Apartment Residents Feel Unsafe in Their Neighborhoods, But Cozy Indoors

If the new high-rise that just popped up in your neighborhood brings to mind the phrase "Fortress of Solitude," there may be something to that. New research by Canadian sociologist Heather Rollwagen reveals a "fortress effect" influences how safe apartment-dwellers perceive themselves to be when inside and outside of their flats.

Compared to those living in stand-alone houses, high-rise residents felt more susceptible to crime while walking through their neighborhoods in the evening. But once they were inside, high-risers felt up to three times safer than their counterparts who lived in houses.