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My wife and I are about to put our travel trailer on a permanent site in Hendersonville and since she's been researching some she says that crime is worse there than in the other small towns in WNC that we frequent. Towns like Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Sylva, Bryson City, Brevard etc. To top it off we were at the NC Apple Festival yesterday and she spotted some gang graffiti on a trash can on main st. I told her that could have been put there by someone in town for the festival. Can anyone shed some light on the crime rate in Hendersonville? I haven't spent nearly as much time there as I have in the other areas mentioned above but from the time I've spent there I have really come to like it. We live in a small town in SC with very bad demographics, a high poverty rate and a much higher than the national average crime rate. So if crime in Hendersonville is indeed a problem we may need to rethink our plans. Both of us were raised in and have lived most of our lives in our hometown so we more or less ended up here by chance but since we get to choose our "vacation home" we want to be sure we're doing the right thing. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
I've lived in Hendersonville for 5 years. I came from the northern suburbs of Chicago and I worked in the city.
Property crime rates are a bit high. I've never seen gang graffiti. Graffiti on a trash can downtown? It's probably kids and not what you'd think of as a "gang". There has been at least one home invasion in Flat Rock.
There are some significant drug problems in the whole Western North Carolina area. There is a fair amount of poverty and not a lot of good jobs. There is a lot of meth and a fair amount of domestic violence.
As an older woman, I have no fears about going anywhere in the area by myself at any time of the day or night.
I do keep my doors locked at home at night and my cars locked in my driveway always, and I sleep with the windows open at times, but I have a German Shepherd.
One thing I've noticed is that the local newspapers do not report on crime to any significant degree, but blueridgenow.com does have a mug shot page you can view and it lists the crimes of which the person is accused.
For the first four years I lived here, I saw maybe two police or sheriff's cars in an entire year. It seems like I've seen more of a police presence this year. I think that's a good thing.
One of the things you may not have noticed is that you can't really tell how good or bad a specific area is. It's not like driving through an urban or suburban area where you can see how people keep up their houses. A lot is hidden by the trees and mountains. There is also very little zoning. You can have a rundown trailer next to a nice house. It's one of the reasons there are so many HOA neighborhoods.
Travel trailers are pretty easy to break into. I don't think I'd leave one on a piece of rural land unattended for any length of time. If you are bringing your travel trailer to your land to stay in while you are here and then taking it home, I don't really think you'll have much of a problem. If you want to leave it here year-round and just visit at times, I'd probably advise against it. It really, really depends on where your land is, how close are the neighbors, etc.
If your land is within the city limits, I'd stop by the police station and ask. If it's in the county, stop by the sheriff's office. They can be pretty helpful for stuff like this although part of their job is making sure the tourists don't feel so unsafe they stop coming so take that for what's it's worth.
Thank you for your response.,I apologize, I should have been more clear in my original post about the camper. We'll be putting it on a permanent campsite at a campground that has a lot of seasonal rvs parked there. There will always be someone nearby it so I'm not too worried about it being broken in to. I think my wife's concern was more about violent crime against us as we're out and about possibly at night sometimes. Again, sorry for the confusion and thank you for your input.
Ya didn't mention if ya are within city limits or not, don't know who keeps track of crime their HCSD or City Police?
I can tell ya that as far as the HCSD the crime rate is WAY Under reported and higher then ya think, especially theft from property. This came out and was one of the reasons the sitting sheriff lost, so many folks would report crimes and there would never be a report made making the crime rate look like it was way down when it was up.
Video cameras and signs are pretty cheep today and a few on close by trees with a sign saying so would keep many of these lowlifes away.
Good luck.
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Video cameras and signs are pretty cheep today and a few on close by trees with a sign saying so would keep many of these lowlifes away.
Good luck.
Video cameras need to be out of reach and/or connected to a remote receiver that stores the images. There are construction sites here where the security cameras have been taken and if you don't have a remote receiver then you're SOL.
