I've been having stronger "feelings" about us buying a house next year. (and if you've been keeping up with the blog, you know that I almost always get what i want ;) We would love to buy a house in Monterey or Pacific Grove, but the homes are very expensive and very small. Shane's co-worker mentioned an area that is between Salinas and Monterey and the homes are much more affordable and most are on larger pieces of land (like an acre or more). The only bad thing is that our kids would go to Salinas High School if we stayed there long enough. But, we've heard some good things about this school because it's North and East Salinas that is gang-infested. Not South Salinas. So, we were getting kind of excited about the idea of being able to afford a big house with some land.
BUT... last night I heard on the news that Salinas had 7 shooting homicide ... in the past week and a half! Then I read about it in the paper this morning and the 15-year old kid who died yesterday went to Salinas High School. The really sad thing about it is that this kid was a pretty good student, played on the football team and isn't believed to be part of a gang. He wasn't the intended target.
So, that got me thinking about gangs and the high school. I found some information on the dress code, including a student who organized a protest against the administration banning thong underwear, even though they really didn't. And when I read the actual dress code, I found this...
The following are not allowed:
• All professional and college sports jerseys, shirts, hats, lanyards (key holders): Giants, 49ers, Raiders, etc. Only Salinas High School jerseys, shirts, caps, etc. will be allowed.
• Items with specific California cities, geographic areas, area codes such as 831 and 408.
• Clothing with reference to SO CAL, NOR CAL, CEN CAL, Cali Life Style, Bay Area.
• 187 Inc., South Pole, Famous brand clothing.
• Items with a reference to the California flag, map, star or bear.
• Items with reference to North, South, West or East Side.
• All bandannas or clothing that resembles a bandanna, regardless of color.
• Red, maroon or blue shirts, tops, coats, belts, shoelaces, lanyards/key chains, hair bands/braids, bracelets.
• Belt buckles with any letters or numbers.
• Gloves of any color. During cold weather, gloves (no red or blue) may be worn outdoors.
Did you notice that red, maroon and blue shirts are not allowed? I think it's safe to say the school has some issues with gangs.
So, I feel like in order to afford a nice comfortably large house with land, we have to take the chance that our kids will be exposed to gang violence. I wouldn't fear our kids joining a gang, but I would be worried that they might be accidently targeted or targeted because of something beyond their control. I think I'll stick to searching Monterey and Pacific Grove when I'm searching on Realtor.com.
So, anyway, thought this was very interesting, thought maybe you might too.
3 comments:
YIKES!!! Sheesh, scarey.
Ya know, I think no matter where you look or anyone for that fact there is violence, and it is a big part of this world. I am sure things will work out no matter what or where you end up, yes that seems a bt extreme, but Sacramento is pretty extreme in some places, so maybe its just a matter of finding the right place. I lived in Morgan Hill and we loved it, do you think you might consider this area or is it out of the price range. I know its hard I have faith that things will work out, just like it did for your rental house that you were able to find in a short ammount of time!
Yeah, gangs are a real problem in all major metropolitan areas. We have that problem where we live, too. That is why there will be no public high school for us. It hasn't infiltrated the suburbs as badly as the city, but it is there and I think it is only a matter of time.
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