I've lived in too many different places. Between childhood, civilian work, and military service; I've seen them all. Born and raised in the New York City/Newark/Jersey City areas. About as urban as possible. Have also lived in medium/large cities like Austin, Albuquerque, San Antonio. Lived in small cities like Cheyenne, Ft Collins, etc... And smaller spot cities/towns like Biloxi, Buford, etc... I've also lived in cities such as London, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Guayaquil.
The only reason I bring this up is because with this being a gun forum, and the subject of crime and self defense being discussed; I believe it is a mis-belief that the larger urban areas are the most dangerous to live; and thereby need the most self defense protection. I would strongly disagree. Albuquerque in my opinion is much more dangerous to personal safety than New York City or Philly. The biloxi and New Orleans area seemed much more dangerous for property and personal crime than Austin or Denver seemed. Yet, Cheyenne, Ft Collins, Colorado Springs seem much safer than many smaller towns/cities.
I believe that the culture of the city (Past and present); economics; and climate have more to do with crime than anything else; including size. Because of colder climates in Wyoming, Colorado, etc... there are a lot less transients. As such, there's a lot of crime that isn't as common. Western/Mountain states tend to usually have a much lower unemployment rate. As such, there's a lot less crime because of economic necessity. And the culture is very PRO-GUN; family oriented; low social-service/government support; etc... As such, citizens help each other out through family/church/charity; and have no problem shooting those who try and "TAKE" from others. The higher the unemployment; the more government services (Welfare); the more transients/homeless; and the more illegal immigrants; the more crime. Fix 3 of the 4 and crime will be reduced.
