Noob question

[Nanjiro]

Ahoy!

Figured I'd ask here since my search didn't find an answer.
I just recently started on RED (last Staurday) and was wondering:
- Is there a zone where a lvl1 is safe? I'd like to have a mule to try and trade plat from blue to red to get something better than fine steal weapon but would rather not get ganked upon making the trade.
- I haven't seen one yet but is there a trading hub on red? guess not since OOC seems to be used for that specifically?

thanks in advance!