I live in a secure building - but I still lock the apartment door 'cause you never know who another tenant might allow into the building.

As far as dealing with a key, I replaced my deadbolt lock w/ a Schlage electronic combination lock and assigned the landlord and guests their own combos.

Locked when I leave the house and locked when I go to bed at night, but unlocked during the day while I'm at home. In the summer, the door is wide open to let the breeze in!

My parents are the same way, but everyone else I know locks their front doors all the time. My friends think I'm crazy for not locking it, but there is so much paranoia built into locking yourself in to your own home. For the most part, I trust the outside world not to come in without knocking, and so far, I haven't been proven wrong.

My husband and I moved to Harrisburg PA, right on the main street. We had our bikes stolen a month after we moved in, so you bet we keep the door locked!

locked! I'm in an apartment and there has been a couple times where I've heard people turn the door knob...

I used to live in an apartment in a 3 story duplex. My roommate and I often left our apartment door unlocked because we knew the tenants on the other floors and felt fine with them, and the front door was always locked. This worked fine until somebody broke into the lockbox on the front of the house containing the mailman's key, let himself into the building, and stole a ton of our stuff out of our unlocked apartment. So, really dumb, but lesson learned. All my doors are locked now. Why make it easy on the criminals?

I keep my apartment door locked, but the main door in our building is usually unlocked. I live on a pretty quiet street in a nice neighborhood though, so I don't worry about it too much, particularly since my own apt door is locked.

locked

good luck trying to unbolt that lot b4 the UPS guy runs away tho. (referring to the pic)

Locked all the time, even when I'm home.

I occasionally leave my doors unlocked, but only due to my own absentmindedness. I once left my side door, visible from the street (I lived on a corner) wide open all day. I had let my dogs in from the side yard before leaving for work and forgot to shut the door. I got home that evening, thinking I had been robbed, and not one thing was touched. I imagine a potential thief walking in that day, taking one look at my stuff, and deciding it wasn't worth the effort.

Of course I had to do this in the middle of Texas summer, so my air conditioner was running all day. Not terribly energy efficient.

Locked. I don't care where I live or how well I think I know my neighbors. It takes an extra, what, two seconds? I'd rather be on the safe side, because I have pets a burglar would possibly hurt (or just let loose) and a computer I need for school/work. I've been at home when someone tried to break in before. Not fun.

I like to always leave the door locked 100% of the time (except for when I'm arriving or leaving and need to get through the door, of course!), but my husband comes from a family who never ever locks their door unless they're leaving on vacation (and not even always then). We end up locking the door when we go out and at night, but not during the day if someone's there. But I do tend to lock the door if I happen to notice it's unlocked during the day.

one lock when i'm awake, all three when i'm out or asleep. i once installed my own deadbolt wrongly and let it go for a year and a half. got robbed. lesson learned.

I live in a secure building and still lock my door. I also live alone and the idea of leaving my door unlocked is not a pleasant one.

I think it's unbelievably reckless to leave doors unlocked. Such a simple way to keep yourself and home safe.

Locked! I too replaced my back door lock with an electronic lock. It gives me the freedom of not needing keys if I go for a run or out for the night and don't want to carry a bag. I can also give friends/relatives the code. If I ever need to change it, it won't cost a dime and I won't have to worry about keys scattered across town.

I like to keep my front door open. I live in So.Cal. and since weather usually permits, I can leave it open during the day for 90% of the year . But when the door is closed, it's locked. I am more concerned that the back door is locked.

maybe i'm wrong, but it seems from most anecdotal evidence that the chronic unlocked folks are men. a few of them that i know are either self impressed by their own machismo (about this and other silly things) or lazy sacks that have three TVs in one room.

(second example was from the original linked article).

Our door auto-locks when you close. So I've had to make it a habit to alway have my keys at hand. Love the idea of the electronic locks!!! So smart.

