Husband and I stayed at private condo on the beach close to where you are asking about. We never had a single safety issue whilst walking around either on the beach or in the street. We walked both the beach and the road, in the dark, to and from MB and felt very safe. Nobody creeping around. In fact, we didn't really see anyone at all. During the day as we walked in the street we said hello to the people we passed (just a friendly lil greeting) and the dogs did get a little snippy at one house but we got by them with no problems. I like the idea of bringing treats for the dogs. We'll be in the same hood in January and will remember the treats!