My 7th visit to the GTA (apartments, condominiums, crime)
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"Burlington" was mentioned but no actual comments....
Burlington is in Halton Region ....which includes Oakville.....
hopefully OP didn't skip Oakville....best city ...oops...I mean "town" ...in the GTA...
weird that a place with a 200,000 population still wants to be called a "town".....
I already gave you several examples in my posts above. It's not liberal exterme views either, these views are pretty mainstream these days. When Toronto announced increased security on transit, there was a huge uproar and the possibilty of racial profiling was one of the main concerns. It was all over the news. Some protestors were against increased security all together over this reason.... Thousands and thousands of minorities use transit everyday without any issues. People are looking for an issue where there is none. Its mostly virtue signalling. Pay your fair and you won't have any problems. It really is that easy.
Last year and early on this year we had several violent incidents on transit here in Winnipeg. A bus driver was even murdered here a few years back. People have been asking for police presence for years, even the transit drivers and union. but its always the woke activist that complain and say no because police will further traumatize already traumatized marginalized minority groups. Politicians are on record saying this. It's the same woke nonsense everywhere. The woke left are the ones that sound angry and unfocused and worst of all unreasonable.
Well Toronto has a history of racial profiling by the TPS. A lot of black people were targeted by these campaigns for no good reasons. Actually even the gay community had no love for the TPS. so I don't think we can just sweep these things under the rug.
I'm not saying people should get special treatment - i'm just saying we do have examples in our society where people were wrongfully dismissed, accused, targeted just because of their skin colour or sexuality etc. I just feel now that some of these valid issues by some are being swept away under a collective woke label. Every case needs to be carefully examined with fairness.
On a public safety note however I do agree - people need to be judged accordingly by their actions. If you commit a crime which fare evasion is - it is a crime point blank. We do need to get back to that core common sense messaging. At the same time, having real conversations about what is happening to marginalized communities.
I've seen very well to do individuals sneak onto streetcars and buses more often than homeless / street people.
I say enforce the fare no matter what. I really irks me that I pay all the time, while mister staring down at his new iPhone / wearing a nice outfit just skips onto a streetcar while looking at his new shiny $2000 phone.
I've also seen 2 enforcement men agents give a "pretty" young woman a break when caught... she was allowed to just go scan her card after getting caught. THIS pisses me off the most.
Either enforce ALL, or none. No special treatment. No excuses.
Now the issue of the homeless or poor is another issue all together. The homeless will get on just to get out of the cold / weather etc. For them I understand not harrassing them. There we need social workers working with the police to direct them to the proper shelters, etc.
"Burlington" was mentioned but no actual comments....
Burlington is in Halton Region ....which includes Oakville.....
hopefully OP didn't skip Oakville....best city ...oops...I mean "town" ...in the GTA...
weird that a place with a 200,000 population still wants to be called a "town".....
The first hotel we stayed at was in Burlington. Beyond that, we didn't really look around any further this time around. We did visit the Royal Botanical Gardens back in 2015. Their welcome centre is actually in Burlington just over the border from Hamilton. As for Oakville, while I am aware that it's Tim Horton's birthplace, there didn't really seem to be anything particularly of interest to me there. Being so tight on time, we could only pick and choose. Next time, I am in the Golden Horseshoe Region, I hope to visit the Halton Radial Railway Museum in Milton. I also want to check out some of Hamilton's waterfalls and maybe visit Brampton too. I've never been to Brampton before.
Speaking of increasing crime and violence in the GTA and especially Toronto proper, there still are longtime residents, sadly my aunt included, that cling to the notion that Toronto is the same safe city as before. During lunch the following day, I told my aunt about my incident on the Bloor-Danforth as well as witnessing a fight that same day at Finch Terminal while waiting for the VIVA bus and she refused to believe that Toronto was changing for the worse. I told my aunt my opinion that Toronto had also become a dirtier city than when I last visited as well and she wouldn't hear any of it. She went on by saying that the US has a lot more guns and crime than Canada ever had, that states like Texas have open carry laws, and that Toronto is still a lot cleaner and safer than any of our cities. Well yeah, on average, all of Canada has a much lower crime rate than all of the US and the part about Texas may be accurate but not every part of America allows that as if Massachusetts was more like Texas than Ontario, Canada (we have the strictest gun laws in the US). What good are strict gun laws when the vast majority of weapons used in crimes are illegal and what good are national, regional, or even local statistics when crime is concentrated in the place you are in? Besides, that mentality of simply dismissing crime and violence as bluff is not only inappropriate but dangerous to oneself. Out of respect for my elder I did not but I was so tempted to tell my aunt to get out of her comfort zone in suburban Richmond Hill or should I say "Rich Man's Hill", go down and ride the TTC or stroll Eglinton Avenue for one afternoon, and tell if the City has become more decrepit or not. She'd probably get freaked out by how urban Toronto really has become and want to rush back home, never to venture out into the City again.
