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As far as violent crime goes, I really have no fears here in Charlotte. But property crime is another story. I live in a gated apartment complex in what's considered southwest Charlotte and my car was stolen a few months ago (I got it back with minimal damage thank God) and recently my roommate's car was broken into. Needless to say, as soon as my lease is up here, I'm out of here; considering going back to York County, SC, just south of Charlotte.
I've been troubled by the crime that goes on here from time to time. However, I grew up in a small town in Maine. We never even closed our front door in the summer...just the screen door and we slept w/ all the windows open in the summer. After, I lived in the Suburbs of Boston and never really heard about crime in my area at all. So for me...when I moved here...I was SHOCKED and alarmed at the crime that goes on...
What she said. We were also shocked when we moved here from texas, how you can know SO many people that have been victims (mostly property crimes) is astounding. We rented a home that was actually the center of an identity theft ring and in the home we purchased we have had some things stolen from the backyard (despite our fence).
Many of my neighbors have either had their cars or homes broken into, and I live in a pretty well known middle class neighborhood. The complacency in regards to crime is hard to comprehend when you move here, if I could sell and come close to breaking even I would be gone. So many repeat offenders it is sickening, where I have spent my previous 30+ years any one of these criminals would have been locked up for years, not days or months.
All that said, it has seems to be improving in charlotte. But that felt more reassuring 2 weeks ago before we had another round of car break-ins where 20-30 cars where hit within 2 miles of my home.
I'm so sorry. Something has to be done about insurance companies. I can't believe it. They are the only industry that penalizes you for actually using their services. Seriously, it is crazy but that will have to be another thread.
I personally have been affected by crime here in charlotte. The night i moved into my expensive very nice apartment complex, I had my computer stolen out of my trunk. That was 3 1/2 years ago. 2 years ago, I had my car stolen (not from my complex). I actually had someone snatch my keys and run and take my car. It was found 30 days later (in Atlanta). I know crime can happen anywhere but the numbers show it is worse here. It does seem to be getting better. So that is good news..
I live on the "crime-ridden" East side and I have no worries. In fact, my keys stayed in my unlocked car last night... again.
I'm in a great school district (after Elementary), you could buy my house for well under $200K, my neighbors are great, I feel as safe as a bug in a rug and I'm convenient to everything... but if you asked about my neighborhood on this forum you'd have all the experts here on CD telling you to RUN, RUN AWAY, lol.
We had a strong armed robbery incident right in the complex parking lot at about 7 PM on a weeknight. In addition we have had numerous home invasion burglaries. Son, I don't feel as safe as I did in FL, NJ or especially PA. But its not like we are "living in fear"
Property crime concerns me, so I am very cautious about my own property, whether it is my vehicle, my home, or my handbag while I am walking in a parking lot.
But what worries me most would be violent crime. I worry about being accosted during a simple robbery (give me your purse) and someone going bonkers and shooting me. I am not so worried about being the victim of a deliberate homicide attempt, wh/ is what many of the actual deaths are here - the people knew one another.
I just play it safe w/ my routines. However, I also have many habits designed to help me stay safe.
I lived in one of the safest areas in America before moving back here. The few times any of us ever called the police (in that neighborhood) someone was there in about 3 minutes. The longest anyone had to wait (according to what neighbors said about their own experiences) was 7 minutes. Here in Charlotte, the one time I called b/c of someone banging on my door (appeared to be a druggie) around midnite on a Saturday, the police did not arrive for about 45 minutes - and during that time I had called them an additional time asking where the hell they were. Of course, by the time they finally arrived, the guy had wandered off. We had made the mistake of opening the door when he first started banging b/c we had just moved here 3 weeks b/f and were just not prepared for nutballs banging on our door - we assumed it had to be a neighbor with a problem. So I learned early on that I was gonna have to be responsible for my own home safety.
We didn't own any guns when we moved here. I quickly found out from my neighbors (none of whom are natives) that they all own guns - and feel they need to - b/c of police response time. Two of my neighbors told us, after our incident, that we needed to greet anyone we didn't know at the door holding a shotgun in the future. I believed them.
I live on the "crime-ridden" East side and I have no worries. In fact, my keys stayed in my unlocked car last night... again.
I'm in a great school district (after Elementary), you could buy my house for well under $200K, my neighbors are great, I feel as safe as a bug in a rug and I'm convenient to everything... but if you asked about my neighborhood on this forum you'd have all the experts here on CD telling you to RUN, RUN AWAY, lol.
I have found that to be true about these boards and neighborhoods in general. It does help to know the general perception of an area.
I rarely answer the door. I usually only answer the door when I know someone is coming over. Most of the time it is someone trying to sell me something. I plan on doing the same thing once I move into my house. We'll have an alarm system that will be armed while we are in the house at night. We also have noisy dogs as early warning alarms. I am not expecting any problem but you never know.
I live on the "crime-ridden" East side and I have no worries. In fact, my keys stayed in my unlocked car last night... again.
Not sure that is something I would brag about. We had 12 cars "broken" into in our neighborhood 2 weeks ago and 0 the month before. All were unlocked and probably not for the first time. If you want to play the odds well then I guess that is for you to decide, its your property. On a related note, we also had a car stolen from our community (SW charlotte) that was later used in a bank robbery in the university area.
I definitely don't live in fear but I will say this... I had always thought about getting a CCW permit but never did until I moved here.
I wouldn't call charlotte "Crime ridden" (okay maybe some parts, west blvd comes to mind) but I also wouldn't be naive about the level of crime. Crime happens everywhere but Charlotte happens to be well above the national avg for property crime. That's all I'm saying.
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This is sooo true...
