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I'm live in the Chicago are and I heard alot of great things about Toronto, especially diversity. What I find impressive is that Toronto have 2.5 million people, but the crime rate is extremely low compare to American cities like Chicago & LA and other cities in similar size. I know the topic is a little misleading, but I want to know do Toronto have any high crime neighborhoods ?
I've driven through and checked out nearly every ghetto neighbourhood in Toronto. The worst I would have to say run along Jane Street. The north side jane strip which runs from the 401 (biggest east-west highway in canada) to steeles is where the highest crime is.
My daytime expierience on Jane: In the apartment complex called Palisades located at Jane and Finch I see groups of teenagers walking around dressed in gangster like clothing, very young parents with kids, and a lot of people standing around doing nothing around the malls and stripmalls.
As i drive further down jane i see lots of people walking around and public transportation in these areas are heavily used. i often see many people standing tightly packed in the bus. Ethnicity wise I see lots of blacks, browns, and asians. Very few white people in this area.
Night Time Around Jane-Finch: Gangster like teenagers hoarding around townhouse complexes (Driftwood projects). The area looks pretty quiet at night on main streets. If you enter any of the apartment complexes/townhouse complexes you can easily spot potential gang members.
When I was 16 me and my friend went to an afterparty in a sketchy apartment in the Jane n Finch area. at 4am in this apartment complex 3 young black kids were smoking weed in the elevator and the elevator floor was scattered with garbage. When we got to the floor we were going to party on, the host was still on his way back from the initial party (long story) so we had to wait in the hall ways. While waiting a punjabi guy, dressed in baggy pants, an overly large echo sweater, and a backwards cap attempted to hustle us an d even told us to pay him turf money if we want to wait in the hallway.
Areas to avoid in Toronto:
-Anywhere on Jane street is relatively bad. Lots of drugs and crime.
-Pockets of scarbrough are bad particularly Midland and Lawrence. A lot of punjabi gangs around here.
-Tuxedo court located at Eglington and Markham road. Lots of indians/muslims. Apparently lots of stabbings between muslims gangs. Has quited down over the past couple years though.
And now to just list a few to avoid:
-rexdale
-chalkfarm
-driftwood
-jane and finch
-cataraqui park
-Chester Le
-Midland n' Lawrence
-Shoreham
-areas of jarvis
-areas of sherbourne
-regent park
The ghettos/bad areas in Toronto can be pretty rough but nowhere nearly as bad areas in detroit
If you avoid the areas I listed then you will find the Toronto is a phenomenal city. People are friendly, the city is clean, cultures are diverse, and crime is relatively low everywhere else.
toronto doesn't have any bad area. Honestly the gangs can get you anywhere. Poor people do not rob other poor people, so even living in a nice area is no way to avoid being robbed. Best bet is to live as far in the suburbs as possible which everyone else is doing
Toronto is really not dangerous at all. Even Jane St.
Obv if you venture into a public housing project at 4 am you might get hassled. But ask the guy from Chicago if he would even consider going to one of the apartment complexes at 4 am on the south side of Chicago.
My experiences in Jane/Finch has been far friendly, waiting in the lobby of a apartment complex at 3 am to buy pot from someone who lived there, guy turned out to be really nice, and i never felt in danger. Instead we struck up a conversation with a girl who also lived in the apartment after she told us, "we looked lost" (obv refering to us in a neighbourhood we dont look like we belong in)
The area is actually very multicultural too. My dad lived their for a bit as a child in the 70's and remembers it being very Italian. Now its a mix of long-time Italian and Jamaican residents, and newer Indian/Chinese/South American residents. You can walk through the neighbourhood at 3 am, and 99% of the time, wont get robbed.
And this is supposedly the worst.
I grew up in a middle class neighbourhood in the city, smack in the middle of a working class area to the east($300,000 homes, that's the cheapest homes in Toronto sell for.), and a rich area to the west( $1 Mil+ homes), and i felt just as safe on both sides, even at night.(Funny thing was, both neighbourhoods were probably equally diverse) The worst crime that ever happened to me, was getting my bike stolen when i was 12, by a skinny older white kid from the neighbourhood.
Truth is Toronto is really safe, 60 murders in a city of 2.5 mil ppl. I think it also has to do with the fact that you have to have a fairly comfortable financial life to be able to afford to live in the city( In my neighbourhood bungalows sell for $600,000, and semi are in the $450,000's) So apart from the Apartment complexes, their arnt too many poor. Most of the lower middle class - middle class ppl live in the suburbs anyways.
I grew up near Jane and Shoreham area (More closer to steeles and on the west side). Going to school in the area you could easily tell who lived on which side of Jane Street. The ones that grew up on the east side of Jane usually had a lot more economic issues. Grew up walking around the area and not really seeing anything. The shady stuff usually happens in the Ontario housing complexes. However as a teenager and being female I found guys in the area were too pushy. There were streets I never walked down because you would have groups of guys pestering you ex Gosford. Also if you don't want guys bugging you on the Jane bus ... Don't sit at the back of the bus ... That is where all the chatty guys sit. Thank God for head phones.
I'm live in the Chicago are and I heard alot of great things about Toronto, especially diversity. What I find impressive is that Toronto have 2.5 million people, but the crime rate is extremely low compare to American cities like Chicago & LA and other cities in similar size. I know the topic is a little misleading, but I want to know do Toronto have any high crime neighborhoods ?
First Toronto has 2.8 million people. 2.5M is for 2006 (likely sourced from Wikipedia)
Second, Toronto doesn't have extreme low crime rates. It has normal crime rates you would see in most developed countries. It is American cities that show exceptional high crime rate which make every Canadian city look like safe havens.
Chicago usually uses up all the annual murder cases of Toronto by the end of February each year, so compared with Chicago, Toronto doesn't have high crime neighbourhoods. People say Jane/Finch or Queen/Sherbourne are bad, but someone from Chicago probably would find them completely innocuous and just average neighbourhoods, although not in their best shape.
I lived in LA a few years and set my foot in South LA only once (to retrieve a towed car). All I can say is it really felt like a third world country. In both cities, the north-south contrast is believable. Within an hour you go from the most posh areas in the world to something like the suburb of Bangkok.
the murder rate is low because guns arent available like in the states...
The murder rate is low because canadians are mostly non violent people, not because criminals would like to murder people but lack the means to do it. They don't. Guns are very available in Switzerland and the murder rate is even lower than in Canada.
First Toronto has 2.8 million people. 2.5M is for 2006 (likely sourced from Wikipedia)
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Botti - did you look at when the OP created this thread - waaaay back in 2008 hence the 2.5 - this thread is ancient and OP probably forgot about this thread a long time ago
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Not very likely to have major incidents
