SD issues in college towns

[RPCVYemen]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=324030

This thread started me thinking.

In the years I lived in Bloomington (IN), I lived a student ghetto. This was an area of Bloomington that was mostly old mill housing. Rents were very cheap, the neighborhood was almost exclusively student and crime in any meaningful sense was nearly non-existent. Drunks were common, but I live in one house for 4 years without a door key. When we moved out, we had to hunt around for the key, because we never used it! My sense is that violent crime was not a very big issue - the student ghetto was mainly grad students with crappy cars, crappy stereos and lots of books. This was before computers were ubiquitous. Stolen bicycles was the big deal. I am not sure anything in the house cost more than $100 new.

The situation was different (10 years later) in the student ghetto near Chapel Hill. I think that Carrboro - the student ghetto - had a relatively high crime rate. Not sure why. My time in Bloomington was pre-crack epidemic, so maybe even Bloomington has changed.

But how does living in a student ghetto change SD issues?

I live in a quiet suburb and more affluent suburb now. If someone is kicking in my door at 3:00 AM it's much more likely to be someone that intends me harm than in my Bloomington days. It's probably not someone looking for a party or for his girlfriend who lived there last semester, but has since moved out.

I know that not all "college towns" are sage - witness Gainsville. But in a student ghetto where someone raising a ruckus at 3:00 AM is 100 times more likely to be a confused drunk student than criminal, what does that change about self-defense, situational awareness?

My guess that at a deep level, nothing changes - but on a more practical level a lot changes. Maybe I am wrong.

Thoughts?

Mike

 

[Mr White]

We see it here at the large eastern university near me too. The college town and campus have historically had very low violent crime rates. When I was a student, we were the same way as you. Hardly ever locked our doors. Never had anything stolen except for an old bike I left unlocked in town one night. Thefts of backpacks in the library or other study spots were somewhat common, just because the books could be sold easily. But violent crimes were virtually unheard of. There were fights from time to time, but they weren't treated as violent crimes unless it was actually warranted.

Now, the police get involved and the DA prosecutes everything. Drunk kids, fake IDs, shouting matches, fights over girlfriends, frats, favorite bands or football teams. You name it, someone's been arrested for it here. LE's increased focus on nitpicking has artificially raised crime statistics and led to more and more police officers on the streets.

Violent crimes are still pretty low but they're starting to occur more often. There have been several home invasions in the area this past year, there have been a few armed robberies in town and there was a string of about 10 armed convenience store robberies last spring and summer where LE ended up catching the robbers. There have been a few incidents of people getting into a fight and somwone pulling a knife or a gun. These get the full "GUN VIOLENCE IS DESTROYING OUR QUALITY OF LIFE" treatment from the press and the usual calls for tougher gun control laws from the press and leftist contingents. The causes behind the increased crime are pretty clear and crime/student population statitics show a strong correlation but nobody wants to acknowledge it. It has to do with race and recruiting practices, but I'm not opening that can of worms here.

As for me, I live 10 miles from campus and carry anytime I go to town at night or on the weekend, I'm armed. I can't carry daily because of university policy, but when I come into town on personal business, I'm armed. I really don't feel a strong need to be, because all in all, its a very safe area, but I'm sure those people in Omaha thought the mall was safe too.

 

[kamagong]

I went to USC for grad school. For those that don't know, it's not exactly the best part of LA. I remember constantly getting safety reminders s to pay attention and be aware of our surroundings. I don't think very many people listened, it seemed that at least once a week someone was always getting robbed (at knifepoint).

 

[RPCVYemen]

I went to USC for grad school. For those that don't know, it's not exactly the best part of LA.

Yeah - I know those towns exist. I was more interested in SD changes for true student ghettoes, if you're in a bad part of a big city, SR rules don't change very much. At leaast when I was the area that I think of as the student ghetto was poor in the sense that the houses were pretty dilapidated and rents were cheap, bit it wasn't bad in terms of violent crime.

