News Journal: Wilmington, my city, needs to be one city again

Wilmington today is very much “a tale of two cities,” experiencing “the best of times and the worst of times.”

My wife, Lynne, and I take full advantage of the best of Wilmington. We have gone to the last three shows at the Delaware Theatre Company and enjoyed them all. They provided a lot more than a sophisticated cerebral experience –with belly laughs and roller coaster emotions that make live theater, uncomplicated by special effects, so great. Not that I have anything against special effects. The film on Jerusalem we saw at the Riverfront IMAX Theater had lots of them in addition to a great story.

We discovered a mutual love of opera years ago, and try to get to the Philadelphia Opera and the Met in New York a few times a year. But we are also regulars at OperaDelaware, not because we want a “good citizen supporting the local arts merit badge,” but because the performances are really, really good. The Grand is a wonderful venue for opera, but the main reason we love going is for the music and especially the singers. OperaDelaware management has done a great job of attracting first-rate talent. The last two performances, of “Macbeth” and “L’elsir D’amor,” were very special delights.

We have been regular walkers along the riverfront for years. The experience has gotten better and better, and I don’t know of a more relaxing stroll today than the one from the Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park to the Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge. It has been great watching the growth of businesses, restaurants and sports and entertainment venues in a beautifully landscaped, planned development.

We also spend a lot of time on and around Union Street and its restaurants. I’ll put them up against competition from anywhere for excellent food at good prices.

That’s just scratching the surface of all the good things Wilmington has to offer. But there’s a dark shadow in our city we have to acknowledge, one that makes some people nervous about enjoying the walks, theaters and restaurants. Too many of our suburban friends just won’t come into town because they worry about their safety. And that is a secondary concern to the very real problems faced by people who live in the city. The reality is many of them live in fear –for their children, themselves and their property –every single day.

Let me stress that I haven’t experienced any problems or felt undue concern for our security when we come downtown. But like everyone else, I’m careful. I know the statistics.

The News Journal recently cited an analysis of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports. Among the findings: “Wilmington was the third most violent of about 459 cities of comparable size in 2012, and eighth most violent among nearly 750 U.S. cities with more than 50,000 people.” By both measures, Wilmington was worse than 99 percent of other American cities. “Violence in Wilmington was worse than almost every major U.S. city, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and New Orleans –all known for their rough streets. Of cities with more than 300,000 people, only Detroit, Memphis, Oakland and St. Louis are more violent than Wilmington, which has a population of 72,000. Wilmington’s violent crime rate of 1,703.5 per 100,000 residents was nearly 4½ times the U.S. average, a gap that has expanded steadily in recent decades.”

Poverty and joblessness are major problems in Wilmington, but a lot of cities that have higher incidences of both don’t have anywhere near our rate of violent crime.

We can’t continue to ignore the fact that 99 percent of American cities have better records on preventing violent crime than we do. Not if we want to attract businesses and families who’s most basic need is a safe and secure environment. Not if the city is to survive and prosper.

What are we doing wrong? What are all of those cities doing that we are not? What can we learn from them? I don’t know, but it is time for the leaders of the city, county and state to come up with answers and implement some new policies, even if political eggs have to be broken to do that.

Wilmington is my city. I want it to be just one city again –one that holds out hope for “the best of times” for everyone.

Ted Kaufman is a former U.S. Senator from Delaware.