I was a bit of a rebel in my youth, talking smack about “the man” and aspiring to a sort-of hippie lifestyle on a farm or maybe a commune. At the very least, a vintage house in an old neighborhood.
Many years and fewer tie-dye t-shirts later, I live somewhere I never, ever thought I would: a gated housing community. They always seemed so…bourgeois? Isolated? But with age and experience, I now appreciate the sense of security and safety I have from those brick walls and that iron gate. I’ve lived in a house that was broken into and I know that terrible feeling. I never want to that experience again.
About 7 million households are in gated communities—that’s about 6% of the total in the U.S. About 4 million of those 7 live with restricted access through gates, entry codes, key cards or security guards.
But there’s a basic question there that needs examining: Do those gates add protection and security for homes inside? Do they really keep the bad guys out? Or are we living under the false illusion of security?
The general answer is yes—there is less crime in gated neighborhoods for several reasons. First, there’s usually a stronger sense of community there because they are geographically unified, often have area associations, and have better pedestrian traffic because of the lack of through-traffic. Second, those security guards and restricted access may actually, well, restrict access.
But the truth is that the crime rate is not as low as many of the builders of those gated communities would have you believe. The city of Miami reports that “some forms of crime such as car theft are reduced, at least immediately after the streets are closed. However, data indicates that the long-term crime rate is at best only marginally altered.”
But one type of crime goes down and stays down in gated communities: crimes against the person. This seems to occur because criminals want easier escape.
So what’s the verdict? Mixed. There are lots of pros and cons to a gated community, but don’t let it fool you into complacent behavior, like not locking the door or setting your monitored home security system.
Of course, no matter your neighborhood, one of the best things you can do it start a neighborhood crime watch (read more about that here). So take care and think safety, no matter where you live.
