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[claragold]

Independently of the neighborhood, avoid dressing like this:

http://www.anniescostumes.com/fo57373.jpg

[ideagirl]

Strasbourg St Denis is pretty seedy (street whores, anyone? I'm not kidding). Unless you want an experience that is a lot more hardcore--excuse me, "gritty and authentic"--than you're probably hoping for, I would go with Les Halles. But don't take my word for it--look here:

http://www.footprintguides.com/Paris/Les-Halles-the-Marais-and-the-Bastille.php"Rue du Faubourg St Denis
75010. M Château d’Eau, Strasbourg St Denis.
This is not picturesque Paris in the traditional sense, this is the real deal. No romantic buildings, just hard-working immigrant communities. At the Château d’Eau end, the rue du Faubourg St Denis brims with Indian grocers and sari shops. Detour to Passage Brady for the highest concentration of Indian restaurants in the city. Towards the southern end of the street, around Strasbourg St Denis, you’re more likely to find your appetite whetted by Turkish pizzas and kebabs. Further still, into seedy rue St Denis, prostitutes, sex shops and fast-food joints line the road as far as Les Halles."

I know they say "as far as Les Halles," but the street that website is referring to doesn't extend all the way to Les Halles, and in any case the further south (towards Les Halles) you go, the less seedy it gets.

[ideagirl]

There's not a big distance between these locations; the 4th is more central, but Strasbourg-St Denis is still central Paris. 

!!!!!!!

Is all I can say. You're correct in terms of geography and physical location, but um, I don't think that's the key issue here. In the 1980s, Harlem was physically not that far from Manhattan, but would it have been your recommendation for a first-time visitor?

[ideagirl]

I had my pocket picked in Les Halles. Not that it couldn't have happened anywhere else. But do remember that where crowds congregate in any big city, so do those who want to prey on them.

The train and metro stations (all of them) are probably the worst places for theft. Crowds in motion, tons of different tunnels and walkways for thieves to flee down, and the piece de resistance, the turnstile in which unwary tourists get their luggage stuck, so they get distracted...

No matter where you stay, I would always recommend keeping your passport, credit cards and money in one of those flat pouches worn under the shirt, unless you have some even stealthier location for it (e.g. secret cash compartment built into a regular leather belt). Fanny packs and handbags might as well have target signs painted on them.

[ideagirl]

The OP's talking about the Strasbourg St Denis metro station area rather than St Denis itself.

The area around the Strasbourg St Denis metro station is seedy (street whores etc.). St. Denis itself, which is a separate municipality just northwest of Paris, is not even an option for tourists--I used to live there, and it is beyond seedy, it's flat-out dangerous. I upped sticks and moved to central Paris after a month there--it's no fun to feel like you're in physical danger every time you go outside.

Visiting the area around the SSD metro station IN BROAD DAYLIGHT to enjoy the Indian restaurants, etc. is totally worthwhile, but the OP was talking about renting an apartment there, thus presumably being there at night, regularly, over a somewhat extended period. That, I would not recommend. It's just seedy.

[ideagirl]

Independently of the neighborhood, avoid dressing like this:

http://www.anniescostumes.com/fo57373.jpg

Wise advice anywhere, with the exception of Dollywood.