Well I lived in the city and , for all the time that i was in there i was never mug or kidnap, my car was never stolen...except for my car stereo once..

My recomendations are:

Don´t show off as you were a wealthy person, no expensive watches while you commute to you job, no jewerly, no i pods in the subway or expensive mobile phones, no visible laptop computers or a briefcase that says "laptop inside".

Try to get a simple car but not the most popular ones since those are the ones with the higest stolen rate. avoid fancy cars like SUV´S Mercedes, BMW´s,etc.

Never get a Taxi from the street, just ask for the nearest taxi base to you and then ask for their telephone number after that you can call them from anywhere and they will get to you.

ATM´s are safer inside malls or super markets, don´t go to the ones right on the street. and never show a lot of cash to anybody.


West side tends to be safer either Sw or Nw, Eastern side is very dangerous...avoid TEPITO, La Merced, Iztapalapa, Nezahualcoyotl, Ecatepec, Santa fe old town, El Molinito...most of this in the east side....


Condesa, Del Valle, San Angel, Santa fe , Lomas de Chapultepec, Coyoacan, tecamachalco, in the west tend to be safer as long as you follow my recomendations.

If you are into big cities, Mexico City will be great for you i bet.

the most dangerous....TEPITO...it's not a city...but rather an area in Mexico City.

people here, get shanked, robbed, killed, even in DAY light! you'll find a lot of stands selling stolen stuff: tv's, radios, clothes...etc...

also, La Merced, in Mexico city is dangerous too, but Tepito takes 1st place..

all the touristic areas are pretty much safe.
it depends a lot on yourself though: take safe taxis, dont count your money where others can see you, dont walk alone late, etc.
i guess its pretty much the same around the world.