Did you feel safer in Canada or in the U.S.?

[trailmix 77]

Drivers on the other hand, Canadians drive incredibly slow here and in Canada and have had more close calls there then I ever have in the US and I have driven in the US many more years then in Canada.

It's interesting you mention this - I think it's all about being out of your element.

There is always this big thing about what horrible drivers Albertans are. Well in fact, as a whole, that is probably true and the reason why - in my opinion (having driven here before the last two 'booms') is the influx of people from other provinces.

Now i'm not saying that people in Manitoba are worse drivers than those in Ontario, or Alberta for that matter, but there are different 'rules of the road' and when you throw all of them together, it doesn't work very well

Prior to the last two booms, Calgary was an easy place to drive in and I enjoyed it.

Edited September 8, 2009 by trailmix

[thetreble 19]

I have to say that not once in 37 years in Kitchener did I picture pulling up to a light and having someone pull a gun out in the car next to me because they're PO'd........but this is a weird new fear I have. someone with bad road rage with be carrying a gun that day and I'll have somehow pi$$ed them off. And the gun will be legal to boot! - Don't even get me started.

It's funny you say that. Jared often reminds me to take a chill pill while we are driving because you never know what's going to happen. He also tells me, in certain cities around JErsey at night, to never fully stop at a stop light. I thought that was SO bizarre the first few times I heard it...but then one night I got lost in Newark and I knew exactly what every one one saying.

Honestly, it really depends on where you are from and where you moved to. People like Nevada and I got a really crappy deal in terms of safety. We moved to a place that is literally full of crime, and SERIOUS crime, not just petty stuff. With NYC and Philly at our door steps, and to top it off with cities like Newark, Irvington, Jersey City, Plainfield, etc. we have so many towns that are so fully of crime it's kinda hard to even put the worst city in Canada next to where we live.

I'm from K-W, like Udella. And remember, Udella, K-W now has over 500,000 people living in it!! It is definitely no "small" town, and we see less crime there then in some times here in New Jersey that have 10,000 people in it. However, population density does play a huge role.

Honestly, I keep my head up. I don't walk around at night ANYwhere in Jersey. No where is going to be "safe" and I live in a pretty nice neighbourhood. But you know what? Every single town in new jersey has that "s*itty" part to it so you can't get away with being safe, no matter where you live.

In Canada I never thought twice about it. Even living in Ottawa with 1 million people, never thought twice about my safety and I walked home drunk as a skunk a LOT by myself.

This is not to say bad things don't happen in Canada as we know that's not true. However, about 2 times a week I sit in traffic because the cops have pulled someone over and they are being arrested at the side of the road. Just happened today and last Thursday actually. PRetty common.

[bogartnoir 1]

personally, small towns creep me out.

i feel safer here in nyc than anyplace i've ever been in the whole world.

there's ALWAYS someone around. there are ALWAYS places open that you can duck into if you ever did feel threatened.

you know not to wear expensive ###### late at night on the subway, keep to yourself- don't make yourself a target. these are common sense things though.

i know very few people who have been mugged- mostly tourists who don't follow common sense rules.

i live in spanish harlem. it's not exactly "glamorous" but i certainly do not feel unsafe at night if i need to go get something at the bodega.

i feel like a lot of this "fear" might be xenophobia...

hm.

[trailmix 77]

personally, small towns creep me out.

i feel safer here in nyc than anyplace i've ever been in the whole world.

there's ALWAYS someone around. there are ALWAYS places open that you can duck into if you ever did feel threatened.

you know not to wear expensive ###### late at night on the subway, keep to yourself- don't make yourself a target. these are common sense things though.

i know very few people who have been mugged- mostly tourists who don't follow common sense rules.

i live in spanish harlem. it's not exactly "glamorous" but i certainly do not feel unsafe at night if i need to go get something at the bodega.

i feel like a lot of this "fear" might be xenophobia...

hm.

Fear of foreigners? hmm, well i'm 100% sure that's not the case for me.

