# Care to flesh that out, Bosda? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 7, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664 "2002-05-07T04:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/21 "2002-05-07T15:46:40Z")
and you consider our city unihabitable? I’d rather grow another head than live anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/22 "2002-05-07T16:43:17Z")
Are we talking Murfreesboro, TN? Because I’ve spent some time there. I’d rather take the small risk of getting shot in the head here in Chicago than have to live in WhiteBreadWalMartsBoro. But hey, whatever butters your buns. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/23 "2002-05-07T16:53:45Z")
Oh shit, **jarbaby** , that’s all we need are two heads to rant with! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/24 "2002-05-07T16:57:06Z")
You have my sincere condolences on living in a place so backward that your most recent crime statistics are three years old. What’s the problem - Barney Fife lose his casebook again? And a newspaper article? You seem to have discovered the concept of the internet - perhaps you should walk downtown and tell Andy about it. I’ll decline your invitation to discuss ancient history (although the stats are in my link if you care to dwell on such things). Either way, you failed to do the per capita calculations (Did you miss that the first time around, or did the Latin throw you off?). Interesting that you should be so cagey about where you live - embarrassed much? At any rate, according to [the NYPD](http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/pdf/chfdept/cshist.pdf), here are the 2001 figures. The do not include, of course, the murders for political purposes you are so convinced would go unnoticed in the city. Which, rest assured, they did not. Murder: 643 Rape: 1,917 Robbery: 27,865 Assault: 22,996 Burglary: 32,676 Grand Larceny: 46,151 Auto thefts: 29,615 Going into the year, there were 8,000,000 stories in the naked city (actually, [8,008,278](http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/popstart.html)), so the rates per thousand were: Murder: .080292 Rape: 0.239377 Robbery: 3.479525 Assault: 2.871529 Burglary: 4.080278 Grand Larceny: 5.762912 Auto Thefts: 3.698048 Now keep in mind that we’re a destination. In addition to our 8 million full-time residents, we have _additional_ people working here. The daytime population of Manhattan alone is around 11 million (give or take the ~80,000 jobs displaced recently). And we hosted 32 million tourists. Yeah, that says 32 million. The prior year, we hosted over 37 million. So cut those per-capita figures by some appropriate amount. (In fairness, it might also be fair to _increase_ the auto thefts per capita, on account of I believe that the private automobile ownership rate is lower here than in most places, but I’ll let others back that up if they care to.) Perhaps these numbers are too big for your little mind to comprehend. Let’s zero in on my home precinct. I live in the tenth, which has a population of 65,668, about the size of your town. We host a huge multiple of that in visitors and tourists each and every weekend. We host about 2 million each for Gay Pride and Halloween alone. Know how many murders we had last year? [One](http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/chfdept/cs006pct.pdf). So far this year? None. Not one. We also had fewer assaults (139), despite the large gay population which draws drunk outsiders in from out of town to engage in some gay-bashing. Fewer cars stolen, fewer thefts, fewer burglaries. _Less crime_ than Murfreesboro. Get it yet, genius? Look - everyone has preferences, and life in the big city ain’t for everyone (I couldn’t do L.A., for instance). But to assert that we’re a bunch of “loons” who wouldn’t notice political killers is simply ignorant. So, once again, to sum up: You are an idiot. Not only are you ignorant about my town, you are apparently ignorant about yours. Given the lack of information, as best I can tell your town has no discernible industry at all, so you’ll have to make up something with which to fuck yourself. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/25 "2002-05-07T17:12:18Z")
Ya know, as soon as **Bosda** said this: > [@](#): > > OK **Manny**. You try. I had a feeling a big can of pork ‘n’ stats was about to be opened. Good serve from **Bosda** , excellent return and net charge from **manny**. Looks like **manny** ’s playing a volley game now–better see if you can slip one past him, **Bosda** , or he’ll Sampras the next one down your throat . . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/26 "2002-05-07T17:14:31Z")
I’d take a Sampras down the throat. Any day ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/27 "2002-05-07T17:35:45Z")
