Americans, is America or the UK a safer place to live?

Question

I'm interested in how you guys perceive England. Do you think it's all chips and warm beer? Do you think we have a crime problem? If so, what kind of crime do you think is rife here? I already know the relevant numbers, I'm just interested in what you think and what your media says about us.

Answer 1

All my friends think of crime in Britain as Dickensian. There are ragged boys working for Fagin who might pick your pocket, or a few guys like Wilkins McCawber who go to jail for being broke all the time.

Of course, we think Britain is a safer place to live. The food supply is certainly safer, with nice friendly cows and free-range chickens instead of industrialized food production. Being around people is safer, as the police don't even have to carry guns to stop crime, and Scotland Yard always get 'their man' so to speak.

You won't suffer from strange diseases, either, as there is medical care for everyone and prisons are not all over the place incubating rare strains of infectious disease and then dropping the victims among the general population.

We're probably wrong about all of this, but that's how it is when you live 6,000 miles across an ocean an only have what you learned in school and occasional BBC documentaries to figure out what's going on.

Answer 2

I would guess that the U.K. is safer. It's smaller, has way less big cities.......which is where most crime stems from, closed borders, and citizens have no guns (as far as I know). I'm sure it has crime problems just like any other country, but not as much as we do here in the U.S.
You must also take in to consideration the huge size difference between the two countries, in terms of population and land mass. That can be a huge determining factor when comparing statistics.
Our media does not really say a whole lot about England unless it's about the queen or politics. Warm beer........yes.
Oh...and the gloomy weather where the sun never seems to shine.
But the people are generally perceived as good people. From what I hear, it's quite the opposite there when talking about Americans.
Have a nice day!

Answer 3

Just like anywhere else, Mathilda, crime is dependent on where you live. I was born and reared the first 12 years of my life in California. Crime was something my parents worried about a lot more there than when we came to Texas.

The previous poster who wrote that she doesn't lock her doors at night, that was my experience, too, when we moved to a very small town in South Texas. That was very different for us after coming from California, but it was very cool to not have to worry about things like that. And I'll bet you that everyone in that town probably owned a gun. So, i don't really think that guns make an area any more dangerous.

Now I live in Houston, Texas. There are areas of town I would not go through, but the only thing we've had happen to us since I've lived here 20 years is my son left his bike on the porch and someone stole it and my husband caught some kids trying to steal a leaf blower from our shed in the backyard. Crime is worse in the urban areas in the U.S., but there are some very peaceful places as well.

The crime I associate with the U.K. is usually hooliganism, fighting, drunken revelries, that's what I typically think of, although I do remember that there was a serial killer that was killing prostitutes that I remember hearing about and this Maddie McCann thing recently, although we know that didn't happen in the U.K. I would say it's a safe place to live, but I think the U.S. is, too.

Answer 4

Southern California, hands down - no question. Not the most cost effective part of the US to live but definitely the best quality of life. I have lived on the East coast, Midwest and West coast and Southern California is the best by far, I canot wait to move back. There are places to live out there that are a little more cost efective like the Inland Empire which encompasses Corona, Murietta and Temecula areas. Decent cost of living and you ar centrally located between LA, San Diego and Palm Springs and within four hours of Las Vegas.

Answer 5

Well, I don't really know. I've always imagined it would be safer there, but it depends on where you live. I live in a pretty safe area, and I've never had a problem, I don't have to worry about getting shot around the next corner or anything. It's probably about the same over there. I've never heard the media say anything. Do you think we're all fat idiots? Because that's what I hear people say.

Answer 6

I think in both countries it depends upon where you live. I've always perceived England to have less of a crime problem since (as far as I know) you have gun control. However, I know that crimes can be committed without guns. I'm guessing you have a crime problem since just about every country in the world has one.

Answer 7

I felt safer in Brixton than I have in many parts of the US, though granted I was only there during the day. I got the impression from some of the ads I saw on the tube that there was a lot of crime there but I didn't see any of it.

Answer 8

Not all of US is full of crime. We never lock our doors at night and i let my car set for days with the keys in it and the window's down.

Answer 9

The UK is far safer as there are far fewer guns around. Gun control works.

Answer 10

Blue Lady is correct there is a horrible problem with the US with racism. It is making the world think twice about what is happening there. It shows intolerance and racism against anyone that isnt white. Its all in the south and came out with jena 6 disgusting what the whites have done.