Suburban visitors discuss if Cleveland streets are safe after string of violence

CLEVELAND - It's the number one question Ken, a Cleveland taxi driver, has gotten for more than 20 years: "Is it safe to walk the streets at night?" Ken said.

He always tells people he's never had a problem and that Cleveland is safer than a lot of other cities he's visited.

While only one of six murders last weekend in Cleveland happened downtown, rare violent crime downtown tends to be more high profile.

Joseph Marinucci, president of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, said the deadly fight at a downtown bar Sunday was unfortunate, but added downtown is "extremely safe."  Marinucci said more people are moving into downtown and that makes streets safer.

A Cleveland police spokesperson said more officers are going to be patrolling downtown streets when the new casino opens.

The murder rate has dropped city wide since 2009 when there were 120 murders to 75 murders last year.

So far in 2012 there have been eleven murders but six of them happened last weekend.