The difference a few miles make

[mike eddleman]

My intent is not to make another long debate about guns, But What I noticed this week. Their was a thread a time back about guns and During the days of it being on here I almost got robbed and talked about it on here. Well, We went to SC this week and spent a few days in Greenville with my mother. I noticed on the news their was no killings, nobody being robbed, No home invasions, No apartments being burnt down, and no major drug bust. I came back to Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon and have herd about a women being set on fire at a gas station by her x, a man being shot for asking for a thanks for holding the door open for another man at a store. 3 people being killed in home invasions (at least one of them the lady in the house got to her gun when the guy was forcing her into the bedroom to rape her and killed him) The little town that I live in right outside of Atlanta had the biggest drug bust in it's history ( a few million dollars worth). And this all happened in three days.
    I guess if I lived in a better place I would see things a lot different. It has really got me about thinking about where I call home

 

[JayGee]

So true.
  I remember a contractor in a small town that would leave his tools laying out overnight. He was ask if there was not a danger of them being stolen. He said that in the small town he was in he knew who the theives were so he would just go to the theives house and get the tools back. It's a little different in a big city where you can go two blocks and no one knows anyone.
    Also, what kids grow up seeing on the news everyday becomes the "normal" way of life.

 

[Getinaway]

South Carolina is a nice place.
Dont like their BBQ though.

 

[gwcowgill]

OH OH, here comes the great BBQ debate

 

[Conquest aka Robert]

Here's a site that can give you a pretty good idea what goes on in a given area www.crimemapping.com I have it send me daily emails so I know what is going on in the HOOD.  8)

 

[Orick]

    I guess if I lived in a better place I would see things a lot different. It has really got me about thinking about where I call home

Very true.  In most gun debates, some folks will say that they try to avoid putting themselves in situations where they would NEED a gun... and where one chooses to live is probably first on that list of options.

Rick

 

[Conquest aka Robert]

orick ; Your statement is mostly true but don't forget you move into a nice area then the crime comes you can't just pick up and move a house it's not like moving to a new site with your rig. Our area was great when we moved in 16 years ago now we are having a lot of issues but this seems to happen in waves over the years. We found getting the neigbors involved with keeping an eye on what is happening really does help.

 

[leon17]

Criminals attract more criminals. They infest cities with weapons and drugs. They are like a army of bugs that take over your home. My family and I moved on the account that the crime rates were climbing. I didn't need to look more than 30 minutes away to a safe haven. No one had to leave their jobs and the children quite enjoy the school. I was told once moving was not an answer.... Well maybe not, but I can let my kids out to play with the neighbors without concern of who else is about the neighborhood. I don't regret it at all!

 

[Wolf Pack Fan]

I guess Atlanta has really gotten to be not such a desirable city.  To bad.  I went there once for a convention in the mid 80's, Omni I think.  No trouble at all in the downtown area.  We're in very low crime area where we live, but I still have several guns in the house.  All loaded and all stratigically located.  Shame on the poor fellow that invades my home. 

 

[gwcowgill]

I bought my home in 1976 when the area was nice and most of the people were older military retirees. I was kind of in the country then. Land sold 2 blocks away and guess what....they are putting in 300 low income apartments. In addition the county is moving all the welfare bunch out of Miami to make Miami beautiful. They are building apartments for them within 3 miles. Miami is dumping their dirty laundry down south so they can turn Miami into a nice place for tourists.

They have a busway and Metro Rail all handy so they can get on the bus (at taxpayers expense) and go downtown to still do their dirty deeds. This is you government at work.

 

[DearMissMermaid]

I'm originally from Greenville, glad to hear it was safe while you were there. It's grown like crazy, from the looks of traffic, it's overgrown, but fairly prosperous so maybe not as many desperate people packed into one area and therefore less crime.  Just a theory...

On the other hand, I stayed in SC at a beautiful state park, Colleton, in March 2011, which is located in one of the poorest counties. But the census data could be wrong, some country folks have unreported income from interesting sources. They had a major drug bust of meth labs while I was there, followed by a comical incident where the Sheriff's wife caught him behind a fast food joint with his secretary,  wife ended up in the hospital  with injuries, all three told a different story of how she became injured. The park itself was remote and very safe. They locked us in at night, but all SC state parks do that.

http://beauforttribune.com/archives/56036


Where I am now, on Hartwell Lake on the SC/GA border, the lake is surrounded by scattered small towns, amongst country settings and seems fairly safe and quiet. That is until the thieves broke into four cop cars and stole all the guns, uniforms and bullet proof vests. They even broken into an unmarked car. Rather brazen. Almost like some sort of criminal element is sending a message, as the cars were parked at the homes of deputies.  Kind of creepy.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/2011/apr/25/anderson-county-sheriffs-cars-broken-guns-stolen/?partner=yahoo_feeds

 

[mike eddleman]

I hear you DearMissMermaid, Still their are regular thugs around but I was referring to more violent crimes. I can't remember the last time I watched the news and their was not being at least one murder or home invasion. It seams like at least one person dies in Atlanta every night Writing this I am hearing two men fighting both shot. one dead the other hit in the arm and on the run.
I was up their when the cop cars were broke into. That sounded like a inside job to me. They were in a fenced lot and the security officer was not their. I couldn't figure why the cops had to hire a security company to watch their cars.
    On a better note, what part of Greenville are you from? I was raised in Simpsonville. Like you said when I left you had a few small towns outside of Greenville and now from Fountain Inn to Greenville you never get out of a city.

 

[DearMissMermaid]

My parents bought a house in the country, but it quickly became suburbia, in the Wade Hampton/Taylors area.  I attended school in downtown Greenville.

I spent most of 1974 in Atlanta, lived near the zoo under an assumed name, rode the bus to work and to party at the then thriving underground which had fabulous music, lounges and of course the famous Flaming Hurricane drinks. It did seem safer then.

Returned to Greenville area until 1987, sold my then downtown home and business, left to ply the high seas as professional crew.

Came back  to USA in late 2009, searched high and low for a motorhome, then traveled until recently, when I took this workamping.

I miss traveling, I look forward to getting back on the road one day.

In the interim, I just love my choice to live in an RV rather than a fixed address.