[elsalsero]

Hello everyone,
In 10 days I'll be moving to toronto to work downtown.
Can somebody tell me what are the neighborhoods to avoid when looking for rent.

I've found something at Benjamin Boake tr at north york but I don't know if it is safe or not.

I hope hearing from you soon.

 

[Chuck]

BYOB - Bayview, Yonge, or Bathurst. You'll be pretty "safe" living along any one of these streets so long as you're north of Bloor.

But honestly, Toronto is a safe city and you'll be OK in most areas, including downtown. At the same time, random crimes can happen anywhere.

 

[Observer Walt]

Good advice from Chuck. Almost anything downtown is "safe", as is the Downsview neighbourhood where Benjamin Boake Trail is located.

Many people would advise you to avoid the Jane Street corridor stretching from about Sheppard up to Steeles, and a few areas in north Etobicoke. Most of the city is good, and you should make decisions based on how much you are willing to pay and how far you are willing to commute.

 

[PukeGreen]

Welcome to Toronto!

Once you are here, I suggest visiting prospective areas to see if you'd feel comfortable living there. Toronto doesn't suffer from extreme ghettoization like some US cities do; sure there are areas that are more or less gentrified, more expensive, or more "gritty", but everyone has their own preference regarding the type of neighbourhood they like to live in.

We can't all live in Yorkville or Rosedale, and frankly, many of us would rather not even if we had the means. I think it's unfair to further stigmatize certain neighbourhoods that may have a less than stellar rep (fairly or unfairly) because it insults the honest, hard-working majority in each of these areas, and it perpetuates the subconscious idea that crime is acceptable and normal in one area and horrifying a few streets away in a "nicer" area. Finally, things change, and often quickly. Nothing is more frustrating that hearing people repeating outdated negative comments about an area that was perhaps undesirable 10 years ago, but has changed immensely in that time.

Rather than focus on crime, which can happen anywhere, I'd focus on finding a place where you can commute between work and home with the least hassle. The ordeal of your daily commute from North York to downtown, say, would probably far outweigh the other considerations.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Benjamin Boake isn't far from Jane & Finch, but it's probably far enough to call it "ok." The odds of anything happening are quite small. Crimes like muggings are not prevalent, there's no epidemic of carjackings, you're not going to get beat up walking down the wrong street, etc. Your chances of being murdered are virtually zero unless you're dealing drugs, in a gang, or have an abusive husband.

Re: Bathurst - it gets sketchy pretty fast west of Bathurst, and Bathurst north of the 401 (the fifty apartment buildings) isn't exactly crime-free.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

If your driving to work pick somewhere as close to downtown as you can handle, you may be in for a shock when it comes to rush hour driving. If your TTC'ing it try to find somewhere that has good access to get you to work as hassle free and efficiently as possible.
Toronto is really safe. That said you could take an apartment in a building with a drug dealer or crack den and live through hell until the landlord can get them out, so things like that can happen anywhere.