Geocaches in the "bad" parts of town

[+TerraViators]

So, after reading another thread, I wondered why do many of the larger metro areas have a caching black hole? Generally, these are in the "bad" parts of town. Do people who live and work in these areas not geocache? If they do, do they just want to avoid their own neighborhoods while geocaching? Are geocachers who live and work outside of these areas avoiding these areas as potential hiding spots? Your thoughts.

[+StarBrand]

While this is certainly not a rich man's sport, it does take time, travel and an investment in equipment.

 

It strikes me that (generally speaking), the folks in some neighborhoods might not have the disposable income or time or means to travel. At least not for something as frivilous as Geocaching. Just a thought.....

[+John in Valley Forge]

There was a thread on this topic a few months ago where people posted cache maps of their cities and it was pretty clear that there were fewer caches in the "bad" parts of town. If I find it, I will link it. It was interesting.

 

Edit: Found the older THREAD

Edited February 14, 2011 by John in Valley Forge

[AZcachemeister]

The 'bad part of town' could mean a lot of things.

 

To me, it would mean 'not much worth seeing here, so no reason to place a cache in the area'.

[4wheelin_fool]

People hide plenty of things in the bad parts of town, but they usually are not caches.

 

If you are caching there, you could be mistaken for one of them or a cop. Which means risking getting shot or arrested.

[+Max and 99]

People hide plenty of things in the bad parts of town, but they usually are not caches.

 

If you are caching there, you could be mistaken for one of them or a cop. Which means risking getting shot or arrested.

 

There are lots of caches hidden in the bad parts of the city where I live, but I'm certainly not going to take my family to find them!

I've been caching in places that I thought were perfectly safe, until a fellow geocacher (or two), would email me to say "I can't believe you went there."

 

You live, you learn!

[4wheelin_fool]

People hide plenty of things in the bad parts of town, but they usually are not caches.

 

If you are caching there, you could be mistaken for one of them or a cop. Which means risking getting shot or arrested.

 

There are lots of caches hidden in the bad parts of the city where I live, but I'm certainly not going to take my family to find them!

I've been caching in places that I thought were perfectly safe, until a fellow geocacher (or two), would email me to say "I can't believe you went there."

 

You live, you learn!

 

Not all 'bad' places are really bad, as reputations sometimes are hard to change. Central park was nasty at one time, but now is excellent.

[+Sol seaker]

I don't like caching in places that are dangerous.

I do a lot of caching alone, and it is just not safe for me to be wandering the streets alone in certain sections of town. It's just not smart.

I also don't like looking for caches near homeless camps. It's just not safe. It is a fact that a lot of homeless people have mental problems. I don't want to go wandering through their territory alone.

 

I like caches that help me to learn about and explore my area. I go caching to have fun.

 

I don't go caching for the adrenaline rush. I am not going to put myself in a dangerous situation just to log a cache.

[+power69]

The 'bad part of town' could mean a lot of things.

 

To me, it would mean 'not much worth seeing here, so no reason to place a cache in the area'.

theres been a few i took my 92FS with me because they weren't the greatest of areas.

[+Ike 13]

Usually there's nothing nice to see in the bad places of town.

[+Kameharem]

went to grab a cache in a small neiborhood park and my wife told me as I stopped it was not a good neigborhood but we were there so went to make the quick grab. a couple who apeared to be living in the park watched us closely but the cache was out of thier view so we signed the log and left.

[+WhoDis]

Since when has something to see, been a requirement for some hiders? :laughing:

[+dakboy]

I do avoid areas that I know are "bad" parts of town. A cache came out a month ago in one town that I have almost "cleared" and I have no interest in visiting that new cache. It's located in a park that's known to have a lot of drug-related activity (I know a family who used to live on that block and the kids were not allowed to play there), and there have been murders right around the corner.

 

The CO lives nearby according to the description, but it's definitely not a high-rent district.

 

Of the 4 people who've found it in the month it's been there, only 2 are what I'd "the usual crowd" in that town and they're a married couple; only one other who lives in town has attempted, I have a feeling the rest have a similar opinion to mine. If the park/neighborhood was nicer, it'd easily have a dozen finds by now.

[+Ecylram]

Repeating what I wrote in the other thread...

 

We have a "black hole" in our worst part of town. There is also less density in the most expensive parts of town due to gated communities and the like.

 

Compared to other cities, our "worst" part of town isn't as bad as some others so I'm willing to cache just about anywhere in the area during the day.

[+GeoGeeBee]

Someone placed one in a high-crime area of my town. The name was even "In da hood," or something like that. It lasted about a week before it got muggled.

[sp1tf1re]

We were out caching this weekend, and looking for a place to drop a TB, since most in town are micro's or mini's. I got to the description and it mentioned to beware of homeless and people having sex. This was on the edge of a business. We walked over spotted a few homeless having hanging out pretty much right on top of the cache. We decided to skip it and never return to that particular cache.

[+bflentje]

Someone placed one in a high-crime area of my town. The name was even "In da hood," or something like that. It lasted about a week before it got muggled.

 

I actually hid a cache once in the hood and named it "Gangsta Paradise". My reviewer at the time thought it was "offensive" so had to change the name. The cache eventually got muggled but only after a couple of years of service.

[+MissJenn]

I'll take another moment to quite briansnat:

"When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot." – briansnat

 

Be nice, everyone.

[GOF and Bacall]

I'll take another moment to quite briansnat:

"When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot." – briansnat

 

Be nice, everyone.

 

I think he already quite a Briansnat.

[+TerraViators]

I'll take another moment to quite briansnat:

"When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot." – briansnat

 

Be nice, everyone.

Yep. Good point. I have some early caches that aren't that good.

[+wimseyguy]

I've meet Brian, it's very hard to quiet him after a few beers.

[DannyCaffeine]

If you look at LA on geocaching.com south central LA and Compton have no caches. The surrounding areas however, have plenty.