[Strategerist]

For quite a while I lived in a very rural portion of the Eastern Shore of Maryland...

It was, though, a small subdivision surrounded by farmlands. Lived there 7 years, not one instance of crime there the whole time.

However, 3 or 4 of the surrounding houses felt compelled to have 8 trillion candlepower unshielded outdoor lights on CONTINUOUSLY every night. Could barely see stars, meteor showers, the aurora, etc.

[sully777]

Could there be a correlation between no crime and the 3-4 houses having security lights? Or was there other deterrents such as neighbors watching out for each other (utilizing said lighting), or a possible weapon or two saved for that special intruder?

The dark allows full view of the sky and a blind view of animals and obstacles unseen.

[Skooz]

However, 3 or 4 of the surrounding houses felt compelled to have 8 trillion candlepower unshielded outdoor lights on CONTINUOUSLY every night. Could barely see stars, meteor showers, the aurora, etc.

When I was in college, I lived in a tiny little house next door to a sweet old lady. I lived there for five years and no crime, to my knowledge, took place in the neighborhood.

Then, after seeing some scary crime story on TV, she installed a gazillion megawatt London Blitz-worthy light in her back yard, which was directly across from my bedroom. The thing was like a second sun. From that day, we had no night in the neighborhood. I had to cover the bedroom windows with aluminum foil to get any sleep.