I can't afford to live there?!?

A friend at church recently told me that he would love to live in Kansas City where I do, but that he and his wife could not afford to live there. Based on stories he had heard from a friend who had trouble with vandlism in east Kansas City, my friend reasoned that living in east Kansas City would end up costing him more in time and effort than he wanted to put into his living situation. Yet, he also mentioned that in the past month he had over $2500 of items stolen from his car outside his house in a far more affluent western part of KC. I don't know if his reasoning is based on fear or simple rumors and perceptions. It is true that my house in east KC has been broken into, but in comparison to my friend I did not loose much because my nieghbor watches out for me and called the police when she noticed something was wrong. I am wondering what is the main factor in what we deam as safe and unsafe neighborhoods? Is it possible that factors other than real statistics are the driving factors in making a person feel safe or unsafe?