On the heels of Forbes annual Priciest ZIP Codes List comes their annual list of America's Most Dangerous Cities — and, surprise, there is no overlap between the two. As for the latter, the Bay Area's own Oakland comes in at #3, failing to beat four-time winner Detroit. Forbes writes: "Oakland's high levels of poverty and proximity to drug corridors combine to generate lots of violence. The city across the Bay from San Francisco ranks first nationwide in violent robberies."
The frightening city of Stockton — so bad that A's pitcher Dallas Braden went on a public tirade last month and threatened to leave his hometown after his grandmother was robbed and himself carjacked, while police did nothing — comes in a #8 in between Baltimore, Maryland (#7) and Cleveland, Ohio (#9). Regarding Stocking, the magazine notes: "It's hard to control crime when your city is broke. Stockton filed for bankruptcy in June and has cut back dramatically on policing, exacerbating the city's longstanding problems with violence."
The list is based on the number of violent crimes in a year per 100,000 people. Detroit beats out Karachi, Pakistan and Juarez, Mexico with 2,137 crimes per 100,000, and that would include murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. They saw 344 murders last year. Thus, Detroit has lost more than 200,000 residents since 2001.
Interestingly, when it comes to violent robberies, Oakland is actually #1 in the nation. The much maligned city across the Bay is a frequent fixture on lists like this, and currently has about 1700 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.
The list, if you dare:
10. Buffalo, New York
9. Cleveland, Ohio
8. Stockton, California
7. Baltimore, Maryland
6. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Birmingham, Alabama
4. Memphis, Tennessee
3. Oakland, California
2. St. Louis, Missouri
1. Detroit, Michigan
SFist has asked Oakland Mayor Jean Quan for comment. We will update just as soon as she gets back to us.