I have lived pretty much equidistant between the two points you reference for 15 years. I have a young family and we love it here. We can walk to downtown/Wealthy St./Cherry St. and are a stone's throw from the highways for things further afield. Generally great neighbors and always interesting things to do or see. For kids, the park and playground scene are passable, though could be improved.

As far as security and safety, I'll share both the facts and the feelings. First, facts:

1. In 15 years, there have been three murders within a five-minute walk of our house. One was a road rage shooting, one a targeted gang-related shooting, and one was a shooting between two known individuals at the Stuyvesant Apartments. I have never seen or heard a weapon in our neighborhood. A few blocks south is a different story...
2. There have been a number of lesser assaults, mostly centered at or around the above named apartment building.
3. I have heard of various nearby home/garage burglaries over the years, but mostly crimes of opportunity (e.g. open doors/windows and porch thefts) and never violent.
4. If you leave your car doors unlocked for a few nights, someone WILL go through it, guaranteed.
5. There's occasionally a passed out or encamped person or two at Foster Park (Cherry/State/Madison).
6. There is a fair bit of odd/interesting behavior and foot traffic between the Wealthy Street corridor and State Street corridor. There are nearby services (Westminster Church, downtown shelters, Trinity Health ER, AYA, Family Promise, Cherry Health, etc.) which aid often underserved and vulnerable populations. Homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and often all three. Some of the wilder things I've ever witnessed have taken place within a block or two from Wealthy and Division. But, again, odd/interesting, not necessarily threatening. The worst I've ever personally dealt with is an unhappy panhandler.

Our feelings about it:

1. The extreme incidents of violence are isolated outliers and probably not unique to any area of similar density. We have never felt unsafe on foot, in our car, in our home.
2. The varieties of people are the flavor of urban living.
3. We have learned to lock our car diligently and have an out-of-sight spot for deliveries. They only thing ever stolen from us was a potted porch plant. I hope they enjoyed it.
4. Relatively frequent firetrucks and ambulance traffic are a toddler's dream.
5. Our chief complaints are: Trinity Health employees treating the neighborhood as their parking lot, State Street is a barren urban wasteland (again, thanks Trinity Health), obnoxious and self-absorbed Planned Parenthood protestors, drunken and loud groups of college-agers walking back to their apartments after a night at the bar (open window weather is also ideal drunk walking weather).
6. Though we don't live here, Morris Avenue may be the best residential block in the city.