Me too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/28 "2002-05-07T17:50:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d take a Sampras down the throat. and how! (mmmmm, hairy thighs) Well, I’ve been to NYC and Murfreesboro, and **Bosda** is full of it. Small townshave the same problems as big cities, but they lack the reources to deal with them. NYC has restaurants serving cuisine from every nation on the planet. You can get Ethiopian, Korean, Dominican, Jamaican, Brazilian cuisines, just to name a few, plus you even have restaurants that specialize in regional cuisines, like Punjabi or Neopolitan. Murfreesboro has the Bangkok Cafe. NYC has Broadway, off-Broadway, cabarets, and a galaxy of smaller theaters, not to mention ballet, opera, and other theatrical venues. Murfreesboro has cable. NYC has the Frick, the Whitney, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History, to name a few. Murfreesboro has the Sam Davis House. Oops, that’s in Smyrna. NYC has direct flights to nearly every nation on the planet, many of which are affordable through courier flights and ticket consolidators. Murfreesboro has the Greyhound to Johnson City. NYC has NYU, Fordham, Columbia, Juilliard, and other world-renowned universities and colleges. Murfreesboro has Middle Tennessee State University. NYC is a wonderland of entertainment, one of the world’s premier cities, open 24/7. Murfreesboro is the Rutherford county seat. I’ll take NYC, LA, and even Chcicago over your bucolic, sleepy little burg anyday. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/29 "2002-05-07T18:02:25Z")
So, best we can tell, Murfreesboro crimes, per 1000 persons: Murder: 0.02906 Assault: 31.78040 (!!) Burglary: 5.42025 Auto theft: 3.63288 Simple theft: 37.98535 (!!) Other crimes indeterminate. Compare to **Manny** ’s numbers, and you have: Murder: NYC is the place, by a fair bit. Assault: Murfreesboro is the place to get beat-up, by a _huge_ margin. Burglary: Murfreesboro wins again. Auto Theft: Close, but NYC takes a slight edge. The other catagories are indeterminate, barring more detailed crime stats from Murfreesboro, but it’s begining to look like mid-sized towns aren’t all that safe, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/30 "2002-05-07T18:15:58Z")
What **Bosda** didn’t tell you is that in a mere three days of naked violence, over _twenty thousand_ people were killed and injured in and around the sleepy little burg of Murfreesboro. Yep, you read that correctly. Here’s a [citation](http://americancivilwar.50megs.com/StonesRiver.html). Just doing my part to keep the waters muddied. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/31 "2002-05-07T18:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > but the towns are punishment enough in and of themselves. Moreover, think of all the movies, TV shows, and plays that have set in and filmed in NYC \*Men In Black New York, New York The Godfather Manhattan Mean Streets West Side Story Rent Serpico Hair Everybody Loves Raymond The Sopranos \* Well, technically, it’s New Jersey, but close enough Altogether, there are 2,741, productions filmed in NYC acording to the IMDB. IMDB also said, “The search pattern Murfreesboro for Filming Locations matched nothing.” Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/32 "2002-05-07T18:31:19Z")
> [@](#): > > _by gobear:_ > **NYC has NYU, Fordham, Columbia, Juilliard, and other world-renowned universities and colleges.** St. Johns, Barnard, and CCNY, too. Heck, the names that DON’T come off the top of your head are still top-notch schools. > [@](#): > > _by Tranquilis:_ > \*\*So, best we can tell, Murfreesboro crimes, per 1000 persons: > … Assault: 31.78040 (!!) \*\* Bar fights? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/33 "2002-05-07T18:31:57Z")
It was the “spoiler” that got you revved, huh? Oh, BTW–Barney is in West Virginia. There’s this concept of “learning to use a map”. You gotta look into that, sometime buckaroo. Along with “telling the difference between reality & television”, that is. And, let’s talk “quality of life”. Your hell hole-I mean “city”, is a noisy, overcrowded, semi-illerate bughouse. According to the stats I was able to dig up with Jeeves, 23% of New Yorker have a Bachelor’s degree or better. Murfreesboro has a 27% rate. High School graduates–Murfreesboro has a 77% graduation rate. New York, a mere 68%. The average citizen of “Mayberry” is better educated than the typical “Big Apple” layabout. I remind all & sundry that the SDMB is about “Fighting Ignorance”. These little figures should count for something. The NYC median family income is $34,360 , as derived from here:[http://www.monstermoving.com/Find\_a\_Place/Cityprofile/results.asp?City=1064](http://www.monstermoving.com/Find_a_Place/Cityprofile/results.asp?City=1064) Murfreesboro–$35,633 as stated here: [http://www.monstermoving.com/Find\_a\_Place/Cityprofile/results.asp?City=1305](http://www.monstermoving.com/Find_a_Place/Cityprofile/results.asp?City=1305) Here