6 ms·

Psst. If you're worried about being followed in a bad part of town, I'd worry more about driving around an Escalade than giving out your zip code. Unless I'm g

Psst. If you're worried about being followed in a bad part of town, I'd worry more about driving around an Escalade than giving out your zip code. Unless I'm getting trolled, in which case, excellent satire.

freehunter 10y ago
Escalades are not uncommon in a bad part of town, expensive cars in general are not uncommon. You'll see a Cadillac parked in front of a $35k house, and no one's going to rob them. You wouldn't walk into a store and shout out how much money you make, would you? Announcing your zip code is effectively the same thing.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  Auto loans are at record numbers currently, I know couples who pull down 25k above me and my wife that are "poorer" (renting, saving less) due to auto loans. People are nuts about cars.
  - seanp2k2 10y ago
    People in the US are nuts about spending in general. Wedding rings that cost 6 months salary, cars that cost a few years worth, houses which cost 20 years worth...
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      Indeed, we bought a home due to the fact that the mortgage was less than rent for a low end apartment. We see it as a way to build net worth and reduce costs, we buy used cars, buy bulk household goods though Amazon. A lot of people have this impression that its impossible to live the life that our parents had today. I'm sure its impossible in the bay area or Manhattan but as a high school drop out who lives in one of the top 100 highest income counties in the US I assure you that a very good standard of living is possible here. The only debt we have is our mortgage.
- MaxfordAndSons 10y ago
  Not really. Shouting your income bracket would be info in a form everyone is attuned to (dollar amounts), whereas I don't think most people cross reference zip code to avg income on the fly, even if they might roughly know it. Only people sensitive to it might, like real estate brokers and cops. Even if the odd professional criminal might think of this tactic, jacking rich people in the parking lots of hardware stores seems unlikely to be worth the risk. All of which is to say, I think you're being paranoid and unwarrantedly suspicious of strangers just because you're in the "bad part of town".
  - Symbiote 10y ago
    In Britain, post codes are much more distinctive and memorable, since they follow a form like "SW7 2DD". The first letters give a city or county, the first number an area within it. The second part a street, business or building. Most British people would identify that as a London postcode — London is so large, it has several first letter codes. Most people from London would identify it as a posh area, people familiar with South West London would know it's an extremely posh bit. (It's the Science Museum.) Outside London and the densest cities it's less accurate, but usually still distinguishes urban and rural areas. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LE_postcode_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LE_postcode_area I wouldn't feel unsafe giving my postcode, but they have been used by some street gangs as part of their identity, and therefore define a territory. In cities, the "SW7" bit is usually printed on the street name signs.
    - MaxfordAndSons 10y ago
      True. US gangs totally do the same thing, but more often with phone area codes which are also 3 digits, instead of the more verbose 5 contiguous digit format of zip codes (the US equivalent of a post code). "I'm from the four eight two three four" just doesn't have a great ring to it.
      - rhizome 10y ago
        Area codes in graffiti is not a gang thing, it's a graffiti thing. Gangs don't travel (much), they just mark their own territory. No area code necessary.
- 15155 10y ago
  The $100k Escalade in front of the $35k house is substantially less likely to be robbed than the $100k Escalade in front of the $200k house in the burbs.
  - PostOnce 10y ago
    Substantially less appealing from an objective profitability perspective, perhaps. But realistically, poorer areas = more crime
    - rhizome 10y ago
      poorer areas = more crime I don't believe this for a second.
      - PostOnce 10y ago
        You don't have to believe me, look at a crime map or read some statistics. People who have a decent income and stability aren't likely to be driven to crimes of desperation, such as burglary and robbery (among many others), so even without statistics you can imagine why it would be true. "Persons in poor households at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (39.8 per 1,000) had more than double the rate of violent victimization as persons in high-income households (16.9 per 1,000)." https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WrnC-FRvgi4J:https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm%3Fty%3Dpbdetail%26iid%3D5137+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=ubuntu https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WrnC-F... http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21613303-disturbing-study-link-between-incomes-and-criminal-behaviour-have-and http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/2161330... This isn't my theory and it isn't new, so I'm not sure why you don't believe it.
- rhizome 10y ago
  No it isn't, because saying your zip code doesn't make you look crazy.

