Carrying in "nice neighborhoods"
I live in a neighborhood that could have come straight out of the set of "Leave it to Beaver", updated for 2010. It's full of single-family homes, most of them older and surrounded by mature trees and nice, but not overly manicured, lawns that frequently have children's toys scattered on them, with or without children, and dogs. (Can't forget the dogs.) There are three schools -- a public elementary school, private elementary school, and public high school -- within a mile of my house. There's a working small farm/ranch about a half mile away. There's a park next door, and a half dozen within the neighborhood. People fish in the nearby river. Most of the neighbors know at least their immediate neighbors, and frequently the people on the next block. My husband and I moved here two years ago, and are still the newcomers.
The "Stop Crime" web site shows exactly one crime reported in this neighborhood -- in the past *five* years. That crime was a residential burglary during the work day. No violence was involved. However, this lovely, peaceful, crime-free neighborhood is less than two miles from a downtown core that has one of the highest violent crime rates of any city in this class. "Stop Crime" reports a couple dozen crimes, seven involving violence, in that area in the past *week*.
I carry any time I leave the house unless I am going to a place where carry is illegal. Then I carry the most effective self defense tools that are legal, and plan my activities to minimize the time I spend without my preferred self defense method -- a small handgun.
This isn't because I live in fear of crime. If I actually felt unsafe where I live, I'd move.
But there is no place that is 100% safe all the time. Since I would probably not carry often if I allowed myself to leave the house without my carry gun, I simply don't do that except when I must. It's one way to be sure that, when the unexpected violence happens, I'm prepared.