Crime in SW Charlotte
Jodi recently blogged about a Walmart commercial we saw on TV. She didn’t point out one thing that I found particularly interesting about the Walmart experience in Charlotte; something I immediately thought of when I saw the commercial.
When we bought our house in southwest Charlotte in 2001, the closest Walmart was over on Arrowwood Rd at South Blvd. Notice that the police substation is 2 blocks from the 2001 Walmart location. (click on the image to see the labeled pushpins)
However, within a few years, that Walmart relocated much closer to our house. And… let’s say, by sheer coincidence… the police substation made a similar move. (click on the image to see the labeled pushpins)
Now, I’m not drawing any direct correlation between the Walmart shopping plaza in SW Charlotte and crime. I don’t have to. The crime statistic maps do it for me (including, of course, their wonderful “our data is garbage” disclaimer: “This program compiles data from multiple systems. Data in these systems are subject to changes, corrections, and delays in data entry; all data in these systems should be used with caution and should be acknowledged as estimates only.” – so my point is only as good as their data, of course… and of course I’m not comparing any other areas for relative crime concentration so my assertion is really total garbage, etc, etc)
In any case, within a 1000 ft radius of the Walmart over the past couple years we find a laundry list of crimes: Larcenies, Assaults, Loitering for money, Discharging a firearm, Robbery, Stolen vehicles, Drug crimes, you name it.
Interesting stuff. Shame CMPD online data doesn’t go back to 2001 and earlier. I’d love to compare it to the old location before the move…
