Nicked from a French forum, I hope the translation does it justice:

" Re: Zones Urbaines Sensibles
12 Jan. 2015, 5:11 am
Enclaves not controlled by the government? France is not Afghanistan. Half the areas listed in my department are right in the middle of town, a 10-minute walk from where I live (and I do not have the feeling of living in a war zone) - the other half are in the outskirts.

There are good and not so good parts of town like everywhere else and like everywhere else you should exercise caution"

et cela vient d'un Français.

'Zones Urbaines Sensibles' are urban renewal zones and have nought to do with 'no-go' zones.
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/SearchForums?q=zus&scope=2&sub-search=Search&ff=12&geo=187070&returnTo=__2F__ShowForum__2D__g187070__2D__i12__2D__France__2E__html

"The truth about "no-go zones" in France

This has received coverage on Fox...and has been repeated by certain politicians in the UK. Just to clarify the picture and put minds at rest:

The so-called "no-go zones" list is a 20-year-old list of urban areas drawn up by the French government as a prelude to a series of extremely large urban regeneration plans. The zones are called "ZUS" (zone urbaine sensible) and the list was reached by taking into account population, employment rates, income levels and crime.

Many...now been regenerated, but some are still troubled. However, you will not be attacked for being a non-muslim if you...stray into one that has not been regenerated. At least one of the zones has a large Jewish population, another has a Catholic Cathedral. Quite a few...zones are student campuses because it...didn't occur to the list makers that many university students have low incomes.

It is also not true that French law doesn't apply in the ZUS. The ZUS I visit most often...has a police station and a fire station. It is also a major rail exchange and has a thriving theatre scene. The local museum has excellent exhibitions, and they hold an annual arts festival which attracts 10s of thousands of people.

It is difficult to know how many Muslims...are in these areas, as it is against the law for the government to ask about religion. The only ZUS I know well has 2 Catholic churches, a Synagogue and in the next suburb a Mosque. I assume...that the religious lines are split similarly, with about 25% of the locals who practice a faith being Muslim the commonly quoted figure is that 50% of French people, when asked in surveys, claim to be atheist.

The existence of a list of urban renewal targets should in no way affect your decision to visit France, no matter how mendaciously it has been used.

(As an aside, did you know that one of the heroes of last week's events was a Muslim man who worked in a Jewish supermarket? It didn't get reported much in some quarters...)"

Same-link.

Thanks for your commentary Is Mise.
It does seem to be an enormous number of areas.
Do you know St Denis ? The Post Office stopped deliveries there
because of trouble with being robbed.
One report said they stopped deliveries anoth said it was parcels only.

If you live in Paris, how come you are interested in OOO ?

We have zones in Sydney and Melbourne where the police fear to go because of gang attacks.

The local Councils are being lobbied by Muslims to have walked leashed dogs removed from streets where they live. Removing the right of people to keep dogs as pets or security.

Bazz,

I live in the New England region of NSW, near to Glen Innes and Inverell, but I do speak French.

Josephus,

A reference or two would be helpful, I don't know of any areas in NSW where the police fear to go and if any area shewed such tendencies as to deny police access then it'd soon be sorted out.

Ismise, I thought from your reply that you were in France.
Re where police are afraid to go.
I do not think that is the case in Sydney at the present time.
However, I should point out the story I heard from police at a meeting I attended.

After they, by a bit of clever work, destroyed a Lakemba Lebanese car
rebirthing racket, Lakemba Police station was shot up.
A constable had just got up from using the computer when a bullet went
through the middle of the screen.
So it is not Islamphobic for police to be very cautious of muslims.
In Sydney we have a Middle Eastern Crime Squad, I wonder why ?
The word Islamaphobic is quite inaccurate as even here in Australia
we have seen attacks, albeit on a smaller scale.
But do we want any scale ?