I had more guns pointed at me and got in more fights in bars and elsewhere when I lived in rural America than I did since moving to DC.

ITT: examples of how bad our species is at risk assessment (see also health & medicine forum)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You leave and don’t look back. DC government has demonstrated it doesn’t care. It would take significant changes for things to change. Maybe in 20 years. There are too many other places to live where you don’t have to worry about this amount of crime.

Not OP but the problem for me is that I don't agree this is true. Everything is a trade off. Sure, I can move somewhere with a lot less crime, but add an hour to my commute daily and lose the same sense of community I have where I am. I like that I can walk/bike most places now -- easy incidental exercise, better for the environment, better for my mental health. Losing that isn't a small thing to me.

There are townships with their own school pyramid and police force. They don’t have this problem at all. Even when in or near urban areas with crime and delinquency in the schools.

Which are extremely segregated, have super high taxes are in boring, insular areas.

I'll take boring and insular over having to fear that my five-year-old son will be hit by a stray bullet. I'll also take boring and insular over living in a city that is ruled by roving bands of teens wearing balaclavas. Nothing else matters if you don't feel safe when you leave your house.

+1. There is nothing cool enough in DC that would entice me to risk the lives of my children. I just don't understand it.

My new neighbors in Clarksburg recently moved here from DC and don't have a single regret. There are some lifestyle tradeoffs, sure. They can no longer go on a quick metro ride or walk to a bar or restaurant, but they haven't lost anything else mentioned here. It is a nice, safe, friendly community where the neighbors have cookouts together, their kid plays basketball with the neighborhood kids every day; kids everywhere safely play in playgrounds or ride their bikes; a few minutes from Black Hill regional park, Sugarloaf Mountain, while still being close to amenities. At some point, your lifestyle changes once you have a kid and I think suburban life makes things easier for families to raise children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the city and our kids attend solid schools (one DCPS and one charter). We love our neighborhood, our friends and our life here. But we are increasingly uncomfortable with the level of unchecked crime happening in the city and the hopelessness we feel about things getting better.

I know things have been a lot worse in the city in the past. But each year, we seem to be going further backwards. Neighborhood stores are closing because they can't operate with this level of crime. There are shootings and car jackings in our neighborhood, where that was unheard of before. I drive by cars everyday up on blocks because the wheels were stolen. And I have a constant feeling of "wtf" because Bowser and the Council seem to either not care or not have a realistic plan to fix it.

When is it time to call it quits?

I am more concerned about getting lynched or attacked by a rural methhead than any crime in DC.

Yeah, right

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You leave and don’t look back. DC government has demonstrated it doesn’t care. It would take significant changes for things to change. Maybe in 20 years. There are too many other places to live where you don’t have to worry about this amount of crime.

Not OP but the problem for me is that I don't agree this is true. Everything is a trade off. Sure, I can move somewhere with a lot less crime, but add an hour to my commute daily and lose the same sense of community I have where I am. I like that I can walk/bike most places now -- easy incidental exercise, better for the environment, better for my mental health. Losing that isn't a small thing to me.

There are townships with their own school pyramid and police force. They don’t have this problem at all. Even when in or near urban areas with crime and delinquency in the schools.

Which are extremely segregated, have super high taxes are in boring, insular areas.

I'll take boring and insular over having to fear that my five-year-old son will be hit by a stray bullet. I'll also take boring and insular over living in a city that is ruled by roving bands of teens wearing balaclavas. Nothing else matters if you don't feel safe when you leave your house.

+1. There is nothing cool enough in DC that would entice me to risk the lives of my children. I just don't understand it.

I'm the 12:06 poster. The risk works both ways though. We don't even own a car, we walk everywhere, which means the risk that my kids are killed in a car accident is significantly lower than yours. Plus, add in the physical and mental health benefits of a walking lifestyle vs. a driving one (depression, anxiety and suicide risk all being big problems for kids and teens today, all of which can be decreased with more exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle contributing to many, many current causes of death in this country).

Also, I live in Columbia Heights (gasp!!!) and I've literally never seen a "roving band of teens wearing balaclavas."

I live in Columbia Heights with a toddler. Concerned about crime but not to the point I'm considering moving. I personally have not felt unsafe in my neighborhood.

I live in DC, am worried about the crime, and have no hangups about living in the suburbs.

But moving to the suburbs means becoming car dependent, which currently we are not. It's not a small thing, it's huge. Even if you can find a little suburban township where the town is walkable, it is often not connected via public transportation to everywhere else you might go (work, the doctors office and dentist, the movies, your kid's activities, etc.). And even if it's connected to these things (rare) using public transit to get there is time consuming because everything is more spread out.

So even if you can find a suburb with some walkability and public transit (which is, on it's own, actually really hard, especially if you also want good schools), you will pay for it with time as you add a lot of time to all of your transportation.

And many of the suburbs I'm currently describing? Also have seen upticks in crime, including precisely the crime that OP is concerned about (carjackings, muggings, etc.).

Then add in the school issue. Schools in DC can be really hard, but because of the lottery, there are options and people make it work. Outside DC, you HAVE to buy in bound for the schools you want to attend, which is expensive an can cost you in terms of walkability and commute times.

