Do not be surprised when the city is a city!!!

The vast majority of safety-related posts on this sub boil down to “why is the city like a city, don’t they know STUDENTS live here?” or “how can I go to school in the city without confronting anything that is different from suburbia?” and I have to say, it’s really goofy. I understand that safety is important, but next to none of the questions asked need to be answered with any more nuance than “carry mace and be aware of your surroundings.” I’m not saying you can’t feel unsafe, but college is all about growing up and learning about the world, which often includes encountering things that aren’t comfortable or familiar, and posting asking if you’re gonna get murdered on the ave past 8pm or something like that is not going to help you in the long run. There are countless schools in small cozy college towns that are equally, if not more, academically rigorous than UW. With all those options out there, going to a school in the city is very much a choice, and it’s important to recognize a major city is a major city. You’ll be hard pressed to find one in the United States that doesn’t have the qualities that make people feel unsafe.

I know some people always have beef with this sort of take, but regardless on your opinion of how a city should be governed/policed/whatever, the current state of our city and all other major cities in the United States is reality. Carry your mace, keep an eye on your surroundings, and if you’re someone more vulnerable for whatever reason, try and have a buddy with you if you’re out late at night. If you want to challenge yourself, maybe even make eye contact with a homeless person and give them a nod instead of pretending they don’t exist; contrary to popular belief, most of them will not cannibalize you on the spot if you do so!