Jean-Paul Villere
“I want a safe neighborhood.” On any given day I must hear this a good dozen times from newbies (and parents of newbies) moving to New Orleans, less so from those that are returning or looking for a change of scenery already calling the city home. And the why is simple I think: if you’ve chosen to reside in the city proper then you likely engage on a level of “This ain’t Mayberry.” Yes, it is a Southern space that affords the stereotypes therein where neighbors and strangers alike trade routine pleasantries, comments on the weather, and the not so stray parallel park assist, but that doesn’t translate to lowering your guard or not following your gut.
Everyone wants a safe neighborhood, but arguably crime happens all over; there isn’t a corner in the Crescent City any one can point to and say ‘Here! It’s totally safe here in the Cemetery District. Unlock your doors, and leave your bike unchained and smart phone unattended.”Â
Dear newbies,
For starters, there is no Cemetery District (yet). Locking your doors remains highly advisable. If you have a bike, expect to replace it on a semi annual basis. And your routine use of any electronics does nothing more than distract you and identify you as a target.
And dear locals,
As a reminder, the Cemetery District has yet to be coined, but gentrification willing, it will happen. I sincerely hope bike #3 is working out for you, but we both know it’s only a matter of time before you move on, less by choice, to bike #4. Now stop walking and txting.
Moving on. When you read about or possibly are personally impacted by crime, normal becomes redefined for you, does it not? After all, it really isn’t normal to have a neighbor executed overnight in the Lower Garden or an abduction and rape in broad daylight in the Garden District or even a university-area robbery at gunpoint by preteens in skeleton masks. Yet these events and many others become woven into the fabric of the current events of New Orleans. And therefore effectively become the brand the rest of world applies to us. Along with our food, music, Hollywood South hoo ha, and millennial entrepreneurial shenanigans, there’s still the bad and the ugly.
And a brand new jail won’t save you. Nor will a bunch of high tech street cameras. All these will do is maybe document any misdeeds and half a chance house those convicted of any wrongdoing. Does that really solve anything? Maybe that’s when monosyllabic adjectives get enhanced, and things become safer. When criminals know they’re being watched and their choices may land them in a state of the art pokey. The safe city everyone seeks suddenly shifts from the so-so sometimes report card of a C- to a solid B.
For the most part, I feel at ease in the city, but please don’t misunderstand me. My home has been broken into, and I’ve even been held up at gunpoint, though thankfully not at the same time and not recently. So yes, New Orleans isn’t safe, but it is safer. Truly safer than I’ve ever known it. Stupid things will happen in every neighborhood every day, and no one is immune to criminal elements. Ultimately safety is a feeling often in the absence of fear and maybe it is born out of equal parts preventative technology and self awareness. Then again, maybe it’s only a personal choice: you either feel safe or you don’t. Do you?
Jean-Paul Villere is the owner of Villere Realty and Du Mois Gallery on Freret Street and a married father of four girls. In addition to his Wednesday column at UptownMessenger.com, he also shares his family’s adventures sometimes via pedicab or bicycle on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
This is a good balanced article on life in the City. Fantastic place to live and pass a grand time. But the citizens must fully understand it is a big city with a crime problem just like every other big city.
As for me I do feel safe in where I live and how I live my life. With the full knowledge that the bad guys can strike anywhere and at anytime.
Would not give up living and enjoying my native Crescent City for anything.
Harry S. Tervalon, Jr.
wrote “But the citizens must fully understand it is a big city with a crime problem just like every other big city.”
If New Orleans is a big city with a crime problem just like every other big city, then shouldn’t it have LOTS and LOTS of JOBS just like every other BIG CITY?
And perhaps New Orleans should be GROWING in population just like every other BIG CITY?
Then again, is New Orleans a big city to begin with?
New Orleans is supposed to be #1 for jobs right now. And there’s this from the Wall Street Journal: http://www.marketwatch.com/Story/story/print?guid=5FB15B42-1F81-11E1-A871-002128040CF6
We’re also supposed to be the fastest growing city according to Forbes: http://www.wwltv.com/news/Forbes-New-Orleans-Is-Americas-Fastest-Growing-City–212824771.html
I moved from a “safer” neighborhood to one that has a bit more of a seedy undercurrent. This may say something about my character. I can now walk to my favorite bars, restaurants and grocery stores and I feel a real sense of community in this neighborhood, higher crime rate and all. I made the right choice. Each day I am happy I made the decision to move, each day I appreciate my neighborhood and neighbors. Each day I am thankful to call New Orleans home. If you can’t take the heat (and become part of the solution) move to the Northshore.
Yes Paper Cuts!!
Your neighbors have to have a JOB in order to live in that neighborhood you love so much.
Does it really matter that you think that it’s safe when businesses don’t think it’s safe?
What really matters is that businesses think they are safe as they “ultimately” are the ones paying
your rent,
your house payment,
your insurance payments
your health care,
your kids education, and
yes, even your property tax.
It’s businesses that make your neighborhood exist in the first place.
Businesses can’t survive in neighborhoods that are UNSAFE, i.e. ghettos.
No businesses means no jobs.
No jobs means no neighbors.
No neighbors means no neighborhood.
Yes, it’s that simple.
I live in one of the densest areas in this city. For residents and businesses alike. For the most part, we co-exist wonderfully and living close to businesses I can walk to is part of the charm of my area. Our community works very hard to keep the area enjoyable for all. We take an active role in watches, litter removal and community programs.
The one problem in my neighborhood is a business. This business has allowed drug dealers, loitering and littering for years. This business is what is making my block unsafe.
I’m not sure exactly where you are going in your comment. Maybe you have a specific business and neighborhood in mind. Maybe you are a business owner who is not serving the needs of the surrounding neighborhood. Maybe you are the business on my block.
Oh, and UNSAFE does not equal ghetto. If that was true, Slidell, Kenner (“America’s City!”) and Mandeville would be the ghetto. Because we live in a metropolitan area. No place is completely safe.
Would the business you have a problem with be a Glorified “Ghetto Liquor Store” Gas Station? Or just a Ghetto Liquor Store that just happens to sell some groceries and lottery tickets?
And no I am not talking about those businesses as you don’t need a high school degree to work at one of those businesses or even a gas station.
Is it just me, or are the majority of the Community Meetings that are covered in the local news about CRIME?
Now is a very exciting time to be a part of New Orleans! Such great energy in the city; very exciting times. So many new interesting new people moving here. So glad to be a New Orleanian!!
“America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.—-Tennessee Williams
i just saw a short film made in the Carrollton area about a landlord tired of answering the question from potential tenants, “Is it safe?” His response is hilarious – for those curious check it out here: http://vimeo.com/66788564
Loved it. Especially the line, “I don’t wanna move to Baton Rouge”
Yep, I choose to live here in this fabulous neighborhood called the Irish Channel. And in almost 2 years I have had no “crime” incident happen directly to me. But friends and neighbors… yes. I choose not to be afraid, but i choose to be very aware of the potential. I have a job where I have to walk to and from the Magazine bus or St. Charles streetcar at 10-10:30 at night alone. I carry a little canister of pepper spray and have never had to use it. Will that stand up against a gun? No. But I don’t carry any valuables to and from work, I have a couple of bucks in a scruffy old backpack. Perhaps I don’t look like a good potential victim because I’m aware of the potential….