It probably depends on what you mean by a high crime area, the modus operandi of the thieves and the responsiveness of police.
Here in the UK it's now unfortunately common for our cities to be high crime areas for motorcycle theft. In London in particular there are gangs of motorcycle thieves who are experts at stealing bikes. The steering lock alone would be virtually useless - they sit on the back seat, kick the handlebars with their feet and break it within seconds. They carry battery powered angle grinders, so they cut through disc locks and chains. They then get away by someone on a (already stolen) scooter pushing the motorbike with their foot as they ride along. They arrive as large groups armed with hammers, axes and acid, so passers by stand little chance of stopping them. Police officer numbers have dwindled over the years, and theft of a £12,000 motorbike is considered low priority compared with theft of a £10,000 piece of jewellery, so police often don't arrive in time to catch them and many bikes don't get recovered.
Against that kind of scenario the only options are to add as many layers of defence as possible to make it a less appealing target, or to avoid the area entirely. It's a depressing situation and means there is no way I would park my bike in London. Mind you, they also hijack riders and take the bike they were sitting on, so even riding through can be risky (happens less though). For a while police forces allowed their pursuit drivers to knock thieves off bike with their cars. I'm not sure whether this has stopped now, because some softies thought it was too drastic (I disagree), and lawyers and police reps have pointed out that police are not immune from the law, and the law as it stands means police could be prosecuted for death by dangerous driving, manslaughter or murder (in which case the law needs changing!).
