You don't have to have all the door locks popping - just leave the driver's door unlocked as you get in and out.
And you don't have to have a gun on you every minute of the day. But you should be aware of your environment and what hours of the day you should be out and about considering the population at hand.
One major issue is that a lot of older residents of a neighborhood choose to stay put and not move. What will happen is that the neighborhood will change, and if the prices aren't appreciating, then they are depreciating relative to the overall market. That happens when other residents pass away and their children start renting out the house to whom they think are acceptable. All to often, the other residents find they are NOT.
Most of the major crime areas are dominated by rental housing. Period. That is why I propose that rental residential housing should be required to keep up with code. It's a commercial application, for profit BUSINESS, and investing in the property to maintain it's value shouldn't need to be a requirement. If the owner is keeping up the house with durable features, maintains the yard or requires it, and engages the renter to be "invested" in the neighborhood, things are much better.
Unfortunately, what happens is the building owners harvest as much cash out of the structure as the market will bear, and repairs are minimal. Frankly, with the number of charitable organizations and work days, the older widows can be taken care of to a better standard than many rentals I've seen left rotting.
Homeowners will put on a roof, keep the grass cut, install plantings, make repairs. My experience with a lot of lower price rentals is that the landlord does as little as possible, and when he does sell the house, it's because major renovations are needed to bring it up to code. And, I've done those renovations. I'm doing that right now to my house - making improvements I can enjoy and that will bring more value on the market when it finally changes hands again.
If you live in a poor area with buildings in disrepair, have no prospects of a good job or living in better housing, it depresses you. As a young teen, it's seems unfair, and wrong, because the ADULTS are failing them and doing NOTHING to fix the problem. Add in no father to have as leadership, and they search out another Alpha male who will be. If that individual is suffering from the same point of view, then they all tend to act out to create a barrier of security where they can do what they want without interference. That leads to gang activity.
All because some profit monger determined he could squeeze a few more bucks out of that old shack to enjoy another week on the beach. And now, you have to carry a gun just to get a loaf of bread and gallon of milk home.
Vote to force rentals to keep up with code, and the problems are reduced. It won't fix human behavior at it's worst, but it will tamp down a lot of the reasons why some react to what seems to be a horrible situation they can't escape from - dragging you down with them.
There is more to life than just choosing to carry a gun, and it's not the real solution to what is actually causing the problems.
