You have mentioned at various times that the area between the Colusseo and San Giovanni Laterano is unsafe at night. Would that include the main street Via Labicana?
Thank you in advance for your answer.

Yes, of course. Please note that always when this question comes up I'm also stressing that Grinisa, one of the eminent Rome experts on Fodor's, objects my perception of that district, so maybe it's of historical importance only. (It's definite that the area was unsafe 20 or so years ago, so perhaps I'm just still perceiving it how I learned to perceive it then.)
However, Via Labicana, if thinking about renting any accomodation there is the reason for your question, is a traffic hell, and may the district be safe or unsafe, you wouldn't get much sleep there.

Thank you so much Franco, for your quick reply!

That's about the nuttiest answer I've heard. Franco simply does not know what he is talking about, I'm afraid. Franco, when is the last time you were in Rome, dear? I think quite a long time ago.

I'm sorry, Mom, but I stayed on Via Labicana last September, and it is one of my favorite areas, Esquilino, a very Roman neighborhood, filled with great trattorias, internet points, close to EVERYTHING-and so quiet and peaceful at night-the hop on/hop off Christian bus stops just at the side of Santa Maria Maggiore-and there is nothing like sitting in front of SMM at night at the cafe across the street and looking at the frescos lit up at night. I've walked that whole area by myself, after midnight, and had nary a problem.

What hotel were you thinking of staying in? Because there are two 4 star hotels right across from each other in that area that are very nice indeed. I would stay there without a second thought again-and will, in the future. I love it.

Thanks Girlspytravel!
I have booked an apartment. I spoken with others that have stayed there and they all say the same as you. The apt. seems lovely,http://www.vrbo.com/32035 , so I am going to take my chances. I hope I remember to post my impressions on this area to the forum when I return. Thanks for the help.

Girlspytravel, enough is enough. I've been following your unimitable mix of most astonishing misinformation, bad manners and personal insults against more or less every other Fodorite that comes across your way for one and a half years now, and I'm really fed up with it. Just for your information, I came home from my last Rome trip TODAY. Quiet and peaceful, and sitting in front of S. Maria Maggiore???? I mean, you must be DELIBERATELY misleading people - of course, you didn't write that VIA LABICANA is quiet, and you didn't write that you were sitting ON VIA LABICANA in front of S. Maria Maggiore, but that's how everybody must read it. In fact, Via Labicana is of course, as I wrote it, a traffic hell. And S. Maria Maggiore is in walking distance, but that's a rather strenuous walk, and it's not at all near Via Labicana. As far as quiet and peaceful, this is definitely (and I've spent much time in that neighbourhood during this stay, from which I came home, mind you, TODAY) still Rome's seediest neighbourhood. Boy, and how seedy it is. (No longer south of Via Labicana, Grinisa is absolutely right on that, but Girlspytravel is - of course! - as wrong as Grinisa is right, since north of Via Labicana, it's seedy even in plain daylight.)

Just to make one point clear, Girlspytravel: I don't really care that you are constantly trying to insult me (in fact, you're not in a position to succeed). But what's making me actually furious is that you are almost always giving wrong advice to people who trust in this board. Is this malevolence? Or just plain stupidity? Anyhow, every reader should be aware that if Girlspytravel says a thing, it's wise to assume the opposite...

As Franco says, Girlspytravel makes it sound as though Via Labicana is right by Santa Maria Maggiore. It really isn't! Look at a map of Rome; it's a good walk between the two. I've gotten off the bus at the Labicana stop, right behind the Colosseum, during the day and it was fine as far as safety, but I have no idea what the area is like at night.

Not that the apartment doesn't look nice and the views look nice, but that apartment certainly isn't cheap. You could get something much closer to the center of Rome and probably pay less, if that's a consideration. I also notice they don't show a map, so you don't know which end of Via Labinana it's on, and that could make a big difference. Just something to think about.