The Modesto Bee Jeff Jardine column [The Modesto Bee]
By Jeff Jardine, The Modesto Bee | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area includes all of
Yes, it's a short list.
Here's another: cities with movie stars premiering films this weekend.
OK, Modesto is at the top of that one, too, with
(Not to ignore
Sure, these are stretches, because all of the aforementioned people ply their trades elsewhere. But such myopic rankings are certainly more uplifting than the lists the valley usually makes, and usually in Forbes:
--Most miserable cities
--Worst air quality
--Best places to have your car stolen
--Worst business climates (unless you deal meth)
--Worst places to find a job
--Most out-of-shape people (based on gym memberships per capita, fried pork rind consumption or whatever)
We've made all of them at one time or another, and some -- like the auto theft rankings -- repeatedly. They are to be avoided. The question becomes: How does an area vanish from the list makers' radar?
Last week, new
Many of the people he's met are wonderful, he said. They greet you, and it's like you've been friends for a lifetime. But among others, there is a general apathy about neighborhoods, crime, the city in general.
Worse yet, as I've noticed over the decades, there's an attitude of defeatism among some valley dwellers -- that they don't deserve better, if only because they don't demand more of themselves, their neighbors, politicians and authorities.
Carroll described it as people throwing up their hands as if to say, "Oh, well, there's nothing we can do about it."
Yes, he said, law-abiding people can do something about it.
They can use The Club or electronic anti-theft devices to deter car thefts. Authorities gave out 2,000 of the steering wheel locks in 2010 and saw a 12.6 percent decrease in auto theft by 2011. So they gave out 1,600 more last year.
And residents can make sure that crooks know they are being watched, because when people look out for one another -- including, but not limited to, neighborhood watches -- crime rates decrease and the quality of life improves. Get license plate numbers and good physical descriptions, and contact authorities. We've written numerous stories over the years about witnesses who stepped in to stop purse thefts, muggings and even apprehended suspects until the police arrived.
Get visual, get involved -- but be safe and smart about it.
Carroll cringed when asked about the actions of two Modesto residents who last week tried to stop a crime. They pursued the suspects and, according to reports, both parties rammed each other's vehicles in moves akin to a county fair destruction derby.
The cops eventually caught the perps near
A central Modesto resident spotted some thugs lurking in his neighborhood early one August morning and called the police. They responded but lacked the evidence to make arrests.
Later, when the prowlers spotted the resident who had called authorities, they bashed his car with a baseball bat and then fled in a stolen SUV. He gave chase. The SUV tried to turn onto
It slammed into a couple sitting on a bus stop bench, crushing the woman's legs, breaking ribs and nearly killing her. The SUV launched her boyfriend 15 feet into the air, fracturing his leg and spine.
The police made arrests. The victims continue to recover.
And in November, a 52-year-old
Those tragic events ultimately will show up in the crime statistics that Forbes and others will use as the basis for the negative rankings this area can't seem to escape.
So when something good happens -- when a local leads his team to the Super Bowl, stars in a
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