Why Do YOU live in a "dangerous" area?

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The theoretical possibility of crime does not make a place dangerous. What is the crime RATE?
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Excelent point. Many, probably most, people have no idea how dangerous or how safe their area really is. It is one of those interesting crime facts that as the U.S. has become safer and safer over the last decade people's fear of crime has grown greater. Also, those with the greatest likelihood of victimization often tend to be the least fearful of crime while those with low rates of victimization tend to be more fearful.
 
You sound like a man who has never been truly broke.
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Or maybe some here haven't been truly fearful? Back around 1964 my Dad packed up a wife and three young children in a station wagon and left California for Oklahoma with $50 in his pocket and a picnic basket full bread and peanut butter. Neighborhood had become too dangerous and nothing was more important than the safety of his family.

There is no logic is endangering your life for money or anything else.
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Exactly. I understood your point, and I agree. Of course, when it comes to safety I bet many here would easily justify buying another gun or such, even while they say moving would be impossible.
 
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Excelent point. Many, probably most, people have no idea how dangerous or how safe their area really is. It is one of those interesting crime facts that as the U.S. has become safer and safer over the last decade people's fear of crime has grown greater. Also, those with the greatest likelihood of victimization often tend to be the least fearful of crime while those with low rates of victimization tend to be more fearful.
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That's an interesting point. In some ways you'd be "safer" in a "dangerous" area because you'd be on guard.

Relaxing one's guard because one thinks he's safe has been the downfall of more than a few. If I were a criminal, I'd hunt where all you folks figured you're safe.


People who find themselves on the way to the ATM with Bubba to withdraw their savings while Bubba's friends hold a gun to their family's heads usually live in neighborhoods where "those things don't happen".

Of course, there's always the "there's so many other Zebras in the herd, why should I worry?" syndrome.

Or the Peezakiller syndrome, "Why do you think YOU need to worry about it?":D


Incidentally, I carry everywhere I go, where legal, and let others play musical "do I need to take my gun just to go to........?".
 
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Logic ??

Quote; "Exactly. I understood your point, and I agree. Of course, when it comes to safety I bet many here would easily justify buying another gun or such, even while they say moving would be impossible."

Is every decision in our (Humans) lives based on LOGIC?:confused:

You already know the answer. ;)

I refused to be pushed accross the country for greener pastures, like a herd of sheep.

Nnobby45, put it right: "I like the angle that my right to live without my civil liberties being trampled on by thugs was paid for with the blood of better men, and, sometimes, women than you or I.

As opposed to just up and moving from the home in which we raised our children because you think it's just a matter of personal safety.
 
How do you find a "safe" place? Around here rural doesn't mean safe. Jackson and New Orleans are some of the most violent cities in the nation. But I live in a little town of 1800 people and I personally know 3 people who have been murdered in the last ten years. Also my kindergarten teacher was raped and had her throat slit but she survived. Three years ago I actually saw a dead shooting victim slumped over his steering wheel in a near by town. My bet is that per capita some of the most dangerous places in the U.S. are small towns. My point is how do you define and find a "safe" place.
 
We just move.
Place going down hill? Get out before property values go into the pits.

3 moves in the same area and now the freakin' FAA is directing jets over the house again. If this area wasn't SO perfect I'd be out of here.

By perfect I mean hunting 365, and fishing.
 
Peetzakilla wrote: "What is the crime RATE?"

We don't care what the crime rate is, Pizza. The high-rate and the low-rate are aggregates and we aren't certain about their application (this is just risk math, not philosophy.) Since the payoff if you "win" is so asymmetric with the continued bliss of 'losing' the standard 'rate' math doesn't apply. Think of it rather as actuarial tables (skewed by libertarian fruit-cakery, to which I subscribe). EDITING: a 92% safe rate is not comparable by folk-psych humans against a 94% safe rate, when 2% of the incidents in Class A are nasty versus .75% of the incidents in Class B. Stats are a lovely refuge, but a fake refuge.* We can start another topic if TFL has a board appropriate to discussions of mathematics.

I'm pretty well-off and won't leave my decent neighborhood (which has some burglars working it, sadly) for the following reasons:

1. I have an alarm system and a dog and I usually carry in the house.
2. It's my neighborhood and I like it here and I will not bow to random violence (and granted, my neighborhood is like kitten wrestling compared with Detroit.)
3.We would certainly be underwater which is not a big deal, but it's suboptimal.
4. My mother told me we should move.
5. Mrs. MLH loves it here.

