Remember, folks: This isn't happening in some far-flung backwater of the country. This is happening in our capital.

Soaring crime in the nation's capital is leaving residents rattled, with locals driving small distances to avoid walking the dangerous streets and others now too fearful to step outside even during the day.

Homicides and robberies are up 29 and 67 per cent from the same time period last year, with murders approaching levels not seen in two decades - while other big cities such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore are seeing declines.

The spiraling crime rates have driven residents to take drastic steps to protect their safety. One lady reports that she "now drives the small five block distance for her usual Sunday evening dinner with a friend" instead of walking. She described that habit as "ridiculous," but rather understandably noted: "I don't want to randomly get shot."

Another said he stopped walking in his neighborhood altogether after getting robbed and assaulted in the area. A woman says she now uses the service entrance to her apartment — located across from the Smithsonian — so she can avoid the dangerous environment in the front of the building.

As that lady put it:

"It's very surprising that public safety is an issue in a neighborhood with such high traffic and major attractions."

Yeah? Is it?

I mean I think it's kind of unsurprising. Democratic-led cities have descended into unmanaged, horrific chaos. Leaders are unwilling to do anything about it. Police are short-staffed, hamstrung and reviled by political leaders. Is it all that surprising that even the tony Smithsonian neighborhood is getting wrecked?

The D.C. City Council, meanwhile, recently "[cut] the Metropolitan Police Department budget by $32 million (or 5.4 percent)" and "redirect[ed] $9.6 million dollars from police to violence interruption."

So they're taking it all very seriously, sure.

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