When I lived in the burbs with with my family, all our neighbours kept their doors unlocked. But my hyper-paranoid asian parents insisted on locking the front door at all times and deadbolting it at night. Being a scatterbrain, I often forgot my house key and came home to a locked door. I learned that I could stick my skinny arm through the mail slot and turn the doorknob from the inside to let myself in, but it was a constant aggravation.

Now that I'm living in an apartment downtown, my door is locked at all times. After witnessing several police raids including full SWAT gear, shields, batons, rifles, and battering rams (there is a notorious drug dealer they've been trying to nail down) I do not feel particularly safe unless my door is bolted.

Locked. A neighbor in my apartment building attempted to break into my apartment while I was in it. I lived in a very small town at the time. When I alerted him to the fact I was there, he tried to talk his way in, giving me the creepy impression that he wasn't after my stuff.

Now I not only lock, but set the chain bolt when I'm home so that the maintenance man doesn't surprise me when I'm in the shower!

Really? I always lock my doors. I chuckle when people say they live in a "nice" area. Thieves/Rapists/Door to door salesmen can be found anywhere.

My parents don't own keys for the locks on their house. They lost them years ago and never bothered to get new ones.

If I lived out in a rural area again, I wouldn't bother with locking it. In the city, though, I ALWAYS lock my front door. Of course, the only reason I lock it as soon as I get in is because otherwise I forget to lock it before I go to bed.

JaneLane: EXACTLY, thank you!

Locked at night and while I'm away.

I had two burglaries already. Once they broke open the locked door, next time they came through a locked window.

By mistake once the door to the patio and the garden gate stood fully open all day long while we all were away. Nothing happened. Another time I forgot to close a window at the ground floor before leaving. Again, more luck than brains.

Since then I'm more careful.

The outside door is locked. But I keep my inside door unlocked. It uses a skeleton key, so it's a hassle to lock it from the inside. Plus there are only three units in my house and I trust the other two tenants. All three doors use the same skeleton key, so if they stole from me, I guess I would just open their door and take it back...I know, probably not the best idea, but I feel alright about it.

We keep our doors locked at all times. When we first moved into our current house, we had all sorts of random joes walk in off the streets. Needless to say we quickly changed our practice!

At my old house, which was in a dense urban area without a lot of privacy from the street, I left the doors unlocked because my kids were too forgetful with keys and I was afraid they'd be locked out after school. I had two big dogs for backup and an elderly next-door neighbor who was usually home.

Where I live now my house has an obstructed view from the street and I keep it locked, even though I still have the same dogs. My kids are older and have gotten way better about keeping their keys attached to their backpacks. We have a secret hidden key but right now it is buried under a foot of snow!

Your life is most precious.

Lock your doors - always.

Every time there is some heinous crime folks interviewed by the media say "Oh, it's never happened here this is such a nice neighborhood."

Opportunity doesn't always knock first.

Deadbolt always locked, doorknob never locked. Wooden dowel always in the sliding glass door. I am rather OC about keeping them locked. I will double and triple check frequently.

I like the idea of electronic locks. I'll have to look at those. I run a lot out of my condo, and hate carrying keys.

My boyfriend lives in a bachelor pad condo with two roomies, in the "party" area of town (high concentration of bars/nightclubs) and they always leave their front and back doors unlocked. One of the roommates is always forgetting his keys, and on the weekends, some friend usually can't drive home from the bars and stumbles in to crash on the couch. They leave the doors unlocked at night so they don't have to wake up to let anyone in. So far they nothing's been stolen, but I couldn't live like that!

locked... and it drives me crazy when people I know don't.

The nice area idea is simply put deluded...
if its a nice area then its going to be a target because generally speaking nice areas contain nice cars, household items etc. so if anything that nice area is a giant target mark.

Criminals are going to want better goods they can resell for a higher price.

also the expression 'dont s*** on your own doorstep' springs to mind!

I'm in Chicago, in a city neighborhood, and my door is always locked. I used live downstairs from a cop, and he was all about security... and had the stories to convince you.

