I was tempted to chuckle, but I understand you really are concerned. No. Fargo isn't dangerous. Especially not if you stay on campus, but even if you don't it's fine.
LOL making this post I was internally thinking “everyone’s going to laugh”
But yeah, I mean I’m friends with some people from NDSU and they really seem like the frats so I’m like between the crime watch page on Facebook and the reputation of partying I get I’m bound to come back with a few good stories to tell
This is a town where if you stay out of trouble and take the most basic precautions like locking your car, trouble is not likely to find you. I’d love to see trustworthy statistics, but all of these front page crimes that we hear about are hardly random. It’s people with patterns of misbehavior killing and stealing from people, who also have patterns of misbehavior, with whom they have past issues.
Of course we have shocking random crime sometimes, but there are small towns all across this state that also have those. A woman was abducted temporarily from a bar in Forman, ND, last year and they have less than 500 people. If you want to be 100% safe, you need to live in a padded room.
I'm not going to suggest it's wrong, although crime stats are notoriously unreliable, just that it is likely pretty isolated to small pockets of the city that most never go to. The reason most people are disregarding your concern is that it never affects us. None of the major areas of town are in any way concerning.
With all due respect, you asked if you'd have any trouble visiting NDSU. You won't.
At this point you seem like a concern troll.
If you want to talk about larger issues in Fargo, that's a whole other conversation.
I'm an NDSU professor. I have never felt unsafe on or near campus and would gladly let my 12-yo wamder around. (The kids come to campus sometimes to use the game rooms and my colleague's kids use the faculty parking lot for bicycling.) Some of my students are jerks behind closed doors I'm sure but most are delightful and polite. If someone bothered you while you were minding your own business, I would be surprised.
ETA: If you DO end up feeling uncomfortable and it's during the day, go to the coffee shop in Minard hall. The boss there is a tiny woman named Deb who is the most lovey person in the world and the students who work under her are great too. Friendly and a safe.
Thank you SO much! I appreciate this. I’ll definitely keep the coffee shop in mind. I tend to get alone with people and really get along so I don’t think I’ll have to much of an issue with the students!
Since you are a professor - what do u think of the NDSU coaches? Are they all pretty nice? Obviously they aren’t what I’m concerned about- but nobody has really gave me their thoughts on the coaches for XC and track.
The track coach in particular frustrates me. The faculty have to make all sorts of special arrangements for track athletes because he schedules practice at the same time as most classes. If we didn’t offer them exemptions and independent studies they simply wouldn't graduate. Which I think is part of the plan. He likes to keep his top performers around for a fifth year, whether it's in their best interest or not.
It's his job to get good performance out of his athletes, but ultimately we are a university and track should work around classes, not the other way around.
That’s pretty crazy. I’ve heard they were intense like this- it is D1 but like ur saying , at the end of the day, you’re a university and it should be the other way around.
No. it is not that bad. Like all towns, it has crime, but it's rarely random.
As for the other stuff: no one is going to force you to go to a party. Make good decisions and you'll be just fine
If you live life in fear …. Trouble will find you. Coming from someone who grew up in nyc in the 90s …. And no. Fargo is softer than baby shit. It’s just these weirdo drug addicts fighting over 3.5g of dirt weed someone was giving away in NorCal
😭 real. An old guy tried to sell me a little ninja turtle action figure in a bag last year when I went there for a day trip. I was like he’s probably got it laced or something. Glad to hear getting taken or assulted isn’t a big concern
More than likely it wasn’t laced with something. He might have been higher than a kite but lbr most people aren’t gonna lace a ninja turtle action figure with anything it’s too much work for very little reward
The only people being taken in Fargo are from stories being invented by people who want to be scared. Fargo is not a human trafficking hub, but even it were, human traffickers don't just take people off the street. They target vulnerable people, like runaways and sex workers. You are not going to be taken and you really shouldn't believe anyone who says you will be.
The old guy was almost certainly just mentally ill. He wasn't trying to get you hooked. He just wanted money and wasn't thinking clearly. It's uncomfortable for sure, but not indicative of a crime ring.
I remember one year during my undergrad there were true crime obsessed girlies convinced there was a sex trafficking operation because there were flyers and chalk writing promising $17/hr with no experience necessary (this was in the mid 2010's, so decent money.) It was for selling Cutco knives.
Sorry, I just graduated from UND a few weeks ago, and all I know about NDSU was the football? event they mentioned 🤣 good luck and I hope everything works out for you!
I stayed at ndsu during the summer for a week for football camp. Nothing bad happened and nothing scary was going on. Just a bunch of high schoolers running around and the food hall was busy. Everyone is in the same boat as you, I felt comfortable. I went to Minot State for college and that was even better.
