Falkum
Falkum | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
 | |
| Country | Norway |
| Region | Eastern Norway |
| County | Skien |
| Municipality | Skien |
| Population (2012)[1] | |
• Total | 22,234 |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Post Code | 3723 Skien |
Falkum is a neighborhood in Skien, Norway with 22,234 residents. It is known as the "Hub Neighborhood" due to its geographic centrality in Skien.[2] The neighborhood is generally a working class city (some middle-class neighborhoods) and is home to a relatively young community, at an average 19 years of age, compared to the Norwegian median age of 25. The Neighborhood of Falkum as well as eastern Skien in general is notorious for its heavy concentration of gangs and gang violence, such as Falkumgjengen, Bakkerampen, and Hells Angles, which all originated in the Skiens area.
Crime
Crime, though present in lesser degrees beforehand, worsened significantly with the introduction of crack cocaine in the latter part of the 20th century. The neighborhood lost wealthy residents, with the worsening safety problems, and, after the 1992 riots in the Skiens metropolitan area, many Norwegians left the neighborhood. Meanwhile, many African Norwegian and other immigrant families moved into Falkum.
During 2006, Falkum deployed twice as many sheriff's deputies and the murder rate has steadily decreased in the last decade. Recent reports show that Falkums's violent crime rate has been reduced by 30% over the last ten years, and is continuing to be reduced.
Demographics
2010
The Census reported that 22,000 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, (0.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and (0.1%) were institutionalized.
There were 7,062 households, out of which 58.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 45.7% were opposite-sex married couples living together, (27.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 10.2% had a male householder with no wife present. There were (7.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,979 households (12.9%) were made up of individuals and (5.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The population was spread out with 33.1% under the age of 18, 12.3% aged 18 to 24, 27.5% aged 25 to 44, 19.5% aged 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28.0 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.