My doors don't stay closed unless they're locked. If I'm in the kitchen, and it's nice out, I'll leave the kitchen door open, but otherwise, all is locked. There are lots of nice windows for the thieves to come in if they really want something...

I've always kept my door locked. I used to live in a neighborhood where just about every apartment in my building had been robbed. Luckily for me, I never experienced that in the 5 years I lived there.

How many here have had their housed robbed even though the doors were locked? Lots I suspect. I still lock because it makes me *feel* safer, but it won't actually prevent anything from happening.

I live in a crappy urban neighborhood but still sometimes leave the door unlocked while walking the dog. (Usually when the dog suddenly decides "AH ITS SO URGENT WE MUST GO OUT NOW".) The dog always enters the house first....if someone else were in the house, she'd bark and let me know.

Locked, I don't trust people.

As a long time NYC resident in a safe building, I never thought about bolting or chaining the door until a drunken former dog sitter came in at 4am thinking it was 4pm, nearly giving me a heart attack in the process. I now double lock and chain the door at night.

When I was 17, I stopped a mid-day break-in at the neighbour's house by sticking my head out our (unlocked) back door and shouting "Can I help you?" to the two large men across the fence. Thankfully, they ran away.

If they'd come to my unlocked house, though, and found me alone... it was a real wake up call.

Since then I always lock my doors, and its paid off. Once while living in an apartment a very drunk man tried to get into my place at about 3am. He was looking for my neighbour. And again, living in another apartment block, I was walked in on by a stranger when I accidentally left my keys in the door. Thankfully he gave my keys back and left when I yelled at him.

I don't have much to steal so its not a case of protecting my stuff, but instead, of protecting me.

About ten years ago, I lived in a cheap apartment in a not so nice part of Harlem. I caught two junkies trying to break into my apartment with a butter knife. I will always lock my door.

Oh, and an addinum - I now live in the top floor of a house in a party/university district. One night at about 1:30 am two cops dragged someone out from beneath our back porch and arrested him. It had snowed the night before and when we got up the next morning, there were tracks leading to both our back and side door, which were thankfully locked.

The house i grew up in in Califronia was never locked. Even when we went on vacation. When I went to college my roomates would get mad because I never locked the door. Now I live in Brooklyn and I always lock my door, especially when I am home because I am much more fearful of being attacked than being robbed.

Allisen, completely agreed!

I'm living in a very nice area, too. Every other of my extremely nice neighbours has been robbed, too. It's not the neighbours who do this!

The police says the burglars have mafia-like structures today. Some spy on the area, then others from cities 100 or more miles away come and do the job. The Autobahn junction is near by and that's part of the problem.

This is an ongoing struggle in my house. I lock the door and turn on the alarm as soon as I enter. I have to remind my husband all the time that this is Miami and not Mary Poppins land. Just because you haven't had a home invasion so far does not mean it will never happen. A few of my neighbors have been robbed, but I still see people leave the door unlocked all the time.

I live in on the top (5th) floor of a walk-up in Hell's Kitchen - the door is always locked - heavy duty bolt lock, dead bolt and chain. Three months ago, my neighbors across the hall left their window gate unlocked (window to the fire escape) and were burglarized. The burglar walked out the front door of the apartment and out the front of the bldg (according to the police who came knocking at 11:30pm to see if my apt was ok).

I live in a condo in Brooklyn and keep my door unlocked except for at night when we are sleeping. Needless to say my Mom was freaked out when she visited and realized that we don't lock the door.

Growing up we NEVER, EVER, EVER locked our doors. Once, we went away for an overnight trip and locked the door. But that was just the one time.

My husband and I tend to lock the doors if we are away for the day or for a weekend. We live on a farm in a rural area and if someone tries to break in to a house (locked or unlocked), they had best be prepared to meet the end of a shotgun barrel on the other side.

we lock the doors when we leave, and at night ... and we have an alarm system (my hubby has to travel for work and is paranoid somethings going to happen when hes gone).

