We live:

- Within the jurisdiction of LAXPD

- within the jurisdiction of Culver City PD

- Precisely on the boundary of Westchester (a predominantly black community that borders Compton) and Playa Del Rey (a predominantly white community that ranks amongst LA's most affluent)

- Within a mile of not one, not two, but three magnet schools.

Friendly restaurant owner we know had his car break down about three blocks away. The ghettocopter showed up. There are no neighborhoods in LA safer than mine.

In addition to that, we live on the third floor behind a locked gate with 4 dozen security cameras and 24-hour armed response that circles the complex hourly. Within that complex are two playgrounds, three basketball courts, two tennis courts and two swimming pools, one designated for children only.

That said, I grew up in a town of 15,000 that not only had a 25-vehicle strong police force, we also had Pro Force (like the cops, only with machine guns and CG Commandos, SWAT and Delta. Didn't stop my buddies from getting in an armed standoff, didn't stop one of my friends from stabbing one of my other friends in the chest with a bowie knife, didn't stop two of my friends from getting into drug trafficking, didn't stop my sister's boyfriend from ending up beheaded in a ditch outside of Amarillo for crossing the Juarez cartel.

People who live in LA who think LA is tough and rugged have never been to Kansas City, Denver or Albuquerque. I fully expect to be well clear of LA by the time she's old enough to wander but if we aren't, the elementary school is across the street and the bus station is a block away.

I'd have a more concise point but my frickin' inlaws are across the table from me and they keep talking.