Is Your Neighborhood Crime-Ridden?

Trulia checks the crime blotter

Lovely home, big yard, good schools .. and high crime?  Too bad we can't stay.

Trulia, a San Francisco company clicked on constantly by prospective home buyers and renters, is moving beyond all the positive reasons you'll want to move somewhere.  Starting today, the company is also venturing into the darker aspects of neighborhood dynamics:  Local crime.

The just-launched "Crime Maps" lets you, the consumer, check crime data along with test scores, and comp prices.  Rolling out in several cities as a test program (including San Francisco), the Crime Map tells you when crime peaks in a neighborhood, the Top 5 crime-ridden intersections in that area, and the most (and least) common crimes reported in that section of town.

We've seen apps for this before, but they've been largely stand-along pieces of technology that let you track crime.  By integrating their new feature into the already popular ways to find a home, Trulia is admitting that consumers are concerned about things you don't usually hear real estate agents talk about.  Eric Wu of Trulia calls it a more "complete picture" of what you need to know when you're looking for a home.

You can check it out at trulia.com

Scott can be found - crime free - on Twitter:  @scottbudman
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