"We Live in a Good Neighborhood"

[Ranger99]

On the contrary, you just haven't seen it
yet, or don't know what to look for
I didn't know there were any prostitutes
in this area until a couple of officers
pointed out what to look for
Many suburbs get run down because of
decent people that enable their useless
children and move out of town to where
" the good schools out here should
straighten junior out, and get him on the
right track "
Junior quickly figures out that he can
run amok since most of the neighbors
are spread farther apart and there's fewer
police and deputies to catch him at his
mischief. And it's not always juveniles.
There's more drug labs in rural locations
than in urban areas

 

[Kleanbore]

Many suburbs get run down because...

That's not the subject here. The neighborhoods in question are in no way run down.

What is happening is that people from other places are doming in to look for easy loot.

 

[JTHunter]

That's not the subject here. The neighborhoods in question are in no way run down.

What is happening is that people from other places are coming in to look for easy loot.

Between public transportation and the rise in car thefts/jacking, the perps are more mobile than ever before and have the ability to go out of their neighborhoods into more affluent areas where the "pickings" are nor only better but the "victims" are less alert. This is why we now have "drive by" shootings or rolling gun battles on interstate highways, assaults and robberies on public transportation (trains) where they wait until the train/subway is pulling into a station, grab what they can and disappear into the crowd on the platform.

 

[TBL004]

"Good neighborhoods" are prime targets for criminals: most adults work, children in school all day and they possess plenty of items criminals are looking for. Same thing is true at night in "good neighborhoods": few people are out and about after 7pm, few people know their neighbors, garage doors left open and car doors left unlocked. As long as criminals have cars they can easily navigate to and from the scene of their next crime.

 

[PzGren]

In the DFW metroplex there is a trend that out of state investors are buying up houses and rent them out to section 8. The government encourages diversified neighborhoods and uses the tax money that I had to work hard for for against me and against my interests. Incidentally, walking my dog this morning I had a talk with neighbors about this and it confirms my impressions.

I am not a tree, have no roots and can move anytime and I think it is getting time again.

 

[LNK]

We live out in the farmland area. We have a small holding and my neighbors have larger mostly. We make our place as uninviting as possible. Not many people come up my dark driveway, let alone at night. There are no streetlights here. This is just the way we like it. Are there meth labs around, maybe, but I know all the neighbors here, so they are pretty far away. There is nowhere to stop on my road, so if someone does, it is noticed.

We have been interviewed before by the person looking for so and so, who doesn't live around here. We just make it clear that we know what they are up to and that they may want to try that somewhere else. Then we call all the neighbors and give them a description. All in all, it's a nice way to live. We are also always armed on the property. My wife was reluctant at first, but she came around. Coyotes you know.

 

[Old Dog]

An example of the trend for mobile criminals spending time in the "good neighborhoods." Bellevue and Kirkland have some of the most upscale neighborhoods in the Seattle 'burbs.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...ed-2-violent-suspects-still-wanted/ar-AANP57v
Note the Bellevue police captain remarking on how the stolen 1911 -- in ".45 ACP!" -- "was cocked" and "there was a live round chambered." The horror! Well, goes to show that even some of the young urban hoods understand the mode of carry for a 1911...

 

[Speedo66]

While there is some crime in affluent areas, as Willie Sutton used to say about why he robbed banks, "because that's where the money is", the fact is most crime occurs in poor urban areas where the locals rob and shot each other.

A burglary or even a push in robbery is big news in an affluent area, not so much in a poor area.

Before the lower east side in Manhattan became gentrified, "alphabet city" or "smack city" as it was called, was a hell hole of junkies. A friend who lived there was burglarized almost once a week. He had window gates off the fire escape, but was still losing a TV regularly. He finally bought a a huge one piece entertainment console that took about three people to lift.

When I visited my revolver was in my hand in my jacket pocket. Thankfully, it's not like that anymore. Unfortunately, many neighborhoods in the Bronx are still like that. You pray you don't get caught in the crossfire of a rival gang shooting. That's something you won't see in an affluent area.

 

[The Last Outlaw]

Doesn't matter what kind of place you live, nice or bad, bad people do bad things everywhere. There are no safe places, always keep your eyes open.

