I live in the St.Louis area and like many ppl from outside the city we no longer go into the city for nothing, not even ballgames. Chances of either getting robbed or more likely having your car broke into or just too high.
There is a variety of good/fun things to do in the city, but it’s just too risky. In all of this you rarely hear any solutions coming from the mayor or alderman, they dump everything on the the police.
The local CBS station was the worse anti-police and a real vocal supporter of the rioters, looters and troublemakers in Ferguson. But since the killing and assaults are escalating, all of a sudden the same station is proud to be a leader in the EndTheViolence campaign. Gimme a breaK
Here in NJ, the people in the suburbs around the cities are often the descendants of those who fled when the cities reverted to nature. Nobody has any illusions about race relations or what cities offer, and considering the population density here we actually have few black-on-nonblack incidents. Non-blacks know the dangers (despite TV shows and commercials portraying the false racial harmony); segregation is forever here in NJ.