[adma]

my brother had night classes at Ryerson a few years back and he told me of a few times where security had to kick out drunk/mental/high homeless out of classrooms so they defintiely wander around and security can't be everywhere at all times.

It's tough to be an underpaid teaching assistant.

 

[UserNameToronto]

well some sketchy people mind their own business others scare people especially Women.

If a crazy walks by yelling and screaming, to us guys we go whatever. However to women it makes them feels very uncomfortable and unsafe.

I know a lot of people who won't go around that area after dark at all no matter what.

I also know someone who's germophobic and only touches surfaces--paper reports, door handles, food wrapeprs--with a kleenex.

A lot of wealthy professionals choose to live on the downtown east side. Avoiding the east because of sketch is like avoiding Little Italy because of the mafia.

 

[Tdot_one]

The truth is, most of US is pretty safe. That includes Detroit. Oakland County seems safer than much of Toronto. The reason for this is that violent crime (mainly homicides) is concentrated in specific ethnic groups such as Blacks. In Toronto, it's not that different.

Last time I read, around half of the murders involved Blacks and we're talking about a population of 200,000. Here's a source:

Over the past decade (ending in 2005), she said, 45 per cent of homicide victims were black, a 300-per-cent increase over the decade before Link

I wouldn't be surprised if the percentage is much higher now. Saying that, most involved seem to be born in Canada as well. This phenomena is common in the Hispanic community in US as well.

Outside of violent crime, US is more-or-less similar to other Western nations, including Canada. I think Canada could easily end up resembling the States especially with high drop out and poverty rate. To make matters worse, 50% of the pop's income is under $20k, while another 16% earns under $30,000. That's not sustainable living. Especially when public housing is heavily inaccessible with roughly 6% of population living in such settings.

 

[UserNameToronto]

The truth is, most of US is pretty safe. That includes Detroit. Oakland County seems safer than much of Toronto. The reason for this is that violent crime (mainly homicides) is concentrated in specific ethnic groups such as Blacks. In Toronto, it's not that different.

#1 - Let's not get into race.

#2 - You're truly completely nuts to think Oakland (or any other major American city) compares to Toronto. The murder rate in Oakland is 9.5/100,000. In Toronto, it's 0.68/100,000. The rate is 14x higher in Oakland. Many other cities exceed Oakland's rate. Every major American city is at least 2x Toronto.

Source (multiple - view post) : http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=169703

Image URL if not viewable: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/3577017827_a66eaf4dc1_o.jpg

#3 - Toronto is not a dangerous city, even the sketchy parts are okay. Not sure what agenda it serves to suggest otherwise.

 

[TrickyRicky]

I find it interesting that people equate murder rate with most dangerous neighbourhood. Your chances of getting murdered are generally higher than getting hit by lightning but on a relative scale of dangers not by much. You are very likely however to die of cancer for instance, so an area that increases your chance of getting cancer is far more dangerous than the violent crime rate.

If we are talking exclusively about human safety from assault or theft caused by other humans, again the far more important issue is mugging, assault, rape etc. because murder is of virtually no statistical importance. I guess that would make high school pretty much the second most dangerous place in the city. The most dangerous place is actually your own home regardless of where you live. And the people you have most to fear in this respect are your own friends and family.

But what we are really talking about, as was mentioned before, is does a place feel sketchy? This is entirely subjective but not irrelevent because the only thing that really matters is how you feel. So the real question is what parts of the city make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe to be in?

 

[scarberiankhatru]

I find it interesting that people equate murder rate with most dangerous neighbourhood. Your chances of getting murdered are generally higher than getting hit by lightning but on a relative scale of dangers not by much. You are very likely however to die of cancer for instance, so an area that increases your chance of getting cancer is far more dangerous than the violent crime rate.

If we are talking exclusively about human safety from assault or theft caused by other humans, again the far more important issue is mugging, assault, rape etc. because murder is of virtually no statistical importance. I guess that would make high school pretty much the second most dangerous place in the city. The most dangerous place is actually your own home regardless of where you live. And the people you have most to fear in this respect are your own friends and family.

But what we are really talking about, as was mentioned before, is does a place feel sketchy? This is entirely subjective but not irrelevent because the only thing that really matters is how you feel. So the real question is what parts of the city make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe to be in?