 

[Kleanbore]

the fact is most crime occurs in poor urban areas where the locals rob and shot each other.

"Most" is not meaningful to those who do not live in such places....

 

[LNK]

That is so not true.

I think he means sometimes you get a bad apple even in a nice area. While it is true that most affluent areas have less crime, it rarely means it has none. Some rich kids turn bad, and some poor kids turn out good. We are all playing the odds as best as we can. Stay safe as you can.

 

[Howland937]

Whether the environment is an urban/suburban neighborhood or a place in the sticks (mine's about as much one as the other), there's no such thing as crime-free. Maybe it's never happened, but that doesn't mean it can't. In the county I live in, drug abuse seems to be the root of most criminal activity. Most anytime someone is apprehended in a theft/burglary/robbery, they ain't just trying to "feed the kids" and have a history of drug related offenses.

The brazen, broad daylight crimes are typically (around here anyway) people who are drug-dependent and therefore living in an alternate reality. Things that should be deterrents aren't and things that shouldn't seem attractive to thieves disappear.
Neighbors looking out for each other goes a long way. Security measures in home and on property are always a good idea. Isolation, if an option, may work for a lot of folks. Nobody has 100% immunity from it though, as much as we might like to think so.

 

[2zulu1]

Border county along the open International Border on a ranch, typical SO response time is about 40 minutes...local residents keep our 'hood' safe.

 

[TRX]

The best place to be is in a neighborhood that looks like it has nothing to steal.

There's *always* something to steal. And for some nonzero proportion of malefactors, the stealing is only incidental to the thrill.

 

[JTHunter]

Border county along the open International Border on a ranch, typical SO response time is about 40 minutes...local residents keep our 'hood' safe.

For a long time, I have long speculated that ranchers (and other concerned citizens) who live along the southern border and are well acquainted with the places illegals cross, should erect 50-100' "observation towers" at those locations. Sit up there with a Ruger 10/22 and multiple large magazines (Ramline used to make 30 & 50 round ones) and, when you spot some crossers, raise some dirt around them, enough so that they decide to go back to Mexico. You don't want to hit them. You just want to convince them that they would be safer further south.

 

[Craig_AR]

raise some dirt around them, enough so that they decide to go back to Mexico. You don't want to hit them. You just want to convince them that they would be safer further south.

That is a description of "warning shots." Notwithstanding a former Vice President's advice on using a shotgun for warning shots, it might be wise to become informed on the actual legal situation you can face if you use warning shots.

 

[Kleanbore]

it might be wise to become informed on the actual legal situation you can face if you use warning shots.

The short version: that is a serious criminal act.

 

[alsaqr]

What is happening is that people from other places are doming in to look for easy loot.

This!!!!!!

We live in a quiet established development just west of Lawton, OK. Lawton has a high crime rate, many burglaries, drive by shootings and holdups.

Here outside cameras show a few instances of porch pirating and prowling in mail boxes. Unidentified people sometimes appear to be casing homes and property. There are cretins prowling through unlocked cars nearly every night. My neighbor left his truck unlocked and lost his carry gun: Leaving a gun in an unattended vehicle ain't too swift. So far there have been no burglaries or home invasions here.

This county is larger than the state of Rhode Island. At night two deputies are on duty. It will be awhile before law enforcement arrives: It behooves one to be prepared to take care of business.

For many years we lived in a high crime area. Our closest neighbors home had been broken into and he was peeved. One night about 02:00 i was on the computer when i heard two very loud gunshots. i can't say the man killed a burglar but one panel of his garage door was replaced with plywood. Crime in that area suddenly became very rare.

 

[Toros]

Most folks have zero clue as to how to ascertain what constitutes a "good" neighborhood when they make a home buying decision.
Cops, both current and former get it right away. Situational awareness is part of their nature.
Realtors as a rule lie and now real estate websites no longer publish crime stats. Smart folks research it.
Proximity to major roadways, public transportation, ease of entry and exit...scumbags don't like one way in and one way out. Lighting, landscaping, fencing...all things to consider.
Most of the above won't matter to jonesing druggies but they're the ones that usually get caught.
Choosing where to live is one of, if not THE most important decision people make. Unfortunately, most don't do their homework.