I have relatives in the rural Dakotas who don't really need to lock anything up.
I went to college in Atlanta, where leaving anything slightly valuable inside your vehicle would lead to a smashed window. So I've developed a lifelong paranoia about never leaving valuable items in sight in a locked car.
Also, HN crew if someone is going to rob your house they don't just try to enter in a locked door. The robber is going to knock, if you answer, make up some story how they are looking for Alice & Bob, and go on their way. If nobody answers, then they try to see if your doors are locked. I used to frequently get strangers "looking for someone" at my door in Atlanta, too. Few things are scarier than hearing a knock at the door when you are in bed, ignoring it, then hearing them try to open your door.
May I ask where you lived in Atlanta? I'm attending Tech right now and chose to live outside the city for safety reasons - in Dunwoody to be precise. I never knew it was that bad though.
I went to Tech too. This was all > 8 years ago though. Staying on/near campus you are much better off, in the sense that access to the building is more restricted and people are going to notice someone sketchy in the hallway. But even on campus cars were frequently robbed, especially at night when I was there. I remember seeing a guy with a backpack full of LCD monitors getting arrested outside the College of Computing once. And bikes were stolen left and right, I lost one.
I once did a Habitat for Humanity build out the Bankhead (not Buckhead, big difference) highway. The had to have Atlanta PD watch the lot DURING THE DAY because multiple cars had been stolen from Habitat Volunteers. I still think that was crazy cars were stolen that brazenly in broad daylight.
I don't have a pulse how things are these days. But don't get scared off by these stories, there are lots of good things about living in the city too. Go Jackets. :)
Yeah, I heard that things are much better than they were back then. I guess I'll reconsider once my lease is finished. The good thing is that MARTA is pretty good and on-time usually from what I saw.
I went to college in Atlanta, where leaving anything slightly valuable inside your vehicle would lead to a smashed window. So I've developed a lifelong paranoia about never leaving valuable items in sight in a locked car.
Also, HN crew if someone is going to rob your house they don't just try to enter in a locked door. The robber is going to knock, if you answer, make up some story how they are looking for Alice & Bob, and go on their way. If nobody answers, then they try to see if your doors are locked. I used to frequently get strangers "looking for someone" at my door in Atlanta, too. Few things are scarier than hearing a knock at the door when you are in bed, ignoring it, then hearing them try to open your door.