[jhbadger]

Is it actually your experience of these things or is it just what you've been told? As somebody who lives in a big US city which my Midwestern small-town relatives sees as "scary", I use public transit daily and the library weekly. There aren't really any druggies or panhandlers on the buses or trains or libraries. There are some on the actual streets, and that's unfortunate, but not nearly the degree that all the "urban blight" movies from the 1970s and 1980s suggested.

[housingpost]

It's my actual experiences in two of the United States' largest cities. It's not like Escape From New York, but it's more than enough to make it hard to get into any kind of reading or work. Maybe you're used to it, but as someone who uses public transportation only half a dozen times a year it's off-putting in either situation.

[cxseven]

If you're talking about one of the few US cities like New York where the vast majority of people use public transportation, then that's why it's not going to match other people's experiences where public transportation is mainly used by people who have no other option.