Quote Originally Posted by JazMerkin View Post
In terms of being similar to US levels of crime, I'd say that Glasgow, Manchester & London are the only ones that are really comparable.

Glasgow is apparently stab-happy, haven't been there myself, but I hear they don't play up there. Moss Side & Longsight in Manchester are definitely bad.

As for London, there's bad bits all over, Tottenham & Hackney in the North/East bit of the city, Harlesden/Acton in the West & basically a big part of South London, which I live slap bang in the middle of. Brixton, Peckham & Lewisham (where I live) are the 3 worst areas.

We usually get a couple of shootings or stabbings in a week although fortunately more people wear bullet-proofs & stabproofs nowadays so there's less fatalities, even if occasionally a stray does hit someone like with that Polish nurse. There's a lot less that goes on in the street (as in drive-bys & that) than there used to be, largely because having permanent armed police units on patrol (in the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham) has basically pushed the major gang warfare underground, meaning that the big incinerator nearby is basically becoming a giant crematorium.
That name brings back memories! I used to do relief work in the bookies to supplement my meagre student resources and would get shipped out all over Manchester. Longsight was one, Ardwick was another, the Picaddily one was actually alright. I met a lot of very interesting people, but definitely some that you would want to be careful around.