A place I want to live in

Weeks ago, me and my husband was still living in the southern Bay area. We took a night walk in the seemingly safe residential area. Suddenly when a car made a turn into the street we were on and pulled over for a street parking space a few steps before us, both of us later confirmed with each other that a thought fleshed through our mind, a thought that a person may came out from the car with a gun and start shooting at us. What a scary thing to have imagined.

What is a good life? What kind of neighborhood would you like to live in? Having the privilege to live in different places, I was able to gradually know myself better and think about these questions. Today, I read an article on Times about a new website (a company) that analyze large amount of marketing data and combined with US Census demographic data to depict the horoscope of the neighborhood (zip code) Americans live in. The idea is that by checking the website, you get a feeling/understanding of how you will fare to your neighbors. Will you be relatively poor or younger or more likely to enjoy organic food as compared to your neighbors? Commercially, you can get more information if you buy their data to know which zip code you would target for your high-end products.

Zooming out, I soon find that two zip code area about 10 miles apart can have median income that is 5 fold of another. Crime rates varies accordingly. No wonder many seemingly safe neighborhood have signs suggesting the house is equipped with security alarm, alert and monitors. As Joseph Stiglitz mentioned in his book "The Price of Inequality",

The consequences of pervasive and persistent poverty and long-term under investment in public education and other social expenditures are also manifest in other indicators that our society is not functioning as it should: a high level of crime, and a large fraction of the population in prison.  ..... Residents of many poor (and not so poor) neighborhood still feel the risk of physical assault. It's expensive to keep 2.3 million people in prison. The U.S. incarceration rate is the world's highest and some nigh to ten times that of many European countries. Almost 1 in 100 American adults is behind bars. Some U.S. states spend as much on prisons as they do on their universities.

Such expenditures are not the hallmarks of a well-performing economy and society. Money that is spent on "security" -- protecting lives and property  -- doesn't add to well-being; it simply prevents things from getting worse. (p18-19)

I don't think there is a standard for idea world or idea place to live in. I believe diversity in taste and lifestyle makes the world a better place, like the diverse types of coffee we get to taste and share between people from different parts of the world. However, we think perhaps there are some common understanding about the idea living space one would like to live in. A place where we feel safe. A place where life is valued and people have more equal opportunity. A place where we can feel that the comfort we enjoy is not base on or causing the deprivation of another.