leeds city, dangerous?

What will you be doing over the Easter break? >>

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Reply 1

G4ry

As long as you don't decided to walk through Hyde Park at some really stupid hour it's generally fine.

Reply 2

George-W-Duck

G4ry

As long as you don't decided to walk through Hyde Park at some really stupid hour it's generally fine.

Leeds as a city is pretty much the same as youll find in any other major english city such as birmingham, manchester, nottingham, theres parts to be avoided, but it tends to be on a par in most places. If youre looking for a city environment then the situation of the uni and the city is ideal.

Reply 3

EPD

Yeah, just use common sense like you would in any other city. And avoid Chapeltown and Halton Moor like the plague

Reply 4

George-W-Duck

elpollodiablouk

Yeah, just use common sense like you would in any other city. And avoid Chapeltown and Halton Moor like the plague

I concur, i read in the times that Chapeltown has lower living standards than the EU minimum borderline recommends.

Reply 5

EPD

George-W-Duck

I concur, i read in the times that Chapeltown has lower living standards than the EU minimum borderline recommends.

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
I shit myself on friday - we were going to our leavers' do in the city centre by limo, and it broke down very close to Halton Moor. Surprised we had any tyres left. Fortunately all we had were some pesky meddling kids, who the driver told to f*ck off (his words not mine)

Reply 6

Ditzy

Like people have said, there is crime etc, but its no worse than anyother big city. A lot of it is when idiot people do stupid things like taking short cuts down dark alleys at 3am! If you just use a bit of common sense and avoid certain areas (like Chapeltown) like the plague

Reply 7

Vladek

don't stray near harehills eiether!

Reply 8

username9816

Areas to avoid:

Harehills
Chapel Town
Gipton
Burley
Hawksworth
Armley
Bramley
Wortley

There are more.

Reply 9

Ste2k4

ALL CITIES are like. Its just about taking care and not doing stupid things like carrying around expensive items so they are visible and just generally stay in public places.

I don't think you can single out specific cities as everys ingle one of them has problems as thats just the natures of the places. I live in Manchester and don't really have much trouble yet others would make out that the place is crime ridden with places like Moss Side on your doorstep, but that just ain' the case at all.............

Reply 10

woox

hey,
leeds is definatly no worse than anywhere else, i've been there for a year now and enevr had any problems. it's true some areas (like chapeltown) should probly be avoided cos they are a bit skanky but in all honestly thats hardly a big issue because as a student i can't really imagine why you would ever need to go there at all...the only areas most students are likely to be in are headingley, hyde park, kirkstall and the city centre...which are all pretty decent....and headingley and hyde park in particular are so full of students that even at 2am there are always a few people about. As long as your not stpid you've got nothing to worry about!
oh and walking through the actual hyde park park (which has a proper name that i've forgotten) is probly best avoided at night, but so are most parks really.
it also helps that busses in leeds from the city centre to boddington hall (via headingley) run til 3am so it's quite easy to get home and there are also tons of taxi companies.
as long as your sensible don;t worry - you'll be fine!

Reply 11

Jet-Black

Theres been an increase of stabbings and gun crime throughout Yorkshire, but the majority of these have been between gangs and dealers. West yorskhire is bad, but thats because their police force is appalling at dealing with such incidents.

Speaking from experience, i riot trained with West yorskhire as part of an 'acting' riot crowd and in the end they called in South Yorkshire to aid them. The crowd took out two officers, stole five police radios and cornered the chief supervisor! They have no structure or communication between them! (sadly I didn't get called back to test them again!)

Most students go out to the same places and theres very little trouble, its the seedy clubs that should be avoided, i haven't got names, because i don't go to them, but someone will be able to tell you. Po Na Na is one i think, i know it is in Sheffield (on weekends).

And let's face it students don't walk on their own, they walk in numbers!!!

If you do worry universitys run self-defense classes, which i strongly reccomend even if you aren't worried.

Reply 12

jamieuk20

Also try and avoid Hyde Park after nightfall. There have been cases of rape, and not just women....

Reply 13

Lil' Miss Smiley

Nima

Areas to avoid:

Harehills
Chapel Town
Gipton
Burley
Hawksworth
Armley
Bramley
Wortley

There are more.

There are far worse areas to avoid than Armley, Bramley and Wortley!!
Halton Moor for one and Seacroft. In fact that pocket of estates that surround York Road and the A64 in that area. Little London and Burmantofts too. Little London recently had the highest number of ASBOs issued.

Reply 14

jamieuk20

Ah yeah, Seacroft. A pleasant experience. Last year in winter at the semester deadline I got wasted in the Old Bar and accidentally boarded the wrong bus all the way to Seacroft because I couldn't read the bus numbers properly. Didn't actually spend long there as the bus returned to Leeds with me still on it. :smile:

Reply 15

frank4king

To be honest, the areas that students are likely to live in, and go to, are not dangerous areas. Why would students get a house in Gipton? Leeds is no worse than any other major cities.. there's places where you don't go, but they tend to be the places you don't *need* to go to, and would have no reason for going there.

Basically, just use common sense. Don't go out at night on your own, especially if you're a girl.

LOCK YOUR DOOR. The area most students live in - Hyde Park, Headingley - are one of the most burgled areas in England, and its because burglars just walk in, take stuff, and walk out again. Just be sensible.

And yeah, don't walk through Hyde Park on your own at night. Its fine during the day though, just full of students playing footy or laying around.

Reply 16

Ditzy

There was another report out this week saying that Leeds has the highest crime rate in the country, 99% more insurance claims then anyother city.

You have to remember that these figures are based on INSURANCE CLAIMS though, in a big student area such as Leeds one break in can result in four insurance claims (for example) which skews the results, so its definately not as bad as people make out

Reply 17

blackspring

I've been living in the city for 5 years now almost and it really depends on where you go, Chapeltown, HArehills are places that most locals won't go to after 7pm on their own anyhow. Its all about common sense and locking up your houses/windows/cars securely everytime you go out, I think quite a lot of the serious violence that happens is to do with community conflict/drugs/territory or whatever. A guy was shot in front of a crowd near my house, a guy was executed in his bed next to his wife...A woman's leg was found in the woods behind my old flat but this stuff doens't happen to students. I would say that the growing number of students in Hyde Park and Headingley put a lot of strain on local communities, families are getting pushed out and quite a lot of areas look like wastelands because of the high turnover rate of people moving in and out all the time. I hope this hasn't put anyone off - Just be street smart, like in any other city and remember that it isn't a 'party town' - normal residents live there too.

Reply 18

fatfingers

blackspring

A guy was shot in front of a crowd near my house, a guy was executed in his bed next to his wife...A woman's leg was found in the woods behind my old flat but this stuff doens't happen to students. I would say that the growing number of students in Hyde Park and Headingley put a lot of strain on local communities, families are getting pushed out and quite a lot of areas look like wastelands because of the high turnover rate of people moving in and out all the time. I hope this hasn't put anyone off - Just be street smart, like in any other city and remember that it isn't a 'party town' - normal residents live there too.

woah..

Reply 19

allodoxa

Ok so students aren't in danger if they're sensible... but how bad are the bad areas, compared to the rest of the country? This is a bit of a random question I know, but I'm going to Leeds next year to study medicine and my boyfriend, who wants to join the police, is planning on coming with me and applying to the west yorkshire police force. Will he get shot?