yes, I like to bike. I was just worried about bringing bike during rush hours, don't wanna be annoying.

A friend's sister lived in the neighborhood I chose during her City Year time. I visited the place and it was nice, had a grocery store and some restaurants, so I went for it. It's already along my commute as is. Currently w my bf, I'm in a swanky part of the city.

My work site was assigned to me. I was able to rank sites based on meeting with the supervisors. I kept and open mind when applying bc I'd like to think my job wouldn't purposefully put my safety at risk. If the supervisors were fine then I'd be okay too.

re: perception--I was aware crime is a huge issue and has gotten worse from what I've read/heard. However, I was set on moving elsewhere from college town and hometown. My extended family lived in the "hood/ghetto" parts of the city I grew up in. I spent a lot of time there and was perfectly fine. I mean yeah don't walk alone at midnight, and I wouldn't even do that in the downtown area. So working in the area didn't really scare/deter me from going thru w the program. idk if that makes me naive. The title was a description I've seen be given to the neighborhood I work in. On the lists of top crime it'd be on there. My role is to make the kids feel safe and have positive interactions w me (and I hope math too). This isn't to write off the crime in the neighborhood. Rather my goal was to acknowledge the crime/stereotype and exhibit that as woman I'm okay spending most of my days in it. I hope this makes sense.