Vancouver To Houston (Canadian: lofts, crime, camping)

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by Wahine

I think a lot of Americans overestimate how safe Vancouver and TO are, because they haven't been walking in some of the bad areas, and because Canadian cities tend to be cleaner.

Ain't that the truth.

On Boxing Day (Dec 26; discount Christmas shopping day) for the past two years there have been shoppers and random pedestrians gunned down in front of stores on busy streets in broad daylight, like between 10am and noon, by some kind of gang violence. (drive-by, run-by ?) It's almost becoming a tradition.

Even our most prestigous hotel in Toronto also had a guest gunned down recently, possibly inside the hotel building itself. This guest was looking to buy cocaine, but still...

[foma]

I visited Vancouver last year and LOVED it there! Are you crazy wanting to move to Houston?!?! Don't get me wrong, I love my hometown of Houston, too, but Vancouver, oh my god it is beautiful there!!!!! It's so clean and the people are so nice!!

Houston is, IMO, a very diverse city. If you are interested in Chinatown, ours is bigger than Vancouver's and it is locatd on Bellaire/Beltway 8 in Southwest Houston. I think Houston is culturally different from Vancouver and both towns have good and bad. Man, I just can't imagine what you are going to think of Houston when you move down here! Best of Luck to you!

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

Ain't that the truth.

On Boxing Day (Dec 26; discount Christmas shopping day) for the past two years there have been shoppers and random pedestrians gunned down in front of stores on busy streets in broad daylight, like between 10am and noon, by some kind of gang violence. (drive-by, run-by ?) It's almost becoming a tradition.

Even our most prestigous hotel in Toronto also had a guest gunned down recently, possibly inside the hotel building itself. This guest was looking to buy cocaine, but still...

Statistically Toronto and Vancouver are pretty safe compared to most U.S. big cities. Even in there worst years they don't compare to U.S. big cities.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by pwright1

Statistically Toronto and Vancouver are pretty safe compared to most U.S. big cities. Even in there worst years they don't compare to U.S. big cities.

I don't doubt that. My point is that violent crime seems to have been going up lately, surprising most of the local residents. Before the mid 90's we were a lot safer; before shootings in public, in Toronto at least were almost unheard of.

Anyways, nevermind my last post.

[Wahine]

Originally Posted by pwright1

Statistically Toronto and Vancouver are pretty safe compared to most U.S. big cities. Even in there worst years they don't compare to U.S. big cities.

I agree with ColdCanadian. Statistically, crime has gone up. In TO part of the issue has to do with guns being brought in from Detroit. I remember when there was a shooting near Eaton Centre, and how shocking that was, and now as ColdCanadian said, it's almost expected.

When you talk about statistics based on an entire metro area, and compare it to another, it does not take into account different neighborhoods in each city. Violent crime is much higher in the United States than in Britain or Canada, but property crime (vandalism, theft, breaking and entering) are higher in those places than the US.

I worry that women visiting Canada, in particular, may let their guards down because the place is clean, and perceived to be safer. I made that mistake when I first moved there. Believe me, I think the country and the major cities are wonderful in many ways. But visitors make sweeping comments like, "Toronto is like New York run by Scandinavians" (e.g. clean, safe). It's similar to those who think health care up north must be a cake walk. It's a compromise, like any other system.

If you have spent some time visiting the shops on Bloor Street, in Yorkville, that does not mean you "know" Toronto neighborhoods. Take a drive over to Regents Park and you'll see the same endemic problems you see in the toughest projects of Chicago.

Same if you've seen the gorgeous Stanley Park or West End neighborhoods of Vancouver. If you're in the tourist/business areas of Vancouver, rather than the crime-ridden alleys of Downtown Eastside, far below the beautiful glass buildings, you're not going to see the crime and poverty. Vancouver attracts a high percentage of homeless teens in particular, because the weather is easier to survive.

Most Americans visiting don't know some of the other data published by Statistics Canada, such as the late 90s projection that 1 out of every 4 Canadians under 25 is unemployed. I had friends who were struggling to find decent work, and worked a job on a gritty corner of Queen Street West. Every morning I had to step over a "family" of homeless runaways - most of them looked to be about 16 or so - who slept on the sidewalks. I realized that life in Toronto is as complex, including problems, as in any American city.

Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is a LOT like San Francisco's infamous Tenderloin District, or the Combat Zone in Boston circa the 1990s. No, scratch that. I felt safer walking through that neighborhood in Boston - at night - than I felt walking near the Eastside in daylight.

[superduper22]

Please consider that houston has many 100+ degree days in the summer coupled with 90-100% humidity during a long summer. The weather is vastly different in Houston than in Vancouver. Today's high is 90 with 45% humidity. Just something else to consider for those wanting to bike.
--Super

[person]

I have been in Houston for almost a year. And it is ugly. sprawl, super flat, no hills or mountains, the nearest beach, in Galveston is dirty. You have to be prepared for ugliness, especially more if you are coming from Vancouver.

Freeways are very efficient though. People have good manners.

But the ugliness. Lots of wires and poles, Many cities have above ground wires, but its especially ugly in Houston because the land is so flat. Not to mentioned the strip malls and blight all over the place. The endless construction on freeways doesn't help.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by brattpowered

Coming from Vancouver, be prepared for a lot of aggressively ugly scenery.

Not true. Houston may not be my cup of tea because of the humidity, but the area is NOT ugly. Houston's a nice looking city with loads of nice people; very cosmopolitan place.

[Premont]

Not to mention all the trails and parks.

[bmglab]

Unlike most cities, Houston has two huge metro parks, not one. Hermann park in the medical center with museums/zoo/ replica mall and washinton like monument. Memorial park is so expansive that it has terrain and tons of trails for montain biking.