Perception Vs. Reality? Pictures Say 1,000 Words About Bed-Stuy

Do you feel safe walking the streets of Bed-Stuy? How about rich? Because if a new MIT study is to be believed, Bed-Stuy is perceived as safer — and wealthier — than a lot of NYC neighborhoods. 

According to a report written up in Fast Company, participants in a study of wealth and safety perception who were shown Google Street view photos of neighborhoods in New York City and Boston. The results? Respondents thought Prospect Heights looked like the wealthiest neighborhood of all, with Bed-Stuy ranked near the middle of the pack. 

It outranked areas like East New York, along with several Queens neighborhoods like Long Island City and Sunnyside. It still ranked below Harlem and East Harlem, as well as Crown Heights. 

Researchers also found that areas which seemed safer to outside observers using only a Google Maps image actually were roughly as safe as they seemed. 

The study, which began in 2010, has spawned a website where you can take a similar test yourself. 

The study also found that the methodology for determining wealth was not exactly fool-proof. The lowest ranking neighborhood in New York was Greenpoint, rated behind even Brooklyn's East New York. Greenpoint's median income is vastly higher — and its crime rate vastly lower — than the area it came in behind.