Living in a Bad Neighborhood? 5 Practical Tips for Staying Safe!

"The neighborhood in which you grow up is a major determinant of your economic success as an adult. That’s been known for a while, but new research suggests that the effects may be much larger than social scientists previously understood.” Wrote by article of The New York Times. “The new insight is that much of our best evidence about the effects of growing up in a bad neighborhood comes from examining children whose parents work particularly hard to protect them from the dangers around them. The negative effects of a bad neighborhood may be much larger for low-income families with less motivated parents.”

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5 very bad neighbors

15 Signs That You're In A Bad Neighborhood

5 Tips for Staying Safe When You Live in a Bad Neighborhood

The last thing you want is to unknowingly move next door to a group of party-hardy neighbors. These people seem to spend 99.9% of their time outdoors and have no problem blasting loud music at all hours of the day and night. Every weekend they invite scores of friends over for beer pong and pool parties. These friends park along the street and occasionally block your driveway.

This neighbor has nothing better to do than snoop around in other people’s business. Typically, the busybody doesn’t work (or doesn’t seem to anyway), and they appear to lack a robust social life. Instead, they choose to walk around the neighborhood, nitpicking everything wrong with the area. Is someone’s yard overgrown? Is the neighbor’s car parked on the street again? Don’t worry, the busybody will be sure to tell you all about it. Or passive-aggressively slip the offender a note under the door. They focus on the negatives instead of the positives – and they live for getting others in trouble.

The gossipy neighbor thinks their sole purpose in life is to know anything and everything happening on the street. They love to stir up some serious Melrose Place drama and will be sure to let you know all about it. You’ll know soon enough once the gossip queen gets the scoop. When chatting with this neighbor, be extra careful not to disclose anything you wouldn’t want the whole world to know. Keeping this “hot goss” neighbor at a distance will be the only way to maintain your sanity.

Unfortunately, there seem to be at least one of these neighbors in every community. This neighbor thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to leave his dog outside at all hours of the day and night. Despite the constant barking, the neighbor refuses to quiet his pet.

Perhaps your neighbor put up a fence or planting trees as a divider. If it happens to be crossing over into your property, you should address the issue as soon as possible. In their mind, what’s yours is mine. Except it’s not. If you’ve already moved into your house, make sure the offender has a firm understanding of where your property line starts and ends from the get-go.

• Broken shards of glass in the parking lot.
• Pit bulls are everywhere.
• Multiple burned-down houses.
• Random garbage everywhere.
• An adult man on a child’s BMX bike is slowly riding in the middle of the street.
• Random shopping carts on the side of the road.
• Neighbors keep having a yard sale every week and the stuff they’re selling belongs in the trash.
• Street lights shot out.It’s the middle of the afternoon on a weekday and people are just hanging out on porches and yards.
• A dude is walking around the street naked asking strangers if they wanted to touch his weewee.
• Locks on things that normally don’t have locks on them.
• Pairs of tennis shoes were thrown over the electrical lines.
• Indoor furniture outside.
• Lots of Dollar Stores, payday loans, and title-loan places.
• Houses have chain link fences around them with either ‘Beware of Dog’ or ‘No Trespassing’ signs.

In an ideal world, if you found yourself living in an unsafe neighborhood, you just would pack up and move to a safer neighborhood. But, it is not always that simple. If you do live in a higher-risk neighborhood, thankfully, there are ways to avoid bad neighbors. Besides driving around the block to observe strange behavior or neglected lawns, you can also:

Stay alert when walking in the neighborhood, especially at night. Don’t look at your phone or anything that may cause you to be distracted. If you’re new to your neighborhood, avoid using a map while on the go. Instead, study a neighborhood map ahead of time. Wear nondescript clothing – keeping in mind to avoid any local gang-related colors.

Getting to know the people who live nearby is another way to increase your security in a bad neighborhood. You should be able to get a sense of which neighbors to avoid, and who may be potential friends. Consider joining or starting a Neighborhood Watch for added safety in numbers.  Members of the Neighborhood Watch keep an eye out for suspicious activity and alert the authorities.

Even in the worst neighborhoods, crooks still want to find an easy target. To make your home or apartment less appealing to a potential burglar, keep your doors and windows locked at all times. Install effective door locks, secure your garage and any sliding glass doors as well as other popular criminal entry points. Don’t forget to lock up any valuables thieves frequently steal such as jewelry, electronics, and guns.

No matter what type of neighborhood you live in, a home security system is an important aspect of keeping your home safe and secure. In a bad neighborhood, installing a 24/7 professionally monitored home security camera is even more important. Monitored home security systems are more affordable than many people may expect, and studies have shown home security systems deter crime.

The The New York Times

Thought Catalog

 

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