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One could honestly argue based on that data that "Car theft is less common in Cary than it was15, 20 years ago"
Quote:
Originally Posted by m378
And that's just actual car thefts - there is a ton of property theft from cars that goes along with that. Sucks that you have to worry about things like that in a town like Cary, but it is what it is. I just wish they would call a spade a spade when it comes to crime in the town. First step is admitting there's a potential problem.
I've never understood the victim blaming when it comes to property thefts from cars. Of course you should lock your car, but people forget. It's not really ok that there's so many people roaming around at night checking cars.
I know people are going to come into this thread and tell me I'm crazy and that ”crime is everywhere” and I'm a big baby because Cary is soooooo safe. As I said in another thread, it's all a matter of what you're used to. I respect that others are used to various levels of crime, and this is only my personal opinion.
So...what are you used to that's significantly different?
I agree, its not ok, that said, if there were less opportunity, there would be fewer thieves. That's where some of the victim blaming comes in. They wouldn't be checking MY car door if there wasn't a certain percentage of unlocked cars with stuff to make it a worthwhile endeavor. The town I grew up in had a rash of thefts every spring, it seemed. It was a really nice, safe neighborhood, not unlike Cary, quintessential suburbia. But it was in the snow belt, and every spring people would start leaving their sliding/porch doors unlocked after using them for the first time in four months and every year, people would suddenly come home to petty cash or cameras or small electronics or jewelry missing. Within a week people would wise up and the problem would dry up, sometimes they'd catch someone selling their wares, sometimes not.
I agree, its not ok, that said, if there were less opportunity, there would be fewer thieves. That's where some of the victim blaming comes in. They wouldn't be checking MY car door if there wasn't a certain percentage of unlocked cars with stuff to make it a worthwhile endeavor. The town I grew up in had a rash of thefts every spring, it seemed. It was a really nice, safe neighborhood, not unlike Cary, quintessential suburbia. But it was in the snow belt, and every spring people would start leaving their sliding/porch doors unlocked after using them for the first time in four months and every year, people would suddenly come home to petty cash or cameras or small electronics or jewelry missing. Within a week people would wise up and the problem would dry up, sometimes they'd catch someone selling their wares, sometimes not.
I equate this stuff to people who get their accounts (email, social media etc) "hacked".
Leaving your car parked, unlocked, in your driveway makes about as much sense as using "password" as your GMail password. You're literally asking to be robbed/hacked.
Sure, I can use a 25 byte, leetspeak password with dashes on all my passwords and still get hacked (which is what I do and then store them in the passwords section of my iPhone). But the effort it would take a would be hacker would usually mean they would get frustrated and move on to the next (i.e. convenience factor).
Yes, your vehicle can still get robbed if you lock it in the driveway. But making it just a little harder to do works in your favor. Like my neighbor down the street. His son didn't lock his car in the driveway. Son had a garage door opener in his car. Thief got into that car, then used the garage door opener to open the garage and steal a bunch of stuff from the garage. Cops were called. Found a bunch of tools on the side of the road presumably from his garage.
Dude was dumbfounded and irate. "What kinda town do we live in!!!!!!"
Brah....not the kind of town you leave your ish unlocked in. You know what we don't do anymore either? Use leaded gas and hitchhike. Learn. Adapt.
So...what are you used to that's significantly different?
I agree, its not ok, that said, if there were less opportunity, there would be fewer thieves. That's where some of the victim blaming comes in. They wouldn't be checking MY car door if there wasn't a certain percentage of unlocked cars with stuff to make it a worthwhile endeavor. The town I grew up in had a rash of thefts every spring, it seemed. It was a really nice, safe neighborhood, not unlike Cary, quintessential suburbia. But it was in the snow belt, and every spring people would start leaving their sliding/porch doors unlocked after using them for the first time in four months and every year, people would suddenly come home to petty cash or cameras or small electronics or jewelry missing. Within a week people would wise up and the problem would dry up, sometimes they'd catch someone selling their wares, sometimes not.
I've gone through this several times, but will go through it again. Cary is a geographically very large town, and therefore has a large population. Due to its large population, it gets compared to smallish cities (not towns), which isn't really a fair comparison considering it's as suburban you can get. If you compare the crime rates in Cary to the crime rates of a suburban town in the northeast (I came from MA so I use MA as an example), it's not even close to apples to apples.
For example - annual property crimes in Winchester, MA, which is a suburb about 15 minutes outside Boston, has a property crime rate per 1000 people of 4.27:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Cary, has a property crime rate of more than double that, at 9.53:
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Since Winchester is sort of a snobby upper middle class town, I'll take the town next door, Stoneham, which is much more middle class. They have a rate of 6.84:
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I tried to find a town/city in MA with a similar property crime rate as Cary, and came up with Woburn:
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Those who are familiar with Woburn would likely laugh if you tried to compare it to Cary as far as overall desirability.
So there are some hard facts and data to back up my opinion that crime is higher in the Triangle than it should/could be. Again, it comes down to what you're used to.
I equate this stuff to people who get their accounts (email, social media etc) "hacked".
