There are two main methods used in comparing inter-city crime rates: the rate of police-recorded crimes, and self- reported offending or victimization surveys of representative population samples. Despite the difficulties of legal comparability, recording, and reporting, this study employed the first method. The rate of violent crimes in the two cities are compared and analyzed using a contextual classification of violent crimes that includes violence within the family, non- family violence between acquaintances in residences, violence in places of public entertainment, violence in other public places, and violence in other circumstances. The study explores the patterns of urban violence in both cities, focusing on variables including housing, population composition, social stability, offending, and victimization. Despite differences in crime rates, the findings show basic similarities between the two cities in terms of social context distributions and urban patterns of violence. 6 tables, 9 figures, and 19 references