Originally Posted by feonateresa

O_O I never knew Winnipeg was bad. You know it's strange, Manitoba doesn't ever come up in the news ... hrrm.

Errr except for that little beheading on the Greyhoud incident.

Originally Posted by feonateresa

O_O I never knew Winnipeg was bad. You know it's strange, Manitoba doesn't ever come up in the news ... hrrm.

Well, when does Toronto ever get Winnipeg news? If so, it'd be like a drop in the bucket.

However, the area has improved. So I'm very happy about that.

Seriously. you've never heard of Winnipeg as the Murder Capital of Canada? Or maybe it's Edmonton now, not too sure.

Originally Posted by sew12

Errr except for that little beheading on the Greyhoud incident.

Sigh, I didn't want to remember that. That was just, I don't even know, just too much to describe in words.

And no I haven't heard Winnipeg being a murder capital... hrrm. Glad to hear it's improving though. :/

Originally Posted by reeves

Just to clarify, I wasn't asking about places to avoid going. I was asking about places to avoid living in.

I currently live in Peterborough, a town of only about 75,000 people, and a small town feel. Even then, everyone here knows not to live on Bethune and Stewart Streets, through the downtown area. Unless you happen to like crack and/or heroin, needles on your front lawn, and having your door beat on at 3:30 AM by drug addicts looking to score. I just wanted to make sure I didn't move into the Hamilton equivalent of that

Haha, well thats not too much of a different story, actually. Its pretty much all the same as I posted before:

Everything in Westdale and West Hamilton is nice, and is close to all the amenities. East Hamilton, especially around Eastgate Square, can be somewhat rough around the edges, but a recent influx of East Asian immigrants has begun to turn the whole area around.

Anywhere on the Mountain, especially, as I said earlier, around Limeridge is nice. There are a plethora of apartments there with decent rent and very nice surroundings.

Barton Street is the only place that may be close to what you described. The rent is low, considering its proximity to the (former) heavy industry here and, as was mentioned before, the infamous Barton Street Jail.

But, again, if you're looking for student housing, the best option is pretty much anywhere in West Hamilton, mostly because its all nice and close to the school. But, if you're feeling more independent, I'd say its safe to live essentially anywhere in this great town. Just use your intuition while picking out a place, and you should be great!

Originally Posted by feonateresa

Sigh, I didn't want to remember that. That was just, I don't even know, just too much to describe in words.

After that incident, I took a Greyhound from Toronto to Montreal the next day. And I slept though it.

While I agree that there are some places you don't generally want to visit, especially at night, Hamilton isn't as bad as it is made out to be. If anything, I encourage yourself and everyone else to take walks into the City to see what it is really like. There is both good and bad, and these should be experienced by each person. Obviously, many of us come from privileged households, which is something that increasingly greater Hamiltonians are not fortunate to come from.

Don't avoid dowtown, or any part of the City for that matter, but explore it for its diversity. It will help you understand others that are less fortunate, which in turn helps them feel less alienated from society.

If anyone needs some help picking up the City, the HSR, or any other services, please feel free to contact me via pm (preferred). Alternatively, you can always just post here but I may not view the thread as often as I login in, which is several times a day.

Originally Posted by _Luu_

After that incident, I took a Greyhound from Toronto to Montreal the next day. And I slept though it.

Haha same, slept like a baby.

So, for me, a place is considered safe until one of these three things happen:

1) More than 50 ppl killed in 3 block radius.
2) People using their grenade launchers on the rooftops of their houses/apartments.
3) The zombies from Thriller (which could include MJ himself) start dancing on the street and chasing after innocent people in the middle of the night.

(On second thought, I might end up dancing with the zombies. )

Just to add a bit more to my last post, Hamilton is undergoing great change now in order to beautify the City, make it more vibrant, as well as safer to live in.

Hamilton is a walkable community, meaning that our government has a commitment to improve alternative means of transportation, as well as making the city more pedestrian friendly.

