East Liberty is still old East Liberty I guess (Pittsburgh: 2015, neighborhoods)

[gg]

What I think people may be missing a bit here is this happened in the middle of a busy time at a shopping center parking lot. It was a beautiful sunny day, not at night when one would think your guard needs to be higher. This was a theft from someone in front of plenty of people. I hope the cameras did their job.

I have been calling bike shops looking for a certain lock to add to my current lock and have been hearing bike theft is up in our area and it seems to really be out of control. The city sure is a tough place to enjoy sometimes. One always need to look over their shoulder. I think I am going to up my protection in every direction. It isn't going to get better in that region anytime soon.

[gg]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I've had two bikes stolen since moving to Pittsburgh seven years ago. Both were locked up downtown. I guess downtown is a bad neighborhood?

For MOST people in the world the answer to your question would be, "yes". Bikes shouldn't be stolen. It is unacceptable behavior and you had it happen TWICE! Ask anyone living out in Butler County that question. Really in any county except Allegheny in Western PA would answer, "yes", Pittsburgh is a bad neighborhood. Don't believe me? I frequent many Northwestern counties all the time because my dad lives up there. They all think we are crazy living amongst all this crime. Maybe they are right, but we live it.

[Scott2187]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

For MOST people in the world the answer to your question would be, "yes". Bikes shouldn't be stolen. It is unacceptable behavior and you had it happen TWICE! Ask anyone living out in Butler County that question. Really in any county except Allegheny in Western PA would answer, "yes", Pittsburgh is a bad neighborhood. Don't believe me? I frequent many Northwestern counties all the time because my dad lives up there. They all think we are crazy living amongst all this crime. Maybe they are right, but we live it.

A lot of people i've talked to with this attitude that the city is some horrible place to live are stuck in the past. They think nothing has changed, but they are greatly wrong. When I first started Pitt in 2004, i wouldn't go anywhere near East Liberty or the surrounding neighborhoods. These days, I live close to East Liberty and my typical running route goes right through the area (up Negley to 5th ave, come back around on Highland Ave to Stanton ave). Yes, i don't go down the side streets, so i don't have any trouble, but neither am i looking for it. My point is that the city isn't some crime ridden wasteland from some horror movie, and people who don't live here, or don't visit here often -- even those in the burbs that don't come in often -- will just claim it's too dangerous.

It sucks that your bike was attempted to be stolen, and that someone's was actually taken. This kind of thing could happen absolutely anywhere, so i don't think saying East Liberty is the same old way is relevant here. If I'm in any busy areas with my bike, no matter what neighborhood, I lock it up to the point where it's not worth the effort to even try taking it. That's my form protecting my possessions. When it comes to protecting myself... my second amendment rights come in handy.

[GoatTheKing]

I lived in Madison, WI for a decade. It's a totally nice, safe, pleasant place to live. Most cities would be so fortunate to feel as safe as Madison.

But bikes were being stolen _constantly_. It was actually really frustrating. But it didn't seem to have any sort of correlation with any other quality of life / crime sorts of issues. Bike theft just seems to be one of those things that a much broader section of people are willing to try to get away with than other crimes.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Scott2187

A lot of people i've talked to with this attitude that the city is some horrible place to live are stuck in the past.

How many shootings in the city are reported daily? How many go unreported? How many stabbings? Theft is all the time everywhere in the city. You need to talk to people through a wall of glass at banks in the city. You can shake their hands in the burbs. Are they really living in the dark ages when they walk into a bank that has a big glass wall in front of them when they are used to shaking the teller's hand?

Look I am in East Liberty and much of the city riding my bike or walking at least 5 days a week. That isn't the same as driving through the city in some car/suv. It isn't for everyone, but I am comfortable doing it because I have been doing it for decades. I have ridden through Larimer at night on my bike plenty of times. Never got shot at, but you never know. Yes, I said Larimer at night. It was the quickest way to the Food Co-op from my rental on Stanton, so I just did it. Had a bunch of teens race me on Meadow on their bikes one night. I think they were shocked to see whitey in their hood at that hour and they actually thought it was funny. I laughed with them. They probably assumed I was carrying. Maybe I was? Anyway attitude isn't a bad thing to have in the city. There are limits to us all however and hopefully everyone knows theirs.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by GoatTheKing

I lived in Madison, WI for a decade. It's a totally nice, safe, pleasant place to live. Most cities would be so fortunate to feel as safe as Madison. But bikes were being stolen _constantly_. It was actually really frustrating. But it didn't seem to have any sort of correlation with any other quality of life / crime sorts of issues. Bike theft just seems to be one of those things that a much broader section of people are willing to try to get away with than other crimes.