In my old house in the burbs, I never locked the back or side doors, but the front was always locked. Now that I'm back in the city, I lock all of them. We've had a couple of things walk away while we were under renovations, and our car was broken into. I need to be more vigilant.

Wander Woman -- that's so interesting -- I live in a 5th floor walk up in the East Village/nyc and always think that nobody would ever rob it because the stairs are such a HUGE pain --and if they did rob me they would only be making one trip!!

That being said -- unless I'm running downstairs to get a delivery, I lock it-- simply out of habit. Every single time.

However, if there ever was a reason to convince me to keep it locked it was a couple of years ago when there was a knock at the door. (Generally speaking people don't just knock on my door unless it's a neighbor. Otherwise, I buzz them in and know they're coming up. And this was not long after there was the rapist dressed as a fireman on the loose). But, since I can't see out, I asked who it is and the creepiest voice ever answered "it's Krista." I replied that I didn't know a Krista. And she replied, while rattling the door knob "I know, but let me in anyway."

It was the rattling of the door knob and her creepy voice (it had that goose bump inducing, hair raising quality) that got to me. I couldn't even make myself get near the door to throw the other deadbolt. I told her I was going to call the cops and that she needed to go away. I'm sure that she was probably attending a party in the building and had overshot it (I'm the last apartment before the roof), but the way she was acting and the tone of her voice freaked me out.

Normally I'm all like "I got it under control" but I was so skeeved out that I made the boy come hang out with me. Though after he got there we realized she could have been lurking in the hall and if this were an episode of L&O he would have been the one ripped from the headlines!!!!

I am amazed at anyone in this day and age who doesn't lock their door.

That's a trust, I am way to paranoid to possess. But then again, I am a NYer.

Lock 'em up.

Locked when I'm home or at work, probably unlocked if I'm at the grocery store.

I live in a gated retirement community where the average age is 78. I'll bet good money we don't have any crackheads and I don't think the ones in walkers are strong enough to lift my flat screen. What are they gonna do, tie it down on their golf cart? LOL.

we never locked our apartment in college because friends would stop by and wait for us, but at one point two aquaintances were busted for a drug deal at our apt while we were at class, so we started locking it after that!

I grew up in a house with locked doors, and have carried it over for the most part to my own apartment. I'm a woman who lives alone and isn't very big/threatening (though I do keep a hefty cricket bat by the front door), so having it locked makes me feel secure.

Locked, definitely.

True story: The ONE time I forgot to lock the door after taking the trash out, it gradually opened and sat open all night. At 7:30 a.m. I got a call from a friend who lived in the same neighborhood yelling at me to get up and make sure all the doors and windows were locked. On her way to work she saw a bunch of police/SWAT vehicles in the area and heard on the radio that there had been a shootout a couple of blocks from me and that several suspects (who were heavily armed) escaped by running through yards/climbing fences. I dragged myself out of bed, went first to the back door (locked) and into the living room where I stood, eyes wide, at the open front door. Luckily, nothing happened and it didn't seem like any fugitives from had come in at any point and nothing was missing. I actually moved shortly thereafter, but I'm still extra careful to lock up at night.

It is locked:
- When I am out of the house (say grocery shopping or walking the dog).
- When I am in the shower
- When I am in the back yard
- When I am sleeping (either napping during the day, or in bed at night)

Otherwise, as long as I am awake and at home it is unlocked. We live in a rural city of about 20,000 so I'm not terribly concerned for my safety. Most of my friends don't even knock when they come in.

When I lived in Vancouver I generally locked it even when I was home. This was after many horror stories and nagging from my boyfriend at the time, who'd lived in Vancouver all his life.

Locked. Locked at ALL times. All the doors (back, front, and veranda) stay locked, unless its a nice day, in which case I've got the front door open, but the veranda stays locked no matter what.

I've heard so many crazy stories that leaving my doors unlocked (never mind OPEN) would just be reckless.

