Evidence of exceptions does not disprove the rule. You already know this, I'm sure.
We're both making assumptions about what the original poster meant with their wording. In my experience, the normal, non-exceptional case, of aggressive behaviour between people on the street is unprovoked harassment by troubled individuals. (Or outright crime like being held up... but fortunately I haven't encountered this myself)
That harrasment is hardly uncommon. I have a hard time thinking of other sorts of conflict or aggression I've seen walking around...
I have never experienced significant harassment, and I am a white male-presenting person in a city that is about 30% white. I've lived in various neighborhoods with varying levels of average income and demography. I would walk and bike basically everywhere that wasn't super hilly. I wonder what is different about your experience, the way you carry yourself, etc. that causes these interactions.
> In my experience, the normal, non-exceptional case, of aggressive behaviour between people on the street is unprovoked harassment by troubled individuals.
My experience is that those people usually know each other in some way. Have you ever taken the time to listen, or is it just too shocking to handle?
The situation you describe would seem to be the exception. Compare to violent crimes like sexual assault or shootings, which are overwhelmingly perpetrated by people who already know the victim prior to the assault.
For me, I've encountered huge amounts of harassment in the first three cities. Oddly in NYC I didn't have a problem with it. In the first three, I've had problems in almost every neighborhood.
I honestly believe that somehow, your experience has been very different. I'm not sure why that is... perhaps you have a higher anxiety tolerance than I do. But I've been followed onto the train by a person speaking about shadows, and how he knows people who do "really bad things", situations like that, more than I can count.