There's an old narrative, so familiar we hardly notice it, that American cities are dangerous and crime-ridden. It's something that many WSJ readers and others grew up hearing, and which is a popular setting in entertainment - a setting for genre we all know, like the Victorian period pieces - and entertainment is the only exposure many have to cities outside of commercial and entertainment districts. That narrative is obsolete; generally, crime is very low, gangs are a thing of the past, and so are drug wars. I've spent time in cities, outside the commercial and entertainment (and wealthy loft) districts, and you'd be surprised what you find - regular people going about regular days, boringly normal. Lots of infrastructure that needs attention too.<p>I'm concerned that articles like this one further the old, dramatic narrative, and there's a cost: It depicts these places as almost different countries, stereotyped settings for genre entertainment like a Hollywood backlot, not as real communities; and it writes off the residents as a criminal class that need to be suppressed by police (and fuels a lot of racism), not as people with talent, hard work and dreams who need transit, education, jobs, freedom, opportunity, and all the same things we need sitting at our desks reading about it.<p>(There are dangerous, crime-ridden areas in the U.S.; some are in cities and some are not. On the other hand, I guess Wall Street is in a city, and what's the per capita crime rate there? They should send JAG for training!)<p>EDIT: Some minor edits