:)

*Unless I'm wrong.
 
Apparently I live in a "dangerous" place, so says everyone that comes to my area, I don't see it dangerous at all, we have like "projects" as people call them, well they look like apartments to me, and there are a lot of nice people living there, sure we have gangs and drugs, but we don't see the crime, there has never been a shooting as far as i recall, worst is the graffiti sometimes which is cleaned up quick, people are just getting old around here, giving up on the bad stuff, Woodridge (Hoodridge), is just a town where people are just trying to make ends meet, and deal with the high taxes, we have no time for crime out here, the gangs and druggies even think its boring out here. Im pretty sure that if there was ever to be a bad crime here, it would be an out of towner, and his or her ass would be handed to him by the folks out this way.
 
Since the payoff if you "win" is so asymmetric with the continued bliss of 'losing' the standard 'rate' math doesn't apply.
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Exactly. People don't buy lottery tickets because their odds of winning are good, they buy them because there's a HUGE payoff if they do win. In short, people buy lottery tickets in spite of the odds against winning because the positive consequences of winning are so attractive.

Carrying a gun is a similar proposition. One doesn't carry a gun because the odds of needing it are high. One carries a gun in spite of the poor odds of needing it because the cost of NOT carrying it could be extreme.
 
I've always realized what a huge advantage I've enjoyed my whole life, by being in the lower part of the upper middle class. I would just call myself upper middle class without the lower part qualifier, but lots of multimillion aires, David Letterman is an example that comes to mind, call themselves upper middle class instead of rich.

That also speaks to a different point, class, behavior in society, the way you take care of your property and treat others, is more a function of your upbringing than it is of monetary wealth. Many people who came from the lower classes and have suddenly acquired fame and wealth continue to exhibit the behavior of the class they came from. Britney Spears, Snoop Dog, etc all continue to behave in a low class manner from which they came.

All of the above is not to say that many good law abiding people in society don't start out in a lower class and then end up 'making good'. However as a general rule though, even middle class and rich criminals tend to take good care of their property and not do petty crimes and acts of vandalism.

Its very hard to leave the class one is born into, very hard to generate the income that establishes yourself as middle class, without the advantage of having rich or middle class parents to get you started.

So now directly to the question poised in the OP, I believe that there are not many people with the means to move from a high crime area who do not. Also in most areas, even those considered bad, you will find enclaves of wealthier people, business owners, etc who have added security and who are excluding undesirable types, by the amount of rent they pay or purchase price of their homes.

So at the end of the day the people who are living in high crime neighborhoods and are good and decent people who have the social skills to 'fit in' with a higher class, most probably are lacking the funds to move, not the desire. So my advice to them would be to get more education or training so as to try and raise the funds to move.

One final thought remember class is more a state of mind than it is of monetary wealth, but having a pocket full sure doesn't hurt.:)

As far as me personally, another fellow upper middle class boy, Jim Morrison said it best in the song The Changeling.


I live uptown

I live downtown

I live all around

I had money, and I had none x2

But I never been so broke

That I couldn't leave town

Im a changeling, see me change x2
 
Nate, I may be the abnorm... I was raised as poor as dirt. I wore button down shirts my mom made cuz we couldn't afford factory made. I hunted food for the family knowing momma didn't really like cooking small game and my sisters wouldn't eat it. I feel financial classes are chump compared to ethical, moral, manner based upbringing! How you were raised is far and above beyond how much cash you had...
Class is how you hold yourself in the public eye and INTEGRITY is what you do when no one is watching!
Put the 2 of them in high regard and money don't matter!
Paris Hilton will never exude one tenth the class my baby girl, Lil Miss.hogdogs and she spends more in a month than my baby has ever seen and in one year she spends more than I reckon my baby will ever earn unless she knuckles down for MD or lawyer and she says Doc is too tuff to make and lawyers are sharks she decided she can't swim with!
Class is in the raising! NOT THE WALLET!
Brent
 
I feel financial classes are chump compared to ethical, moral, manner based upbringing! How you were raised is far and above beyond how much cash you had...
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Thats true for the most part and basically what I said. Many, many people who were raised by good families have done well in life whether they started out prosperous or not and are good members of society. However high moral values do not move one out of the inner city, financial wherewithal does.

I didn't mean for my commentary to be a slight on anyone Brent, I don't look down on anyone for reasons of class. I'm a very down to earth person who does and has done my share of work, however you cannot over look the fact that the impartation of the moral and ethical values of which you speak, is becoming less and less the norm.

