.htm for more info. Looks like they have a smartphone app for it as well.

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aspencool584 t1_izd9n9s wrote

Hello I am a student here and it’s not bad at all. Same rules apply from where you’re from probably. If you have a bike lock it. Don’t walk alone at night. Don’t be scared by statistics. Ik it’s a huge difference and change coming here probably but it won’t be that bad. It’s not like you’ll get here and be like, man look at all this crime and violence lol. I’ve been here for 3 years and never experienced or seen it. I’ve had friends who’ve sometimes have but nothing serious. Just join orgs and clubs, make friends, find your place at school and it’ll be fine.

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22TopShelf22 t1_izd9tzz wrote

I think Springfield is very safe. Be selective on where you live. Some housing is in sketchy areas, a lot of it is not.

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Sgthouse t1_ize89hs wrote

This. Actually go look at the physical location a place is at prior to sending an email or calling someone about it. No rental place is gonna say “yeah, it’s pretty unsafe here, I wouldn’t keep valuables in your room”

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drsideburns t1_izej0m5 wrote

And look at the neighboring areas, too. Bad neighborhoods travel.

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Sgthouse t1_izeoej5 wrote

That’s exactly what I mean. Rental and real estate places will do everything they can to make sure the pictures on their website look great. The meth house 3 doors down won’t be shown.

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drsideburns t1_izeulfj wrote

True, you can have a nice neighborhood two blocks from the hood; expect you’ll get robbed

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jttIII t1_izeor5m wrote

A buddy of mine is a cop in town and he described it kinda like this.

Most violent crime happens to people who got involved with other people who likely would do violent crime for their fix.

BUT if you have an unlocked bike it'll probably be stolen and if you have stuff in an unlocked car it'll probably be stolen.

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Globalksp t1_izd3qi9 wrote

Our babysitter is an international grad student (black woman) at MSU who also doesn't have a car and lives very close to / on campus. What the others have said is all true and valid.

A "15 min walk to uni" will leave you in some potentially uncomfortable neighborhoods if you're feeling alone.

Find an apartment on or very, very near campus.

After that, just brush up on your / form some street smarts: Carry pepper spray (and know how to use it! Buy a practice bottle if you've never used it before) if you're going to be walking alone at night; know your way around campus; safety in numbers (usually); etc...

If you're wanting to know about crime stats, use this tool (zoom into springfield and use the filters): https://communitycrimemap.com/?fbclid=IwAR3UvZQWdhpPo9boIwH9abLklo50PvcesTowH_79U18jZL0-cZ_ZrghyuBA

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Tdoug3833 t1_izco8dg wrote

Buy/always carry some pepper spray and avoid the downtown area late at night especially if you are walking (awesome during the day, gets dicey at night especially on weekends). Probably also avoid going to the north side of town when possible. There are pockets that are great but overall the northern part of town is much lower income/has higher random crime.

I have lived here my whole life (30) and I haven’t ever really had any big issues aside from a recent burglary/arson at my house and random meth heads being annoying. Being in an apartment and staying close to campus you should be fine/in no more danger than any other city.

**Edit to add I am not being classist against the north side, that is where i live so totally basing on personal experience lol

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flexpercep t1_izin6mk wrote

I’ve never had a problem…except the arson. But what’s a little arson between friends am I right?

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notnotpegbundy t1_izfov4e wrote

I can’t say all, because that’s just not factual, but most of violent crime is personal. Just be diligent. Don’t smoke meth. Be smart about your belongings, and don’t put yourself in a bad situation. Welcome. :)

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R2-Dtoot t1_izfl8tt wrote

Here is the city of Springfield's officially tracked data. Click on "Violent Crimes" and download the heat map.

https://www.springfieldmo.gov/3257/Tracked-Data

Safety is relative to the individual and many people have lived here all their lives and are mostly white. Racism is a very real thing here. As a guess you'll probably be fine, especially on campus and in most places during the day. If you are low income and will need to live on the north side of town your results may vary.

I'm in the field of patient care and my client lives close to Kearney so im there no less than 40 hours a week. Kearney is legitimately scary on occasion, particularly at night.

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Dbol504 t1_izfw50i wrote

You're going to die /s

In all seriousness just use some common sense and you'll be fine. Follow the usual big city (of which Springfield is not) guidelines of avoiding walking on streets that are empty late at night, mind your surroundings, don't flash valuables. Since you'll be around campus mostly you'll be fairly safe. MSU has a pretty robust security team and the neighborhoods around that would be a 15 min walk are filled with college students and generally ok people.

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robzilla71173 t1_izfaotp wrote

It's not that bad actually. I don't know where you're coming from, but if it's a larger city you're probably going to find it much safer here than where you were.

I work at MSU and a lot of my friends work with international students (or are international themselves.) Check out the Morris Center if you haven't already, they can help a lot and you'll be in good company. Some cool people there. https://map.missouristate.edu/location.aspx?id=30

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shizkc t1_izns0s4 wrote

I’ve talked to a lot of south Asian and middle eastern people who definitely do not feel safer in the US, specifically Missouri. Like the whole “always lock your door” thing was a culture shock.

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robzilla71173 t1_izob8bx wrote

I'm sure everyone will have differing experiences. Always locking my door would be a culture shock to me as well.

As someone who works and socializes with international staff and students at msu I feel confident in saying they'll be okay. Crime generally isn't as bad as those studies show here unless you're a part of it by choice and the op is moving into an environment where they'll have lots of support and fellow international students to help them learn their way around.

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shizkc t1_izp48zy wrote

Oh I know they’ll be fine. I just always find it funny the different ways we look at each others home countries.

Where do you live that you’re not locking your door? I mean, car doors? Fuck that, rather just take out valuables than deal with a broken window. But I’ve had at least two people fidget with my door on the south ish side after midnight. They were probably just fucked up, but I’m not risking someone walking into my house.

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robzilla71173 t1_izqlrvl wrote

You even lock doors while you're home? I leave the front door open whenever I'm home so my cat can give some stink eye to the neighbors cat. He does the same for his cat. Those cats sure hate each other. I usually lock my front door if I'm going to be gone more than a couple hours, and I lock my car overnight but that's about it. Haven't locked the back door in 20 years.

I'm sort of north central/east. I find it funny that this reddit group seems to view the parts of town I'm from as some sort of post apocalyptic wasteland full of meth fueled warlords. I tease my parents about that. They've lived in grant Beach for about 45 years. Also never had any problems. Most of the north side is lower income but that doesn't necessarily mean higher crime. There are certainly bad areas, but they're generally easy to spot and avoid.

In an ironic twist, much of our crime around this part of town takes place in hotels and businesses owned by persons from the subcontinent. My friend Rishi can tell some wild stories about n. Glenstone hotels he's worked at.

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shizkc t1_iznrsx3 wrote

You’ll be very safe. Property crime is high, so if you ride a bike, buy a good lock and keep your bike locked or inside. But to be a victim of an actual violent crime(other than SA), it’s unlikely as a student if you’re staying near campus/downtown and being smart. Don’t walk alone at night, even if you’re a guy, and don’t stay out past bar close, if anything try to be home before midnight.

The buses will get you where you need to go.

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