Spillover Crime?? (Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Irvine: neighborhood, living, gangs)

[jason213]

Just curious, do some of the nice safe cities in OC like Irvine and Huntington Beach experience any crime spilling over from the rougher places like Santa Ana? It just seems like there would be judging by how close all these places are to eachother.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Not too much. Santa Ana is its own little world. Besides, the cops in places like Irvine, FV, and HB know who belongs there and who doesn't.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

This is not the type of environment that gangsters thrive on. If they come to Newport, they will stick out like a sore-thumb. People are going to watch every move they make. (*Cell phone in hand)

However, there are no gates. Gangsters can come through late at night with few if any witnesses.

[OCCASparky]

Originally Posted by jason213

Just curious, do some of the nice safe cities in OC like Irvine and Huntington Beach experience any crime spilling over from the rougher places like Santa Ana? It just seems like there would be judging by how close all these places are to eachother.

In a word, yes. I used to live in Fountain Valley and the gang-bangers from Santa Ana would come over (even had a high-speed chase or two in my neighborhood).

[jason213]

I guess its still just a little hard for me to grasp living so close to some of those bad areas because I live in a city in Canada of about 60,000 people where crime is virtually non-existant, and surrounded by nothing but prairies.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Originally Posted by jason213

I guess its still just a little hard for me to grasp living so close to some of those bad areas because I live in a city in Canada of about 60,000 people where crime is virtually non-existant, and surrounded by nothing but prairies.

Don't worry about it. Crime is mostly non-existant in much of Southern and Coastal OC. It's very laid-back and beautiful. Take a trip here! You'll see.. You won't find the cold northern people here either. It's very warm and friendly. (well, then again maybe not so much some northern areas unless you 'habla espanol..')

[Sassberto]

as newportbeachsmostwanted said.. there are no gates. Even in the toniest areas (especially the coastal areas) you are going to have car thefts, commercial robberies, residential break-in, domestic issues, drunks fighting, gangsters having BBQ's at the beach (you see them in HB).

That being said - there is a big difference between a stolen car and a shooting. When it comes to street robberies, shootings, beatings... thugs don't want to hang out where they are noticed... they stay close to home. They prey on the poor, not the wealthy, and it's a big bad self-fulfilling prophecy of exploitation and poverty.

Even though SoCal seems suburban it's just one big fluid metro. So you can't insulate yourself completely without locking yourself behind a gate.

[Zandar]

Sothern Orange County still feels pretty safe to me, but I've been hearing of more and more encroachment. Shootings, stabbings, rapes, being held at gunpoint, etc. The LA criminals are starting to commute to where the money is, just like people in Orange County used to commute to LA for jobs. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so violent.

[fpbear]

As OC has become more populated and LA police have become more effective, criminals are increasingly spilling over to OC. They will travel. But the interesting thing is that they tend to stay close to the major freeways for a quick getaway. For example along the I5, or along the 91 fwy. If you live in a community that is further from the major freeways or major arterial boulevards, it can stay very safe. The criminals don't venture into the smaller streets. Maybe they are too stupid to use a map, just a theory.