5 U.S. Cities Too Dangerous to Move To

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Americans face about 1-in-30 odds of becoming crime victims in any given year -- but that'll jump to as high as 1 in 7 if you move to some communities atop NeighborhoodScout.com's 2013 Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S. rankings.

"These cities are the most dangerous in terms of what scares people the most: murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault," NeighborhoodScout CEO Andrew Schiller says.

NeighborhoodScout, a data-analytics company based outside Boston, compiles its list annually by analyzing crime data for thousands of U.S. municipalities with 25,000 residents or more.

Schiller says communities with the highest violent-crime rates are typically former manufacturing towns that fell on hard times when local factories shut down. "Most of the worst places are old industrial areas that have economies that are either collapsing or have collapsed," he says. "Their populations have shrunk dramatically, leaving a concentration of folks who've chosen to stay even though there aren't many opportunities." The expert adds that cities with the nation's worst crime rates all have "a very disproportionate number of single-parent households that are living in poverty." Still, Schiller doesn't categorically advise against moving to a high-crime city, noting that every community has its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, he says people moving to Greater Boston near NeighborhoodScout's headquarters will face some lousy weather, high home prices and long commutes to work. "Every place has issues," Schiller says. "There's really no such thing as a bad neighborhood if it's a good match for what you're personally looking for." If what you're looking for is a safe neighborhood, click below to check out five communities you should avoid: NeighborhoodScout's 2013 most-dangerous U.S. cities. The site based its rankings on violent-crime rates for each community as of 2011, the latest year with final figures available. (NeighborhoodScout augmented the annual crime statistics that municipal police departments report to the FBI with figures from local sheriffs, transit police, university police and other law-enforcement agencies.) All references to violent crimes refer to murder, robbery, aggravated assault and forcible (as opposed to statutory) rape, while references to property crimes refer to burglary, larceny/theft and automotive theft. And while NeighborhoodScout ranks cities' danger levels based on violent-crime rates alone, the listed odds of residents becoming victims refer to both violent and property crimes. Also see: Here Are America's 5 Unhealthiest Cities>>

Fifth-most-dangerous U.S. city to move to: Saginaw, Mich.

Saginaw, an old industrial town some 100 miles northwest of Detroit, has seen crime soar as the manufacturing sector's decline drained the city of jobs and people.

The 51,300-population community has a murder rate that's 3.6 times the national average and rape and robbery levels almost three times what's typical for a city of Saginaw's size. Worse, the community's aggravated-assault rate is nearly eight times the U.S. average, which Schiller calls "outrageous." Saginaw residents also face a property-crime rate 32% above the U.S. average, including a burglary rate that's more than triple the national average. And while local rates of car thefts and larceny/theft are actually below average, Saginaw residents nonetheless run a 1-in-16 chance of falling victim to crime in any given year.

Fourth-most-dangerous U.S. city to move to: West Memphis, Ark.

Located across the Mississippi River from Memphis, West Memphis suffers from violent-crime rate more than six times the U.S. average.

That includes a rape rate 5.3 times the national average, as well as a level of murders three times higher than you'd expect given the city's 26,000 population. West Memphis also suffers from an aggravated-assault rate 7.3 times higher than average, as well as 3.9 times the typical number of robberies on a per-capita basis. Add the fact that West Memphis has more than three times the average rate of property crimes and you've got about a 1-in-8 chance of becoming a victim there in any given year. Schiller attributes some of West Memphis' problems to a spillover of crime from Memphis itself, which NeighborhoodScout ranks as America's 22nd-most-dangerous city.

Third-most-dangerous U.S. city to move to: Flint, Mich.

Filmmaker Michael Moore chronicled the decline and fall of his hometown of Flint in the 1989 documentary Roger & Me, which detailed the city's woes following moves by General Motors (GM) to close several factories there. Also see: 5 Most Sinful Cities in America>>

Flint, which is some 40 miles south of Saginaw, has lost even more jobs and residents since -- leading to lots of crime. The city's overall violent-crime rate is more than six times the U.S. average, including a murder rate that's 10.2 times what's typical. Flint's 101,600 residents also face an aggravated-assault rate nearly seven times above average, as well as a robbery rate more than five times the average and rape levels 3.3 times the U.S. norm. Coupled with five times the typical level of burglaries, more than three times the expected number of auto thefts and 15%-above-average larceny/thefts, bad guys target about one Flint resident in 11 in any given year.

Second-most-dangerous U.S. city to move to: Camden, N.J.

The crime rate in the hometown of Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) is anything but "Mmm Mmm Good."

Located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia (itself ranked as America's 50th-most-dangerous city), Camden's 77,300 residents face a violent-crime rate that's 7.2 times the U.S. average. That includes a murder rate more than 12 times the national average, as well as 9.7 times more robberies than what's typical for a city its size. Camden also has 6.4 times the national rate of aggravated assaults and 3.2 times the rate of rapes. "All of those numbers are outrageously high, but the murder and armed-robbery rates are really standouts," Schiller says. Unfortunately, Camden's nonviolent-crime levels aren't much better. Locals face more than twice the typical U.S. property-crime rate, including 4.5 times the usual number of car thefts for a community Camden's size. All told, residents have about a 1-in-11 chance of becoming crime victims in any given year.

Most dangerous city to move to: East St. Louis, Ill.

East St. Louis crime rates have soared as the city struggled through decades of population losses, job declines and the construction of highways that bisected its neighborhoods.

