&gt; I&#x27;ve come to the conclusion that part of &quot;respecting&quot; the poorer neighborhoods is not pretending like you can walk in front of a crowd of young men hanging out on a corner as if you have just as much a right to be there as they do.<p>Well this <i>is</i> part of what I mean by treating people respectfully. As an outsider I always respected that the locals &quot;owned&quot; the neighborhood. You have to be cognizant of the local culture and try not to clash with it.<p>Any neighborhood can be &quot;dangerous&quot;. I&#x27;m pretty sure you&#x27;re more likely to get in a car wreck in the suburbs than mugged in the inner city. Just as you have to practice safe driving in the suburbs, you have to be careful of different things in the inner city.