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Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 18 days ago)
35,669 posts, read 18,034,145 times
Reputation: 50718
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I saw New Orleans mentioned SO MANY TIMES in this thread, and I agree. I love the city, but you go to the Garden District (lovely) during the day, and the French Quarter during the evening, and stay with the tourist crowds. Leave when the crowds thin. Like, about 11 pm.
I go to New Orleans frequently, and one time I got up in the morning to do an exercise walk and ended up slightly outside of the French Quarter and God help me, I thought, I hope I survive this mistake and get back into the tourist French Quarter. It was the same exact feeling I had one time swimming in the ocean and was caught up in a rip tide and prayed to God I could make it to shore.
New Orleans is very safe for tourists who stay in the tourist districts. Everyone else can be there at their peril.
Another time, I was in Galveston dropping off family at the Cruise Ship port, for a Cruise Vacation, and stopped to get gas and use the bathroom at a gas station. Um, NOPE, get back in my car and speedy quick drive away. NOT SAFE.
A story from my friend, who visited New Orleans 20 years ago: a street guy bet him $20 that he could tell my friend where he got his shoes. My friend ignored his wife’s entreaties, and took the bet. The guy said, “you got your shoes on your feet”, as five or six of his friends moved in. This time, my friend listened to his wife, handed over the $20, and got out of there......
Miami was the only place I felt unsafe. It was the early 80s, and there was one of those situations where white cops had shot a black guy under questionable circumstances. The trial was moved from Miami to Tampa, and the cops got off.
My friend and I had flown to Miami to stay with her former neighbors. We drove all over Florida and made it back to Miami just when the verdict was announced. The city broke out in riots and people set buildings on fire. We were in a quiet neighborhood away from the violence, but we couldn't go anywhere. People were shooting randomly at cars on the main highway going east. We had to fly out two days later, and when we took off, we could see fires still burning in the city.
Jesus I can't believe how exaggerated drama-queenery so many folks are about New Orleans.
Everyone has a comfort level. I grew up in a small city with a fairly low crime rate (at the time), and big cities and higher crime rate areas scared me. I eventually got over that.
My brother took to me to NYC often in the 1970s and I didn't die. I did learn to not go to high(er) crime areas alone. I'm a sixty something white female. I may as well wear a T-shirt with a target on the back.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 18 days ago)
35,669 posts, read 18,034,145 times
Reputation: 50718
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang
Jesus I can't believe how exaggerated drama-queenery so many folks are about New Orleans.
It's not drama queenery, liegiang. It's the folks who LIVE there, just off the French Quarter, who will tell you where not to be. The uber and lyft drivers also. "Now, I'll take you there in daylight but you won't find an uber or lyft driver to pick you up after midnight over there".
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 18 days ago)
35,669 posts, read 18,034,145 times
Reputation: 50718
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerania
Everyone has a comfort level. I grew up in a small city with a fairly low crime rate (at the time), and big cities and higher crime rate areas scared me. I eventually got over that.
My brother took to me to NYC often in the 1970s and I didn't die. I did learn to not go to high(er) crime areas alone. I'm a sixty something white female. I may as well wear a T-shirt with a target on the back.
I'm basically fearless. I hike deserted trails alone, I travel cross country alone and stay in cheaper motels, I don't lock my house or my car, but there are certain areas you ought not go into if you expect to be safe.
I can FEEL it, and also, there are people who will helpfully tell you what to avoid.
It's not that it's a big city. It's that there's someone around the corner who will stab you for your purse.
And those who don't calculate and understand those risks, well, get stabbed.
There is one place I truly felt unsafe and that was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. So much that I’d never go back.
Interesting. I walked around there a few years back during a cruise stop and it definitely felt seedy but I didn’t feel unsafe - but I stuck to the well-traveled areas and it was midday.
Interesting. I walked around there a few years back during a cruise stop and it definitely felt seedy but I didn’t feel unsafe - but I stuck to the well-traveled areas and it was midday.
We stayed in a resort. All was well in the resort. We decided to leave. There was a craft bazaar right up the road that I saw coming in.
There were lots of natives waiting at the gate for us to come out. One told us he would show us how to get there. He started heading in a different direction from what I remembered. I said I think this is the wrong way. He said “shortcut”. I felt very uneasy. A cop walked toward us and the guy took off. The cop told us not to go the way we were headed.
I turned and went the way I remembered all the while being pressured to buy drugs and other wares by those we passed along the way.
When we got to the bazaar, the guy who took off was waiting there for us saying we now had to pay him for “showing us around”.
We also took a boat hired by the resort on a different day. They picked up locals who were proceeding to try and sell drugs and other wares as well.
I won’t go back.
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