I grew up in the suburbs and my folks never locked doors, even when they were out. I moved out into the big city and still never bothered much with locking doors. Then one morning some crazy woman wandered into my apartment. She didn't mean any harm but she refused to leave. I called the police and they took the woman away. After that I started locking my door.

it's irresponsible to leave your front door locked. why would you want to make it easy for someone else to enter your home? i don't understand why anyone would leave theirs unlocked, nor do i really feel sorry for people who are robbed because/while their doors were unlocked

whoops, it's irresponsible to leave your front door unlocked*

My 3rd grade teacher was vacuuming one summer afternoon with the door wide open (we lived in a nice small suburb where "nothing bad happens") to let the breeze in. Some guy walked right in, and took her purse off the kitchen island then walked right out. I lock my apartment when I leave, at night, and if I'm there alone. I have to agree with twelve that it's irresponsible not to no matter where you live.

Unlocked. I ain't skeert.

locked. always locked - grew up in NY city now live in LA where my front door is accessible from the street. LOCKED.

@allisen, who thinks that locks only make us feel safer

Thieves look for two things: good payoffs and easy targets. Not buying nice things because you fear they may be stolen is indeed paranoia, but not locking your door because it makes you feel paranoid is incredibly naive.

Everything you do to keep them out makes your house a slightly less easy target. This includes locking each lock on a door, adequate outdoor lighting, not broadcasting it if you are out of town, and getting to know your neighbors so that they will be aware if something is amiss and help you.

Case in point: in my sister's two-unit Chicago building, her neighbors were robbed but she was not. Her back glass door was unlocked, but the door itself was deadbolted. A credit card that had been used in an attempt to pry open the lock was found inside her house.

Her neighbors did the reverse. Their back glass door was locked and the door itself was not. The thieves broke the weaker locking mechanism on the glass door and voila, they were in. Based on other evidence found on their street, the thieves tried two other houses, but because all of their doors were securely locked, they moved on.

We keep the door of our apartment unlocked while we are at home--- including at night. Since we are located on the "rim of fire" and earthquakes are not uncommon, I am terrified about not being able to open the door to get out in case of emergency!!!
We always lock up when we go out even if it is only t the corner minimart.

Definitely locked, even when I am home. Once I had a neighbor get really drunk and mistake my front door for his. It took him a good 30-45 seconds to even comprehend he wasn't in his own home. He mumbled "this isn't right" and staggered toward the door knocking stuff over as he stumbled around.

Locked. 99% of the time. I do admit to occassionally forgetting. Had a security freak dad who still triple checks the locks nightly. He always made us lock our car doors too. Long before car jacking was in our vocabulary.

To those who have an entry way that's always unlocked, please ask your landlord to change it. A few years ago here in Chicago, a homeless woman was trying to keep warm in the vestibule of a random apartment building. She started a fire and ended up killing a few people. Too easy to fix and has to help the owner with insurance too.

ALWAYS locked! I've had my apartment broken into even WITH the door lock, too, so now whenever I'm on the ground floor I have bars on the top of the windows to stop people from breaking in by popping the locks...

I don't understand the logic of only locking when away, but staying unlock when at home. Why is it less dangerous? If anything, I take more safety precautions when I'm at home. Many violent crimes, particularly rape, are crimes of opportunity, i.e. the burglar may come for your tv but decide to take something else...

People have such grandiose ideas of what they would do when confronted with imminent danger. Really, how many of you would be able to stand a chance caught off guard and isolated against one or more armed individuals? How many could fire a gun accurately under the stress or find a weapon?

People who leave doors unlocked?

STUPID, NAIVE, RECKLESS...where's the Thesaurus?

My idiot roommate will come home late at night after drinking or studying and not lock the door. And I've come home plenty of times after work to find only the lock locked, not the deadbolt. We are in a decent suburban area, but STILL. I always lock and only unlock if I know someone is coming over soon.

