Apartment Safety Features Women Living Alone Should Look For

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A locked garage

Next, your building should ideally have guarded parking. Whether it has an automatic gate for which you’ll be given a clicker or a panel in which you punch a passcode, it should have some sort of security and not just be exposed cars outside of a building. The moments when a woman is fumbling through her purse to find her car keys are some of her most vulnerable in terms of attackers.

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A well-lit garage

Whatever type of parking is offered, make sure there are plenty of lights in the garage. A locked but dark garage is still intriguing to attackers. They know if they can sneak in some way, nobody will spot them in the dark garage until they make their attack.

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Upper floor options 

As a woman, don’t live on the first floor of a building. These are the units burglars will naturally target first, since they pose less threat of them being caught. Live on at least the second floor, and higher if possible.

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Dead bolts

Don’t move into a unit that doesn’t have a dead bolt. Most burglars know how to pick regular locks and should anyone somehow get a copy of your key, they could get in. Deadbolts make it so nobody outside can get in unless the person inside opens the deadbolt.

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Proper curtains or blinds

Having privacy is so important, so don’t settle for a place with blinds that are falling apart or curtains that are transparent. At least ask your landlord to replace these with solid, opaque models.

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Well-lit corridors

The corridors around your building, like the hallway leading to your front door or the walkway to the garage, should have proper lighting at night.

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A gated entry 

If a building doesn’t have a gated entry, then that means anyone can walk right up to your apartment front door. That’s not good. What’s worse is that it makes it very easy for solicitors to show up—or for burglars posing as solicitors to show up.

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Security cameras

Security cameras around an apartment building should deter anyone who means the residents harm. It’s a small investment a landlord can make in the safety of her residents.

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Distance from certain landmarks

Though it might sound a bit snooty, don’t live right next to bus stops, subway stations, or other major hubs of public transportation, as these can also be hubs of dangerous and illegal activity. It’s best if the majority of people who walk around your building live in the neighborhood, and aren’t just passing through.

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A locked and well-lit laundry room

Make sure the laundry room door can be locked. If you’re doing laundry late at night, you want to feel safe in there. It should also have working lights, so burglars or attackers don’t hide in there.

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A building that allows dogs

Consider finding a building that allows dogs so that you can get a dog. Most intruders won’t bother with a home that has a guard dog—it’s not worth the risk of the barking and the biting. And, as for you, your dog will alert you of someone’s presence early, so you can call the police.

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Rigorous tenant vetting 

Make sure your landlord has high standards for her tenants. Some landlords, unfortunately, do not vet potential tenants at all because they just want to fill units and make money, fast. But that can mean they don’t look into things like criminal records.

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A solid door

Check the front door and make sure it’s solid. Many old buildings have thin, weak wooden doors that anybody could kick through or break through with an ax.

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Live towards the front

If possible, live towards the front of the building, and not towards the back—near the alley. Alleyways can also be sites of illicit activity, and you don’t want to walk back there late at night, alone.