Cooper has a great rep and is bragging competitive rights with the hospitals in Philadelphia.
That MSN article is also dated 2004, just wanted to point that out (although it doesn't change that they were also rated for 2005).
I'm sorry, although Camden gets a bad rep, its not as "BAD" as some people state, especially recently. I'm from the South Jersey area, grew up there and yes, most of the "influenced" middle-class will state its a ghetto and how they were "warned" how dangerous it is but I went to grad school at Rutgers at night after work. Did I ever feel threatened? Only once when a crazy guy attacked my friend's car (we think he was high and homeless looking for money). So, yes there were some incidents in the area (I also volunteered at Cooper) but its like every other city in the country. Its gets the rep because of the number of crimes per population. Not many of the crimes happen downtown, most of them are in the hood which are north of the bridge or south of Cooper. Security is pretty tight on both campuses.
I was sadden to hear how the past 3 years Camden Re-development has been affected by this new "label" as they really had a great vision to try to turn Camden around to the way it used to be about 50 years ago. The letter that was sent to the company that does the study (and to note, the new study is set to be released soon) from the
Camden County Prosecutor who asked that they explain their study is based on data possibly over 2 years old in some cases. They had some developers pull out of the projects and other ramifications to an otherwise healthy growing Camden reputation which is now stained. Also the
FBI cautions against "rankings" because they can be biased, which I believe has happened to Camden.
I hate to get defensive but they really have tried to do alot in Camden and I hate the fact that people use "labels" if you've never even been to the city or dealt with the citizens there.
But if you are walking outside, don't be surprised if you hear gunshots in the distance at night, that is a new trauma that will be shipped to the ER in about 30 mins.
Edit: I'd like to add that apparently the
new data is out but its not really "reported on or released yet". Camden is no longer #1 and is now #4 for violent crimes and #7 for murders. The new #1 is STL which just like camden has good and bad areas ...