PS: Paris Hilton's behavior is not caused by her social class its from mental retardation.:p
 
Man, I never thunk a ho like her was retarded! But I think you got me there! Yeah I raised mine "tight" meaning they know that any and everything reflects on all of us from the same brood nest. My folks raised me as this...
" We are po' folk, we have nothin to offer you but a clean last name.... if'n you dirty that then you put dirt on all that precede you..." My momma was HARDCORE!!!! dirty her REP and you got troubles the law could never equal! She was tenacious about her reputation...
Brent
 
We are veering Peetza's thread off course, but I just have to add that at one time in this country the majority of people shared the attitude and beliefs of Brent and his Mother.

Look at the Great Depression, notorious figures like Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, etc gained that notoriety because bank robbery and lawlessness were an aberration and not the norm. Nowadays multiple banks get robbed every week and they usually only make the local news.

If the vast majority of people in this country still lived by and raised their families by the high moral and ethical standards that Brent and his Mother do and did, we would not have "dangerous' areas that needed escaping.
 
After living in vegas on boulder highway, yuma/san luis, east point and little 5 points atlanta, asbury park jersey, richmond virginia and lots of extended hotel time in a few other places...i figure i like the people. I agree with KC9LDB and post 48. Lots of people live in areas, and get by just fine without worry.
 
I live in a nice inner-city neighborhood. There are shady little residential streets and on the main arteries you'll find restaurants and pubs and art galleries and vintage clothing boutiques. There are some pretty seedy areas not far to the south, but the gentrified area has been expanding, not contracting.

I suppose it would be safer in the 'burbs or the country, but I like being able to walk to the grocery store or ride my bike to the brewpub. Besides, staying alert and not being involved socially with criminals are the two best preventatives there are.

Truthfully, I'm statistically more likely to need to use my CCW on a stray dog than I am a human assailant.
 
pax said:
That's the cold hard facts -- and you all but called me a liar for saying so. Twice.
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Kathy,

I hold you in very high regard. I meant no disrespect to anyone, least of all you. Please forgive me for the implication that you were not honest in your answers. It was not intended.


We don't care what the crime rate is, Pizza. The high-rate and the low-rate are aggregates and we aren't certain about their application (this is just risk math, not philosophy.) Since the payoff if you "win" is so asymmetric with the continued bliss of 'losing' the standard 'rate' math doesn't apply. Think of it rather as actuarial tables (skewed by libertarian fruit-cakery, to which I subscribe). EDITING: a 92% safe rate is not comparable by folk-psych humans against a 94% safe rate, when 2% of the incidents in Class A are nasty versus .75% of the incidents in Class B. Stats are a lovely refuge, but a fake refuge.* We can start another topic if TFL has a board appropriate to discussions of mathematics.
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We don't have to know the math. We know when an area is safe or not safe. My area is safe. There are parts of NY city, to this very day, that you would be attacked for making eye contact with the wrong person. That is NOT safe. I happen to know BOTH things. The numbers that are put out by the Feds and the basic common sense of day to day life.


Basic common sense tells me that there are some places that are not safe ENOUGH for my family. We have already established that money is a primary reason why people stay in those places. Interestingly, some people stay in those places because they have too little money, while others stay because they have too much.

The other well established reason for staying is that it's "MY home, I will not be driven out." It is tenuous ground to even attempt a discussion on that premise. I have noticed that the people who make those statements tend to be defensive and not willing to discuss the logic behind the decisions. A discussion can be had in which people disagree, even about basic life choices, without hostilities. My questioning the reasoning or logic behind those ideas is not a personal attack any more than that person disagreeing with my logic.
 
I live in an area that I consider dangerous enough because, basically, I am forced to live here. I am stationed in the Hampton Roads "seven cities" area of Virginia and I am not paid enough by the DoD to live in the "nicer" (aka safer) areas. Since I choose not to live in government housing, most of which are not "gated communities" anyway, you could say that I chose to live in my crappy neighborhood.
 
As a youngster, I grew up pretty poor and lived in a number of areas of the country. Seems my first four houses had a hitch on the front. Some of the places were decent and some were dangerous. As an adult, I finally managed, about ten years ago, to move to one of the most exclusive little enclaves in this county. Major shopping and any other service one might require, including dangerous neighborhoods can be found mere minutes away, but I enjoy living in a relaxed "safe-feeling" place. Many think I pay a lot for the privilege, but I've seen the alternatives and I say it's well worth it.
 
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