There is a lot of violent crime spillover in popular areas of East coast cities. Experiencing it is just a matter of time spent. It is also easy to accidentally be in a bad neighborhood in many. Which just depends on how close to the margins of good neighborhoods that you are willing to explore. A lot of desirable amenities tend to be near these edges, when they want to serve younger people. It is true that there aren't open air drug markets in the desirable parts of East Coast cities. There are, however, street robberies and murders.