It's not this obvious choice people make it out to be. I actively want to move to the suburbs, and I'm struggling to find one where (1) we can afford a home, (2) the schools are as good or better than what we currently have access to, (3) crime is significantly lower and not trending poorly, and (4) there is a reasonable amount of walkability and not a massive increase in commute time.

If anyone knows of one that fits the bill, tell me! As it stands, we always wind up back on "stay in DC" as the better of two imperfect options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You leave and don’t look back. DC government has demonstrated it doesn’t care. It would take significant changes for things to change. Maybe in 20 years. There are too many other places to live where you don’t have to worry about this amount of crime.

Not OP but the problem for me is that I don't agree this is true. Everything is a trade off. Sure, I can move somewhere with a lot less crime, but add an hour to my commute daily and lose the same sense of community I have where I am. I like that I can walk/bike most places now -- easy incidental exercise, better for the environment, better for my mental health. Losing that isn't a small thing to me.

There are townships with their own school pyramid and police force. They don’t have this problem at all. Even when in or near urban areas with crime and delinquency in the schools.

Which are extremely segregated, have super high taxes are in boring, insular areas.

I'll take boring and insular over having to fear that my five-year-old son will be hit by a stray bullet. I'll also take boring and insular over living in a city that is ruled by roving bands of teens wearing balaclavas. Nothing else matters if you don't feel safe when you leave your house.

+1. There is nothing cool enough in DC that would entice me to risk the lives of my children. I just don't understand it.

Anonymous wrote:What neighborhood are you in, OP?

Fairfax. Crime is insane. It is that governor.

Every one of these threads eventually becomes this:

City people: I could NEVER live in the soulless suburbs amongst the uncultured Applebees lovers!

Suburban people: OMG if you live in the city you will 100% be murdered!

https://www.wsj.com/story/murder-rates-soar-in-rural-america-bb431022


just sayin'

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re almost there. Our tipping point might just be replacing our old beater car. Our biggest consideration for brand, model and year isn’t comfort, reliability or safety but the likelihood of theft and vandalism. It’s sad.

Def don’t get a Honda.
Highest theft rate in the world here in wash dC. For parts and whole car. Easy to steal.

I thought the Korean brands were the popular cars to steal these days. Smash and grabs seem to have no preference based on what I read on my neighbourhood listserv. The thieves just pick a block and smash the windows on all of the lucky cars that happen to be parked there.

Correct, the Honda's have wheel locks and theft protection systems built in, and have for years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in the city and our kids attend solid schools (one DCPS and one charter). We love our neighborhood, our friends and our life here. But we are increasingly uncomfortable with the level of unchecked crime happening in the city and the hopelessness we feel about things getting better.

I know things have been a lot worse in the city in the past. But each year, we seem to be going further backwards. Neighborhood stores are closing because they can't operate with this level of crime. There are shootings and car jackings in our neighborhood, where that was unheard of before. I drive by cars everyday up on blocks because the wheels were stolen. And I have a constant feeling of "wtf" because Bowser and the Council seem to either not care or not have a realistic plan to fix it.

When is it time to call it quits?

I am more concerned about getting lynched or attacked by a rural methhead than any crime in DC.

Then don’t move somewhere poverty is a problem. Move to a nice town or part of a city with good schools and low crime rates. The crime rates will reflect if you need to be concerned about rural methheads

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You leave and don’t look back. DC government has demonstrated it doesn’t care. It would take significant changes for things to change. Maybe in 20 years. There are too many other places to live where you don’t have to worry about this amount of crime.

Not OP but the problem for me is that I don't agree this is true. Everything is a trade off. Sure, I can move somewhere with a lot less crime, but add an hour to my commute daily and lose the same sense of community I have where I am. I like that I can walk/bike most places now -- easy incidental exercise, better for the environment, better for my mental health. Losing that isn't a small thing to me.

There are townships with their own school pyramid and police force. They don’t have this problem at all. Even when in or near urban areas with crime and delinquency in the schools.

Which are extremely segregated, have super high taxes are in boring, insular areas.

Sadly that’s where you have to live if you don’t want any crime and want good schools. I disagree that these places are boring. I can’t imagine that someone with young kids is really enjoying the bars on CH. what is there to do on CH you can’t find somewhere else?

Anonymous wrote:We live in the city and our kids attend solid schools (one DCPS and one charter). We love our neighborhood, our friends and our life here. But we are increasingly uncomfortable with the level of unchecked crime happening in the city and the hopelessness we feel about things getting better.

I know things have been a lot worse in the city in the past. But each year, we seem to be going further backwards. Neighborhood stores are closing because they can't operate with this level of crime. There are shootings and car jackings in our neighborhood, where that was unheard of before. I drive by cars everyday up on blocks because the wheels were stolen. And I have a constant feeling of "wtf" because Bowser and the Council seem to either not care or not have a realistic plan to fix it.

When is it time to call it quits?

I am more concerned about getting lynched or attacked by a rural methhead than any crime in DC.