Simple yes/no poll. Obviously there are parts of the world that are frightening, but do you feel like your stomping grounds are a dangerous place?
Where I live now is safer than houses. Though I’m going to Indonesia in a couple of days so check me then.
I knew a guy who lived in Dublin who carried nunchucks hidden in his jacket wherever he went “because you never know”. I told him he lived in a different city to me - personally I had ten years there without incident despite having the ‘wrong’ accent. I think he had watched too many gangster movies and looked at everything askance, and saw shadows that weren’t there.
That said last year in Oxford I got the shit kicked out of me by three guys wearing tuxes, so you never know. Still don’t think it’s a particularly dangerous place.
I chose “No, and I do what I want” because it’s much much closer to the truth than “Yes, and I try to be vigilant.” I mean, it’s not Mayberry and I do try to not be stupid, but I’ve never felt as though walking around here at night is inherently dangerous.
It’s funny, I read a local online paper where people rant and rave about crime in my city as though it’s at some “prisoners in our homes” kind of level, and apparently I’m the only person here who doesn’t spend my evenings and weekends huddled over a police scanner. The actual statistics do nothing to appease these people, of course. In fact, they routinely assert that the stats are “fudged” by the local PD, and of course reminding them that downplaying crime rates wouldn’t exactly be in the PD’s interest in terms of getting funding doesn’t make a dent either. These folks will not even consider the possibility that on the whole, our city is a relatively safe place.
I wonder what it must be like to perceive danger all around you all the time. I also wonder which of these fools is George Zimmerman waiting to happen.
Where I live is reasonably safe; where I work and what I do for a living is another story. So I’m fairly relaxed but always ready just in case WW Z does break out.
I feel perfectly safe here, but I didn’t used to in my younger days. I’m not sure what has changed over the years, me, or the city.
But there are some places I just don’t go.
tdn, just to clarify I mean Malden in particular, not Boston in general. Malden’s crime rates are pretty much exactly what you’d expect for a city of its size and demographics. So again; certainly not perfectly safe, but not inordinately dangerous, and most assuredly not the Escape from New York scenario that some wild-eyed locals make it out to be.
Very safe. Don’t even lock the doors.
The only real concern is wildfires. And the way the spring is shapeing up, I’m getting a little worried.
Ah, OK.
I always sort of felt a little less safe in Malden than in Boston.
Depends *where *in Boston. And for what it’s worth, I never felt particularly unsafe in Mission Hill or around North Station or in the Seaport at night either, even though all of them are generally considered fairly sketchy. I might just have an unusually high threshold for what I consider “threatening” conditions.
Rural Ontario? Even my kids have had zero restrictions on outside play. To be honest, I can’t imagine there’s a safer spot in the world than where I live.
No natural disasters looming.
Gun control.
Health care.
It almost doesn’t get any safer.
The only thing I really worry about in my area is wild animals or loose dogs. So I voted no since I figured that isn’t what you meant.
I’ve never felt safe on Mission Hill. By the seaport do you mean around Rowes Wharf/Aquarium/North End? I always feel safe there. They’re such touristy areas!
Speaking of Boston, the only two times I’ve been there I’ve flown in then took the T to my final destination, and people were all like “Are you SURE you want to take the T? It’s so confusing and so dangerous!” I didn’t feel danger at all, since both the T and the Metro in DC have so few stops and routes that the stations and trains are always crowded.
Now, the NYC subway on the other hand, I can see feeling dangerous there late at night on a peripheral stop out in the boonies.
I have the legal right to carry a concealed firearm but rarely do. I don’t feel unsafe at all. Then again I didn’t feel that unsafe that year I spent in Baghdad so maybe I’m just an idiot.
I think those are the same people that think that only sweaty fat guys ride the bus. i.e., people who have never taken public transportation in their lives.
I voted for “I do what I want without worrying,” since I live in what I regard as a safe, ordinary middle/upper middle class neighborhood.
My wife, on the other hand, thinks I’m reckless for not taking more precautions. I think nothing of going to the supermarket or taking a walk around the neighborhood at 10 PM. She’d never do that.
Gender and size matter, of course. As a tall male (albeit NOT a tough looking one), I guess I can afford to take “risks” that would seem daunting to a much smaller woman.
No, I mean the WTC/Fort Point end, I worked there in 1999-2001, back when there was very little there but warehouses and parking lots and the Barking Crab (although Lucky’s did open soon after. I loved Lucky’s). And by North Station I mean right at the Causeway/Canal/Friend Street area back in the 90s before they took down the elevated green line.
Ah, got it. I never go there. No reason to, really.
I worked in a hospital in downtown Detroit. I saw lots (as in at least 200-300) of people who had been shot. One was an innocent victim. She was watching the fireworks in downtown Detroit when someone fired at someone else and she got hit. Every other person was doing something dangerous, with 90% or more dealing or buying drugs. This convinced me that the US is much safer than people think it is.
Not really dangerous. I live in a suburb of Milwaukee. I can do more or less what I want and not be too concerned. I know where the bad parts of town are and keep aware of my surroundings during the day if I have to travel through them and try to avoid them at night if possible. But in general, just going from work to home, to the grocery store, mall etc. No, there’s not much concern for danger. I mean, people get robbed, mugged, shot, killed just like they would in any other major city but it’s mostly confined to a pretty specific area of the city. The amount of danger outside of that area would drive me batty if I were to start concerning myself with it (beyond a reasonable level of caution: aware of my surroundings when I walk out of work at night, lock my doors when I go to bed, I cover up the tools in the back of my car when I’m at Home Depot, etc).