Look What Missouri City is 2nd Worst in the Nation for Property Crime

There's an article out today on MSN ranking the cities with the highest and lowest rates of property crime.

20 Cities With the Highest and Lowest Rates 

of Property Crime

And a Missouri city is in the 2nd to worst spot on it.

And it's not St. Louis.

And it's not Kansas City.

It is, however the "Queen City of the Ozarks."

2. Springfield, Mo.

Population: 168,307
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 74.88

So much for the stereotype of Midwest towns as safe, sleepy places. In Springfield, the property crime rate is more than eight times higher than of the city with the lowest property crime rate.

Springfield, unfortunately, isn’t alone in the neighborhood, if it can make them feel any better. Not that far away Little Rock, Arkansas is 4th worst in the nation.

4. Little Rock, Ark.

Population: 198,800
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 63.23

Most of the cities with high property crime rates aren’t necessarily prone to violent crime. However, Little Rock is the exception. Reviews.org says its analysis found the Arkansas capital would be a contender for a spot on a top-10 list of violent crime as well.

What’s truly odd is the city is in the number one slot.

1. Salt Lake City, Utah

Population: 193,918
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 75.4

Can you believe it? Salt Lake City, capital of Utah and home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka the Mormon Church), has the highest property crime rate in the country according to Reviews.org. There were 75.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents in 2016.

I thought those Mormons were law-abiding and had everything under control out West. Clearly wrong here.

The great news?

Kansas City is nowhere on the list.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Fascinating, Even Surprising, Fantastic Information From “Most Violent Cities” List

There is an article just out today with fascinating statistics from the FBI on crime in the US, in our cities and which of them have the most violent crime per 100,000 residents.

FBI data reveals some of the most violent cities in nearly every state

There are some surprises on it, at least to me.

Little old Topeka, Kansas is on the list at number 32 with 29.2 violent crimes per 10,000 residents

Omaha, too, is at number 30 on the list with 31.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents

Minneapolis is on the list at number 12 w/ 23.7 violent crimes per 10,000 people.

Tulsa at number 14 with 50.9 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.

Little Rock, Arkansas on the list at a scary, depressing #4 w/ 87.4 violent crimes per 10,000.

Our own St. Louis, however, is on the list and at a depressing #3 w/ 91.5 violent crimes per 10,000.

Memphis hit #2 and poor Baltimore, Maryland is at number 1 with 98.6 violent crimes per 10,000.

But here’s the kicker, Kansas City.


We aren’t on the list.


We aren’t even on the list.


Not Kansas City, Missouri.

Not Kansas City, Kansas.

Neither one.

It gets better, too.

We're not in the top 20 worst.

Not in the top 10.

Not the top 5.

Nothing.

So kudos to you, Kansas City. Great on you, great on us.

Don’t let some blogger in his mother’s basement scare you, folks, with ALL CAPITOL LETTERS and yellow journalism tactics.

We’re not going to Hell in any handbasket.

Horrible List Kansas City Makes

I saw this new list yesterday and yes, unfortunately, Kansas City is on it.

50 Worst American Cities to Live In 

- 24/7 Wall St.

We're 49 out of 50, sure, but still, we're on it.

Dangit.

49. Kansas City

Population: 151,261
Median home value: $87,600
Poverty rate: 22.2%
Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 16.3%

While low property values can help make homeownership a reality for financially insecure individuals, cheap housing is more often indicative of a weak economy and poor living conditions -- and this appears to be the case in Kansas City. The typical home in the city is worth just $87,600, far less than the $194,500 national median home value.

Relative to the size of its population, Kansas City has very few amenities and attractions that might enrich the lives of residents. There are fewer bars, libraries, recreational centers, museums, and hotels per capita in Kansas City than there are in the U.S. as a whole. There are just 120 restaurants per 100,000 Kansas City residents, among the fewest food establishments per capita of any U.S. city.

Ow. Really. That hurts, just being on the list.

But it could be worse. 

We could be Little Rock Arkansas at number 26 or Fort Smith, also Arkansas, at 24.

Missouri wasn’t done there, either, unfortunately. Springfield hit a very high number 12, nearly making the top 10 worst cities to live in.  Wow.

12. Springfield, Missouri

Population: 166,798
Median home value: $113,500
Poverty rate: 24.1%
Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 28.0%

Few cities have a greater crime problem than Springfield, Missouri. The city’s annual violent crime rate of 1,356 incidents per 100,000 residents is more than three times the national violent crime rate of 373 per 100,000. Springfield’s property crime rate, at 7,795 incidents per 100,000 people, is also over three times the national property crime rate and the third highest of the 551 cities reviewed.

High crime in a city often coincides with high poverty in a somewhat circular cause and effect. Springfield’s poverty rate of 24.1% is nearly 10 percentage points greater than the national poverty rate.

Not done there, St. Louis does, in fact, break that top ten, even making the top 5 worst cities.

4. St. Louis

Population: 315,685
Median home value: $130,800
Poverty rate: 24.9%
Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 34.7%

St. Louis is representative of the economic decline that afflicted many large industrial cities over the latter part of the 20th century. Decades of manufacturing decline, white flight, and exclusionary zoning in St. Louis have led to some of the worst urban decay, racial segregation, and income inequality of any major city today. Some 24.9% of St. Louis residents live in poverty, far more than the 14.7% national figure. St. Louis has struggled with a high crime rate since the 1960s and today has the highest violent crime rate of any U.S. city. There were 1,817 violent crimes reported per 100,000 St. Louis residents in 2015, nearly five times the national rate.

Many of the economic problems in St. Louis are tied to the city’s rapid population decline. The city’s population is less than half of what it was during its 1950 peak of 860,000 people, and it continues to decline today. While the U.S. population grew 11.5% over the last 10 years, the number of residents in St. Louis fell 5.4%.

We have to do better, folks.