Situated across the Mississippi River from St. Louis (America's eighth-most-dangerous city), East St. Louis' violent-crime rate is more than 15 times the national average -- and includes an aggravated-assault rate that's nearly 20 times the norm. East St. Louis also has murder levels 18.6 times above what's typical given its size, as well as 8.8 times the average U.S. robbery rate and 7.1 times the usual rape rate. Add in a property-crime rate that's nearly three times the national average -- including almost seven times as many car thefts as you'd expect given the city's 27,000 population -- and East St. Louis is easily America's most dangerous city. Residents have a 1-in-7 chance of becoming crime victims there in any given year. "Crime is just off the charts in East St. Louis," Schiller says.

Social investing: 4 companies make a difference

As consumers, it's easy to become disillusioned by all of the negative press coverage pointed in the direction of major corporations. For every heartbreaking story of negligence or malicious profiteering, many others slip through the cracks that center around the philanthropic or good-natured contributions to the world that many companies make. With so much negativity, from stories involving General Motors' (GM) recalls, to alleged worker exploitation by Wal-Mart (WMT) or McDonald's (MCD), and even giant environmental disasters at the hands of companies like British Petroleum (BP), it's all too easy to get swept up in an anti-corporate fervor, much of which is deservedly earned by many companies.

For every public hit a big company like any of the aforementioned takes, every other public relations department in the world gets a chance to watch from a distance and learn from its mistakes. Calls for higher corporate tax rates and large-scale protests like Occupy Wall Street have also put big companies in an awkward position in which they must still strive for increased growth and and profits for their shareholders while also maintaining a good relationship with the public. How are companies actually managing to pull off such a juggling act?

Many corporations have some sort of outreach program to invest back into its communities or offer a charitable arm in some shape or form. Others don't do anything at all. Then there are some that are actively taking initiative to have a real, tangible, and positive impact on society through various means. Here are four companies that are changing the way they do business to have less harm, or simply sticking to an old promise to help out.

Read on to see four companies that are actively investing in the betterment of society:

1. SolarCity (SCTY)

SolarCity is at the forefront of the coming wave of renewable green energy that is starting to chip away at the stranglehold the fossil fuel industry holds on most of the world. American business has ! been sitting by while Germany has taken the reins as the world's solar leader, although solar has finally started to pick up momentum across the United States. SolarCity became one of the first publicly traded solar installers in the United States in late 2012, and last year saw growth of its customer base by more than 100%, according to the Mercury News. But SolarCity is doing more than just supplying cheap, renewable energy to communities.

Recently, the company has announced a plan to introduce an online platform to sell debt investments backed by its solar projects. Individual investors will be able to take part, which was previously only available to large lenders. By introducing this new platform, SolarCity is opening up the solar energy market to many more people who were previously shut out and allowing individual investors to support renewable energy.

In the words of CEO Lyndon Rive, "people want to support clean energy development. Customers are seeing the benefits of getting solar for their homes but they would like to participate in other ways as well." He added that, "With our investment platform, we're hoping to allow far more individuals and smaller organizations to participate in the transformation to a cleaner, more distributed infrastructure."

2. Target (TGT)

Being a primary rival to Wal-Mart may be enough to win many consumers over, but retail giant Target has been putting its money where its mouth is for far longer than Wal-Mart has even been around. Target established a corporate responsibility mandate that dates back to 1946, promising to return 5% of the company's total profits back to local communities. Now that Target has built themselves into a national power, that 5% has come to add up to more than $4 million per week.

Target has also made large strides in increasing its organic food offerings, purchasing sustainable seafood products, improving packaging sustainability, and increasing internal efficiency efforts to be less wasteful. The company has! also mad! e it a priority to reduce the amount of green house gases it emits into the atmosphere, lending a hand to fighting global climate change.

Target may still be up against the likes of Wal-Mart and other big retailers, but the steps the company is taking to improve society definitely sets it apart.

3. Nike (NKE)

One company that is making a surprising push to better communities around the world is athletic clothing and shoe maker Nike. After pushing through many hard years in which worker's rights organizations had called for boycotts, Nike has gone a long way to clean up its image. The company is now making public instances of labor violations it finds in factories producing its merchandise, and taking necessary steps to see that they are taken care of. While the company is still fighting this battle in the eyes of many, it has taken big strides in the right direction.

Another way Nike is changing its business model is by incorporating drastic new sustainability and innovation standards. As Fast Company reports, Nike has created an app called 'Making' that lays out the environmental impact of different production materials. The app came out of the company's efforts to fully remove hazardous chemicals from its products by the year 2020.

Nike has begun work on a program called 'Launch' in a partnership with NASA and the U.S. State Department. Launch is an attempt to develop sustainable materials that can be used on a wide scale, helping alleviate many issues caused by wasteful production techniques.

4. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

Hewlett-Packard has made a lot of noise over the past several years for being a leader in turning the computing industry away from the use of "conflict minerals," and even earned the top spot on Corporate Responsibility magazine's list of the Best 100 Corporate Citizens in 2010.

Alternet does a great job of laying out many reasons HP has made big strides in winning over ethically conscious consumers, including lobbying for legislation prohi! biting th! e use of 'conflict minerals,' and even kept up its effort after it was found the company itself was not guilty of using them in the first place.

The company has also put a lot of effort behind creating and using more sustainable packaging for its products, cutting down on the amount of waste generated as a result. It has since gone on to be one of the corporate world leaders in this effort, and are setting the example for other tech and computing businesses to follow.

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