Perhaps it's that Orlando has a murder rate of 18.3 per 100,000 while Calgary has 3.14

[JillA 2]

personally, small towns creep me out.

i feel safer here in nyc than anyplace i've ever been in the whole world.

there's ALWAYS someone around. there are ALWAYS places open that you can duck into if you ever did feel threatened.

you know not to wear expensive ###### late at night on the subway, keep to yourself- don't make yourself a target. these are common sense things though.

i know very few people who have been mugged- mostly tourists who don't follow common sense rules.

i live in spanish harlem. it's not exactly "glamorous" but i certainly do not feel unsafe at night if i need to go get something at the bodega.

i feel like a lot of this "fear" might be xenophobia...

hm.

Not at all. Has nothing to do with that, I don't think about the colour of the people or national origin that might attack me or are comitting crimes. I just think in general of the extremely high crime rate in the city I live in and how every morning on the news, there have been shootings overnight

Edited September 8, 2009 by JillA

[bogartnoir 1]

Fear of foreigners? hmm, well i'm 100% sure that's not the case for me.

Perhaps it's that Orlando has a murder rate of 18.3 per 100,000 while Calgary has 3.14

well...i mean it's really fear of the unknown. just as long as you don't make it fear of a certain people.

as an american, i know all too well how we can be perceived by other countries. and it's not fair, of course.

i am ashamed of our guns policy. i really don't see guns as necessary in the LEAST. keep them at the gun range.

but what are the odds that you will be murdered really?

[JillA 2]

Fear of foreigners? hmm, well i'm 100% sure that's not the case for me.

Perhaps it's that Orlando has a murder rate of 18.3 per 100,000 while Calgary has 3.14

well...i mean it's really fear of the unknown. just as long as you don't make it fear of a certain people.

as an american, i know all too well how we can be perceived by other countries. and it's not fair, of course.

i am ashamed of our guns policy. i really don't see guns as necessary in the LEAST. keep them at the gun range.

but what are the odds that you will be murdered really?

Pretty high if I decide to go out alone in Kensington at night. Raped or murdered. But obviously I wouldn't do that, hence the topic of not feeling safe. At home I would go out alone at night

[CDAgirlMI 51]

Right now I'm living in Amherstburg, ON & I couldn't ask for a better place to live. I totally feel safe living here.

My fiance lives in Plymouth, MI(Plymouth township). I can say I feel safe there.

Better than when he lived in Ypsilanti...anyone in Michigan would know it's not the nicest place to be. The night before he moved out, one of the people in his building was stabbed with a sword. Pools of blood all over the parking lot.

But either city or country I always take precautions. I always lock my doors.

***To the person who's hisband/boyfriend/fiance wants them to get a gun when they move to the U.S.......

Take a firearms training/CCW class. When you are taught safe handling of a firearm, there's no reason to be scared of it.

[trailmix 77]

Fear of foreigners? hmm, well i'm 100% sure that's not the case for me.

Perhaps it's that Orlando has a murder rate of 18.3 per 100,000 while Calgary has 3.14

well...i mean it's really fear of the unknown. just as long as you don't make it fear of a certain people.

as an american, i know all too well how we can be perceived by other countries. and it's not fair, of course.

i am ashamed of our guns policy. i really don't see guns as necessary in the LEAST. keep them at the gun range.

but what are the odds that you will be murdered really?

It's not fear of the unknown - I gave the stats

What are the odds of being murdered really? Well a lot lower in Calgary apparently! Now that is not to say, as I have mentioned, that Calgary is safe safe safe, it's not, it's a big city with its share of crime. In fact my Aunt was murdered here (30 years ago).

I don't fear any particular person - i'm just not crazy about living in a high crime area really.

[The Dude 206]

Fear of foreigners? hmm, well i'm 100% sure that's not the case for me.

Perhaps it's that Orlando has a murder rate of 18.3 per 100,000 while Calgary has 3.14

well...i mean it's really fear of the unknown. just as long as you don't make it fear of a certain people.

as an american, i know all too well how we can be perceived by other countries. and it's not fair, of course.

i am ashamed of our guns policy. i really don't see guns as necessary in the LEAST. keep them at the gun range.

but what are the odds that you will be murdered really?

