I definitely live in the ghetto in Boston

I get the sense lately that, thanks to the Internet and BBSes, we're starting to suffer from ghetto creep, or ghetto inflation, or *someting* like that. Just to test that theory, I'm going to bet an imaginary friend $20 that you don't really live in the ghetto. You just live in Boston.

I certainly could be wrong. Tell me, though, what neighborhood/intersection do you live in/near?

Alarms aren't useless, they just aren't the whole solution. You might (or might not) find that Honda OE alarm is an easy upgrade, the limitations being that most OE alarms aren't very expandable, sensor-wise. The factory alarm in my Subaru is an OEM Alpine unit. No, not very expandable (and the brains is just where a thief would expect to find it) but I was able to figure out the wiring enough to add a pager to it, the best thing I've done. Yes, the thieves can quickly pop the hood, kill the alarm and get to work, but the pager will have already gone off, so I will be awake for a little chat.

Car thieves in Boston are organized and fearless, juveniles especially. I've seen them post lookouts at both ends of a block while 2-3 others went to work. Calls to Boston's finest (ugh.) did *not* produce a squad car in a timely fashion. I confronted 3 juvies trying to steal a girlfriend's Toyota. They just backed up about 50 feet and waited for me to get bored and go back inside, then...back to work!