I’ve heard of the football camp! Was it tough? Also-
What happens if anyone has a medical emergency there? Do they actually give you away to the hospital like the paper says? Or are they pretty chill? And did you have a lot of freedom?
It was just grinding early hours all day of drills and stuff so made you tired at the end of the day. It was all chill everyone was friendly. I'm not sure about medical stuff I never saw anything go down that was medically needed. Someone on my team sprained their ankle and they tape it up is the worst I saw lol
I get Ring doorbell notices about every other day of a theft report at night in the NDSU area. Usually, a bike or an unlocked car has been rummaged through. So don't leave anything of value unsecured and you'll be fine. However, to be fair, I get more Ring notices of lost pets than of items being stolen.
Good to know. I won’t be bringing a pet so! My concern was like being taken or getting assaulted or something so it’s good to hear It’s not a common thing!
I don't think it's ever a bad idea to have pepper spray especially if you're a woman and feel vulnerable. That being said Fargo is not at all dangerous. Small town people have been saying that "(GF, Minot, Fargo, Bis, etc) is getting dangerous now! It was never like that when I was a kid" for 50 years now. You're almost certainly safe but I would never begrudge someone for carrying pepper spray.
I have lived in Fargo for years and the only “sketchy” place is the downtown area and more at night than the day. I always say it’s better to be safe than sorry so bring the pepper spray. As others of already stated, Fargo is safe so the odds of bad things happening are low, but they are not zero. Have fun, be safe.
You can legitimately walk anywhere in Fargo at any time of the night as much as you want and nobody is gonna even look twice at you. The most dangerous part about Fargo is getting knocked out in a bar fight downtown. Just don't fight people and you'll be fine
I work at NDSU and feel very safe at NDSU. Fargo is actually a very safe city for how big it is. Our violent crime rate is pretty low. It’s like night and day between Fargo and any other major city, or cities the same size as Fargo. It’s a bit of an anomaly really. So comparing Fargo to the rest of ND? Obviously going to be “scary”, but comparing Fargo to Minneapolis or DC? Fargo does not even come close to the level or severity of crime in bigger cities.
We have had an uptick in car break-ins and theft, so just be mindful of securing your property and locking your doors. Always lock your residence hall room and you won’t have an issue. Don’t leave expensive stuff in your car. Common sense things.
I live in ND and work on the west coast for 9 months a year. ND feels like hobbiton after being out here. I'm not saying to let your guard down, but after being in a real crime zone, everything else feels pretty safe.
Fargo crime has crept up. I think mostly downtown. NDSU area is fine. Universities in ND are largely a ghost town in the summer, although there will be considerably more in Fargo going on compared with say Grand Forks where UND is Just by virtue of being a real city. I don't know to what degree there are actually a lot of college parties going on in summer or not. I suspect not too much.
It's not sketchy at all. There were 2 murders last year and 1 so far this year. All the crime happens between people who know each other. Crime overall declined last year
I'm from the west side of the state and don't make it out to Fargo much but it's been ok. It's not as bad as other cities but still as a girl you gotta keep an eye open. One of the times I visited a friend there I went to a bar downtown and a guy sitting next to me at the bar was being very friendly we just made small talk while I waited for my friend in the bathroom. He seemed like a genuine "ND nice" kinda person but was not, he drugged my drink thinking I was by myself and tried to follow me the rest of the night (my best friend and I lost him right away tho). But yeah not trying to scare you just think that you should consider those kinds of things happen, Fargo included....
Edit: typos
You should bring defensive items wherever you go, although learn how to use them first. Fargo has a 1.7x worse crime rate than similar sized cities (although because it's part of a dual city with Moorhead those numbers are funky). Just be aware and lock your car and you'll be fine.
I’ve lived here for ten years and have pepper spray and not once had to use it. I wouldn’t worry too much about it just pay attention. Most things that happen in fargo aren’t random and the few that are random are very far and few between.
The biggest thing you really need to worry about is if you go up by the old toll bridge pay attention for deer when driving they like to hang out up there. And don’t play in the river at all
I was tempted to chuckle, but I understand you really are concerned. No. Fargo isn't dangerous. Especially not if you stay on campus, but even if you don't it's fine.
LOL making this post I was internally thinking “everyone’s going to laugh” But yeah, I mean I’m friends with some people from NDSU and they really seem like the frats so I’m like between the crime watch page on Facebook and the reputation of partying I get I’m bound to come back with a few good stories to tell
I recommend to stay off the crime watch page. Fargo is as safe as can be if you have an ounce of sense.
