gated communities

The Alamo was a gated community at one time.

They exist to keep me out.

I think that basically, its to keep "them" out. I live in a non-gated area that has a gated area in the same community, developed by the same builder. (The gated area consists of condos, whereas the non-gated area are private homes.)

Anyhow, over the years, there has been a lot of hassling by the people in the gated areas about whom they are going to allow to use their amenities. There are many, on both sides, who think that certain activities should be reciprocal....................the gated people should be able to go to non-gated activities, and vice versa.

The way things stand, there are some activities that now are reciprocal, and others that are only open to those people who live in wither the gated or non-gated areas.

There is also an illusory sense of safety that is provided by the gate. There is not much crime in the gated area (or the ungated, for that matter). Most of the crime that is committed, is caused either by workers who have access to get into the gated area, or problems with the people themselves. I remember a case where a grandmother had her grandson living with her. After a string of robberies, it was discovered that it was the grandson who was breaking into houses.

Personally, I think that the gate offers more psychological than real safety.

I think gates are a pain in the ass and refuse to live in a community that has one. It's inconvenient for me, makes having visitors tedious, and gives a false sense of security.

Reminds me of the mother of a 3 or 4 year old that, returning from the mailbox, found that he had locked the door. He was a rather mischievous child, and considering some of his previous behavior, she could have paniced. Instead she said "Oh, no! You've locked yourself inside!"

He opened the door right away.

We have several gated communities in our area. The gates are always open. I suspect they are only there to add a few thousand to the asking price of the homes. I used to drive through in my beat up van just to look... and remind them "we" are out there.

Anyone can get in a gated community - there is little safety. There are not many in my area, but when we go out west we see lots of them. Once we decided to drive around and visit neighborhoods with the possiblity of moving some time in the future. We went to a couple of gated communities and simply followed other cars entering - no one ever tried to stop us.