Why are big cities more dangerous at night?

Drug dealers come out at night. Gang members come out at night.

@chyna Why do they come out at night?

They are hidden by the darkness.

Not as dangerous as out in the country. Don’t ever get caught in the country after dark.

The big reason places are more dangerous at night is simple. Alcohol. People drink more at night.

Maybe people think they can get away with more under the cover of night.

It depends on the city. Mainly because there are fewer people and fewer lights. Fewer people means that for any given person, there are fewer other people who might be targeted, and fewer people to notice and either help or witness an incident. Some cities and parts of cities are not particularly unsafe at night, however. But in others, there are parts that do become quite dangerous, particularly if the time and place has become frequented with dangerous types, which is in general a more likely opportunity at times when there are fewer non-dangerous people around, which tends to be be night time. Also, people tend to go get drunk and try to pair up and do wild activities at night, and those things can frequently lead to drunken altercations, drunken driving, drunken attempted sexual assaults, etc., which is not nearly so much the case at more like 5–6am, generally speaking. But really it’s place (and weather) specific.

They aren’t. No more so than rural areas.

I have been mugged twice In Eugene (pop 159,190) and never in Portland (pop 609,456)

Once in Eugene it was right downtown at 5PM (summer, still light out) while I was walking to catch the bus to work. Dude pulled a knife on me and got 5 bucks.

And I have spent weeks in NYC and Boston without a single problem. Perhaps you could think about it as “can someone here you scream”... And the odds of that happening are much better in NYC since you can’t piss on the sidewalk without someone bitching.

Rapists come out at night too. All the darker elements thrive under cover of darkness. haha
The country is way safer than the city at night. Out here you just have to worry that you don’t step on a rattlesnake in the summer or run into a mountain lion.

I’ll take wild life over city night life any day of the week. Right now it’s eerily windy and spooky, with things going “bump” in the night, but it’s a good kinda spooky. Not 4th floor parking garage at midnight spooky. haha
I suppose a stray axe murderer could be in the shop right now fondling a chainsaw but highly doubtful. lol

Personally speaking I’ve never been accosted by someone in the middle of the night in the city. I have out in the country, miles away from anywhere.

@Darth_Algar Did they mistake you for a cow and try to tip you over? lol

Popped out of the woods and smack the side of the car (was going down a thin dirt road cutting through a forest and wasn’t driving that fast).

Maybe it was an escaped convict form the city. lol

Unlikely.

Do you ever laugh Darth? You are no fun to play with at all. ;-)

Sorry if my humor doesn’t lean towards the inane.

As mentioned above, it’s dark and there are fewer people around. It’s easier to catch people alone. Also, night time is more full of drinking and drugs.

When I have to knock on doors in bad neighborhoods, I try to go at 9AM, when the barbarians are sleeping.

I think it’s several factors. Big cities have big building that offer a lot of coverage. Also it’s a math issue. Small town has a 1000 people. Lets say out of that 1000 you have 10 percent that are criminals. That is 100 people.
Now you have a city like New York with about 8 million people. 10 percent of that would be 800,000.

Now go back to the small town of a thousand people. You are bound to know quite a few people in your community and they will know you or know someone who knows you. I lived in a small town for a few years and I could usually run into someone who knew some of my friends. I also lived in NYC. In my neighborhood it was impossible to know that many people, but I could still run into someone, time from time who knew someone I knew or was related too. It was rare but it would occasionally happen. In a small town it was more frequent.

Then there is the lure of bigger game. Why fish in a small pond with a little bit of fish, when you can fish in a lake teaming with all kinds of fish. I don’t think all criminals are born in the city. I think many move there because its’ easier for the cops not to know you.
In the small town I lived, the cops knew all the criminals there.

When I was robbed in the city, the cops told us we would probably never see our stuff again.
When my brother was robbed in the small town I had moved too, the cops told him, they had a good idea what teen took it by the way the house was broken into and who his daughter was hanging out with. He told my brother if he wouldn’t press charges he could probably get his stuff back. My brother got his stuff back. I wouldn’t be surprised if the little thief moved to a bigger city. More pawn shops too. In our small town. There were only two pawn shops.

@RedDeerGuy1 , Are you not more fearful of walking the streets at night? I think it is natural. Most animals are active during the day, and as far as I know, the only nocturnal animals are predators.

I feel much safer in big cities than in small towns.

I live smack dab in the middle of an area with a population of 3.5 million. I go out at night regularly. Walk home from the subway at 2 a.m. I like that there are so many people out and about at the same time. Small towns make me nervous. I’m not sure if it’s because I grew up in one or in spite of growing up in one. I always worry no one will hear me if something goes badly wrong when I’m in the country or in a small town. Scariest time for me is when I go to the cottage in the off-season. I like being alone during the day but the nights there really freak me out.

Give me the city any time. I’m with @Darth_Algar and @johnpowell on this.

Whenever I am in the city I can’t sleep for the noise. That’s what 25 years of country living does to you. I prefer the night sounds of crickets and coyotes whooping it up to traffic, sirens, police cars and helicopters.

For kids, like teenagers, going clubbing in the middle of the day ain’t much fun!

Because most of the bad people are awake during night for illegal activity.