freehunter 10y ago

Escalades are not uncommon in a bad part of town, expensive cars in general are not uncommon. You'll see a Cadillac parked in front of a $35k house, and no one's going to rob them. You wouldn't walk into a store and shout out how much money you make, would you? Announcing your zip code is effectively the same thing.

cmdrfred 10y ago
Auto loans are at record numbers currently, I know couples who pull down 25k above me and my wife that are "poorer" (renting, saving less) due to auto loans. People are nuts about cars.
- seanp2k2 10y ago
  People in the US are nuts about spending in general. Wedding rings that cost 6 months salary, cars that cost a few years worth, houses which cost 20 years worth...
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    Indeed, we bought a home due to the fact that the mortgage was less than rent for a low end apartment. We see it as a way to build net worth and reduce costs, we buy used cars, buy bulk household goods though Amazon. A lot of people have this impression that its impossible to live the life that our parents had today. I'm sure its impossible in the bay area or Manhattan but as a high school drop out who lives in one of the top 100 highest income counties in the US I assure you that a very good standard of living is possible here. The only debt we have is our mortgage.
MaxfordAndSons 10y ago
Not really. Shouting your income bracket would be info in a form everyone is attuned to (dollar amounts), whereas I don't think most people cross reference zip code to avg income on the fly, even if they might roughly know it. Only people sensitive to it might, like real estate brokers and cops. Even if the odd professional criminal might think of this tactic, jacking rich people in the parking lots of hardware stores seems unlikely to be worth the risk. All of which is to say, I think you're being paranoid and unwarrantedly suspicious of strangers just because you're in the "bad part of town".
- Symbiote 10y ago
  In Britain, post codes are much more distinctive and memorable, since they follow a form like "SW7 2DD". The first letters give a city or county, the first number an area within it. The second part a street, business or building. Most British people would identify that as a London postcode — London is so large, it has several first letter codes. Most people from London would identify it as a posh area, people familiar with South West London would know it's an extremely posh bit. (It's the Science Museum.) Outside London and the densest cities it's less accurate, but usually still distinguishes urban and rural areas. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LE_postcode_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LE_postcode_area I wouldn't feel unsafe giving my postcode, but they have been used by some street gangs as part of their identity, and therefore define a territory. In cities, the "SW7" bit is usually printed on the street name signs.
  - MaxfordAndSons 10y ago
    True. US gangs totally do the same thing, but more often with phone area codes which are also 3 digits, instead of the more verbose 5 contiguous digit format of zip codes (the US equivalent of a post code). "I'm from the four eight two three four" just doesn't have a great ring to it.
    - rhizome 10y ago
      Area codes in graffiti is not a gang thing, it's a graffiti thing. Gangs don't travel (much), they just mark their own territory. No area code necessary.
15155 10y ago
The $100k Escalade in front of the $35k house is substantially less likely to be robbed than the $100k Escalade in front of the $200k house in the burbs.
- PostOnce 10y ago
  Substantially less appealing from an objective profitability perspective, perhaps. But realistically, poorer areas = more crime
  - rhizome 10y ago
    poorer areas = more crime I don't believe this for a second.
    - PostOnce 10y ago
      You don't have to believe me, look at a crime map or read some statistics. People who have a decent income and stability aren't likely to be driven to crimes of desperation, such as burglary and robbery (among many others), so even without statistics you can imagine why it would be true. "Persons in poor households at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) (39.8 per 1,000) had more than double the rate of violent victimization as persons in high-income households (16.9 per 1,000)." https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WrnC-FRvgi4J:https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm%3Fty%3Dpbdetail%26iid%3D5137+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz&client=ubuntu https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WrnC-F... http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21613303-disturbing-study-link-between-incomes-and-criminal-behaviour-have-and http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/2161330... This isn't my theory and it isn't new, so I'm not sure why you don't believe it.
rhizome 10y ago
No it isn't, because saying your zip code doesn't make you look crazy.