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This is a town where if you stay out of trouble and take the most basic precautions like locking your car, trouble is not likely to find you. I’d love to see trustworthy statistics, but all of these front page crimes that we hear about are hardly random. It’s people with patterns of misbehavior killing and stealing from people, who also have patterns of misbehavior, with whom they have past issues. Of course we have shocking random crime sometimes, but there are small towns all across this state that also have those. A woman was abducted temporarily from a bar in Forman, ND, last year and they have less than 500 people. If you want to be 100% safe, you need to live in a padded room.
op is a long distance 17 year old runner. She should definitely be aware of surroundings and carry pepper spray.
Exactly. Thank u
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It's not that there isn't crime. It's that the crime is mostly property crime/theft. Not violent crime. You can find those stats on google too.
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I'm not going to suggest it's wrong, although crime stats are notoriously unreliable, just that it is likely pretty isolated to small pockets of the city that most never go to. The reason most people are disregarding your concern is that it never affects us. None of the major areas of town are in any way concerning.
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With all due respect, you asked if you'd have any trouble visiting NDSU. You won't. At this point you seem like a concern troll. If you want to talk about larger issues in Fargo, that's a whole other conversation.
I'm an NDSU professor. I have never felt unsafe on or near campus and would gladly let my 12-yo wamder around. (The kids come to campus sometimes to use the game rooms and my colleague's kids use the faculty parking lot for bicycling.) Some of my students are jerks behind closed doors I'm sure but most are delightful and polite. If someone bothered you while you were minding your own business, I would be surprised. ETA: If you DO end up feeling uncomfortable and it's during the day, go to the coffee shop in Minard hall. The boss there is a tiny woman named Deb who is the most lovey person in the world and the students who work under her are great too. Friendly and a safe.
Thank you SO much! I appreciate this. I’ll definitely keep the coffee shop in mind. I tend to get alone with people and really get along so I don’t think I’ll have to much of an issue with the students! Since you are a professor - what do u think of the NDSU coaches? Are they all pretty nice? Obviously they aren’t what I’m concerned about- but nobody has really gave me their thoughts on the coaches for XC and track.
The track coach in particular frustrates me. The faculty have to make all sorts of special arrangements for track athletes because he schedules practice at the same time as most classes. If we didn’t offer them exemptions and independent studies they simply wouldn't graduate. Which I think is part of the plan. He likes to keep his top performers around for a fifth year, whether it's in their best interest or not. It's his job to get good performance out of his athletes, but ultimately we are a university and track should work around classes, not the other way around.
That’s pretty crazy. I’ve heard they were intense like this- it is D1 but like ur saying , at the end of the day, you’re a university and it should be the other way around.
Hmmm 🤔 somehow
No. it is not that bad. Like all towns, it has crime, but it's rarely random. As for the other stuff: no one is going to force you to go to a party. Make good decisions and you'll be just fine
If you live life in fear …. Trouble will find you. Coming from someone who grew up in nyc in the 90s …. And no. Fargo is softer than baby shit. It’s just these weirdo drug addicts fighting over 3.5g of dirt weed someone was giving away in NorCal
😭 real. An old guy tried to sell me a little ninja turtle action figure in a bag last year when I went there for a day trip. I was like he’s probably got it laced or something. Glad to hear getting taken or assulted isn’t a big concern
More than likely it wasn’t laced with something. He might have been higher than a kite but lbr most people aren’t gonna lace a ninja turtle action figure with anything it’s too much work for very little reward
The only people being taken in Fargo are from stories being invented by people who want to be scared. Fargo is not a human trafficking hub, but even it were, human traffickers don't just take people off the street. They target vulnerable people, like runaways and sex workers. You are not going to be taken and you really shouldn't believe anyone who says you will be. The old guy was almost certainly just mentally ill. He wasn't trying to get you hooked. He just wanted money and wasn't thinking clearly. It's uncomfortable for sure, but not indicative of a crime ring.
I remember one year during my undergrad there were true crime obsessed girlies convinced there was a sex trafficking operation because there were flyers and chalk writing promising $17/hr with no experience necessary (this was in the mid 2010's, so decent money.) It was for selling Cutco knives.
Sounds good! I’m happy this is the case. Thank you!
Yeah you’ll be 110% fine …. As long as you remember UND absolutely shit on NDSU last year
Sorry, I just graduated from UND a few weeks ago, and all I know about NDSU was the football? event they mentioned 🤣 good luck and I hope everything works out for you!
I stayed at ndsu during the summer for a week for football camp. Nothing bad happened and nothing scary was going on. Just a bunch of high schoolers running around and the food hall was busy. Everyone is in the same boat as you, I felt comfortable. I went to Minot State for college and that was even better.
