Errands after dark - am I the only one reconsidering

[Anonymous]

I grew up in DC. Was in high school during the crack wars. I never walk anywhere alone at night and I rarely drive anywhere aline at night either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In college in the 90s we did "take back the night" marches and safe spaces and all that, but I was never duped that the world is actually safe..since Chandra Levy I haven't walked alone in a park and certainly wouldn't do errands after dark OR early morning. The current system/and changemakers don't "care" about crime victims. Not only are they not proactive, but not even reactive. Be wise and look out for Numero uno.

You’re insane.

It’s so insane that every university in the country has emergency phones all over campus and night time escort services?

If you don’t have access to an emergency phone or a night time escort, then avoiding walking alone at night time in areas where crime is a concern makes total sense.

What doesn’t make sense is to have so little regard for public safety.

Literally everyone has a cell phone.

Not if you’ve been robbed of your cell phone

[Anonymous]

Well considering I run alone in the dark in the morning, no I have no problem doing errands after dark alone.

I don’t live in DC but do live in a large city. I’m aware of my surroundings but will never live in fear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well considering I run alone in the dark in the morning, no I have no problem doing errands after dark alone.

I don’t live in DC but do live in a large city. I’m aware of my surroundings but will never live in fear.

I mean, good for you? It also. It also is perfectly legitimate for someone to say there is no way in hell I would ever run alone in the dark in a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well considering I run alone in the dark in the morning, no I have no problem doing errands after dark alone.

I don’t live in DC but do live in a large city. I’m aware of my surroundings but will never live in fear.

I get what you are saying, but lately I've been doing cost/benefit analysis on what things I should try. I was like you pre kids, but they are depending on me to be there for them now, so I am a little more cautious.
At the same time, they are getting older and I don't want them to be afraid all the time after dark, so I strategically take them out after dark and share with them the precautions I am taking. Hopefully they can use that info when they get older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well considering I run alone in the dark in the morning, no I have no problem doing errands after dark alone.

I don’t live in DC but do live in a large city. I’m aware of my surroundings but will never live in fear.

If you don’t live in DC I am not sure why your experience is relevant.

In DC, while it’s not a daily occurrence, about every 5 years or so a female jogger is murdered. This includes both on streets in populated areas considered “safe”, like Wendy Martinez being stabbed to death in Logan Circle, but more commonly murderers and sexual assaults are occurring on trails. The first one I remember is Joyce Chiang on the towpath in Georgetown, followed of course by Chandra Levy. While every time a woman goes out jogging in DC the risk is small, there is still nonetheless a real risk that many people take quite seriously, particularly sexual assault which is much more common.

I am not sure what value there is in diminishing that peoples real concern over there safety, particularly from another city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never gone anywhere alone at night.

[Anonymous]

I blame mental health not being prioritized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I blame mental health not being prioritized

When has mental health ever been prioritized in the US?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame mental health not being prioritized

When has mental health ever been prioritized in the US?

Honestly I think these camps of mentally ill people used to be cleared out the moment one of them caused any sort of problem with the public. Now you can't do that and progressives want to offer undefined services that obviously do not work with this population. So now you have to deal with being harassed whenever you want to take public transit or go to lunch and yes, deal with random violence.

[Anonymous]

We thought about DTSS because it was so much cheaper but due to the longer commute to downtown Washington on the red line, we bit the bullet and paid 20 percent more to live somewhere else. I’m so glad we did. Our neighborhood has not been free of crime — nowhere is — but it hasn’t suffered from nearly as much violent crime as DTSS. Even if we switched jobs and DTSS was closer to our new jobs I don’t think I’d want to move there now. I know a lot of people like DTSS and aren’t bothered by the crime, and I’m glad they found a place they like. For me it’s just too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I blame mental health not being prioritized

When has mental health ever been prioritized in the US?

Honestly I think these camps of mentally ill people used to be cleared out the moment one of them caused any sort of problem with the public. Now you can't do that and progressives want to offer undefined services that obviously do not work with this population. So now you have to deal with being harassed whenever you want to take public transit or go to lunch and yes, deal with random violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We thought about DTSS because it was so much cheaper but due to the longer commute to downtown Washington on the red line, we bit the bullet and paid 20 percent more to live somewhere else. I’m so glad we did. Our neighborhood has not been free of crime — nowhere is — but it hasn’t suffered from nearly as much violent crime as DTSS. Even if we switched jobs and DTSS was closer to our new jobs I don’t think I’d want to move there now. I know a lot of people like DTSS and aren’t bothered by the crime, and I’m glad they found a place they like. For me it’s just too much.

The people that are not bothered by the crime also seem to be the same people who support the enclavement of DTSS which results in making the neighborhood less convenient, as you deduced, and serves to increase crime. It’s unfortunate. While on an objective data basis it may not prove that your current neighborhood or DTSS are safer, the fact that you feel safer is very important and as you have also deduced, living under the constant uncertainty of how bad crime can get in that neighborhood has significant effects on your quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We thought about DTSS because it was so much cheaper but due to the longer commute to downtown Washington on the red line, we bit the bullet and paid 20 percent more to live somewhere else. I’m so glad we did. Our neighborhood has not been free of crime — nowhere is — but it hasn’t suffered from nearly as much violent crime as DTSS. Even if we switched jobs and DTSS was closer to our new jobs I don’t think I’d want to move there now. I know a lot of people like DTSS and aren’t bothered by the crime, and I’m glad they found a place they like. For me it’s just too much.

The people that are not bothered by the crime also seem to be the same people who support the enclavement of DTSS which results in making the neighborhood less convenient, as you deduced, and serves to increase crime. It’s unfortunate. While on an objective data basis it may not prove that your current neighborhood or DTSS are safer, the fact that you feel safer is very important and as you have also deduced, living under the constant uncertainty of how bad crime can get in that neighborhood has significant effects on your quality of life.

What is the "enclavement of DTSS"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A reported armed car jacking in DTSS at the Safeway around 7 pm!
Reported as a gun held to woman’s head.

Again, not midnight. Not 2:45 AM. Just after dinner time. Terrifying.
While I realize it gets dark earlier now, I’ve made it a point to go to CVS, Giant, gas station. etc. in the daylight. ATM use aside, I never gave much thought to running the typical evening errand. Until this winter.


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Life is overrated.

What matters is racial equity.