Mic Ortega

As Realtors, it seems like we almost always have an answer for your question, or at least know where to find it.  The one question that we can’t answer  is the one we get all the time, is this neighborhood safe?  Constrained by fair housing laws, we aren’t allowed to declare neighborhoods safe or “bad mouth” them either.  All we are allowed to do is suggest that you check out any area you are considering buying.

So the next question we obviously get is, where do I find out the safety of a neighborhood?  To get cold hard facts, you can always go online to get the latest crime statistics and reports.  These will give you a sense of crime rates, but if you aren’t familiar with the graphs and plots and what the numbers really mean, it can be quite confusing.  Luckily, I ran across this article on msn.com about what to look for in a safe neighborhood and found many of the points valuable.  There is no definitive way to know absolutely that a neighborhood is “safe” but these steps can certainly help give you a much better idea of what a neighborhood has to offer.

Trust your Gut

It’s what police have long said, for many situations: pay attention and trust your gut. Homebuyers certainly rely on it, often by taking a drive. Even safety officials reiterate the concept.

“I always feel like if your gut says there’s something wrong, there’s something wrong,” says Robbi Woodson, manager of the National Sheriffs’ Association Neighborhood Watch program, at USAonWatch. “If things don’t look right, then most likely they’re not right.”

But the gut is driven by real information, even when people aren’t aware of it. And some of that information may, in fact, be off, colored by preconceived notions of what a “safe” area is supposed to look like.

To be certain, experts say, prospective buyers need to know what to consider and apply the same methodical inventory they use to evaluate the home. Check off the boxes.

“A lot of people spend so much time looking at the physical configuration of the house, but they forget that they don’t just live in the house, they live in the neighborhood,” Saville says. “Their life is affected by the neighbors.”

A neighbor who cares
If you’ve been paying any attention to the news since the 1990s, when community policing came into vogue, then you’re familiar with the broken-windows theory.

Broken windows, nearly all criminologists agree, along with dilapidated buildings, abandoned lots, missing street lights, rampant graffiti, unkempt yards — basically any signs of neglect — attract crime. The reasons are both practical — dark, lonely spots sit out of view – and psychological — would-be vandals are, ironically, less apt to mess with nice stuff.

As a prospective resident, though, you have to consider an underlying question, too. Will people who let their lots fall into disrepair treat you badly as well? After all, it’s the neighbors, not the police, who will serve as the first and best line of defense.

Areas designed with safety in mind
Now, do you see people? Are they out and about? Can you clearly see the children playing in the park and the man walking to the store?

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, a program that brings safety considerations to the drawing board, asks these questions, and the solutions usually align with the adage “There’s safety in numbers.” Safe neighborhoods are those in which people are physically able to see each other. It means they need desirable places to go, and places that are visible from sidewalks and windows.

If you’re walking the neighborhood, here’s what to look for:

• Multiple-use areas: A park is used – and watched – when it’s near a coffee shop or post office. Think about it: Would you rather send your kids to a playground bounded only by tall shrubs and the backs of a few homes?
• Recreational areas with clear entries and exits: This is a form of marking territory. Places that have marked, visible entrances give users a sense of ownership and are less likely to be hijacked for criminal use. It need not be a tall fence, just a clear boundary.
• Land and buildings that are well-maintained: A homeowner, or homeowners association, that takes the trouble to maintain areas will be heavily invested in protecting those areas from crime.
• Unobstructed lines of sight:Shrubs and fences that border walkways should not be taller than 3 feet. Places where people walk and play should be visible from house windows. You want eyes on the street, Saville says.
• Real house fronts:Wait, don’t all houses have fronts? No, some have driveways and giant doors that are always shut. “If I drive down the front of a residential street and all I see is garages, that tells me the life of the house is in the backyard,” says Saville, who also blogs on safe neighborhoods. “What it does is it abandons the life of the street to the cars.”
• A neighborhood nightlight: “Do people keep their porch lights on? They don’t have to be high, bright lights that suck the energy out of the grid,” Saville says, just enough to see approaching figures, as if under a full moon.
• People out walking:“The more walkable a street is, the more likely it is that people are outside to watch you and protect you,” Saville says. “An active street life is one of the best defenses against street crime.”

As a hefty bonus, all of the above also help create a sense of community. This improves the quality of life and bumps up home values.

Crime data on the Web
Now back to the crime data online. A growing number of sites are incorporating crime statistics into informative – dare we say, at times visually stunning – maps that can be searched by neighborhood, date and type of crime.

We’ve noted a few. Just keep in mind, says Saville, the former cop, that these don’t tell the whole story. Incidents are logged only when a person has reported a crime, police have responded and an officer has filed a report. This can skew the results.

The best bet, real-estate agents say: talk to your prospective neighbors. Or, rather, let them talk. Chat with a few and a decent picture of neighborhood concerns will become clear.

Still, the sites do offer useful comparisons. Many area police departments have their own, so check there. Here, too, are a few more:

• EveryBlock.com: Owned by MSNBC, the site compiles news and data for neighborhoods in 15 cities and includes a section for crime. Users can specify an area (up to an eight-block radius) and search by date and types of crime. The crime reports also appear in list form.
• CrimeReports.com: A national site that’s expanded to include information from 600 law-enforcement agencies in North America. Offers free searches.
• NeighborhoodScout.com: A multipurpose site that compares your neighborhood criminal stats with those of the city, state and the nation. It relies on statistical modeling to do so, but claims 87% effectiveness.
• Oakland Crimespotting: An easy-to-view, integrative map that shifts before your eyes. The developer appears to only have a map for Oakland, Calif., but the model could be adopted by other cities.
• National Sex Offender Public Web Site: A U.S. Department of Justice site that links to the public registries for all 50 states, the territories and the tribes.
• Family Watchdog:A national site, searchable by neighborhood, that shows where offenders live and work, and provides e-mail updates. Points out that nine out of 10 sexual assaults against children are committed by a person the child knew.