It's not fear of the unknown - I gave the stats

What are the odds of being murdered really? Well a lot lower in Calgary apparently! Now that is not to say, as I have mentioned, that Calgary is safe safe safe, it's not, it's a big city with its share of crime. In fact my Aunt was murdered here (30 years ago).

I don't fear any particular person - i'm just not crazy about living in a high crime area really.

I think we can make that generalization about a vast majority of humans B)

[bogartnoir 1]

What are the odds of being murdered really? Well a lot lower in Calgary apparently! Now that is not to say, as I have mentioned, that Calgary is safe safe safe, it's not, it's a big city with its share of crime. In fact my Aunt was murdered here (30 years ago).

I don't fear any particular person - i'm just not crazy about living in a high crime area really.

it's all about preparedness and being aware. wherever you go.

i'm sorry about your aunt. that's really horrific. but was she murdered by someone she knew?

i think most of us here- our chances of being murdered are pretty low. unless you're involved in something you shouldn't be or are not being very aware.

i'm not saying that senseless crimes do not happen, but murdered?

[The Dude 206]

What are the odds of being murdered really? Well a lot lower in Calgary apparently! Now that is not to say, as I have mentioned, that Calgary is safe safe safe, it's not, it's a big city with its share of crime. In fact my Aunt was murdered here (30 years ago).

I don't fear any particular person - i'm just not crazy about living in a high crime area really.

it's all about preparedness and being aware. wherever you go.

i'm sorry about your aunt. that's really horrific. but was she murdered by someone she knew?

i think most of us here- our chances of being murdered are pretty low. unless you're involved in something you shouldn't be or are not being very aware.

i'm not saying that senseless crimes do not happen, but murdered?

That being said, would dare cut through central park at 3 a.m. on a friday night to get home quicker or go around it? (Just playing devil's advocate here)

[Marilyn. 340]

a few months a ago a person was shot and killed just down the street from where we live.. needless to say I try not and be out and about after dark by myself around here anymore..

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I will have to add in that I felt safer in Canada than here - and I lived for virtually all of my adult life on my own as well. The most that happened is that I had on street parking and a few times I would come out and find my glove compartment rifled through. As I never had anything of value in the car I never locked it. Oh, except once - back in 1987 - my windsurfer - which was chained onto the roof racks of my car with a combination lock - was stolen off of the car one night - they cut through the chain.

Because I had no air conditioning during the summer I often left the door of my apartment open with just the screen door in place. I used to love going for walks in the evening or after dark - it was a way to calm and center myself after the day. I never had any concerns - whether I lived in Kingston, St. Catharines or Chatham.

Here we live in suburbia - and the online newsletter for our community is rife with crime reports. What the heck? This is a nice middle class community. While I will leave the windows open at night when we are home everything is closed and locked up when we are out and the outside security lights left on. I will go for walks in twilight but not after dark - even though the neighbourhood is safe, it just doesn't feel it.

I also felt a lot safer on the roads in Canada than I do here - tailgating seems to be a National sport - even when I am already going over the speed limit. Drivers don't know how the basic rules of the road and the lack of courtesy is appalling. Seeing police obviously wearing guns and bullet proof vests makes you realize that crime is serious big time in the US. I think the statistics speak for themselves.

Edited September 8, 2009 by Kathryn41

[bogartnoir 1]

That being said, would dare cut through central park at 3 a.m. on a friday night to get home quicker or go around it? (Just playing devil's advocate here)

are you asking me or saying you would?

me? some parts of central park are safer than others. i'd be more worried about being bitten by a rabid squirrel! i've been in the park late at night and because i have COMMON SENSE and am AWARE, i did feel a slight sense of urgency to quickstep it, but i did not feel impending doom.

i'd be more likely to walk through the park on the weekend, actually, because the bridge & tunnel crowd are in town getting drunk, so there are more people around.

all of this is irrelevant though, because i'm never on the west side