Another big difference is that you're almost three times more likely to be murdered in Baltimore than in Anderson because according to the FBI, Baltimore's the second deadliest city in America.
- photo from HBO's The Wire
How bad is it, really? Here's another comparison:
US Combat Deaths in Afghanistan vs Baltimore Homicides, by year
____US Combat Deaths ______Baltimore Homicides
2007 ..... 83 ........................................ 282
2008 ... 133......................................... 234
2009 ... 267......................................... 238
2010* ... 89..........................................119
* to date
total ... 572.........................................873
-photo by John Moore/Getty Images
Those numbers mean that in less than three years, the US lost 1.53 times as many citizens to murder in just 82 square miles of one US city as it did soldiers to armed combat in all of Afghanistan. Think about that means for a minute, in case you're not already shocked. So who's waging the war in the streets?
It's the enemy ... and God's Word is the only sword sharp enough to defeat him.
- a little more perspective
With a land area just under 82 square miles, Baltimore can't be described as a single homogeneous city: according to wikipedia Baltimore's divided into 9 separate and distinct geographical regions.
A glance at the statistics suggests that provided you're not a convicted felon trying to score crack in East Baltimore at 2AM, Charm City's about as safe as Anderson, and shares an almost identical rape and burglary risk.
Some sources include North Charleston, SC as among the most dangerous and others don't mention Baltimore in their top 10 dangerous cities list at all. Among the top 330 metropolitan areas, #20 Baltimore's far below #10 Myrtle Beach.
And when the 25 most dangerous metropolitan areas are compared, Baltimore's completely absent from the top 25 ... unlike Florence, SC (#6) Sumter, SC (#22) and Macon, GA (#25).
