Suwon has a population of about 1.1 million people. It's an urban area. The main street which I ride my bicycle to and from work, consists of eight lanes and a maximum speed limit of 60mph. The city of Suwon is a large sprawl of apartment buildings, businesses, buses and at 4am, it's common to have traffic jams. With this in mind, I am continually amazed of the feeling of safety I feel and see here.
Parents leave their young child/ren sleeping in their cars, windows down, doors open, parked on the side walk while their parent/s are out of sight. Families walk together, their young kids running ahead, cars speeding by and scooter delivery guys sharing the side walk. Kids, ages 6-18 walking alone, during the day or late at night, to and from school. Families eating dinner at a restaurant; the child finishes her dinner, says nothing to her mom and dad, leaves the restaurant and rides her bicycle down the busy street. This would never happen in Los Angeles or any major urban area. People are scared. Bad things happen. Here in Korea, however, there is a trust among people. For example, although bicycles do get stolen or vandalized there is no incentive to steal one here. Most people have the same style of bicycle called a Lespo and what market is there for those Lespos when everyone has one or can buy a new one for $80?
Last August of 2007, I road my bicycle in Chico and San Luis Obisipo (SLO). I was looking for a new place to live and work and did a four day road trip up north. One of my litmus tests for safety is riding my bike in the morning and late at night. I had the same feeling of safety in those two places as I do here, in a city of 1.1 million people. I love it. People feel safe here. There are no guns owned by individuals, gang violence is very little, there are no "race" issues, people are college educated especially women and sharing is part of their culture. But I don't know the stats of safety and such and I am still guessing why safety here is not an issue like it is back in the States.
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