Is the Gated Community in itself a problem?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/28/opinion/burton-florida-gates/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

I think it's worth exploring the concept that Gated Communities may not be a fantastic way for people to live, in light of the Trayvon Martin killing. Sometimes fear can take you to a bad place. My guess would be that an un-gated neighborhood with an active (and unarmed) neighborhood watch would end up with less crime than a community in which residents leave their doors unlocked and their alarms off, counting on the guard house at the entrance to keep out the evil folk.

By the way, if anyone still wonders why Trayvon Martin was in that Gated community in the first place, he was visiting someone there who was a resident: his dad's fiancee.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/27/justice/florida-teen-shooting-witnesses/index.html

Comments: 8

Dennis Gilman Mar 28, 2012, 2:54pm UTC

1. I am of the opinion that gated communities give a false sense of security.
2. I much prefer, an un-gated neighborhood with an active (and unarmed) neighborhood watch. It is actually much safer.
3. I was wondering why he was there. The news reports I get did not say.

David K. Mar 28, 2012, 8:00pm UTC

1. Agree
2. Agree
3. I did see mention of it early on, but it was soon forgotten.

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libramoon .. Mar 28, 2012, 4:35pm UTC

This aspect of the situation is worth discussing. Does living in a gated neighborhood mean you are in a moat protected castle?

Chris Wiegard Mar 28, 2012, 6:04pm UTC

I expect it encourages that mentality. "what are you doing around here" or words to that effect, were uttered by Zimmerman.

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David K. Mar 28, 2012, 8:02pm UTC

Unfortunately, it seems gated communities are sometimes necessary. Just as unfortunately, gated communities are often a way to create barriers between those who want to be "higher class" and those these same people deem to be "lower class." In a way, they create the tension that they fear in a self-fulfilling prophesy.

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Wil B. Mar 28, 2012, 11:02pm UTC

I can understand the point Burton is trying to make, but I'm not sure it makes sense to say (or even imply) that gated communities are the same, and that they're radically different from other sorts of neighborhoods/communities.

The whole idea of gated communities has never been one I liked very much. I've never lived in one, and never wanted to. But I've lived in apartment complexes that was fenced and gated, and in apartment buildings where residents had to "buzz in" visitors. None of them could've been considered "havens of prestige", and none of them were about excluding minorities (in several instances, I was, as a white male, in the minority myself).

I don't think it's so much about the gates, or of Neighborhood Watch groups (which I've always thought of as a bit creepy), but about some bigger issues (some of which several commenters have already mentioned) that they point to.

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Gerry Wass Mar 29, 2012, 1:50pm UTC

My students and I are beginning a gardening project this summer on a lot in the center of town, and one of their biggest concerns is that people will come in and steal the produce. It's a valid concern and almost an automatic reaction, but I explain to them how a fence nearly invites people to challenge the exclusion and that we would be far better off to cultivate friendships with the many nearby residents who can keep an eye on the project. I see fences as simplistic, thoughtless solutions to complex problems, as I'm guessing your commenters above also do. Time will tell about the garden, but I think it has to become beloved by the community to have true protection.

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Glome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ONE of WE the PEOPLE Mar 29, 2012, 11:43pm UTC

Some people feel safer in one. Some like to move to the country.
The idea turns me off with a mixture of feelings inside. But they're great for those that feel safer.

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Is the Gated Community in itself a problem?

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