Here's my personal take and experience. #1 Don't be stupid. Crime can happen anywhere. Don't leave valuables visible in your car. Lock it. Lock your house. Well traveled areas (like town) are generally safe but if you're out walking on a dark street at 1am in an area you're not sure about see #1.
At the beginning of our build 2 sub's construction trailers were broken into. Desperate people + opportunity = crime. We did not have cameras up yet and a sign saying private property no trespassing doesn't deter someone looking for pawnable items. Building permits are public record and opportunists look there then scout google maps to see what's secluded enough to be easy pickings. We ignored #1.
Video cameras need to be out of reach and/or connected to a remote receiver that stores the images. There are construction sites here where the security cameras have been taken and if you don't have a remote receiver then you're SOL.
Here's my personal take and experience. #1 Don't be stupid. Crime can happen anywhere. Don't leave valuables visible in your car. Lock it. Lock your house. Well traveled areas (like town) are generally safe but if you're out walking on a dark street at 1am in an area you're not sure about see #1.
At the beginning of our build 2 sub's construction trailers were broken into. Desperate people + opportunity = crime. We did not have cameras up yet and a sign saying private property no trespassing doesn't deter someone looking for pawnable items. Building permits are public record and opportunists look there then scout google maps to see what's secluded enough to be easy pickings. We ignored #1.
Obviously I meant put the cameras where they're not visible, a game camera 7' high in a tree most times will suffice. You can get signs that just say security system in place or something close to that.
As far as cameras their are all types out there now that either record to your base or that can use a cloud. Some are even battery operated and all ya need is a router which I think most now have.
Good Luck anyway!
The days of no locks on your home are long gone but I believe if some dirt bag is ballsy enough to attempt to get into your house by trying the doors will just break a window on a deck or basement window. I just put locks on my house about 5-6 yrs ago thanks to a neighbor who rents out her garage. campers and anything else she could to anyone. But there is Karma because several have robber her so far.
What does bad demographics mean? I googled it and it can mean a dying population like having a high elderly population, but from where you are trying to get across I believe it means a high population of poor people. You saw a trash can with graffiti on it? This must be a red flag. Wow. I am curious about the bad demographic or poor demographics comment. I see it coming up in the forums several times.
First, the bad demographics I spoke of were in my home town in SC, not in Hendersonville. Without going into too much detail, the demographics I spoke of are not due to a dying population. In my town we have a large portion of the population living below the poverty level, a high crime rate, high unemployment, and more than our share of gang activity. As far as the trash can in Hendersonville, what was on it was gang signs, not just run of the mill graffiti. It wasn't a colorful painting of someone's name like you sometimes see on the side of train cars. It was those weird symbols etc. that gangs write when they're claiming their territory. But as I said above, it could have been done by someone who was in town for the festival rather than a local citizen. I think because crime and gang activity are prevalent in my home town I've become a little more aware of such things and I want to be sure I don't choose a city with those problems as my vacation spot. After reading the responses to my post here and doing a good bit of reading through other threads on this forum I'm satisfied that Hendersonville meets my approval.
First, the bad demographics I spoke of were in my home town in SC, not in Hendersonville. Without going into too much detail, the demographics I spoke of are not due to a dying population. In my town we have a large portion of the population living below the poverty level, a high crime rate, high unemployment, and more than our share of gang activity. As far as the trash can in Hendersonville, what was on it was gang signs, not just run of the mill graffiti. It wasn't a colorful painting of someone's name like you sometimes see on the side of train cars. It was those weird symbols etc. that gangs write when they're claiming their territory. But as I said above, it could have been done by someone who was in town for the festival rather than a local citizen. I think because crime and gang activity are prevalent in my home town I've become a little more aware of such things and I want to be sure I don't choose a city with those problems as my vacation spot. After reading the responses to my post here and doing a good bit of reading through other threads on this forum I'm satisfied that Hendersonville meets my approval.
You know everything is relative, but relative to other cities/towns, Hendersonville is a great place to live and raise a family (and visit). It's still has the feel of small town America. Sure, you can finds things that could be improved/made better, but you could find those anywhere. This area is really a jewel, IMO..
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