[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

You probably know what I mean.

Yeah I do.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

You said in the 90s and the 80s Florida was a serene. Crime is up about 1.7% from 2006 record low. Crime was literally twice as high in virtually every category throughout the 1980s, 90s got a little better but still worse than now. That's the "big change" everyone is talking about, crime finally went slightly up when it got lower per-capita than it ever has .

Ahhh...Well I know you like the stats but I'm talking about my experience. You look at it differently than me.

The numbers don't tell the whole story. You can't see where the numbers came from. You have entire counties that never experienced issues versus the crazy 80's in say, MIAMI. Well, I never went to Miami so it wasn't an issue.

Florida probably did have aggregate bad numbers but not anywhere that I lived. NOW, you have to make caveats all over the place about "it's not that bad" for the FLL suburbs etc. If you know what I mean.

I think it's pretty pathetic when you have to look at a tiny neighborhood like Vic Park and draw a distinction about staying south of 6th when the whole neighborhood is only a couple blocks big to begin with. Like stay away from 8th but 6th is ok. HUH?

That's the type of thing I'm referring to. Anyway, my point was that living in NYC a person can laugh off the concept of "crime" in Florida, but when you actually move here and try and spend mucho bucks on a permanent house it's tricky.

Even the idiot with the baseball bat assault on the cops is right couple blocks down in Lauderdale Lakes from where I was last week at Baers on Rt 7. Where I was telling the story about the guy at CVS running into Mainlands which goes from Commercial at Rt 7 to about 39th. The baseball bat kid's house is on 33rd at Rt 7. In fact I drove down there and turned right in his neighborhood LOL.

You may be right about the numbers but I think people have reason to wonder about their safety here now more than before. I may have been a bit off saying about 2000's but my kid had fewer problems finding better housing in the early 2000s than now, ttytt.

[compelled to reply]

See, that's the real problem. It has never been this EXPENSIVE in the history of the area. That makes it hard to find housing for many. As far as the whole "8th is bad, 6th is OK thing", well, that's actually a good thing in a way, because in many places there ARE no dividing lines, but yes neighborhoods shift and change.

[TNRyan23]

Originally Posted by carlos123

I went into some -real- bad sections of town once - with a minister who had to put a clerical ring around his neck so that the hoodlums wouldn't shoot him for being white.

That's lame...

[HowDeDo]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

The crime isn't that bad, its the RUDE PEOPLE and the HUGE FLYING ROACHES! You need a 6 shooter just to handle the roaches, and if you want, the rude people (Florida gives you the right to shoot if you feel threatened).

REPLY: Not just threatened..but if your LIFE is definetly threatened. Otherwise, shooting and killing someone because he invaded your space will wind up with you serving time.

[HowDeDo]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

I'm a 24 year old blonde haired blue eyed female and I teach in the south Bronx, more or less the most dangerous neighborhood in NYC. I worked a couple late nights and walked to the subway back in the dark. Nothing ever happened to me. If I can walk in the south Bronx at night, you can walk around in Florida just fine

REPLY: It sounds like you were just extremely lucky doing that ; did you have any sort of protection with you ; gun, pepper gas, knife, an Indiana Jones bull whip, or karate ? I cant understand why women dont value their safety enough (until something aweful happens).

[ChrisA70]

Not if they break into your house... BANG!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by HowDeDo

REPLY: Not just threatened..but if your LIFE is definetly threatened. Otherwise, shooting and killing someone because he invaded your space will wind up with you serving time.

[Rachael84]

Originally Posted by HowDeDo

REPLY: It sounds like you were just extremely lucky doing that ; did you have any sort of protection with you ; gun, pepper gas, knife, an Indiana Jones bull whip, or karate ? I cant understand why women dont value their safety enough (until something aweful happens).

I took judo as a kid and I have some of the strongest legs from playing ice hockey. I can protect myself pretty well.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by BacktoMA4good

Not if they break into your house... BANG!!!!!!!!!

but not in just walking around, that I lived for 30+ years in NYC did anything ever happen. Once somebody tried to break into our house in Queens at night while we were sleeping. He tried to get into our downstairs window directly under our bedroom. It woke me up. I woke up my husband who ran to the closet to his gun. I ran to the window and pushed out the window fan. It went crashing to the driveway below, just missing the guy. Do you think he stayed? He was long gone before my husband could get his gun out. In fact, that noise was enough to wake the dead. Half the neighborhood came out of their homes looking to see what had happened.

We called the NYPD. They seemed amused at what happened, but they did my husband a piece of advice. They said if you are going to shoot a burglar in your own home, make sure you "blow his brains out". "Dead men don't tell tales", was the advice they gave him.

The other time was when I was working in a dress shop in Manhattan. I was ironing a dress when a guy came in brandishing a knife and went for the cash register. I stood there and let him take the cash. He didn't run out with the cash, but started coming towards me. I was 19 at the time and it made me FURIOUS. You got your money. Get away from ME. I yanked the steam iron out of its socket and threw it at him. Hot water sprewed all over. The iron went crashing through the store's plate glass window. All the noise woke up the owner's doberman who was sleeping in the back. He came running, snarling, and barking into the store area. The guy ran out of that store like lightening with his "loot" of around $50. The owner told me she was happy that nothing had happened to me. The money and window could be replaced, she said.

[carlos123]

Originally Posted by TANaples

It is just a certain mindset in certain parts of this country. If you go around being afraid that something will happen to you, it probably will. Anyway, that is no way to live your life.

Being afraid...no...you are right...that is no way to live one's life. Being concerned is another thing.

What's worse is living in a place that simply won't allow law abiding citizens to protect themselves (i.e. Canada). It makes the populace cower before criminal elements if not in practice then in psychological effect.

I'm not saying that I would go buy a gun and carry it around in Florida...just in case. I don't think I would do that despite my rhetoric. As a Christian I am not sure I would have liberty to shoot someone dead and potentially send them to hell, when I know that if I died I would go to heaven. I don't think God would be pleased with that.

But it's nice to know that I can at least carry a Taser, mace, or something else to protect myself or my loved one's. Things that I can use to protect myself or others without outright killing the punks, hoodlums, and the like coming at me. I would like to live where that is allowed. Where such common sense is...well...common .

Carlos