Everyone here walks day and night, so it never feels very unsafe. Even women walk at night, even though the lighting is bad, and the infrastructure is poor. Sidewalks are crumbling, there is much trash and it is a dilapidated industrial city. The people seem pretty miserable, but they are friendly enough to foreigners and nice to Americans. Like much of Ukraine, the dollar goes a long way here, so you can be pampered and eat well very cheap. The 2 biggest problems are (1) there isn't much to do here, and (2) it is an awful 8 hr car ride or train ride from Kyiv, so the city is kind of isolated. Much pollution also (think of Pittsburgh PA in the 60's) so the quality of life is poor. Very few hotels, so you'll have to rent a flat on AirBNB for only 20 USD/Euro per night. Many things are negotiable here and the motto is "everything is possible in Ukraine".