( CNN ) -- `` Be as paranoid as possible ! '' The screed from our homeowner association manager arrived in our mailbox printed inside a cheery holiday border . The message continued : `` Our neighborhood is as safe as we make it . Make no mistake about it , you must be on your guard ! Report suspicious behavior or individuals that do not belong in our community . '' The call to arms echoed the strident sentiment of neighbors left nervous by the robbery of our home the day before . While we slept unaware at the back of an upscale gated community in Windermere , Florida , intruders came through the front door , took our big-screen TV , laptops and all of the presents from under the Christmas tree . No matter that we had n't activated our security system and most likely forgot to lock the door . Hysterical efforts to fortify the perimeter were in full swing . An 8-foot iron fence was installed to seal the breach in the back wall used to circumvent the electronic entrance gate . An evening patrol was hired to circle in our eight-block subdivision . The developer sent apologetic champagne , and the homeowners association sent repeated encouragements to `` keep an eye out for anything unusual ! '' Heavily marketed as havens of prestige and a sure footing on the social ladder , gated communities in Florida also create an insidious fortress mentality . Inside the enclaves that boast exclusivity and safety as their primary features , security means not just freedom from crime , but also protection from annoyances such as solicitors and strangers of any kind . You know , individuals that do not belong in our community . In other words , minorities and other less desirable social classes . This is the paradox of Florida 's famed gated lifestyle , into which Trayvon Martin walked , was shot and tragically died . And within such communities , a neighborhood watch member such as George Zimmerman can get carried away . While we do n't know what exactly happened in the encounter between Zimmerman and Martin , questions about racial profiling , vigilantism and police prejudice were slow in coming partly because of Florida 's penchant for enclave living . The forting-up phenomenon that began in the 1960s shows no sign of slowing , ranking Florida as second only to California in the number of walls , street patterns and barricades that separate people from each other . Even though these features do not necessarily deliver on the promise of lower crime rate or more stable home value , they remain highly desirable . Their popularity complicates the debate over whether Martin or Zimmerman deserves the benefit of the doubt . `` For residents who are n't expecting people to be passing through , to be in their space , attitudes can be taken to the extreme , '' Eliza Harris , Orlando 's representative at the Congress for the New Urbanism , told me . Fenced in against their own insecurity , residents living within the perimeter revere active vigilance . Those who want to play border patrol and muscle outsiders around can easily do so unchecked . `` When you discourage drive-through traffic and pedestrians , it becomes abnormal to see someone walking . And now you 've created a situation where two people alone are hazardous to each other because there 's no one else around , no cars driving by , no eyes on the street , `` Harris added . Today 's cameras , fences , walls and gates do little to create an atmosphere of openness , which is an essential element in a diverse society . When segregation of our living spaces becomes the wallpaper we no longer see , communities become brittle , unable to prevent and shut down the most dangerous behavior . Our children deserve to grow up in a culture of responsibility that does n't stop at the neighborhood gates . As the design of our communities becomes more divided , the `` as paranoid as possible '' citizens living in fear of those lurking outside of their walls too often overlook the more distressing attitudes within . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bonita Burton .
Bonita Burton : Gated communities in Florida create an insidious fortress mentality . Burton : Residents living within the perimeter of such places revere active vigilance . She says a neighborhood watch member like George Zimmerman can get carried away . Burton : To have a diverse society , we need less segregation of living spaces .