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Comment by dcolkitt | Hacker News Reader

Depends on the neighborhood. The average open-air drug market in the Tenderloin is dangerous precisely because of how busy it is.

Crowds are a decent security by obscurity mechanism, but only if you blend in. If you code as an outsider (e.g. a Japanese tourist in West Philly), then bustle might be a bug not a feature. More potential predators' attention to catch.

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So many factors play into both subjective and objective safety. This is an interesting project but I'm not sure how you algorithmically encode the route you should probably walk if you're going from the Hilton on O'Farrell to the Moscone.

The most direct route (stockton->market->howard) is actually the one I’d take in that case. What do you think it should suggest?

I guess that actually is a tad shorter--and the preferred route Google Maps gives you. A lot of people would be inclined to cut down to Market though because it seems more direct. (Google does give this as an alternate and the two are basically the same distance.)

O'Farrel to Market on Mason is definitely more shady than going down Stockton. Not so shady that I've personally felt unsafe, but it's the kind of place I have to step around a dice game on the sidewalk.

> If you code as an outsider

More likely a jumpy or purse clutching individual who is oblivious to their surroundings will stand out to perps.

If you mind your own business and don't act stupid, most places are perfectly safe.

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