MyRedTrek

Is there a country or area in the US anywhere where you'd feel fine leaving a bike parked on a city street bike rack without locking it, where bicycle theft just doesn't happen?

I'm in a relatively low crime area but I wouldn't leave a bike unlocked around here.

Is there just no such place?

PaulJensen

In my town, on the USA border with Canada, I’ve seen bikes left on a lawn for weeks, bikes left on front porches for months, and last night I forgot to bring in three of my better bikes I left in the alley driveway overnight… Not just bike, but almost anything left out is safe… So weird…And it’s a flat town, wide streets, no traffic, it’s heaven…

Thirty miles away in Vancouver BC, stolen bikes are a thieves currency… Had my Raleigh folder stolen out of our locked car in a municipal parking garage…

jaxgtr

I'm sure there are safer area outside the urban cores that are safer than others.

debade

I am guessing it is a catch 22. Places where bikes are stolen are places where there are many riders, like Vancouver given great infrastructure.

But while you should be angry with the thief, I think you should be angrier with the bike purchaser. Perhaps, the purchaser is gullible. But you have to wonder if most of the time the purchaser looks the other way

LarrySellerz

Honestly parking it in a place without many drug addicts or homeless people is 90% of the battle.

jaxgtr

Especially in Vancouver. That used to be a really lovely place.

Polaris OBark

Where I live, it is safe enough to leave your doors unlocked, but someone grabbed my kid's BMX bike when it was parked out in the open.

I doubt anywhere is crime-free, unless it also happens to be depopulated of **** sapiens.

Polaris OBark

In my experience, it is the Wall Street criminals who are responsible for 90% of theft, weighted by dollar amount.

Maelochs

Antarctica .... maybe.

veganbikes

In my dream world there is no crime and the Di2 grows on trees and there are loads of waterfalls but instead of water it is the smoothest most delicious Scotch that won't get you drunk no matter how much you drink.

MarcusT

Check the local newspapers. Any local newspaper that reports stolen bikes, you know is a low crime area.

rsbob 

Uranus

Polaris OBark

I'm not gonna go there.

Jimriides

Petersburg Alaska. It is on an island. Not a big Town. Extremely Scenic, with Glaciers coming right down into the Ocean, across the Bay. One long road around the island. Too many Beats. No theft.

Darth Lefty 

You have to find a place where no one is desperate enough

Troul 

only place i could fathom would have HDMI equipped rim brakes.

MarcusT

What about bears? I'd rather have my bike stolen

DangerousDanR

I have been to such a place. It is a series of islands with 40,000 or so people. I am sure that the gene pool is fairly shallow, since the big town is 30,000 people.

The people are deeply religious. They are friendly to a fault. The last year I looked up they had 2 residential burglaries. They have had 3 murders in the past 100 years.

Criminal penalties are not that harsh. I got the same answers from people when I asked how they do it,:
1) their religion forbids stealing and they actually believe that it will be punished by a higher power.
2) because so many people are related, you might be stealing from a relative and that just isn't done.
3) because they live on a small island, someone will recognize the stolen property and they will be caught. There are only 5 officers, but police solve 75% of all crimes in the district. Also, there are CCTV cameras everywhere and you will be caught.
4) because of the above you would have to take stolen property to the mainland to sell it, and the people who run the boats will notice that you have stolen property and you will be met on the other side by police.

Nope, I am not going to say where it is, but the weather is cool and wet, the beer is fantastic, wages are low, and the Whisky definitely will put you under the table.

Troul 

this reminds me of some past exposures with at the time, current, & also former jehovah folks.
I've concluded that they had a rather large quantity of folks that dabbled with a "wilder" lifestyle than some may expect.. Not just violent activities, but also "rough trade".

mtbikerjohn 

Cicley,Alaska...in the borough of Arrowhead County..Ed Chigliak

Jughed

Smith Island Maryland.

Small island in the middle of the Chesapeake. Still inhabited by the descendants of the original settlers from the 1700’s.

Crimes/disputes are settled by Friday night fights at the baseball field. But crime is essentially non existent…

Other than that? Probably nowhere humans live.

MyRedTrek

How does a place like this have enough commerce to support an economy? A lot of outsiders visiting or otherwise doing business with the locals?

Chuck M 

I grew up and lived many years in a small town that was quite like Mayberry (if you are old enough to get the reference). Bike theft was quite rare there and I never experienced it until I was an adult and some meth-head stole my son's bike. The guy was known around town and had been given the nickname Joe Dirt as he resembled the David Spade character. I would see him from time to time on the bike and he would apparently see me too because by the time I could get around the block he would give me the slip. One day I finally caught up to him when I saw him sitting on my son's bike in the middle of the sidewalk on the main drag and I did a U turn in the middle of the street and cornered him. He hopped off the bike and started yelling "We are going to the police station" as he knew that was going to be his best defense against me beating his ass. The police station was just around the corner from where I caught him and all going to the police station resulted in was Joe Dirt walking home and me throwing my son's bike in the back of my SUV. Too bad "Andy" was on duty that day instead of "Barney".

PeteHski

Wherever they sell locks, there will be some degree of crime.

Jughed

Its an interesting place, I've been lucky enough to visit for a few weekends...

Traditionally, the people were watermen. Oysters, crabs, fish caught and exported to the mainland. That's changed over the years as the bay health is in bad shape. Now they have some tourism, guided adventure, Smith Island Cakes, B&B's.

The men living there are big stock, rugged & strong. All of them. Crime is (was, see below) non existent. And for the longest time, there was no law on the island.


Edit:
I was there 20+ years ago. I just looked some things up, apparently things have changed. Looks like property crime is a common now. Some websites are reporting property crime, some are not. Crime there isn't tracked by normal agencies - so I don't know what to believe.