NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) —There is a continuing conversation about the mixed perceptions about the safety of Antioch.
However, it is a hot place to move to. Antioch is one of the cities fastest growing neighborhoods.
A lot of new people are attracted to the area, they tell us it’s for the good food and convenient location.
“They are building it up,” says Thomas Windfield who lives in Antioch.
“Honestly, just the price of rent,” says Sam Hanse, who also lives in Antioch.
It seems though, there’s a perception of why not to move to the area.
“It definitely hasn’t been as safe as it has been in the past,” says Denisa. She didn’t want us to use her last name.
However, that’s not everyone's experience.
“I walk my dog at like nine o’clock, I feel very safe,” says Winfield. “I actually dropped my wallet one day on the side of my car, I woke up the next morning and it was still there. Everything was still there.”
“People are wonderful, they are nice, they are friendly,” says City Counsel member, Fabian Bedne.
He has lived in the area for 20 years and says he’s never had an issue.
“I always wonder about that perception of Antioch, I think it was something that was manufactured at some point and it just became, took a life or its own. But, honestly the people that live there know it’s just not true,” says Bedne.
Bedne is excited about a new park they are getting in the area, Orchard Park. He says the area really needed it.
Meanwhile, Denisa says, “We have a lot of break-ins in our area. People always come and steal cars or break into our cars, we had people break in on Christmas eve.”
We reported crime stats this week, the South precinct tops the list for robberies, car thefts, violent offenses. However, Bedne says the South precinct covers a much larger area, meaning those numbers are not a good reflection of whats actually going on.
“It’s changing, it’s changing for the better, and not because it was bad before but, it was lacking in services and infrastructure. We are getting a lot of that and people are excited about that,” says Bedne.
However, Denisa says, “I personally wouldn’t recommend moving to Antioch, I would probably try and stay away as far as you can from the border.”
“Any area you are in there is a good or bad, I mean, just choose wisely when you’re moving. But, again, I love it,” says Winfield.