Same thing in Ann Arbor, MI--very nice town, home of the University of Michigan, and plagued with bike thefts.

By the way, this is from the NPR article above:

Symmes was able to secure a copy of the surveillance tape of the moment his bike was stolen. The tape caught two thieves as they sawed and hammered through his bike lock for 17 minutes. He estimates that 142 people walked by and only one tried to intervene.

There is a lot more in this related article:

Stolen Bikes

A taste:

I used to stay up late watching the film of my bicycle being stolen. . . . Rewinding—past all the New Yorkers striding backward toward lunch; past the Algonquin and Royalton hotels inhaling crowds and the door of the Harvard Club admitting well-fed members; past the New York Yacht Club looming impassively like a beached galleon; past all the finery and civility of West 44th Street . . . . Maybe it was the sunshine in winter or the teeming crowds or the expensive real estate. Maybe it was the hope—naive, but apparently endemic—that it would never happen to me. Not that quickly. Not in broad daylight.

Sure would be a shame if East Liberty turned out like that neighborhood.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Talk about a silly comparison. I mean this was a theft of confrontation, not theft from a porch with no one there. Totally different. When confronted with people stealing from your person, it would be a rather different experience than theft from a unlocked item sitting out for someone to take.

The only reason there was a confrontation is because someone caught the theif in the act. The confrontation could have easily happened anywhere, even Squirrel Hill, if an owner went chasing after a thief. While it's terrible to have a bike stolen, it's not representative of a bad neighborhood.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Scott2187

A lot of people i've talked to with this attitude that the city is some horrible place to live are stuck in the past. They think nothing has changed, but they are greatly wrong. When I first started Pitt in 2004, i wouldn't go anywhere near East Liberty or the surrounding neighborhoods. These days, I live close to East Liberty and my typical running route goes right through the area (up Negley to 5th ave, come back around on Highland Ave to Stanton ave). Yes, i don't go down the side streets, so i don't have any trouble, but neither am i looking for it. My point is that the city isn't some crime ridden wasteland from some horror movie, and people who don't live here, or don't visit here often -- even those in the burbs that don't come in often -- will just claim it's too dangerous.

It sucks that your bike was attempted to be stolen, and that someone's was actually taken. This kind of thing could happen absolutely anywhere, so i don't think saying East Liberty is the same old way is relevant here. If I'm in any busy areas with my bike, no matter what neighborhood, I lock it up to the point where it's not worth the effort to even try taking it. That's my form protecting my possessions. When it comes to protecting myself... my second amendment rights come in handy.

Well, this seems to have happened yesterday, so yeah, I guess it was in the past!

Originally Posted by GoatTheKing

I lived in Madison, WI for a decade. It's a totally nice, safe, pleasant place to live. Most cities would be so fortunate to feel as safe as Madison.

But bikes were being stolen _constantly_. It was actually really frustrating. But it didn't seem to have any sort of correlation with any other quality of life / crime sorts of issues. Bike theft just seems to be one of those things that a much broader section of people are willing to try to get away with than other crimes.

Champaign, IL too, another college town. Champaign actually had quite a bit of theft when I lived there. Just about everyone I knew had had a bike stolen. I had one stolen from the parking garage of my apt. building. Also lots of people had their apartments robbed.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Well, this seems to have happened yesterday, so yeah, I guess it was in the past!



Champaign, IL too, another college town. Champaign actually had quite a bit of theft when I lived there. Just about everyone I knew had had a bike stolen. I had one stolen from the parking garage of my apt. building. Also lots of people had their apartments robbed.

that type of crime is quite common in any college town. living in Oakland (Pitt), I had 3 friends whose apartments were robbed. One had his car stolen. Sexual assaults were also fairly commonplace.

[SteelCityRising]

My partner lives on Alder Street in Shadyside. His apartment is within a very short walk of Pittsburgh's most premier and upscale destinations. His roommate's bike was stolen last week, which is proof that crime can happen anywhere.