[quote=bearishgurl] The “perception of safety” is in the eye of the beholder. Frequently, the people who feel the most safe in their neighborhoods are the ones who grew up there or have lived there the longest. Outsiders considering moving into a particular area often “perceive” it not to be “safe” based upon superficial physical attributes such as older homes, older streets, overhead lines, and non-tile roofs. Also due to the existence of mom-and-pop stores and small local businesses instead of big-box stores and large supermarkets which need a vehicle to get to. The perception of a particular area not being “safe” to live in or walk in is a crock of BS conjured up by ignorant “outsiders” who know nothing of the particular area, its “culture” or its people. [/quote]
Bearishgurl you are right in saying that the perception of safety is whats key. Its true that I am an outsider to west Chula Vista; I grew up in both PQ and in the Fairmont Park area and my husband grew up in Bonita. Throughout our marriage we’ve lived in CV, but only east of the 805. Its not the culture, or “it’s people,” or mom & pop shops that make me feel unsafe. I don’t think most San Diego natives feel uncomfortable by “different cultures” and certainly not mom & pop shops? My great-grandfather came to San Diego from China and established the first asian grocery store here, which my family ran for generations. One of our locations was in CV and our stores had lots of “ethnic foods” including hispanic and filipino to cater to the diverse range of customers. Diversity is not what makes me feel unsafe. We are a mixed family…we blend right in.
Its the location of this house that has me hesitant to stay here; it sits on the corner of a busy street- lots of cars as well as foot traffic. Its the type of street where people dump furniture. Our side fence gets tagged up every few months and occasionally we will run into homeless men searching through our neighbors’ recyclables. When we first moved in, a prostitute was loitering in our front yard, and was eventually arrested for possession. For better or for worse when we moved here I started subscribing to spot crime updates for the area. The cul-de-sac itself is great, the neighboring streets are great… but being on such a main street we are on the cusp of lots of crime that trickles in from the west. This is what I mean by not feeling safe enough to go on a walk alone here.
But looking at the facts, besides the graffiti and having to dispose of the prostitute’s trash… we haven’t had anything actually bad happen to us. Our next-door neighbor takes her poodles out for walks; it wouldn’t be that hard to go with her and learn her route. Also talking it over more with my husband, we could put in a flood light on the side of the house that faces the busy street and we could even install a security system or get a big dog to give me peace of mind for when I’m alone.