Mike

 

[mekender]

i grew up within 5 miles of the university of central florida... most of my friends after high school lived in the student ghetto at one point or another... i can tell you this, if anything the SD awareness needs to be much higher in those areas... not only do you have the honest students living there.. but because of cheap rent, you get drug dealers, illegal immigrants, and off campus frat houses... all of those will be very unlikely to call the cops unless there is a major problem... people screaming in the streets, loud parties etc... never got the cops called... frankly no one wanted them there... so from a SD perspective... i would consider those areas to be almost as dangerous as the "bad side of town"

 

[RP86]

I'm basically right across the street from UCF in Orlando(same school mekender mentioned), and I must admit self defense in certain ways is basically looked down upon. You have the extreme liberal students that just believe that the people bust down your doors with shotguns at all hours just want to say hello and borrow some cash. Whenever something happens the victim blames the housing complex or current location for not having enough security, instead of the person taking responsibility for their own safety. Home invasion, robbery, burglary etc notifications are posted on our door whenever anything of this sort happens and lately it has been weekly, and it seems the majority of these occurrences are taking place during broad daylight.

Coming back on topic, things are a lot different for me compared to when the OP grew up. We keep all doors locked, and stay very aware of who is attempting to enter. We have had a couple of times where someone has tried to get into our apartment through the front door with more than normal force. After considering how the person didn't knock and immediately left the area after messing with the door, we determined these probably were attempts of burglary.

My situational awareness is very high whenever in public, which is about the most I can do to prevent any unwanted situations.

 

[mekender]

RP86, im assuming from your SN that you are probably 20 or so? so my assumption is that you go to UCF... i grew up there, and remember when alfaya trl was a 2 lane rd with no median :-D... UC7 was the happenin place on friday night (i think its a church now)... and crime was something that happened mostly over on colonial, not near UCF...

and lets make sure we are talking about the same place... im talking about the area behind the subway restaurant, not pegasus landing... granted i was in that area long before pegasus landing was owned by UCF, but the areas behind the subway are much more lower income... we always had problems in those areas... the apartment complexes were the usual, drunken parties, stupid people, hotheadedness etc... the SG was downright criminal in a lot of cases... i worked for pizza hut for quite a while in that area and lets say this, i carried every time i delivered... you ever wanna know how bad an area is, ask the pizza guy... he knows

my parents still live off dean and univ. so i hear about the crime there all the time... my dad actually is getting his CCW... which was a shocker for me... its gettin downright bad down there

 

[RP86]

RP86, im assuming from your SN that you are probably 20 or so? so my assumption is that you go to UCF... i grew up there, and remember when alfaya trl was a 2 lane rd with no median :-D... UC7 was the happenin place on friday night (i think its a church now)... and crime was something that happened mostly over on colonial, not near UCF...

and lets make sure we are talking about the same place... im talking about the area behind the subway restaurant, not pegasus landing... granted i was in that area long before pegasus landing was owned by UCF, but the areas behind the subway are much more lower income... we always had problems in those areas... the apartment complexes were the usual, drunken parties, stupid people, hotheadedness etc... the SG was downright criminal in a lot of cases... i worked for pizza hut for quite a while in that area and lets say this, i carried every time i delivered... you ever wanna know how bad an area is, ask the pizza guy... he knows

my parents still live off dean and univ. so i hear about the crime there all the time... my dad actually is getting his CCW... which was a shocker for me... its gettin downright bad down there

I'm actually 21. I know that sounds to most of you like a 5 year-old saying they're 5 and 3/4ths, but as far as firearms are dealt with your legal ability to carry isn't possible until you are 21 with CWL. I know the area you are talking about, and steer clear from it as much as possible. As far as Pegasus Landing is concerned you couldn't pay me to live there, my current roommate used to live there and there was a shooting right outside his window. Dean and university area has some really nice neighborhoods, but you are in close proximity to lower income mischief. Good to hear your dad is taking initiative to protect himself.