Allston Brighton TAB Blog

Where am I the safest?

Posted on April 27, 2007 by Meghann Ackerman
Filed Under Police |

Recent attacks in the Medford/Somerville area have gotten me thinking about my own safety.

I often get home (Brookline) from work (Somerville) pretty late at night; that’s just the nature of journalism. I’m not exactly sure how far my parking space is from my house, but I know it takes me more than five minutes to walk from one to the other. The whole time I am on guard.

There are very few other people out on the streets when I’m walking home. The streets are not well lit. I usually have one hand wrapped around my cell phone and in my other hand are my keys, ready to slash at anyone who comes near me.

Ironically, I never felt this paranoid when I was walking around Allston Village or when I leave the office in Davis Square (in Somerville if you don’t cross the river often). Folks are always around and often police are on patrol because of late-night activity. The streets are well-lit.

I often think about how all those people (students or otherwise) hanging out at bars and parties and restaurants who people (I won’t call them “residents,” because students are residents too) complain about making too much noise may have saved me from being attacked.