Leaving your car parked, unlocked, in your driveway makes about as much sense as using "password" as your GMail password. You're literally asking to be robbed/hacked.
Sure, I can use a 25 byte, leetspeak password with dashes on all my passwords and still get hacked (which is what I do and then store them in the passwords section of my iPhone). But the effort it would take a would be hacker would usually mean they would get frustrated and move on to the next (i.e. convenience factor).
Yes, your vehicle can still get robbed if you lock it in the driveway. But making it just a little harder to do works in your favor. Like my neighbor down the street. His son didn't lock his car in the driveway. Son had a garage door opener in his car. Thief got into that car, then used the garage door opener to open the garage and steal a bunch of stuff from the garage. Cops were called. Found a bunch of tools on the side of the road presumably from his garage.
Dude was dumbfounded and irate. "What kinda town do we live in!!!!!!"
Brah....not the kind of town you leave your ish unlocked in. You know what we don't do anymore either? Use leaded gas and hitchhike. Learn. Adapt.
This is essentially the thought behind the home safety evaluations the police will do...or did in the past. I had a Cary police officer come to my house and give me tips to make it "safer" aka less likely to get robbed. All of the suggestions were designed at slowing down potential thieves so they move on to an easier target. Locking your car door does this. We have been putting on notices about this for years through our neighborhood listserv and I am amazed so many people are still not locking their car doors. We have also suggested removing the garage door opener from the car and locking the door into the house from the garage. Years ago I read on here about a break in that happened in Preston. A guy went into an unlocked car, opened a garage and then walked into the unlocked house. A girl was awake and noticed him. She and a family member called the police and hid in the closet. He heard the police cars and left the house. None of this is new.
I've gone through this several times, but will go through it again. Cary is a geographically very large town, and therefore has a large population. Due to its large population, it gets compared to smallish cities (not towns), which isn't really a fair comparison considering it's as suburban you can get. If you compare the crime rates in Cary to the crime rates of a suburban town in the northeast (I came from MA so I use MA as an example), it's not even close to apples to apples.
For example - annual property crimes in Winchester, MA, which is a suburb about 15 minutes outside Boston, has a property crime rate per 1000 people of 4.27:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Cary, has a property crime rate of more than double that, at 9.53:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Since Winchester is sort of a snobby upper middle class town, I'll take the town next door, Stoneham, which is much more middle class. They have a rate of 6.84:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor siteI tried to find a town/city in MA with a similar property crime rate as Cary, and came up with Woburn:
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site Those who are familiar with Woburn would likely laugh if you tried to compare it to Cary as far as overall desirability.
So there are some hard facts and data to back up my opinion that crime is higher in the Triangle than it should/could be. Again, it comes down to what you're used to.
Hahahaha very true. I am far from an expert on Cary....but even the handful of times I have been there, Woburn it is not.
How does Cary comp to say Framingham, Billerica, Easton or Plymouth?
I am trying to think of middle class towns/cities that are somewhat close to areas "assumed to have more crime" (the Woo to Framingham, Lowell/Dracut to Billerica, Brockton to Easton, South Plymouth/Wareham to Plymouth).
I will add, I do think one of the factors that plays here that doesnt back in MA (and fully admit this is a "feels" thing, I can't prove it)....this area is full of transient populations.
In MA, pick your town of choice, Billerica. The town is largely made up of people who have been there forever. They are connected to the place. They know the place. They view the place as theirs. Compare that to say my corner of my neighborhood. There are three families of native NC'ers. Greensboro Native/Burlington native, Faulkland native/Fayetteville native, Clayton native/North Raleigh "native" (moved here when they were 4).
Everyone else is from out of state. And the longest any of us have been in NC is 10 years.
My point is....when you live in an area where you don't have the roots...maybe the hesitation factor in the "should I check this car door or not" is minimized without the respect for your area/neighbors.
Again, maybe there is nothing to this last point. But I feel like, everything else being equal (i.e. parents who taught someone right from wrong), the lack of connection carries something.
Hahahaha very true. I am far from an expert on Cary....but even the handful of times I have been there, Woburn it is not.
How does Cary comp to say Framingham, Billerica, Easton or Plymouth?
I am trying to think of middle class towns/cities that are somewhat close to areas "assumed to have more crime" (the Woo to Framingham, Lowell/Dracut to Billerica, Brockton to Easton, South Plymouth/Wareham to Plymouth)
Thanks for pulling these. So Cary sits between an Easton and a Plymouth/Framingham in terms of property crime.
Easton, albeit waaaaaaay smaller than Cary, as a similar median household income and property crime rate to Cary. Not sure what to make of that, just reading the numbers.
Thanks for pulling these. So Cary sits between an Easton and a Plymouth/Framingham in terms of property crime.
Easton, albeit waaaaaaay smaller than Cary, as a similar median household income and property crime rate to Cary. Not sure what to make of that, just reading the numbers.
Is that cost-of-living adjusted? I would assume Billerica's median household income is lower than Cary, but crime rate is less than half.
Just checked. Median HHI
Easton - 106K
Cary - 107K
So yeah, just estimating, but adjusting for COL Easton probably has a 10-15% lower HHI. Maybe more.
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