Let’s face it: the majority of the LHS population has grown up in relatively quiet, sheltered suburban neighborhoods. But so close to a major city, many of us have driven into Seattle for work or spent the day with family or friends several times before. So how do we really feel about Seattle? Are we biased coming from our suburban backgrounds?

A survey of Liberty students has shown that we certainly hold some stereotypes and irrational fears about aspects of Seattle, such as walking around at night or using public transportation.

In terms of public transportation, according to the Victoria Transport Policy Institute buses have “one-60th the traffic fatalities per 100 million passenger-miles as automobile travel”. Despite this, 89.7% of Patriots surveyed travel our area and into the cities in cars. 41.5% wouldn’t even feel comfortable riding a bus into Seattle without a group, likely fearing being a victim of crime, despite a mere 0.025% of total crime occurring on transit (VTPI).

The fact is, when major US cities are ranked by crime rates per 100,000 people, Seattle is number 64 on the list despite being the 21st largest city by population in the country. So rather than fearing being randomly assaulted on the street while walking around downtown, let’s work on reworking our misconceptions about our city.