Guns don't kill people, Phila. does

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Jul. 17, 2007 | John Lott, Maxim Lott

[Tired of Taxes]

I lived in Philly from about 88 to 97 and consider it my hometown, having become a man there. We had three break-ins in our place on 47th Street on Baltimore Ave in West Philly.

Small world! I think my husband lived on either 47th or 48th Street near Baltimore in '88 to '90. Then, he and I lived at 46th & Chester from around '91 to '96. (Chester is just a block down from Baltimore, if I remember correctly.) If your parents were ever active in the neighborhood associations, they probably met him. One of the things he did was volunteer at a police substation, and he was always coming home with stories to tell.

When I woke up, I was freezing and went out to the kitchen (adjacent to my bedroom) and the kitchen window was open and a big kitchen knife was on the table. The crackhead who stole our microwave (and nothing else, that we could tell) had the knife out in case any of us came out.

The big problem in that whole area was burglary... and in broad daylight, too. I remember the average being something outrageous like 48 burglaries per week in a six-block radius. They knew people were away working during the day, and sometimes they would pull up in trucks and haul things out of houses. One woman was sitting in her living room when a guy took an air conditioner right out of her window. Talk about BOLD. One guy did shoot and kill an intruder he found in his kitchen. But I could go on and on with all the stories, many that did not end as well.

When we moved just a couple blocks down to 45th Street, we never had a break-in attempt but Philly is much less safer than Seattle.

It's funny how a few blocks makes such a big difference, but that's how it is. Ironically, that whole area (University City/southwest Philly) was considered one of the safest areas in Philly. After our first child was born, we got out ASAP.