New Haven, I don't love you right now

Here I was, all prepared to write a post about how glorious maternity leave has been in New Haven, with its walkable streets, coffee shops, yoga studios and farmer's markets. New Haven is a fun town, and we live right in the heart of it, just 1 block off of the main stretch of upscale shops and restaurants. I often appreciate this convenience. There isn't a day that goes by where Jack and I don't spend some time enjoying New Haven. I've been waiting to write this post until I get a chance to take some pretty pictures of our goings on in the great urban outdoors.

Well, I'm a little pissed.

In the last two months, we've had the following crime events occur:

• My husband's shoulder bag was stolen at 5pm from our back porch (behind a gate), while we were inside for a few minutes
• I witnessed a man engaging in, uh, shall we say what *should* be a private sexual activity, in the ally by our house
• Three muggings, one with a gun, all in broad daylight and within two blocks of our house

And now:

• Someone stole my photo editing software in an Amazon package from our front porch (also behind a gate)

These recent items can be added to a long list of crime events that have occurred within water-balloon throwing distance of our windows, the likes of which include:

• Someone getting shot up in broad daylight, 50 feet of our front porch
• Another instance, of, uh, private sexual activity being conducted in public
• Other packages getting stolen during broad daylight
• Stuff getting stolen from our garage and backyard
• Christmas cards being removed from our mailbox

Which is not to mention the variety of unsavory day to day goings on, like the regular visitations by homeless people who jump over our fence to relieve of us of our recyclable cans and bottles, the screaming teens and adults that seem to walk by our window every night between the hours of 2 and 6am, the ambulances and fire trucks (we're within a mile of two, yes TWO, hospitals), and the generally obnoxious partying Yale undergrads, who occasionally do stupid shit like throw glass bottles into our driveway or blast the music through hours during which all decent folks are sleeping.

Which is also not to mention the tremendous amount of crime that occurs within a mile of our home. Not only do we know our cops by sight, we've even been interviewed by the same reporter on more than one occasion.

Having my photo editing software stolen feels like a last straw. I certainly can't pay visual homage to a city I enjoy when that city steals my homage-giving equipment out from under my feet.

New Haven, I don't love you right now. I don't even like you.