4 ms·

Maybe not a popular opinion, but: Encourage your neighbors to call the police when things happen. Call them yourself, too. I lived in a bad neighborhood for ab

Maybe not a popular opinion, but: Encourage your neighbors to call the police when things happen. Call them yourself, too. I lived in a bad neighborhood for about 20 years, and have had family living in the "same" bad neighborhood (about 10 blocks away), and the difference in crime is night and day. The main difference from what I can tell, is that nobody on my street called the cops, ever. If I didn't call, the cops/fire department wouldn't show up. For example, we had a mentally ill meth addict wandering the streets, breaking into vacant houses, vandalizing property, etc... One day, I find him starting a fire in some brush outside our house. My neighbor's way of dealing with this? Get out the hose and put the fire out. That's it. I called the fire department, who alerted the authorities, who detained him. Later that day while driving around, I saw half a dozen piles of ashes where he (I assume) had set fires before wandering off to start a new one. All within a 1-2 block radius. I honestly think I was the only one who finally called the authorities on him, because everyone else in that neighborhood is so apathetic (or maybe so suspicious of the police) that they refuse to call 911. He could have set a house on fire and killed a family. I'm speculating, but I imagine he wouldn't have even got the first fire started in a neighborhood that is vigilant and willing to call the cops.

QuantumYeti 6y ago
I was kinda hoping this comment would spur some discussion (it was late though). My opinions in this regard aren't concrete. I guess it is kinda hard/pointless to argue against anecdotal evidence. If I were to rephrase everything in my post as a question, I guess it would be: "How would you deal with a mentally ill homeless man who breaks into vacant houses, sometimes sets them on fire, and starts building 'art' around the neighborhood that people view as vandalism?" If that is too specific of a question, we live in different worlds. Which is fine. But OP'll probably live in a similar one soonish. Another question I would ask, is who all is involved in this decision to move to an underprovided city? Is it just you, as the sole provider? As in, no family? How long are you willing to live there? People can, and do, live in these neighborhoods for decades at a time... But: How willing/capable are the people you love of withstanding an attack? I don't mean an attack against you ideologically, I mean physically. Can you live the rest of your life in a normal way, after you've been told to lie down next to the vehicle being stolen, with the full knowledge that you are a point on that vehicle's path of escape? Knowing they could run you over in an instant, if they felt like it. Knowing that wasn't you that experienced that, but your daughter or son? Are you still then okay with sacrificing your own interests, and your families, for the benefit of the city? Edit: Agh, this just turned into more anecdotal stuff. Oh well, I guess don't have much else to add. Either way, good luck OP.

QuantumYeti 6y ago

I was kinda hoping this comment would spur some discussion (it was late though). My opinions in this regard aren't concrete. I guess it is kinda hard/pointless to argue against anecdotal evidence. If I were to rephrase everything in my post as a question, I guess it would be: "How would you deal with a mentally ill homeless man who breaks into vacant houses, sometimes sets them on fire, and starts building 'art' around the neighborhood that people view as vandalism?" If that is too specific of a question, we live in different worlds. Which is fine. But OP'll probably live in a similar one soonish. Another question I would ask, is who all is involved in this decision to move to an underprovided city? Is it just you, as the sole provider? As in, no family? How long are you willing to live there? People can, and do, live in these neighborhoods for decades at a time... But: How willing/capable are the people you love of withstanding an attack? I don't mean an attack against you ideologically, I mean physically. Can you live the rest of your life in a normal way, after you've been told to lie down next to the vehicle being stolen, with the full knowledge that you are a point on that vehicle's path of escape? Knowing they could run you over in an instant, if they felt like it. Knowing that wasn't you that experienced that, but your daughter or son? Are you still then okay with sacrificing your own interests, and your families, for the benefit of the city? Edit: Agh, this just turned into more anecdotal stuff. Oh well, I guess don't have much else to add. Either way, good luck OP.