I’ll add another “nothing special” to the recommendations. I have lived alone in various areas and types of dwellings for over 10 years with no issues.
That said, I do take basic precautions:
* meet your neighbors. You don’t have to be besties (and often better not to be too chatty til you know them) but know them well enough to have contact info for one or two, and find out about the neighborhood watch, local safety, and so on.
* keep your car locked and preferably in your garage. If you have a garage, IT IS NOT STORAGE, IT IS FOR YOUR CAR. My neighborhood has a crazy high occurrence of car prowls but almost no other crime, so simply by putting my car in the garage I’ve significantly reduced my risk. It took two months from moving in and seeing someone try all my doors on my driveway security camera before I did this. And speaking of the garage, make sure the door is ALWAYS closed and there’s a good, securely locked door between the house and garage
* when you do have to have someone in your house, such as a repair person, make sure someone else knows about it, who they are, or at least what company they are from. Bonus points if a friend can actually be there, but that’s often not possible. In my case, I happen to have (cheap) cameras in a few of the main rooms due to the cats, so I always be sure to casually mention that there are cameras recording inside the house as well as the obvious outside cameras
* don’t have valuables placed where they are easy to see from outside. Namely, don’t put a giant expensive TV and stereo system right in front of a street-facing picture window with no drapes! Just getting in the simple habit of closing any drapes and blinds on street-facing windows as dark falls is usually enough to keep most people from seeing in.
That said, I do take basic precautions:
* meet your neighbors. You don’t have to be besties (and often better not to be too chatty til you know them) but know them well enough to have contact info for one or two, and find out about the neighborhood watch, local safety, and so on.
* keep your car locked and preferably in your garage. If you have a garage, IT IS NOT STORAGE, IT IS FOR YOUR CAR. My neighborhood has a crazy high occurrence of car prowls but almost no other crime, so simply by putting my car in the garage I’ve significantly reduced my risk. It took two months from moving in and seeing someone try all my doors on my driveway security camera before I did this. And speaking of the garage, make sure the door is ALWAYS closed and there’s a good, securely locked door between the house and garage
* when you do have to have someone in your house, such as a repair person, make sure someone else knows about it, who they are, or at least what company they are from. Bonus points if a friend can actually be there, but that’s often not possible. In my case, I happen to have (cheap) cameras in a few of the main rooms due to the cats, so I always be sure to casually mention that there are cameras recording inside the house as well as the obvious outside cameras
* don’t have valuables placed where they are easy to see from outside. Namely, don’t put a giant expensive TV and stereo system right in front of a street-facing picture window with no drapes! Just getting in the simple habit of closing any drapes and blinds on street-facing windows as dark falls is usually enough to keep most people from seeing in.