Neighborhood Safety?

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

I’m we to this and have learned a lot about red flags but I don’t see any conversations about ‘safe neighborhoods’ any tips on how to research that the home is in an area you’d feel safe?

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3

I have mentioned HelpLate.com under “personal safety”. This is a free and confidential service where you register any activity. Should you not respond as you schedule, your confirmed emergency contact is sent an alert, with GPS if you select. I like to re-set it each morning.

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4

When THS revamps the review system, this is one of the categories I would like to see included in sitter feedback: Safety of the location/area/locale/neighborhood, so you can get some indication based on past sitter reviews. I always check the neighborhood crime rate, demographics, etc. before applying for a sit in an unfamiliar area. All of this information is available through a web search.

5

Hi @Hsy611 welcome to our community forum, I see you’ve had some helpful feedback already with your question, the resources for searching vary from country to country this website has links to US searches Is Your Neighborhood Safe? 7 Tools to Help You Find Out | SafeWise

Doing research and communicating on every aspect of the sit before accepting is the key to choosing the right sit and having a successful experience.

I hope you’ll explore the many other interesting conversations on the forum and enjoy connecting with members from around the world.

Angela and the Team

6

Thank you all…your feedback is really helpful!

7

We also “walk” around the neighbourhood virtually with google street view to get a sense of it. Obviously it’s no guarantee, but it helps.

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8

This is an article that is written at the beginning of one of the links offered here to research neighborhood safety. They put it right at the beginning of the whole research page and I think that is fitting and it’s super important for purposes here. Not to mention that dogs are one of the most powerful safety plans a person can have .

Before you research, consider bias

Safety is subjective. What you consider a safe neighborhood, someone else may not. For example, some may look for a home near a local police station so that help is always minutes away, while others would find that a terrifying neighborhood feature.

While reading this article, think about how you use neighborhood safety tools. Are you using them to build or divide your community? When you find problems, look for solutions. Remember that community safety comes from putting in work.

Also, make sure you’re not spreading disinformation, and be careful not to racially profile or stereotype people you don’t recognize in your neighborhood.

There’s more to neighborhood safety than crime statistics

Keep in mind many of these tools use crime statistics by address and don’t factor in a lot of things that make a neighborhood safe, so the results may be misleading. You don’t get a complete picture of how truly safe a neighborhood is. There are many things that can make a neighborhood safe:

  • Good lighting at night
  • Sidewalks and biking lanes
  • A fire station nearby
  • Fire hydrants that are close to homes
  • Good schools
  • Access to medical care
  • Clean parks

And there are plenty of ways to make a neighborhood safer. Here are some neighborhood safety tips.

Turns out that my neighborhood has all of the bullet points that they offer.
But someone was still worried to come and stay.

Edited to meet posting guidelines

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