I just got back recently from a much needed getaway to a city by the Bay (no not that city) and confess I reveled in the quiet, as well as the cool, relatively clean air.

Upon checking my mail in the normally low crime Pocket / Greenhaven area, I found an unpleasant letter from the property managers of our complex. Because my spouse is a cleaning freak (thanks honey!), I no longer have the original text, but to paraphrase…

“Because of the recent crime wave in the Pocket / Greenhaven area, we are encouraging residents not to leave valuables visible in your cars. We’d also like remind residents to lock their doors and to use the security bars to lock their kitchen windows.”

We don’t need a reminder because we already take those precautions–thanks to having been ripped off several times when we lived downtown. Our new neighborhood has been very peaceful, aside from the unusual pregnant murder victim being dumped down the street from us around the time Laci Peterson was in the news. When that crime occurred in 2003, another man dropping his kids off at the school said to my husband, “I moved here to get away from the crime–” We moved for similar reasons (how many times can you have your bicycles stolen before you give up on “living green” and give in?). Looks like the crime has followed us. Check out the crime pattern in your neighborhood…that is, if you’re paranoid, like me.

But what’s the peak in crime? About a year ago, the income requirements for our unnamed complex were lowered, due in part to a higher vacancy rate (everyone was buying–not renting). We watched the parking lot and grounds slowly deteriorate–there’s a garbage bin for a reason people!! And it’s not the asphalt in your parking space! (Do you remember littering when you were a kid? I do. It must be the bad karma coming back. I hate it when others do it.) Do you suppose poverty might be the reason for the increase in crime? Or is Sacramento just getting growing pains? Small city has big time problems. What do you think?

I was also surprised the other day when I was writing another blog that referred to the Sac PD and the Sacramento County Sheriff. They both have photos of the “Most Wanted” online. I spent a few minutes perusing the sites. Maybe I’ll see someone I recognize. I still think my ‘hood is reasonably crimeless and as much as I hate to say this (because I am very much PRO public transportation) I suspect I’ll see that most wanted villain when I take the Light Rail through downtown/midtown next time…