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Comment by mlacks | Hacker News Reader

For anyone that has experience with bike trails like this, is crime a problem? I live in the city and bike theft here is rampant enough for me to not feel comfortable parking at a grocery store in broad day light.

I’ve seen/ experienced bikes stolen, murders, mugging, and homeless encampments in my travels on bike paths; just wondering if I’m an odd case. Would love to see this trail work out

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Crime rates on bike paths tend to match the neighborhood they are in. If they go through bad neighborhoods, there is crime. If they are going through low-crime suburbia and rural areas, not so much. For a trail like this that does go through the middle of some cities, we can guess there will be a few spots to watch out for, but the vast majority of the trail should be fine.

Where do you live?

Could you please list where you've seen each or experienced each of these events?

I'm surprised to hear of a murder on a bike path.

I vaguely recall news of rapes having occurred on the Illinois prairie path around where I grew up.

In that locale at least, the paths are some of the most isolated and wooded areas in otherwise dense suburban sprawl. Akin to a dark alley where the walls aren't even buildings containing occupants, it's trees and marshland. Prime territory to stalk a vulnerable jogger or cyclist.

> I vaguely recall news of rapes having occurred on the Illinois prairie path around where I grew up.

I don’t mean to be a dick but this is completely meaningless and useless. So why post it?

Are you requesting citations or take issue with the general contribution along the lines of "FYI Shit Happens on the Illinois Prairie Path"?

Because if it's the former this is no more than a trivial search away from multiple news results...

And in case it's not obvious, the Illinois Prairie Path forms a substantial swath of the often rail-adjacent trails used by joggers and cyclists throughout the state.

My issue is that it’s worse than anecdata. You’re saying “I’m pretty sure really bad things happen here.” And that’s it. Nothing any more of substance. Just more negative noise with no evidence, links or anything. Just noise.

The preface of your comment is literally “I vaguely recall... <really bad thing>”

Is that what you want to bring out here to the world? Its a meaningless contribution to chaos.

I find your comments here far more useless.

How is it noise when it's more than enough information to go perform a relevant google search, accompanied by a reason to do so for those interested in the subject.

Whereas what you're bringing to the table amounts to something like "I don't like the negativity of what you're saying, shut up, we already have enough negativity, I would like to keep my head in the sand on this one."

Talk about noise...

I googled “Illinois prairie path rape” and your comment is the third result. That’s how hard it is to back up what you vaguely “claimed.”

The other results don’t even talk about rapes happening on the Illinois prairie path. Bodies being dumped there which is tragic sure, but your comment is essentially saying something maybe bad happened once? Idk? I can’t find it! Even if it happened once does it happen at a regular occurrence?

And to top it all off here I am, frustrated with the vapidity and negativity of your comment- and you ask me to look it up myself- and there’s nothing there and you’re angry at me for some reason.

Like I said, I’m not trying to be a dick, but maybe you should put some more thought into what you put out into the world.

Surprised this is not 100% FUD. My Uncle was telling me about the farmer opposition to the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, and how all the farmland-billboard-propaganda was that a bike path would bring drugs and prostitution to their fine rural community.

Are you sure the problem is not your city, rather than the bike path?

I'm not sure a bike is a great way to pick up prostitutes, but that's just me.

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