i don't go out at night anymore, because i don't feel like explaining my life choices to some dumbass cop who zeroes in on "man on foot" as "fitting the description of UNSUB - 'fled on foot'". i used to walk all over the goddamn place at night, but i generally kept away from rail lines and de-industrialized areas. not because i am particularly afraid of the inhabitants, but i just don't like to be pitched and usually a guy looking like me, walking around those places, is trying to score. sadly, also kept away from parks because they are usually "closed" at night and heavily policed.
i used to live where, taking the direct route home meant cutting through an area that had a halfway house which meant late at night LDS missionaries would hang out on the sidewalks and try to start conversations with passersby about The Lord. also annoying.
a dumbass friend of mine used to get wasted and try to use rail lines to shortcut his way home, until one morning he woke up on the tracks as a train was coming, also realizing he crapped his pants, lost his glasses, his cellphone, his wallet, and found an unknown drug pipe in his pocket. a tequila sunset sort of situation. i mean, a lot of bad decisions went into forming that constellation, but the railroad tracks was the only clearly lethal move.