Are small towns really safer?

I grew up in Grand Island, but I consider it to be a rather small community. I know that it is on the verge of becoming the third metro area in Nebraska, but I hardly think that having over 50,000 people makes Grand Island a thriving metropolis. When I was growing up, I used to think that I would spend my entire life in Grand Island. There was nothing that Grand Island didn't have that I couldn't live without.

As I grew older I started to realize that there was a world outside of Grand Island and Nebraska, and that I wanted to explore it. I have never really traveled to big cities like New York, but I am sure that there are a lot of good and bad things about living in a city that large. It would be nice to have everything you could think of at your fingertips, but there are a lot of problems with living in the city as well. Many people point out the crime that takes place in larger cities, but I have to disagree with the fact that this only happens in large cities. Over the past few years crime has been increasing dramatically in Grand Island and the surrounding areas. I was raised to think that cities like Omaha were full of crime, but now I read the news and see just as many stories about crime in places like Grand Island as cities like Omaha.

Since moving to Kearney a few years ago I have also seen several events that make Kearney look less safe as well. Crime knows no bounds. There is no way to keep crime completely out of an area, but many people seem to think that rural Nebraska is safe from crime. I urge these people to open their eyes to what is going on around them. I know some people that live in the country and leave their doors unlocked and their keys in the ignition of their cars. Unless you want your house broken into and your car stolen, you should stop being so naive.