I grew up in a city with a father who triple-checked locks every night so I always lock the doors. Even now that I live in a small, safe town I like to keep the doors locked. I now live with the boyfriend who grew up in a small town nearby and on army bases so his family never locked doors. He's pretty good about it now, but I generally find the door unlocked in the morning about once a week.

Most of my friends here also leave their doors unlocked when they're inside and when they've gone out. I think we would be a lot more lax on the locking policy if we lived in a house but for some reason apartments make me want to lock the doors always.

But we also have a few friends who live out on farms and they literally never lock their doors. Mostly because they have quarter-mile laneways and snowy weather six months out of the year so thieves would have to be pretty gung-ho to rob them.

I don't care where you live, it is stupid to leave your door unlocked.

My family lives in a rural area in the US, and always locks the doors when they're out and at night. There are groups of thieves who specifically target rural areas. They're less likely to be observed, takes longer for thefts to be discovered, and it takes longer for police to respond. Cars were their usual targets, but they weren't above a little housebreaking.
On the other hand, living here in Seoul, I am admittedly lackadasical about locking my apartment. Crime rates are lower generally, and I live in a uniquely situated neighborhood that has exceptionally high levels of security (police are on my street 24 hours a day.) Coupled with an outside door that locks automatically, it seems excessive to worry overmuch if I locked the inner door that leads to my particular apartment. I try to remember to lock it at night and when I go out, but frankly, if I'm just heading out for a cup of coffee or to grab something from the market, I usually don't bother.

ALWAYS locked. We live in a nice neighborhood but it's not my neighbors that are going to rob me. There's been a few break-ins while people were home over the past few years, one where the man got beat up pretty badly. I would never leave it unlocked. Someone said it won't stop them, but it might discourage them/slow them down anyway.

Wow, lot's of scared people here. 10 years ago, I rented a room in a single-family on Long Island for a few months. I never got a key for the house - they just left the backdoor open so I could enter at any time. These days, I usually don't lock our front door during the day.

Unlocked during the day and locked when I go to bed. I have 150 lbs. of dogs - and although they would most likely lick an intruder to death, they sound vicious enough that even my friends are afraid to enter!

Always locked, even when I'm home. My house is very long (all one level) and I don't always hear the doorbell when I'm up the other end so I'm not likely to hear intruders.

Sure people with locked doors also get robbed, but why make it easier on the burglars? You're at least preventing the oppurtunists from trying something if not the professionals. Also, there's a clause in my home insurance policy that says if there's no evidence of break in they won't pay out. So I do it just from that point of view.

If I'm hanging out at home I often leave the door unlocked, but I use the basic lock in the doorknob at night before I go to bed, and the deadlock when I'm out. Seriously, how much effort is it to lock a door?

You may find that leaving your home unlocked has repercussions for your insurance (in a worst case scenario voiding it).

The last time my house was burgled the thief had to try four different doors before electing to smash a window. Of course once he got in he couldn't get out (all doors and windows were deadlocked), so he could only steal a few small items rather than everything I owned.

In two different places where I lived, burglars entered the house even though they very well knew we were inside, because our doors were not locked. This is extremely terrifying.

So now it's locked doors at all times in the city; at our summer cottage though, only at night or when we leave, since we're in and out of the house 200 times a day.

L O C K E D.
When we lived in Milwaukee I found out that someone had been MURDERED in the apartment across the hall 2 weeks before we moved in!!!! Horrifying.

My roommate never locks the doors and it drives me CRAZY.

We rent in a nice neighborhood. There is a perception that wealthy neighborhoods are safer, but the reality is that you're more likely to get your stuff jacked.

I'm ready to move out over it.

I live in the South Bronx in a doorman building and I lock my door. But I don't like to and I don't know why that is. Sometimes I feel like, Hey if you want my stuff, be my guest. I'm sick of taking care it anyway.