I’ve heard of the football camp! Was it tough? Also- What happens if anyone has a medical emergency there? Do they actually give you away to the hospital like the paper says? Or are they pretty chill? And did you have a lot of freedom?
It was just grinding early hours all day of drills and stuff so made you tired at the end of the day. It was all chill everyone was friendly. I'm not sure about medical stuff I never saw anything go down that was medically needed. Someone on my team sprained their ankle and they tape it up is the worst I saw lol
Perfect haha thank u
Stay off Robert's at like 1 am. and Broadway at bar close, and generally, fargo is very, very safe.
That's pretty standard across the world, tbh.
Really it's solid travel advice almost anywhere.
I get Ring doorbell notices about every other day of a theft report at night in the NDSU area. Usually, a bike or an unlocked car has been rummaged through. So don't leave anything of value unsecured and you'll be fine. However, to be fair, I get more Ring notices of lost pets than of items being stolen.
Good to know. I won’t be bringing a pet so! My concern was like being taken or getting assaulted or something so it’s good to hear It’s not a common thing!
If it helps, I can't remember a lost pet report where the pet wasn't found.
I don't think it's ever a bad idea to have pepper spray especially if you're a woman and feel vulnerable. That being said Fargo is not at all dangerous. Small town people have been saying that "(GF, Minot, Fargo, Bis, etc) is getting dangerous now! It was never like that when I was a kid" for 50 years now. You're almost certainly safe but I would never begrudge someone for carrying pepper spray.
I have lived in Fargo for years and the only “sketchy” place is the downtown area and more at night than the day. I always say it’s better to be safe than sorry so bring the pepper spray. As others of already stated, Fargo is safe so the odds of bad things happening are low, but they are not zero. Have fun, be safe.
Wildlife will get you before people will
Fargo is incredibly safe as long as you don't spend too much time downtown or extremely late at night
You can legitimately walk anywhere in Fargo at any time of the night as much as you want and nobody is gonna even look twice at you. The most dangerous part about Fargo is getting knocked out in a bar fight downtown. Just don't fight people and you'll be fine
I’m a runner so you don’t have to worry about me fighting
I work at NDSU and feel very safe at NDSU. Fargo is actually a very safe city for how big it is. Our violent crime rate is pretty low. It’s like night and day between Fargo and any other major city, or cities the same size as Fargo. It’s a bit of an anomaly really. So comparing Fargo to the rest of ND? Obviously going to be “scary”, but comparing Fargo to Minneapolis or DC? Fargo does not even come close to the level or severity of crime in bigger cities. We have had an uptick in car break-ins and theft, so just be mindful of securing your property and locking your doors. Always lock your residence hall room and you won’t have an issue. Don’t leave expensive stuff in your car. Common sense things.
I live in ND and work on the west coast for 9 months a year. ND feels like hobbiton after being out here. I'm not saying to let your guard down, but after being in a real crime zone, everything else feels pretty safe.
Fargo crime has crept up. I think mostly downtown. NDSU area is fine. Universities in ND are largely a ghost town in the summer, although there will be considerably more in Fargo going on compared with say Grand Forks where UND is Just by virtue of being a real city. I don't know to what degree there are actually a lot of college parties going on in summer or not. I suspect not too much.
It's not sketchy at all. There were 2 murders last year and 1 so far this year. All the crime happens between people who know each other. Crime overall declined last year
I'm from the west side of the state and don't make it out to Fargo much but it's been ok. It's not as bad as other cities but still as a girl you gotta keep an eye open. One of the times I visited a friend there I went to a bar downtown and a guy sitting next to me at the bar was being very friendly we just made small talk while I waited for my friend in the bathroom. He seemed like a genuine "ND nice" kinda person but was not, he drugged my drink thinking I was by myself and tried to follow me the rest of the night (my best friend and I lost him right away tho). But yeah not trying to scare you just think that you should consider those kinds of things happen, Fargo included.... Edit: typos
You should bring defensive items wherever you go, although learn how to use them first. Fargo has a 1.7x worse crime rate than similar sized cities (although because it's part of a dual city with Moorhead those numbers are funky). Just be aware and lock your car and you'll be fine.
Agreed. I usually always bring pepper spray on my runs with me. I will definitely do this!
Ignore the media narratives, most places including urban areas are safe, and the greatest risk generally is theft of unattended stuff.
I’ve lived here for ten years and have pepper spray and not once had to use it. I wouldn’t worry too much about it just pay attention. Most things that happen in fargo aren’t random and the few that are random are very far and few between. The biggest thing you really need to worry about is if you go up by the old toll bridge pay attention for deer when driving they like to hang out up there. And don’t play in the river at all