I don't know about Paco. Personally, I'm too lazy to go through the archives and compile anything this morning. Fortunately there is another recent poll thread where guys posted about some of their experiences:
http://www.costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18250. In that thread I did my own compilation and this is what I found:
1) Most of the crimes that guys suffer is not at the hands of street thugs but at the hands of chicas. Yet no one is saying we avoid them. The more sensible compromise is to continue to go with chicas but to be cautious in doing so and I'm saying the same could be said about dealing with the street.
2) Coming in close to chica theft was non-violent property theft. This included having things stolen from hotel rooms or luggage, meaning not on the street or avoidable by taking cabs. It also included pickpocketing incidents, presumably mostly out on the street. I'd also guess that most of those pickpocketing out on the street incidents occurred not at night, when the streets are mostly empty and guys are taking cabs everywhere, but during the day when guys are more often out walking. Furthermore, as kc has pointed out, one of the worst areas for potential pickpocleting is right outside the HDR where one could get hit just walking from the door of the hotel to get into that cab.
3) Despite all the anectdotal reports of crime on this board and others that create this impression of SJ being a dangerous city, most crimes are actually non-violent in nature and occur elsewhere than on the street. In that nonscientific poll violent crime came in as a distant third to the other 2 forms of crime already discussed. Just 11 people reported being violent crime victims and for most of those guys it was over the course of many many trips or even living in CR. One of those, Ace, reported an
attempted armed robbery while he was
driving to Irazu (ie unrelated to walking in SJ and not preventable by taking a cab).
But what about the fraction of crime, reported in that thread, that was violent in nature and occurred on the streets of SJ?
1) The worst crime that Zig actually suffered was credit card fraud "to the tune of $8800" and not what happened to him on the street but this is what he himself had to say about his ONE mugging "My stupidity of course for wearing flashy jewelry, but after 17 trips there, became highly complacent. Probably not a good move being out alone at 2 am drunk, either!" he also reported "A grab and run of my necklace similar to Scubas loss". And that was it over the course of
17 trips.
2) What about Scubabum? Again, like Zig, his worst loss was not out on the street. His worst loss came at the hand of a chica who ripped him off for $800. He also had TVs get his necklace, which raises the question, not why he wasn't taking a cab, but why was he
wearing a necklace to begin with if was going to pass through an area with TV's and also why did he
let them get close enough to grab it. And again that was it over the course of how many trips?
3) RBC, also a veteran of numerous trips to CR and one who is known for exploring places most others fear to follow, could report just 1 certain incident in his entire CR career and that occurred on his very first night ever in CR, before he knew how to get around safely and after "walking out of a strip joint after to much to drink thinking ... to much alchohol can get one in to big trouble."
4) Don Gordo did not discuss the specifics of his incident in that thread, but like the others for him it was an isolated occurance after a looonnnggg career in CR. It didn't occur at night when you're suggesting everyone take cabs, but during a Sunday morning in a quiet neighborhood not usually visited by most guys on this board. I'd never suggest Don Gordo was in any way responsible for his own misfortune. He had a lot of expensive shit on him, but he wasn't out at a time one normally expects to be hit and he wasn't in an area normally known for gringo muggings. In fact, his instance is the only instance I'm familiar with of a gringo getting mugged in that area (hence his temporary lack of caution). His case seems highly unique and nonrepresentative to me. Besides if we're going to use DG's oft-cited DAYTIME incident as evidence supporting the "ALWAYS take cabs at NIGHT" position then shouldn't ALL of us be taking cabs EVERYWHERE we go during the DAY as well ("hey, its only a couple of bucks").
If you really were to go through the archives and review all the past reported incidents of violent street crime that occurred after dark (when you suggest guys should ALWAYS take a cab), I think you'll find that in nearly all the cases there were one or more contributing factors on the part of the victims:
1) walking between the HDR and the Pres after dark at a time when frequent muggings were known to occur in that PARTICULAR area
2) wearing jewelry that might attract thieves
3) being slightly or very intoxicated
4) not paying attention to what is going on around them
5) passing by or letting themselves get too close to questionable character(s)
6) walking in other more questionable areas
7) Are new to SJ or poor country cities and unfamiliar with how to carry themselves in such situations
(note that I did not include not being musclebound or it being after dark as contributing factors)
Unfortunately, these important details usually get omitted when someone later ticks off cases of gringo muggings or get forgotten altogether when guys report their general sense of the safety situation in SJ. Is the answer to ALWAYS take a cab after dark in SJ? Maybe for some. None of the guys who are saying the security problems in SJ are overstated are saying you can't or that you should never take cabs. However, for us it makes more sense to FIRST make sure you aren't making any of the mistakes listed above before you rule out walking completely. Let's face it, we all accept some level of risk in many things we do in SJ (and anywhere else for that matter). In doing so, we each make our own (hopefully well informed) assessment of risk and decide out own comfort levels, whether its to war protection at all times when having sex with a prostitute or whether to drive a car in SJ traffic. SOME of us feel the degree of risk from walking in SOME areas after dark can be reduced to acceptable levels if other sensible precautions are followed. Others disagree. It doesn't mean that one side or the other is stupid or blind, only that they measure up that risk differently or have different comfort levels. Why can't we leave it at that?
I'll conclude by reposting my own final assessment on this subject that I wrote in the VIP section:
Prolijo wrote:
I'm not saying one should never take a cab at night. Far from it. I encourage newbies or anyone unfamiliar with the security situation to play it safe and take a cab at night. If you're even slightly inebriated or otherwise impaired and thus unable to be completely alert, then always take a cab. If you're old and infirm and unable to run if you have to, take a cab. If it is raining out or you have a chica with you, take a cab (unless its to someplace like the Morazon). If you don't have any street smarts and don't know the basics about how to carry yourself in the streets, take a cab. If the distance is more than just a few blocks, take a cab. If the area you have to walk through is particularly bad, take a cab. It may not seem like that leaves very much, but a lot of areas in SJ really AREN'T that bad. So ALWAYS taking a cab at night is not 100% for ALL guys.
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