First Time back to the states....

Jim - you have to watch your back everywhere!      

I don't let the early darkness keep me from going out, but better believe that I am looking behind me.  I carry a flashlight so I can scan the dark recesses and so people know that I am alert and aware.   Plenty of crackheads round these parts. 

There is a dead end road close to me where quite often a burned out car or motorbike appears.  I reckon they are stolen, but I don't know why they are destroyed.

It reminds me of how close I am to crime, and how the criminal element can be anywhere at anytime.

I think moving anywhere -- even another part of the States -- takes a lot of getting used to.  And then if you do go back to your original home there's a lot of re-adaptation.  I don't know if I'd say You Can't Go Home Again but it sure is hard.  And I think once you are in a place -- be it a mansion or a cardboard box -- you get very used to it.

There is a dead end road close to me where quite often a burned out car or motorbike appears.  I reckon they are stolen, but I don't know why they are destroyed.

I have heard that they destroy them so that the police can't get evidence off the vehicle.
They do it a lot in Las Vegas and I'm sure a lot of other places.

It reminds me of how close I am to crime, and how the criminal element can be anywhere at anytime.

I think that is a fair assessment.  We always kept all the doors and windows locked in Leeds -- even if we were at home.  No going out to the back garden and leaving the front door open.  And we were burgled five times, I think it was, once when DH was upstairs in bed.  Everyone has home alarms and car alarms (which constantly go off).  I have to say I feel much safer in suburban Boston.  We have never had any incidents and I haven't heard of any break ins at neighbors.  Of course, having lived all those years in lock-down mode I still follow the drill!
Then too, the Yorkshire Ripper's last strike was only about a block away from us.  I innocently walked down that road taking DD to playgroup the following morning.  Scary.
I used to think that DH was just overly suspicious whenever we went out but he was always on the alert.  I never felt comfortable in places like the Market because he'd warned me so many times about pickpockets.

Destroying the evidence makes sense, particularly after watching what the CSIers can do 

When I was looking at home insurance literature, I believe I saw a statistic stating that a burglary occurs once every three seconds in the UK. 

Many people have those security bars that lock the steering wheel - maybe it helps with insurance rates?

Speaking of the fog of memory, my mom (even though she's been back several times since she left in 1961, once in this decade) was momentarily surprised when I said I needed a refrigerator - that I wasn't keeping my food stuffs in a cold cellar. 

At first she was quick to tell me how things are here (carry a string sack to the store because they don't provide bags), but she's come to realize that England isn't frozen in time. 

I think it disappoints her to no end.   

It's funny how different everyone's experiences are - I know this comes up time and again.  Much as I loved living in Tampa Bay, I feel far safer living in Leeds than I ever did in Tampa.  So my experience of Leeds is completely different from BostonDiner's - probably has a lot to do with the area I live in, I suppose.  Yes, we lock our doors (just like I did in Tampa as well!) as a matter of common sense.  But I don't feel unsafe at all here, and Kirkgate Market is one of my favourite Leeds places!  Yes, I watch my bag etc - but I would do that in any city.  I certainly don't feel any particular threat here in any case. 

Going back to the US, I feel like a foreigner there now.  It's like being on holiday, except that a lot of stuff starts to annoy me pretty quickly when I go back, and I'm homesick for England & always glad to get back home again.  Plus, strangely - despite being able to eat out at restaurants there with great BBQ, Mexican, etc, DH and I always start craving curry when we are there in the US. 

  So my experience of Leeds is completely different from BostonDiner's - probably has a lot to do with the area I live in, I suppose. 

Exactly.  You find a lot of fairly upmarket residential areas cheek-by-jowl with somewhat dubious estates.  But other areas are probably more homogeneous and therefore less dodgy.

I know I'm a little late in responding, but I just wanted to share a few observations. 

DH and I have just returned from a 2 week trip back to the US.  I haven't been home since I moved here nearly three years ago, and it was his very first time.  I'll second what a lot of people have said already...I felt like a foreigner.  It was the little things, really.  The way people tend to share their entire life story at the drop of a hat.  The shock of having to pay sales tax (how I missed the good ol' reliable, no-surprises VAT!) and tipping.  The birds--I, too, was fascinated by seeing cardinals and blue jays again--now weirdly exotic.  The pleasure of having waiters and salespeople being cheery, conversational, and in one case touchy-feely.  But as much as I enjoyed myself and loved seeing the family again (and especially playing tour-guide to my darling DH), I found myself anxiously awaiting our trip back home to the UK. 

DH had a great time, lapping up the attention lavished on him by my friends and family.  He's already saying he'll happily visit again any time.  Granted, next time I won't wait three long years to return (hopefully) so maybe it won't seem so foreign.  But this trip was the final confirmation that the UK is truly home now.