There is going to be merging of “good/bad”, and pockets of good within the bad, even bad within the good. Especially when you get into more urban areas where things are condensed.
In terms of safety I would prefer a nondescript, out of the way, in the center of larger “decent areas”....places that aren’t highly visible, that only the people that live there know or remember it’s there. Visibility is a factor.....if you want to be in the middle of it, then you deal with transients, if you want prominent seclusion, your area could be a target as it’s hard to hide opulence, and secluding it sometimes makes it stand out.
I own a house in a smaller, older, lower middle-class area. It is one block away from the hip historic “it” neighborhood. There have only been a few thefts in my neighborhood in decades, according to neighbors and at least two of those were from individuals who knew the homeowners, and one was items stolen that were left out in the front yard. The upper middle class neighborhood next door has not only a crime watch association, but they also have a long-standing “hooker patrol”....nufff said. Weeks after a coworker and her husband moved into that neighborhood, they got their door kicked down and were burgaled. On Facebook I get almost weekly notifications or posts from people living there showing strange activity on their doorbell cameras, people stealing bikes out of their yard, etc. I don’t even know anyone in my neighborhood that has doorbell cameras.
Oh, and there was a serial killer last year that targeted residents of that neighborhood. The property taxes are five times more, and the home values three times more, then my neighborhood right next-door. So sometimes anonymity works in your favor. You pretty much have to know my neighborhood is there, or have any business in it. It’s a small block, tucked away, And there is nothing unique or distinct about it. And from the exteriors, and our cars, one certainly does not expect there to be anything good or new on the inside.
Also, in America, racism is rampant. Our history is not that old in there are still repercussions from it felt in every corner. Anyone can be racist, but in America, personally, as a person of color I don’t really put much stock in it when a white person says their area is non-racist. The system in this country is not set up to be racist again whites, so just because people aren’t spraypainting swastikas where you live, does not mean lack of racist ideology; some of the most impactful and insidious forms of racism are well-hidden to those who are not a target of it.