[tallrick]

From what I see the undesirables often live within the "gated community" Also nothing to stop someone from hopping the fence and stealing some goodies. I prefer to use my right to shoot in Florida than rely on some minimum wage security guard and some gates. If parents do their job pedophiles would have a harder time doing their dirty deeds. Believe it of not. none of the homes I lived in were ever broken into. There's nothing to steal anyway.

[Wings]

Can you give me one real example of someone within a gated community committing a serious crime within? you can shoot criminals to your hearts content as far as I'm concerned but I prefer not to have to stand over my children with a gun 24/7 if a better option exists.

[browser]

Originally Posted by Wings

If you have ever been a victim of crime you might think differently. I agree that I wish there wasn't a NEED for gated communities. There are far too many thieves and pedophiles to rule out living in a controlled access community.

Frankly, I've lived in both and find little security and much inconvenience from gates. Automatic gates are a complete joke, any need to really explain?. Gates with guards are only as good as the person at the gate. I've talked my way into so many communities I've lost count(while house shopping). Very few communities have strong consistently implemented policies. And none of these gates stop walk-ins. The crime rate in the gated community across the street from our very similar neigborhood was much higher, it just seemed to be more attractive to thieves. Always check with the local police, many times they will give crime rates by neighborhood for comparison. People tend to be more complacent in gated communities assuming that only authorized vehicles can get in and are less likely to be suspicious of strangers.
A good house monitoring system, decent neighborhood watch, and a little paranoia, is worth far more.

Just my personal experience, your mileage may vary.