Strange question about moving

lilblu

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I wanted to get an opinion from the ladies here who are older than 50. If there are any men here older than 60 or any handicapped people, I'd like to get your opinions as well. And just for the record, I'm not the one moving.

Let's say you have lived in a fairly small town with a house in a fairly secluded area for 30 years. For the entire time you have lived there it has been so safe that you have been able to keep your doors unlocked day and night as long as someone was home. There have rarely been any crimes reported in your town and the ones that do take place are typically more than 8 miles away, closer to the nearby city. There are only 11 sex offenders that live and/or work within an 5 mile radius, none of them are listed as predators. The town you live in never makes it into the news for negative things.

So you decide you have to move for financial reasons. You have the following two options:

1) Move to the nearby city where the crime rate is higher and there are about 68 sex offenders living and /or working within an 8 mile radius, none of them are listed as predators.

2) Move to another state where the town and house you would live in are very beautiful. However, there approximately 227 sex offenders living and/or working within a 5 mile radius, several are listed as predators. The crime rate is fairly low, but you still can't leave your house unlocked.

Which would you choose and why? Should sex offenders play a part in where you decide to move?
 

mrsgreenjeens

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interesting question. I am a woman, over 50, AND disabled. I live in a suburb of one of the largest cities in the U.S., and right around the corner from me is a registered sex offender (I think he had sex with a minor - not really sure, but we were sent something in the mail when he first moved in).

It wouldn't even dawn on me to check into the status (rate/ratio) of sex offenders in the area before making a decision of where to move! If I felt unsafe for any reason after I moved, I would either get a dog, a gun, a roommate (if I weren't married), or an alarm system.

That being said, I would move where the opportunities for happiness in all areas seemed the best.
 

blueyedgirl5946

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Usually when people move, it involves their jobs, but if not I would only move to a comparable location. I think sex offenders living in the area would be very important if you had small children. However, no matter where I live, I would lock my doors. I do that now and I live in a rural community. The closest neighbor is barely in eyesight. Yes my doors are locked.
 

pushylady

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I'm not older than 50, sorry, but I thought I'd chip in. That's actually the first time I've heard of checking the sex offender registry before moving. Not a bad idea, but it wouldn't be enough to keep me from an area that is good in many other ways. I can not remember us ever not locking the doors, even while home, and I've lived in four different countries, so that factor wouldn't scare me off either. I'd be more worried about the burglary rates and visible signs of socio-economic problems in an area.
 

momofmany

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I'm officially over 50 now, and I would never have considered checking for sex offenders. I'm in the x-burbs and never lock my doors when I'm home alone. But I have 3 large dogs that usually scare the heck out of anyone coming up to the house. Don't tell anyone that the worst they would do is lick them until their knees desolve then beat them to death with their tails.

If she's concerned, get a dog.
 

ldg

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I'm almost 50, live in a really rural area. It's probably safe to leave the doors unlocked, but I live with Gary who made me become really person-safety conscious, so we never leave the doors unlocked, and even for a short walk, I don't go out without at least pepper spray handy.

There are things I love about living in cities - and things I love about living in the country. I would prefer to live in the beautiful surroundings - and checking for sex offenders is something that never would have occurred to me.

I agree with Pushylady - burglary rate and signs of socioeconomic distress would be more important.
 

butzie

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Sex offenders have to live somewhere and there is no telling if there is one who has not been caught in your neighborhood. Some sex offenders are guys of age who have sex with a girl because she lied about her age and looks old enough. Not excusing anyone, but if you worry about everything then you wouldn't be able to live anywhere.

Originally Posted by lilblu

I wanted to get an opinion from the ladies here who are older than 50. If there are any men here older than 60 or any handicapped people, I'd like to get your opinions as well. And just for the record, I'm not the one moving.

Let's say you have lived in a fairly small town with a house in a fairly secluded area for 30 years. For the entire time you have lived there it has been so safe that you have been able to keep your doors unlocked day and night as long as someone was home. There have rarely been any crimes reported in your town and the ones that do take place are typically more than 8 miles away, closer to the nearby city. There are only 11 sex offenders that live and/or work within an 5 mile radius, none of them are listed as predators. The town you live in never makes it into the news for negative things.

So you decide you have to move for financial reasons. You have the following two options:

1) Move to the nearby city where the crime rate is higher and there are about 68 sex offenders living and /or working within an 8 mile radius, none of them are listed as predators.

2) Move to another state where the town and house you would live in are very beautiful. However, there approximately 227 sex offenders living and/or working within a 5 mile radius, several are listed as predators. The crime rate is fairly low, but you still can't leave your house unlocked.

Which would you choose and why? Should sex offenders play a part in where you decide to move?
 

gailc

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I'm over 50 as well and the sex offender thing wouldn't be a top concern. We live in a rural area and the doors are unlocked when we are home and somethings when we are gone too. My biggest beef would be the amount of traffic on the road where you are going to be living.
 
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lilblu

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I asked the question because I am trying to prevent someone from making the second biggest mistake of their life by moving to another state. They're seriously delusional at this point (the whole thing is a very long story). I'm trying to find every negative thing I can about the place they want to move to. Then I'll carefully bring up these negative things in conversation. I don't want them to figure out what I'm doing.

I'm having trouble finding crime rates for the area they want to move to. It looks like a pretty safe area compared to where they are now.

Is there a way to find out what the traffic and cost of living would be? Is there a website that might provide those details?
 

capt_jordi

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why is it such a big mistake to move there? Just curious.

I would not consider sex offenders to be a huge issue with me moving where I wanted. And honestly if it was somewhere I really loved, wanted to live, and have the opportunities that I wanted, there really wouldnt be a lot to stop me from moving there.
I'm only 23 though. But I did drop everything and move 2 hours away on a whim and am extremely happy with my decision and it has opened many doors for me! But most of my family did not like it and objected the entire time.
 

darlili

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To me, the thing is to deal with the reasons why she wants to move - otherwise, it's like telling someone not to go out with a boy because he's 'bad' - as all of us who were teenagers know, that's like making sure the boy is more appealing.

What would be the upside of her not moving - from her point of view?
 
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