Despite low levels of criminal victimization, older people often express greater fear of crime than others. To examine the causes and consequences of such fear, 1,185 adults aged 60 and over, were interviewed about their personal characteristics, social resources, environment, subjective well-being, and lifestyle. Results showed that older people typically fear crime more than young people. However, 84 percent said they felt safe all or most of the time in their neighborhoods. Fear of crime was a reflection of both personal factors (sex, health, and income), and locational characteristics (urbanism, tract population characteristics, housing type, and satisfaction with type of people in the neighborhood). While fear reduced subjective well-being, it had little relationship to activity patterns. Social resources had little bearing on fear of crime and its consequences. The findings indicate that complex models are needed to clarify the causes and consequences of fear of crime. (BH)