Also, parking at the UW is really expensive, even more expensive than many private lots, at least if you're paying on a monthly basis.

I respectfully disagree. Compared to north belltown or yesler terrace, yes, it's slightly better for rape/assault/robbery/GTA stats. But compared to the rest of N. Seattle there's nothing worse that the U district beat. There's MUCH worse than iPhone grabs. Another great source of (current) crime info is www.seattlecrime.com

seattlecrime.com is a good source for interesting crime-related stories, but they don't offer stats there.

I didn't claim that iPhones grabs were the worst things that happen in the UW area, only that they may be more common than late night violence against strangers walking alone.

If you click around here you can view various police beat stats for the UW area:

http://web1.seattle.gov/mnm/Statistics.aspx?tabId=3

*gives stinkbug a big mutual misunderstanding hug*
It's cool. No one thinks there's only one kind of crime anywhere: I should have toned my snarkishness down from the usual default "11" setting.

No prob, stink... and I didn't claim seattlecrime was a good place for stats, just 'current' crime info (aka news), such as their version of the "911 map" ("If you hear sirens, this is probably where they're headed")

But you gotta admit that 3 rapes a year (09) in beats U2 and another 3 in U3 is still 6 rapes too many...

All comes down to what Isadora considers "reasonably safe", too. Perhaps she's a hardened NYer who carries a TKD black belt and bear mace. Perhaps she's a 95 lbs wallflower who's never lived in an urban enviro before.
Isadora, care to elaborate?

I'd say that the Ave feels pretty sketchy much of the time; although the hoodlums who hang out there seem to be more bark than bite.

According to that page, N1 has more "violent crimes total" per month on average than U1, U2, U3, or J3. You're misstating the stats.

That map is spectacularly unilluminating, since it shows crimes per square mile without any reference to population density. The U District, Wallingford, Fremont, and Ballard, which are dense with apartments, have more crimes because they have more people. The one area with the higher crime totals in the U District is particularly dense.

Note that the page itself says "These maps should not be used to determine the general level of safety in a neighborhood."

Oh, ok. So crime density isn't important?

Stink: My apologies: I may not have been clear enough: if you click on the left drop down "total violent crime" and view the map, the U dist (north central U, aka Union-3) comes up as far darker/denser on the map than any other North Seattle area for crime-per-square-mile in 2009 - I'm not seeing the misstatement.
And density? Compare to a zoning density map and it's not proof of density causation: in fact, U3 has single-family-homes and is zoned L1, L3, SF5000 with a minority being NC3-65:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/gis/webplots/k14e.pdf

Fnarf: So the 630+ crimes-per-square-mile last year aren't in any way an appropriate answer to "is it safe to walk around this neighborhood"?

*arched eyebrow*

I'm not willing to gloss over or downplay the fact the neighborhood, among Seattle -especially north seattle's- neighborhoods, is quite troubled with violent crime. There's a reason the city has more than one SPD beat in the U district.

The good news though: between 06 and 08, total crime stats went down 17%.
http://www.seattle.gov/police/Crime/08_STATS.HTM
And also on those maps: the UW campus itself is fairly safe.

I may be mistaken, but you seem to be implying that most/all violent crime is a result of "walking around" the UW neighborhood.

I think you need to thoroughly analyze the situations for all the crimes you're referring to.

Yes, U3 has single-family-homes, so what? That same area also has multiple 5-story complexes.

Look at the little (in area) voting precinct 43-2109 to see what I'm talking about. There's a reason it's so small area-wise.

You still haven't answered the most basic question: what's the density? "630 crimes per square mile" sounds like a lot, but if you don't know how many PEOPLE per square mile there are.

There's more crime in Manhattan than there is in North Dakota, too. Why do you suppose that is?

Plus, that sector includes Frat Row; how do you know that all of these crimes aren't being committed inside of fraternities? Stay away from frats and you'll be fine, maybe? I dunno, and you don't either.

These stats tell you very, very little.

Huh. I didn't realize I was starving! I reckon the organic veggies, grass-fed local beef, and parm reg I eat are, er, what? I walk for groceries with no problems. And I shop for them daily.

"yes, if you shop twice a week and eat like a bird and aren't superpicky about supermarket brand, then doing groceries on foot is fairly easy."

I eat about 3000 calories a day, have a kid half time, and have no problem getting my groceries (I do go twice a week) in the backpack on my bike.

I shudder at how lazy you make yourself seem.

*sigh* debate class this is not. Even if it was, comparisons would need to be made apples to apples.

My answer to Isadora stands despite the pointless parsing:
No, the U district is not without crime. If you feel squeamish about that, and a car makes you feel secure at, say, 2:30am or during a trip to whatever grocery you prefer, then you may want a car. Are there walkable neighborhoods? Hells yes. But in the U district, there were 8 rapes (reported, mind you) last year (regardless of whether indoors, outdoors or in someone's winnebago), and robbery & assaults are more common there, than MANY other neighborhoods and police beats. Violent crime is a problem in several areas of seattle, and among north seattle 'hoods the U dist/Union beat ranks pretty high in REPORTED crimes.
My opinion comes from observation: crime rates, news stories, talking with neighbors, and working summers in the University Hts center. I make my opinion here with a little 'done that' cred and therefore some bias: I lived in the U district for a while, was especially active at late hours, and it was no picnic: I have scars to show for my lack of wisdom walking alone.
Yes, some folks can disagree with my opinion, but the attempt to argue seems misguided: it's not as if anyone thinks the U district is crime free (or crime free outdoors, or that riding a bike makes you crime-proof, or that a condo or house or frat house will make it safer or less safe... these are all diversions and tangents to your OP question).

Isadora, YOUR COMFORT LEVEL is really the deciding factor here: some people think walking after midnight in a city is unsafe regardlesss of neighborhood... some people think the CD is a great place for a midnight stroll despite all the shootings. Different folks...different strokes.

(And as far as the offkilter grocery comments, you need to get your snark tubes cleaned: I was saying groceries aren't a reason to get a car: "Doing groceries On Foot IS fairly easy".
Twice a week is Good IMO, it's the suburban fawkers that only shop once/twice a month by filling up their SUV at costco that I'm snarking at. i.e. If she's one of them, then she'll have a hard time)

Fnarf - special for you:
The old gem of "North Dakota vs NYC crime" example isn't so great: yes, there are more total violent crimes, but the RATE would make most folks agree that Fargo is far more unsafe to live in - and even if you look at per square mile.
Fargo alone (nevermind the rest of the state) has a crime rate of 293 (2008 crime rates from FBI) in a city with a population of 99,200. NYC on the other hand has a rate of 580* (same year, same study) and a population of between 8 and 9 Million. So, out of every 1000 Fargo folks, about 3 are likely to see violent crime in a year. A random group of 1000 NY'ers aren't likely to have experienced ANY crime.
So, Which is more safe? Depends on your viewpoint and priorities, but density does not equal a higher crime rate per se. Crime rates traditionally reported from police department don't care about population much; they are simply correlating geography with reported incidents.
FYI - (Fargo =2300 ppl/sq mi ; NYC = 27,440 ppl/sq mile.)
Apples-to-apples large city to large city: look at Houston vs NYC. Houston has a third less people and a third more crime.

* = Seattle, by the way, had 4 fewer violent crimes than NYC. 576. So comparing population-to-crime-rate we're around 15 times more unsafe than NYC, and comparing incident-rate only we're almost exactly as safe/unsafe as NYC.

Stats are just a shell-game anyway. ;)