I'm another who agrees that fares must be paid on the TTC. Read the fine print in the TTC Bylaw posted in every vehicle: last I checked, it states that fares must be paid, food may not be consumed, and smoking on any TTC property is forbidden. The food one is often ignored, but in my experience, the other two are enforced stringently.
I remember the experiments in loading TTC streetcars at the front and middle a couple of decades ago, in the interests of loading the car more quickly. All you needed was a valid transfer to board through the middle doors. While I'm sure some took advantage of this, and had no transfer, most did, and the experiment worked well.
But here's the thing: if it's an honour system, there must be someone there to enforce the honour system. I've ridden three systems where that the case: GO trains, and Calgary and Edmonton LRTs, and believe you me, there are plenty of inspectors on those systems. More, in fact, in Calgary and Edmonton, than there are on GO trains. And fines are steep. It sounds to me like the TTC doesn't have those random inspectors in streetcars.
As for beer on the TTC--well, back in the 1980s, I recall many trips on the all-night Yonge bus that ran after the subways stopped. It was usually packed, and there was always a party, often with a case or two of beer, in the back; and if somebody didn't have the fare, or only had part of it, the driver often let it go in the interests of just getting going. And the gang in that back was always happy to share their beer, and I'm speaking from experience.
So regarding crime in Toronto. I just looked at the violent crime severity index for the top 20 cities in Canada and Toronto is not listed in the top 20. The top 5 are all in western Canada. I'm not trying to dismiss rising violence, but what needs to be considered is that Toronto city alone has 3 million people now. The contiguous urbanized area is approaching 8 million. My point is we need to put things in perspective - yes rising crime rates are a concern but they are rising in most Canadian cities.
For its size and there aren't a lot of N.A cities as big or bigger than Toronto it is still a remarkably safe city. If you are afraid to come to Toronto than i'm sorry to say, you probably shouldn't venture out into International travel.
Some comparisons of large cities in N.A in terms of homicides in 2022
Toronto - 67 with 3 million people
Chicago 695 with 2.7 million people
Boston - 40 with 700K people
Los Angeles - 382 with 3.7 million people
Montreal - 41 with 1.8 million people
Toronto and Montreal are about even keel in terms of rates and other American cities are higher.
The most notable rise in criminal activity in Toronto for 2022 was actually car thefts
I think Toronto is still a great city to live in AND to visit.
@fusion2 ... even though your homicide stats are pertinent, I suspect "lesser" violent crimes are on the rise or at least more than lets say 20 - 30 yrs ago.
The reality is that there are certain parts of the city that you don't just wander through (esp in the evenings, etc) looking all spiffy and rich.
@Urban Peasant.... your aunt does live in an upper crust type neighborhood. A newer area where there are a lot less homeless and the streets are sparkly clean and the avg resident is well off enough not to want to steal your iPhone.
I've been in "sketchy" areas in the night hrs and let's just say you can't look like some easy target.
For the most part, most of the city is safe during the daylight hours. I love that gun violence is still somewhat rare and usually limited to certain gang affiliated areas, etc.
@fusion2 ... even though your homicide stats are pertinent, I suspect "lesser" violent crimes are on the rise or at least more than lets say 20 - 30 yrs ago.
The reality is that there are certain parts of the city that you don't just wander through (esp in the evenings, etc) looking all spiffy and rich.
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Well there are a lot more people in Toronto than 20 to 30 years ago. The pandemic did have an impact in that I do think there are more individuals with mental health problems. Plus with the cost of living what it is will drive more crimes. On the whole though, we need to be clear eyed in terms of perspective vs peer cities on our continent. I grew up in Jane and Finch and I had no problems in that area. I was a kid so didn't really look 'spiffy' and rich but it was fine.
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(we have the strictest gun laws in the US). What good are strict gun laws when the vast majority of weapons used in crimes are illegal and what good are national, regional, or even local statistics when crime is concentrated in the place you are in? Besides, that mentality of simply dismissing crime and violence as bluff is not only inappropriate but dangerous to oneself. Out of respect for my elder I did not but I was so tempted to tell my aunt to get out of her comfort zone in suburban Richmond Hill or should I say "Rich Man's Hill", go down and ride the TTC or stroll Eglinton Avenue for one afternoon, and tell if the City has become more decrepit or not. She'd probably get freaked out by how urban Toronto really has become and want to rush back home, never to venture out into the City again.
