The entrance to our old home. Our homeless man, who believed he bought our house, slept on the steps.
The back yard, which had our front door, once you walked through the gate above.
Sometimes I miss my old home. We lived there for 28 years. I had my babies there and raised them until they went off to college. I never thought I’d leave. But then COVID hit and my husband worked remotely from the Master bedroom. I worked remotely from our son’s bedroom.
Prices were going crazy high because people were fleeing the big cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Our town offered more space and much lower prices compared to the city life. My husband believed it was time to make our move to Arizona.
When I feel like I miss the old homestead, I read my emails. Every morning I get a “Personalized Spot Crime” report for my old neighborhood.
It’s gotten so much worse since we moved three years ago in December.
Here are a couple examples from my inbox:
In the 28 years we lived there, we had very little crime. My bicycle was stolen from the carport, which didn’t lock at the time. We had a homeless man who slept on the steps of the archway.
Oh, we had someone break into the home from the hospital mental ward a few blocks away wearing his “robe” with a bare behind. My daughter was the one who ran into him in the kitchen. She was in third grade and named him Hobo Joe. My husband threw him out of the house and called the police. They caught him trying to enter the house across the street.
But through 28 years, those were off events. Nothing like the crime I see reported on a daily basis now.
The crime I see in my new neighborhood amount to javelinas destroying golf courses.
Once, after flying home from Seattle visiting family, I had to take a Lyft home. My husband had COVID. Anyway, the Lyft driver told me he was once a deputy sheriff in my neck of the woods. He said the number one crime was speeding. I sure hope it stays that way! It makes me appreciate my new home and where I live.
I had crime on my mind after a run in with the Mexican police on our recent getaway. If you missed it, I wrote about it HERE.
Is there crime in your neighborhood? Do you feel it’s gotten worse or better through the years?
I’ve been reading about those darned javelinas. Our crime has dropped since we built here over 20 years ago. Once the subdivision filled in, assorted tradesmen and looky-loos with sticky fingers melted away, as did the thefts. Fingers crossed it stays this way.
That’s good news. Our subdivision is almost 20 years old and we’ll be here three years in December. I wonder if it ever changed? Or was always a low crime area?
I’d hang my hat on the idea of a low crime area and say a quiet *hallelujah* about it.
Yes! I feel very fortunate to be here. When we looked at new homes, crime wasn’t on my radar.
Yes we have crime. As to it’s progression…the 70s and 80s were horrible for crime. Late 80s started to get better and we had a good run until maybe 2012 peaking about two years ago. It went down a bit but it appears to be a slight rise now
That’s too bad you have more crime now. I feel fortunate to be out of the way of increased crime. At my old home there were maybe one or two instances per day on the spot crime emails. Not the lists I see today.
We don’t have much crime in our immediate neighborhood but there is crime in the city which is very big. And it’s expected as there is too much poverty and inflation
Yes, poverty and inflation is bad in the US too. I think that’s probably why crime has risen where we used to live in California.
I think so too. And there’s rampant unemployment too.
Yes. It’s not good.
Indeed 😞
I sometimes believe that we are our own little world here in the valley, somewhat untouched by the bigger crimes that take place in cities near us. We have our unhoused who are relatively harmless but really there is so little to attract folks here who may have nefarious intent. I’m thankful for that indeed. It is a reason that I would like to stay here if possible, yet affordability will be the issue I think.
I think we are in a similar situation where we live now in Arizona. We’re far enough away from the city that there’s no reason for people to come out here. It’s too far out of the way.
I suspect that is the motivation behind many crimes today…stay where there is an abundance of ready opportunities for things like burglaries or smash & grab crime, or even the porch pirates that troll through neighborhoods. I also think there is more gang related violence within cities proper than what you might find in the suburbs…
We are across the street from a nature preserve, so there’s nothing for miles but saguaros and hiking trails. It’s too much work and gas for someone to bother us out here. My kids live in the Bay Area and they never leave anything in their cars, including phone chargers or change. They said their windows would be broken if they did. They also, never wash their cars so they look filthy.
Interesting how we learn to adapt based on environment isn’t it 😉
Definitely. My kids are completely comfortable where they are.
First, your home was lovely. I’m sure it’s disheartening to see how the surroundings have deteriorated. We have some crime in our town, but living in the Midwest and not in a major city has its perks of being relatively quiet. But, on a whole, I see the reports of crime and the flash mobs in some other areas and it makes me sad. It also makes me reluctant to visit those areas.
Thank you. I sometimes miss our old home and its beauty. The downside was it was two blocks from the center of town, restaurants, shops etc. So it was not in the safest area. I’m with you on not liking to visit areas that are affected by crime. A quiet midwest area sounds ideal.
There’s not much crime, but it’s gotten much worse. I grew up in Gilbert. We never locked the doors in the 80s/90s/00s, and now there are frequent break-ins and theft in the neighborhood. Same in Scottsdale, where I live now… it’s much worse over the past decade, but still very mild compared to many other places.
My daughter lived in Tempe for a year and her house was broken into while she was at work. Her most valuable item was her pug. They put him in the garage thankfully! All her drawers were dumped out. She was terrified. They ended up taking her college swim bag filled with her memorabilia and must have used it to carry out jewelry and a camera.
That’s awful, and must have been terrifying for her!
Yes. She ended up moving after that. I’m so thankful nothing happened to Waffles the pug.
Wow, Elizabeth, that’s so interesting to look at the crime report. It feels like crime in Seattle skyrocketed after the pandemic but I wonder if it’s a perception. When the shelters started limiting capacity, people started camping all over the city. The number of people camping at Greenlake and Woodland Park was astounding. Most of those camps have been taken down but it feels like that population has permanently moved into the neighborhoods instead of being focused downtown. So maybe it’s a more of a perception on my part than increase? But the number of murders in the city is a record this year so perhaps it’s both.
When I lived in Palm Springs there would be three to five items on the daily email. It’s definitely gone up. Maybe you’re correct and the pandemic has something to do with it. The police in Palm Springs said they were no longer able to arrest people for drug use, which left more people on the street that would commit more crimes like burglary.
My actual Trailer Park is pretty safe and I believe the city I live in is considered safer than Las Vegas. But, we do get a bit, considering.
I think any suburbs are safer than downtown.
There’s crime everywhere these days. I’m most frustrated by the shoplifting all over town making it difficult for stores to stay open and keep products on the shelves. Our neighborhood is fairly safe, on occasion we get car break ins and a smattering of robberies, but very rare. I grew up just down the street from where I live, and we used to leave the keys in our cars with the doors open and never had a problem. It is changing for sure. Your home in Palm Springs was lovely. Hugs, C
Isn’t that amazing that we grew up with car keys in cars and houses unlocked? The Palm Springs home had so much character and was beautiful, but it was two blocks off Palm Canyon Drive, so I see a lot of burglaries in the area. It’s too easy to get in and out of the neighborhood.