Crime issues in Dillon? (Vail: high crime, homes, income)

[gc57]

I saw on Best Places by Sperling that the crime in Dillon bad. Anyone know about this?

[jazzlover]

Can't speak to Dillon specifically, but resort areas almost always show high crime figures--for a couple of reasons. First, the crime stats are generally stated in numbers of crimes per capita of PERMANENT residents. Since resort areas have populations of part-time residents that often double the true population of the community, that tends to skew the stats. Second, resort areas tend to attract a lot transient-type workers along with a lot of transient tourists. Because of this, there can tend to be a lot of property-type crime--thefts, burglaries, etc., along with some drug-trafficking and the like not so prevalent in "normal" commmunities.

I will incur the ire of many residents of these resort areas when I say this, but I consider them fun places to visit, but generally lousy places to live. They just are not usually anything akin to a "normal" community socially or economically, and some increased crime is just part of that abnormalcy. In most of those resort towns, the people living in those fancy trophy homes generally only do so for a small part of the year, don't depend on the local economy, and have the freedom to spend their time elsewhere pretty much anytime they choose. That is a whole lot different than trying to make a living in one of those places year-round, and deal with all of the issues of trying to survive in a high-cost, low-income environment.

[CosmicWizard]

jazzlover wrote:

I will incur the ire of many residents of these resort areas when I say this, but I consider them fun places to visit, but generally lousy places to live. They just are not usually anything akin to a "normal" community socially or economically,

I'll venture a guess that many people who choose to live in those places are not looking for a "normal" community. Rather than incurring their ire they might be thanking you for reminding them that they have found a place to live that is not "normal".

[whirnot]

Jazzlover,
I think you hit it dead on. From one that was born and raised, and then driven out of one of those resort areas, by the extreme cost.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Can't speak to Dillon specifically, but resort areas almost always show high crime figures--for a couple of reasons. First, the crime stats are generally stated in numbers of crimes per capita of PERMANENT residents. Since resort areas have populations of part-time residents that often double the true population of the community, that tends to skew the stats. Second, resort areas tend to attract a lot transient-type workers along with a lot of transient tourists. Because of this, there can tend to be a lot of property-type crime--thefts, burglaries, etc., along with some drug-trafficking and the like not so prevalent in "normal" commmunities.

I will incur the ire of many residents of these resort areas when I say this, but I consider them fun places to visit, but generally lousy places to live. They just are not usually anything akin to a "normal" community socially or economically, and some increased crime is just part of that abnormalcy. In most of those resort towns, the people living in those fancy trophy homes generally only do so for a small part of the year, don't depend on the local economy, and have the freedom to spend their time elsewhere pretty much anytime they choose. That is a whole lot different than trying to make a living in one of those places year-round, and deal with all of the issues of trying to survive in a high-cost, low-income environment.

Pretty much true from my experience and it wasn't what I was expected. I was a victim of crime several times in Vail with everything from my car being broke into to my debit card being stolen via the post office(the dumbass bank sent the card already activated through the mail). Living in "normal" areas like Alabama and Pennsylvania, I've never had a problem with anything. Yet in Vail, I had to dial 911 too many times to remember.

I called in everything from drunk driving accidents, fights, domestic battery, you name it.

As you mentioned because the transient nature of the towns there is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse going on. I witnessed some crazy stuff living in Vail and Steamboat.

[sunny season]

I lived there for a few months, and I found that you have to be smart all the time, especially keep good care of belongings in your car and beware of the drunkens.