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So we've decided that we're going to vacate our lease. There are no penalties to be incurred because we already outstayed our original commitment and have been payining month to month since. Two leading options are a place that's much bigger and ostensibly nicer but in a worse neighborhood and a place that's either equivalent to what we have now or slightly worse than what we have now but in a nicer neighborhood and more expensive. I'm leaning towards the latter but better-half is arguing the former by appealing to my reflexive frugality and she might be winning.
Big question: What makes it a "worse neighborhood"?
I'd personally pay a lot of money to avoid running into petty crime, petty theft, etc.
If its things like 'people are rednecks and a little trashy' by leaving beater cars on blocks, trailers on the street having crappy lawn decorations, no HOA etc. I'd say sign me up.
as would I and the thing that set off my "spidey sense" was the bars on neighbors' windows and the prevalence of padlocks and chains on fences and anything left in the driveway. She says I'm being paranoid but I'm not so sure.
Yeah I would in no way consider living in that neighborhood. Granted you seem like you could defend yourself pretty well if it came to it, but I feel like it's better to not be in that neighborhood to begin with.
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It's funny how bars on windows are such a red flag in Western countries, that's the default in India, pretty much every house has them regardless of locale. And we don't have all that much burglary or petty crime to warrant it either.
Do you guys also have the spikes on the top of walls (e.g. often made cheap with broken bottles like so)? In my (African) country it felt like every house had them.
I was thinking the same thing - and we're poorer than India. I can't recall it being a big problem.
Though the consequences that befall thieves explains it. The one time I saw someone accused of being a smash-and-grab thief everything almost immediately collapsed into mob justice (the woman of the house screaming about a strange man coming in certainly didn't help)
You really don't want to try to explain yourself trespassing in a strange neighborhood.
Yup, the wall spikes are pretty common, and if not broken glass, then iron spikes.
I agree that a willingness to engage in mob justice has some perks, especially when the police usually turn a blind eye as that means their work has been mostly done for them. It's quite similar in India, thieves get regularly lynched depending on the circumstances.
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That does seem worrying, you can check crime maps for the area. The calls that police get to a location are usually publicly available.
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Are there crime maps you can look at? A lot of counties (or big enough cities) will have GIS sites with all sorts of information. Plus I think there are apps, etc.
Have you lived in rough neighborhoods? Has your SO? How tuned to real life is either of your guts? Bias can work both ways...
I've lived in both poor neighborhoods and rough neighborhoods. The difference between the two being largely what @cjet79 implied above in his question of what sort of "bad" are we talking about? Trailers on the street and trashy lawn decorations don't bother me, but bars on the windows and having to deal with junkies and petty crime do. The truly bad neighborhoods are both poor and rough.
In this specific case the place itself and the houses around it are pretty nice, but it's also going for what (to me at least) seems like a lot less than what the owners could theoretically ask for and thus the little voice in the back of my head is telling me that there has to be a catch. The county's 911 call heatmap doesn't show this neighborhood as being particularly good or bad, but that voice coupled with the afore mentioned visual indicators are what has me on edge.
In other cases I might ask what city you're in, as someone else might have some insight, but I understand if you don't want to reveal that here. Instead, some other things that might or might not be relevant-
-Is it a part of town with high population turnover? (ie. a college town near-ish the college hangouts/living areas, a military town where the off-post people live, a seasonal-work town, etc.) In those cases, sometimes residential private areas are inclined to higher-than-needed issues.
-Was there a crime way / concern in the last several years that made people fortify up? Rather than a current issue, there may have been a past issue, where the bars are legacy. Check photos from, say, 2015 to see if it's new, or old.
-Is there a Home Owner Association (HOA)? They have a dubious reputation, but some may be helpful for understanding certain neighborhoods.
-Have you asked the neighbors or any prior owners?
These may / may not help you, but would at least give a bit more information that might help.
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