Reading this headline I thought to myself, this can't be possible. But then I remembered I got two packages stolen in two different neighborhood of the city, and during NYE someone broke the door of the backyard to probably see what they could steal there.
> Reading this headline I thought to myself, this can't be possible. But then I remembered
It's funny, this is exactly what happens when I talk to my SF friends about crime. They have an immediate defensive reaction to insist it's not that bad, but then they slowly start recalling various crime experiences they've had in the past year. It's as if the constant background level of crime has reset their expectations of what's bad and what's normal.
Isn't part of that the forced-positive culture of California? Combined with perhaps a dose of worry that complaining about crime might identify you with the wrong political party?
My response was "only half?". Seriously, isn't this true everywhere? I've jad things stolen in small towns and in big cities that are "tough on crime" and have citizens that vote for that. Theft is just part of life right? If I've just lived in bad places, where would one suggest that most people don't experience theft?
No, it's not true everywhere. Where I live people don't lock their doors and leave their keys in the ignition. I'm not hyperbolizing, that's the literal truth.
The distinction is that this isn't just a small town, it's a town with a strong community and it's just out of the way enough to be unappealing to transients.
Have lived in LA, Santa Cruz, SJ, SF, DC, New York and PA. SF is the only city where I have had my car broken into and all of my things stolen. Told the police I found literally at the Starbucks two parking spots away from my car and they legit declined to look into it.
I live in Washington, DC, in a quiet neighborhood. The most frequent victims of theft are not residents, but workers: maids, contractors, landscape crews, almost invariably from cars or trucks. The police do show up and take reports, but I don't know how often anyone is arrested.
In Denver, when I worked for a neighborhood paper briefly ca. 1980, one of my jobs was to check the blotter at the local precinct. I discovered that the Denver police kept two lists: one for burglaries, one for all else. My recollection is that there were usually a dozen or so burglaries each week.
> Seriously, isn't this true everywhere? I've jad things stolen in small towns and in big cities
This is baffling to me. I'm currently in a medium sized city. When someone in my social circle has something stolen, it's a big deal. The last time it happened was several years back, and it upset the person enough that they moved to a new neighborhood as soon as possible.
It's so weird to read these accounts from people who think constant theft and crime are just normal.
Living in low crime areas can be quite a shock. I grew up in a area where my bike was stolen out of our shed a few times. I'm in an area now where children leave their bikes on the front lawn and sidewalk overnight. It's a completely different world. I hope you get a chance to move somewhere without the acceptance of random theft some day.
> where would one suggest that most people don't experience theft?
I live in Germany. The only time I ever had something stolen was at age 9, by a classmate who was shortly thereafter diagnosed as a cleptomaniac and who received therapy to deal with it.
Generally speaking, thefts do happen here, too. But if theft is of particular concern for you, it's not all that hard to significantly reduce your chances. Pick an apartment that's not on the ground floor, so people cannot get in through the windows. Put your wallet in a pocket that can be closed with a zipper, and pickpockets won't bother with you. Armed robberies are just not a thing because of gun control laws. Sure, there are a few ones across the entire country every year, but it's rare enough to make the news every time.
FWIW, I never experienced any theft when living in Switzerland, Germany, or Pittsburgh, and only one minor theft while living in San Diego (a nice pair of garden clippers).
This is how crime stats "not increasing" end up happening, because we don't report it since it's a waste of time. I'm not blaming you, I don't report 100% of the incidents I deal with in the inner-city of Seattle (something happens every quarter without fail), but unfortunately it depresses the actual crime rates that are occurring every day.
I thought the opposite. How can this not be at least a nationwide, if not worldwide reality? I live in the suburbs of Northern Utah. I’ve had bikes stolen from my yard, items stolen from my truck, money stolen from my wife’s purse, and those are just the one’s I can think of. We probably create millions of little opportunities in our lifetimes. A phone left unattended for a moment, neglecting to lock your car, leaving a bag while you use a restroom, not locking windows, you get the idea.
> How can this not be at least a nationwide, if not worldwide reality?
It is certainly not worldwide. Take Japan for instance. Your stuff[0] left in the open will almost never be taken. And in the event they went missing, there's a good chance it's because someone took them to the nearest police box.
[0] Umbrellas on rainy days are notable exceptions. But they're so cheap (a few dollars) many consider them "communal" items.
There's also kind of an unspoken rule among the people here: if something is left on the road where it might be spoiled or destroyed, (and is not valuable of course), things are moved to the sidewalk so the owner can find them easily and/or are not destroyed by careless passers-by. I have seen a handkerchief that was tied to the railing at eye-level, so that the owner could find it easily when they came back to look for it.
If the thing in question is valuable (like wallets, cellphones), it will most likely be deposited to the nearest police box where they will hold on to it for a while.
I've lived in a community where none of us lock our doors, bikes in the porch or driveway, and nothing gets stolen. That said, every city I've lived in, I've kept my doors locked and my belongings inside. I'm not sure what's wrong with our society that we feel like we need to take every precaution possible to avoid theft.
As someone that's never been a victim of theft, that's wild and I feel like it would just ruin things for quite awhile.
I had what I assume was a drunk person, try to get into my apartment once. Not something that should be too scary but I felt uneasy for some time after that.
I'd be out wiring the house like ft. knox the next day, if that happened to me haha.
Without doxing yourself can you give a general idea where this place is? Do you know lots of people that have experienced theft and you are just lucky, or is it unusual? I don't think I even know anyone who hasn't had packages stolen or a car broken into or stuff taken from their yard at least. One guy where I used to live went in to get some water while mowing his front yard and came back as people drove away with his lawnmower in the bed of their truck. I think he got that one back and they got the theives.
I have family in New England and this seems pretty accurate. Still lock doors tho :)
But its small enough that there's only a few "big" crimes a year which becomes the town gossip. This mostly involves some superintendent embezzling money or some criminals coming into town to steal catalytic converters lol
I've lived in NYC, SF, RDU, Hartford and New Haven (CT), all places that the news would paint as practically ruled by crime, but I've never experienced theft. I lock my doors and keep my car clean and that's been enough.
Despite all the stories in this thread, me and my neighbors here in SF leave our cars out and haven't hade break ins. Even the $100,000 convertible with a soft top parked outside our place most nights hasn't been bothered in the year I've lived here, and I live in NOPA, so not exactly the outskirts.
I think the saying "crime doesn't travel up hill" is very real in SF
