The startup that I work for is considering moving its office from SF to Oakland due to a rent increase. My boss asked how I would feel about that. I said, "That's fine, as long as the new office isn't in a sketchy neighborhood." His response? "There are no sketchy neighborhoods in Oakland." The denial that some (otherwise intelligent) people live with is amazing.
It really didn't seem like it. Some people seem to think that if you are afraid of crime, then you are a wuss, and I think he might be one of those people (based on this comment and others). He lives on the Oakland-Berkeley border, and seems proud of his lack of concern about the area where he lives. It's probably a lot easier to feel this way if you are tall and male (he is both), but of course neither of those things helps very much when guns are involved.
Or maybe I completely misread his tone and it was a joke. That's possible.
