Havre de Grace Among Best Places To Raise A Child: Survey

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — Many residents already know this: Havre de Grace can be a great place to raise a family. A new study from home security group SafeWise agrees, naming Havre de Grace one of the 50 safest cities to raise a child.

In fact, it's in the top 5. The city earned praise for its all-access playground in Tydings Park, among other things. Havre de Grace ranks No. 4 on the list of the safest cities for raising a child, according to SafeWise.

Here's what the security experts had to say about Havre de Grace:

"This bayside town has been recognized multiple times as one of the best small towns in the country, and it caught our attention with its excellent schools, abundant parks and family-oriented values. Havre de Grace wants all kids to feel included, as evidenced by an all-access playground unveiled in August 2017."

See the full list here.

Analysts used various data to define which cities in the United States excel at creating safer environments for families. The SafeWise team reviewed reported sex offender concentration, state graduation rates, overall school quality ranking, and FBI violent crime data. The organization also considered parks and recreational opportunities as well as special programs focused on providing services for kids and families.

SafeWise said it wanted to take a closer look at safety trends and factors before picking this year's safest cities to raise a child.

"Due to recent news about free-range parenting—Utah even passed a law—we decided to factor that parenting style into our research. We dug deep into eight factors to help us identify the safest cities to raise children—those who remain under close supervision and those who are allowed to wander on their own," the report said.

The top 30 safest cities were highlighted, along with each city's walkability score, violent crime rate, and overall child safety score, which is a combination of eight factors that were considered. Every city on the list is below the national average for violent crimes (3.97 per 1,000 people).

Here are the top 10, which included two other Maryland towns:

1. Easton, Maryland
2. Keene, New Hampshire
3. Takoma Park, Maryland
4. Havre de Grace, Maryland
5. Village of Shorewood, Wisconsin
6. Exeter, New Hampshire
7. Monroe, Wisconsin
8. Milford, New Hampshire
9. Claremont, New Hampshire
10. Burlington, Wisconsin

SEE ALSO:

• Tydings Park All-Access Playground Is Complete
• Havre de Grace Opens New Library With Kids In Mind

— With reporting from Patch editors Katie Kausch, Daniel Hubbard and Tom Davis.

Photo courtesy of Havre de Grace.