Almost invariably, it's the parts where you feel like there's the best chance you'll be murdered. No one is equating violence only with murders...they're assuming that where there's murder, there's all the other crimes, too. Everyone knows that murders are remembered and that murders drive the imagination like nothing else (except maybe serial rapists or endemic carjackings/kidnappings, but they're less common). People are afraid of assaults and muggings and rapings not because they'll lose some money or get holes in their clothes, but because they might die. Few people are actually murdered every year, but tons of people are almost murdered every year.

 

[PB1]

#2 - You're truly completely nuts to think Oakland (or any other major American city) compares to Toronto. The murder rate in Oakland is 9.5/100,000. In Toronto, it's 0.68/100,000. The rate is 14x higher in Oakland. Many other cities exceed Oakland's rate. Every major American city is at least 2x Toronto.

Source (multiple - view post) : http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=169703

I don't think Toronto is dangerous either but 0.68/100,000 is quite a bit off. 2.5 million people at 0.68 per 100,000 is 25 X 0.68 = 17 murders a year. Toronto is easily triple that.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I strolled north along the back of Sherbourne Lanes yesterday afternoon, and returned south along Sherbourne ( past John Ross Robertson's house ) to Dundas. While it certainly didn't feel unsafe, this isn't a part of town I visit often and I was horrified to see all the tall metal fences and padlocked gates between the Sherbourne Street houses that have made a defensive compound of the place. The laneway is similarly gated and padlocked.

 

[UserNameToronto]

I don't think Toronto is dangerous either but 0.68/100,000 is quite a bit off. 2.5 million people at 0.68 per 100,000 is 25 X 0.68 = 17 murders a year. Toronto is easily triple that.

Per Statscan, the rate is 2.0 per 100,000 for the entire GTA (84 vs. population of 4.2 million). The 0.68 per 100,000 figure would be for Toronto proper, c.2.5 million.

 

[lordmandeep]

Yeah this year is low, we will be likely get around 60 murders...

 

[Therion]

if do not associate regularly with criminals, if you do not wander the streets in the middle of the night while intoxicated

This is important. I was doing research on crime rates in different areas, and noticed that most violent crimes and armed robberies happen at ungodly hours, mostly on main roads. For example, check East York on www.spotcrime.com. Almost all the robberies happen right on the Danforth, after midnight, and usually young people robbing other young people. So if you're not out alone in the middle of the night, chances are you're pretty OK.

Supposedly the new crime center of Toronto is Eglington West and surrounding area. The Star, I think, had an article on this a few weeks ago.

I used to see them near Wellesley and Jarvis downtown. My friend moved away from there specifically because of the prostitutes and their johns.

Haha, me too! As in, used to see hookers at Wellesley and Jarvis. I lived at Sherbourne and Wellesley for half a year a while ago, and I can't say I ever felt in danger, despite the weekly drug raids, and the St. Jamestown/downtown eastside location. A couple of rules of the street:

1) don't look scared
2) don't avoid eye contact, but don't seek it either
3) if you get accosted, turn and run like hell. It would help if you were in shape, because most bad guys probably don't prioritize cardio.
4) if you can't run, give 'em what they want.
5) if you're forced into a confrontation, recognize that your opponent has probably done this many times. Therefore your only option is to fight dirty.
Eyes, throat and groin are your main target.
6) if the other guy is drunk, he will feel less pain, but will also be slower. Refer to rule 3.

 

[lordmandeep]

or really avoid such area's at night by yourself...

 

[Cooool]

It's interesting to hear parts of East downtown are pretty rough. One time, me and my friend walked down Sherbourne Street all the way to Dundas at 8 o clock, and there were so many pedestrians around I didn't even notice anything. It was quite dark too.

 

[ScarboroughCity233]

There is no such thing as a bad neighborhood in Toronto.

 

[mangasparky]

There is no such thing as a bad neighborhood in Toronto.

I would agree, I have felt on edge around some shady people here and there, but thats about it. The most nervous I have felt was buying liquor at a corner grocery/hardware store in south Chicago. I could almost taste the hatred being focused on me.

We are lucky here in Toronto.