Opinions change slowly, as you have found. It's part of human nature. Expect this attitude to extend into the foreseeable future, unfortunately. People like

Opinions change slowly, as you have found. It's part of human nature. Expect this attitude to extend into the foreseeable future, unfortunately. People like to parrot what they've heard in the past, so that tired trope will not die soon. Btw, the same things have been said about Oakland for many years. I try to tell people that the (bad) crime in Oakland is very much contained in bad areas, and most of Oakland is not bad, even downtown. Glad you found a place that you're happy with. Congrats!