A Little Bit Dangerous

Once again, the state of Tennessee has made one of those national “Top 10” surveys showing up in your news feed.

In the wake of the positive national press generated by the President’s visit to town late last week, out comes a report generated by the Urban Institute. The rankings, based on FBI statistics, rate Tennessee as the fourth most violent state in the nation.

In other words – as we know from past Top Tens - not only are we overweight, heavy smokers and undereducated, we also live in the place considered to be a little big dangerous. Great, just great.

Some basic stats from the report:

• The number of violent crimes in the U.S. dropped by 4.4 percent from 2012 to 2013. That’s good. 
• People living in the Top Ten Most Dangerous States are far more likely to live in poverty than in other states. That’s bad.
• The number of violent crimes in America declined by nearly 15 percent over the past decade. That’s good.
• Memphis is identified as one of the most violent cities – along with Baltimore and Little Rock in the Top Three – in the country. That’s bad.

In fact, the authors say, Memphis stats likely weight down the overall Tennessee stats. So, folks living east of the 901 area code can breath a little easier.

Still, if you are living in the South, once again, your state is more likely to make it into another unhappy countdown.

Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana join the Volunteer State in the survey. Border states, Delaware and Maryland are also listed in the Top 10 as are Southwestern states, New Mexico and Nevada. Only picturesque Alaska surves as a true outlier in the Top 10. This adds new meaning, of course, to the words Northern Exposure.

Some notable numbers about Tennessee from the article:

• The poverty rate, 17.8 percent, ranks 12th in the nation.
• The total number of murders, 328, ranks 18th.
• The percentage of adults with a high school diploma, 85.6%, is tied for 12th lowest.

These are definitely not numbers to be touted by the chamber of commerce or printed on any “Welcome to the Volunteer State” sign.

Of course, anything can happen. But, we’ve always felt safe where we are. Maybe we’d feel more safe if we were in, say, Bismarck, Des Moines or Portland. Or perhaps not.

Still, I have to say, where I live feels very safe. In fact, that was one of the great factors that led to our decision to live in our current home (where we’ve now been for 12 years as of this month). Nice neighborhood. Relatively quiet. No through traffic. Not particularly close to I-40.

So, we feel generally safe about where we work and play. I guess you could say that is why we volunteer to live where we do.

JG

Originally posted 1/12/2015