is a table to compares the two communitires: Compare Two Cities Results Finance & Economies - New York,New York _/**Murfreesboro,Tennessee \*\* Cost of Living higher value = higher cost of living (100 = national average) 364/** 61_\* Sales Tax Rate total sales tax _8%_/\*\* 8% \*\* State Income Taxes state income taxes based on $50,000 income, married, two kids _$1,946_/ **$0 \*\* Local Income Taxes local income taxes based on $50,000 income, married, two kids _$1,342_ /**$0\*\* Job Growth Percentage change in employment for 1998 \* 0.02\* /\*_Unavailable \*\* Unemployment Rate % unemployed in 1998 7.6 /3.6 \*\* Median Family Income median family income \* $34,360 /_$35,633 \*\* Real Estate _New York,New York_ / **Murfreesboro,Tennessee** Home Purchase Cost average cost of 2,000 sq ft home _$820,000_ /**$138,000 \*\* Property Tax average annual property tax for 2,000 sq ft home _$15,580_ /**$1,932 \*\* Electricity Cost monthly electricity cost for 2,000 sq ft home _$116_/\*\* $41 \*\* And, BTW–we’re not a bedroom community. Manufacturing, education, & yes… agriculture. If that last one is funny to you, go without eating for a month, & see if it is still funny. You can own a nicer house, pay less taxes, be less crowded, & have better educated neighbors “down South” than in the Rotten Apple. Your turn, **Manny** , you little rascal, you.By “Little Rascal”, I mean Manhattan’s hair resembles a cross between Alfalfa’s & Buckwheat’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/34 "2002-05-07T18:36:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*What **Bosda** didn’t tell you is that in a mere three days of naked violence, over _twenty thousand_ people were killed and injured in and around the sleepy little burg of Murfreesboro. > > Yep, you read that correctly. Here’s a [citation](http://americancivilwar.50megs.com/StonesRiver.html). > > Just doing my part to keep the waters muddied. \*\* Just like you Yankees–always dragging the Civil War into everything. 😃 Good one **Sofa**. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/35 "2002-05-07T18:40:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\* > > ## St. Johns, Barnard, and CCNY, too. Heck, the names that DON’T come off the top of your head are still top-notch schools. quote: > > ## by Tranquilis: So, best we can tell, Murfreesboro crimes, per 1000 persons: … Assault: 31.78040 (!!) > > Bar fights? 😃 \*\* Greek fraternity houses. We’re a college town. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/36 "2002-05-07T19:00:42Z")
[nitpick] **Bosda** , while Don Knotts was born and raised in West Virginia, Barney Fife and the rest of the Mayberry folk resided in [North Carolina](http://www.tvland.com/shows/griffith/index_nofla.jhtml?null&_requestid=42669). [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/37 "2002-05-07T19:07:01Z")
Shouldnt you boys go fight about which is better - apples and oranges? ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/38 "2002-05-07T19:13:53Z")
oranges suck ass ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/39 "2002-05-07T19:15:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnM \* > \*\*[nitpick] > **Bosda** , while Don Knotts was born and raised in West Virginia, Barney Fife and the rest of the Mayberry folk resided in [North Carolina](http://www.tvland.com/shows/griffith/index_nofla.jhtml?null&_requestid=42669). > [/nitpick] \*\* The _Andy Griffith Show_ is for the _hoi polloi_ , & is therefore unworthy of my attentions. The _hoi polloi_, you know… **Manny**. 😃 Welcome to the Pit, **Mann-fred**. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664/40 "2002-05-07T19:19:05Z")
I think the point (If I’m reading this correctly) is that just because you don’t like a certain place (like NYC or LA) doesn’t give you free reign to insult the inhabitants of that place. When did just being nice to other people become such a challenge? Seriously. I’d love to see some of the things I read on the boards said in real life, face to face. Then again, I love a good chair swinging, glass smashing bar fight, too. While it seems like a little thing, sometimes those little things add up and get right on your last fucking nerve, you know? Easy way to see the difference between insulting a group of people and stating preference? Here ya go! > [@](#): > > Not only will nobody notice them amidst all the other loons, but the towns are punishment enough in and of themselves. Rude. > [@](#): > > Or, maybe I just hate big cities with a passion; having lived in several, & finding them all intolerable and unfit for human inhabitation. The larger, the worse. Not rude, just an opinion that says “I don’t like big cities” Newsflash: Not everyone in a big city is crazy and not everyone in a small town is a toothless redneck. Just IMHO. Zette [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/care-to-flesh-that-out-bosda/107664.md?page=3)