(08-16-2022, 11:02 AM)mikesez Wrote:

(08-16-2022, 10:57 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: Did you buy the house in the predominantly black neighborhood?

It wasn't predominantly black, it was morenlike 30 or 40% black. And the houses were all new and well maintained.  My wife ended up getting a job offer much closer to my job at the time, and living near the interstate was no longer important.  
FWIW I live next to a predominantly Mexican area now.  Doesn't bother me.

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(08-16-2022, 10:58 AM)NewJagsCity Wrote: It's not racist to want to feel safe in your home at night, and not have to worry about your car being stolen/vandalized if you don't have a garage to park it in.  In a perfect world, sure you can go live in those neighborhoods.  We've had a good number of black families move to our neighborhood recently, and to a family they have told me it was to escape crime and bad influences on thier kids.  I have two tenants at my rental properties that are doing the same, both Hispanic families.  I keep the rent 40 to 50% lower than market for this very reason; so they can escape those hell holes.  There's nothing to 'call out'. It's not racist to want to live in safety.  How about we call out the people who are making poor neighborhoods unsafe?  Are the people in those neighborhoods unable to be law abiding citizens?

It sounds like you are working against racism in your area, so thank you for that.  You should be aware that many landlords steer black and Hispanic people to rundown and high crime properties while steering white prospects to lower crime properties.  If you're not doing that, great, but many do, and realtors too.

While violent crime like stabbings and shootings tends to accumulate in low income areas with gangs, the petty crime like breaking into cars is highly mobile. I'm around 40 years old and I've parked overnight in many different neighborhoods. The two times I've had my car broken into were both in higher end areas. The cops in both cases said there was a wave of breakins attributed to teenagers living a few miles away, not neighbors.

I'm not 'working against racism'. For me, as a 1st generation immigrant, it's about helping families who came to this country wanting to build better lives for themselves; who want a hand up and not a handout. People who are grateful for the chances this country affords, instead of complaining about how this country hates them, spitting in the face of all the opportunities it provides them, while at the same time happy to take whatever that same country will give them for free. Race has nothing to do with it. If these people were lazy grifters who were mishandling the property or terrorizing the neighborhood, then I would look for other tenants. And if that ever happens, I will.

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