Boytwnmom
Verified Attorney
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- Jul 26, 2008
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gated community that had basically become an aprtment complex because of the economy-there were lots of new renters in there and no possible way GZ knew all of the people in the almost 300 units and their family and friends.
Can I also say I find "gated communities" to be both ridiculous and obnoxious. This was not an "upscale" place-it was a little cookie cutter development but to make themselves feel better they build a wall around it. What is it with Florida and the southwest? Every time we rent out in the Phoenix area we're in some stupid gated community where they have codes for gates and pools and clubhouses. I got trapped IN the last gated community as a pedestrian as I didn't have the codes with me and I couldn't get the pedestrian gate to open to let me OUT. Since it waas outside PHX it was also half empty. These places are becoming ghost towns in this economy. I just find them weird-as a New Englander I live in a small town with a college and town center and green and churches that everyone walks to and we don't have any anywhere near the crime they had in GZ's gated complex. I think they're a terrible idea-trying to isolate yourself from your fellow community memebrs is just odd to me. OK, I digressed...sorry.
Can I also say I find "gated communities" to be both ridiculous and obnoxious. This was not an "upscale" place-it was a little cookie cutter development but to make themselves feel better they build a wall around it. What is it with Florida and the southwest? Every time we rent out in the Phoenix area we're in some stupid gated community where they have codes for gates and pools and clubhouses. I got trapped IN the last gated community as a pedestrian as I didn't have the codes with me and I couldn't get the pedestrian gate to open to let me OUT. Since it waas outside PHX it was also half empty. These places are becoming ghost towns in this economy. I just find them weird-as a New Englander I live in a small town with a college and town center and green and churches that everyone walks to and we don't have any anywhere near the crime they had in GZ's gated complex. I think they're a terrible idea-trying to isolate yourself from your fellow community memebrs is just odd to me. OK, I digressed...sorry.
I want to expand on this because it goes back to the point I made in my first post on this thread, answering why GZ ever left his vehicle.
You really have to understand the "gated community mentality" to get it. On a public street everyone has a right to be there. I can get on a plane, fly to any city, get in a rent a car, drive around, park, and walk down any street, and really nobody has any reason to suspect me.
But if I drive into a private gated community, it all changes. Completely. People expect to know others. If they don't recognize you, they look at how you look, what you're driving, what your'e wearing, to determine if you belong. And if they can't tell, they might confront you, or call security, just to make sure. This is practically unheard of in a public street context.
So I think that's why people have such a hard time understanding GZ's attitude and behavior. Why did he get out of the car? Why did he follow TM? The answer is: gated community mentality. Perfectly normal and legal.