Locked, always. Even if I'm going downstairs to get the mail and someone is home. My apartment building also has a secure door and security guard. I lived in cities most of my life so my family always lock and deadbolt the door. Years ago, when we were living in the suburbs in California, my uncle and his family moved to a nice neighborhood nearby. They went to dinner with my father one night and they all went back to their place before my dad headed home. Right after he left, they became victims of a home invasion. They were tied up and robbed. Turns out, the thieves had followed them home from the restaurant. Luckily, they weren't hurt but it was a terrifying experience.

Locked, but of course, if someone wants to get in, they will. Most locks are probably an illusion. A friend & I were discussing that NYT article yesterday and she said she's more concerned about the house being locked when she is at home than when she isn't.

Locked. The previous owners of our home found a great solution to their kids going in and out all the time and forgetting/losing keys: a key-less lock on the back door. No need for a hide-a-key, or handing out extra keys when someone pet sits for us, just give them the code (which is easily reset). Just remember to carry a key to another door just in case it ever fails.

When I lived in the country unlocked when I was home, locked when I was away. I was in and out of the house so much it would have been ridiculous to lock it. Plus a dog and most of my "wealth" was outside anyway. Not to mention that the back door had a big glass window that could be easily broken. Not much to stop someone.

In my apartment. Locked at all times. The door will blow open for one. Strangers are in the hall all the time and the idea that all they have to do is reach out turn the knob and be IN my apartment without going out of their way creeps me out. The door opens right into the middle of my living room. I added a second lock on the patio door and on the window.

I used to have a neighbor with a punch pad for his kids to get in the garage door and into the house. Then the creepy kid down the street followed them home and peeked at it. He tried to break in when he thought no one was home.

We lock it at bed time.
I have friends in really rural areas that never lock their homes. Locks only keep the honest people out... if they want in they will find a way in.

Locked. My husband is often gone from being in the military and as a "single" female it's just silly, stupid and unsafe to go around with unlocked doors.

Locked, when we are not at home. But both our front and back doors have large glass panes, which would be cinch for anyone to break and reach inside for the latch/doorknob. Safety is an illusion. But we need our illusions.

Similarly, we keep our car locked. But it's a Jeep w/a softtop, so anyone with a knife or a decent nail file could break in.

Living in society is an act of faith. We do what we can.

Wow, I'm surprised how many people are insistent about locking their doors- America must be a much more dangerous place than Europe! I only lock mine at night, or of course if I'm out. But I do live in a "nice" block of flats, and my army of nosy old-lady neighbors see and here everything that goes on anyway...

In our former flat, we HAD to lock the door because the latch was so weak that it would blow open if not locked. Plus, it was across the street from a prison :) Not that the inmates could bother us (being themselves locked up and all) but their wives and girlfriends who would gather on our front stoop to yell up to their partners were a little sketchy.

I don't lock our doors either... maybe at night, when I remember. Small town Canada makes you worry less, I suppose... friends iof mine even in Toronto hardly lock their doors. I have 2 large dogs, maybe that takes away the "must... lock... door..." feeling. No WAY is someone our dog doesn't know coming into our house. She's even been known to hold my inlaws on the porch until we call her off.

I should add- I had my apartment broken into when I was a single mom- they took my bras and underwear. Talk about creepy. The door was LOCKED- they used a crowbar to get in. I think if they want IN they will find a way!!!

I find it extremely disturbing to read that anyone would not lock their doors. Naivety is no excuse. If you don't realise the type of people that are just looking for an opportunity like this, then you need to do a little research. There have been known serial killers who would try the doors of various houses and upon finding one unlocked, deem that to be an invitation. Needless to say the residents did not survive.

For anyone thinking such things are extremely rare I urge you to watch the Bio channel's series "I survived" where numerous people detail the horrendous things that have happened to them at the hands of strangers.

For those keeping their pets as a frontline defence, please be mindful that a criminal would not hesitate to stab or shoot your dogs, cats or any other animal who may get in their way. You need to take care of your animals not place them in harm's way.