Here are some links on Hamilton as a walkable community:

http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/...09-05-08th.htm

http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/...iltonwalks.htm


Another challenging issue is that of poverty. 1 in 5 Hamiltonians currently live in poverty, with many of the traditionally disadvantaged peoples being more at-risk (e.g., Aboriginals, recent immigrants, seniors, single-parent mothers, and children).

The City is working closely with the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction to reduce this number (1 in 5 residents living in poverty). The goal is to make Hamilton the best place to raise a child.

Here is a link:

http://www.hamiltonpoverty.c a/docs... rategies.pdf

Why would this matter to you as a prospective or current student? For starters, Hamilton is where you will be spending a considerable amount of time, which means that what happens here should and does matter to you. Secondly, McMaster grads are being sought out to begin their careers and families here so that the we can continue to move forward together.

I have lived in Hamilton for about 8+ years and can't think of any areas to avoid living in. Well, maybe a few... as others have mentioned, Barton. I moved here from the Toronto area and I didn't like it at first, but Hamilton has grown on me. It's a huge city, with many diverse areas. There are sketchy areas in every city, but I don't think there are any areas in Hamilton you should be afraid of.

I live in the east end near Eastgate and it's not as sketchy as other people describe it. There's not much to do here though. The best areas for shopping, food, etc. are downtown, west end, mountain, maybe a few areas on the east end but not as much. I obviously avoid Barton, mostly because there's nothing to do there and yes, it is a rough area. I avoid going downtown late at night if I don't have to but I have before and I was fine and I also used to work downtown.

Basically, your best bet would be to find housing near Mac in the west end or downtown. I believe downtown does have some student housing options that would probably be worth looking into. There are some areas of downtown that probably aren't very nice to live in, but I don't think you should avoid living there completely. The downtown area is only about a 10 min bus ride from the campus.

Originally Posted by davey

I've lived in Hamilton for almost a decade, and I don't think there is anywhere to be overly cautious about. I've walked alone downtown at night tons of times to catch the last bus home, and I've never seen anything out of the ordinary. But I guess the world is one of perception, not reality.

Ya I've lived in Hamilton (right near Ivor Wyne Stadium) since I was 2-3 years old. Its not all that bad lol.

Btw has anyeone read this article by Rosie DiManno? http://www.lexisnexis.com.li bacces...82 86&docNo=2

Originally Posted by reeves

Just to clarify, I wasn't asking about places to avoid going. I was asking about places to avoid living in.

I currently live in Peterborough, a town of only about 75,000 people, and a small town feel. Even then, everyone here knows not to live on Bethune and Stewart Streets, through the downtown area. Unless you happen to like crack and/or heroin, needles on your front lawn, and having your door beat on at 3:30 AM by drug addicts looking to score. I just wanted to make sure I didn't move into the Hamilton equivalent of that

Looking at the Macoffcampus listings just now, places to avoid are zone 4 (especially the 25 Gibson listed, the landlord is horrible and the place sketchy). Basically, if it is past Hess, don't live in it. There are some good places past there, but there are a lot of bad ones as well.

Originally Posted by feonateresa

O_O I never knew Winnipeg was bad. You know it's strange, Manitoba doesn't ever come up in the news ... hrrm.

Murder Capital of Canada. The North End makes Jane and Finch look like a picnic. The University of Manitoba is on the extreme south side of Winnipeg and they are two different worlds.

Originally Posted by Bender

Ya I've lived in Hamilton (right near Ivor Wyne Stadium) since I was 2-3 years old. Its not all that bad lol.

Btw has anyeone read this article by Rosie DiManno? http://www.lexisnexis.com.li bacces...82 86&docNo=2

Rosie DiManno has her own hate-group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5332547 9860

And it's well-deserved.

Originally Posted by fullsmash26

Murder Capital of Canada. The North End makes Jane and Finch look like a picnic. The University of Manitoba is on the extreme south side of Winnipeg and they are two different worlds.

Absolutely. Being from the North End, it makes Jane & Finch, East Van, Regent Park, and Regina North Central look like jokes in terms of crime.

Plus, although not as visible anymore, I have the battle scars to prove it.