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Areas to avoid in Hamilton?

 
Old 07-05-2009 at 02:11 PM   #61
tio123
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Hamilton is beautiful. The downtown is nice and there is lots to do. You should want to explore as much of the city possible - espcially if your planning to live here for four years. I lived in the downtown core for a bit and its nothing worth worrying about. If your accompanied with people and on the main streets then you should fine.

I will say be cautious of the back roads and alleys near downtown. I know people who have been robbed or harassed in those places. BUT these incidents have happened around 3 AM in the alleys of downtown. That could and would happen in any urban downtown. Your asking for trouble if your walking around the back roads of downtown during 3 Am. Other than that, I don't have any bad things to say about Hamilton.
Old 07-05-2009 at 02:23 PM   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by feonateresa View Post
Hmm. Anywhere past like... Hess Village, which is like Hess St and Queen St - these run parallel. They run on King St and Main St, two one-way streets that lead you to and from McMaster respectively.

There are some good restaurants downtown though. There's a to die for Italian restaurant on James St, so good. And a bar/lounge on John St.
italian restaurant.. mmmm. whats the name of it? the bar too! =D
Old 07-05-2009 at 03:29 PM   #63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mz.Morra13 View Post
italian restaurant.. mmmm. whats the name of it? the bar too! =D
Mm, the Italian restaurant is called Bronzie's Place - it's on James St South, downstairs of a building. It's small, and the tables are almost always reserved 'cause it's so good. We had to call in to get a table. You can do take out though. They give you so much food! We ordered once, we got two things of pasta, salad, bread, garlic bread and drinks. Lasted me for like three days haha.

The bar/lounge is called Gallagher's which is on John St South, try their paninis - so good. <3
Old 07-05-2009 at 05:28 PM   #64
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I don't think Downtown Hamilton is bad at all. Especially if you're in a busy intersection, it's a lot safer.

I know someone who got mugged in the nice part of Westdale. Yes, Westdale. And this was during the day so there was absolutely nobody around to help her. As long as you're street smart and are conscious of what's going on around you, you should be fine in downtown Hamilton/,

As Alvin said, break the bubble.
Old 07-05-2009 at 06:29 PM   #65
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I dunno, I feel like you guys are making Hamilton sound a lot nicer than it actually is. Apparently you guys are all from tough neighborhoods/ have nerves of steel.

I'm from a smaller town where pretty much all we have is schools and subdivisions, and there are tons of areas in Hamilton that I would not live, and tons that I wouldn't walk around in at night. Actually, I wouldn't want to live in most of the neighborhoods I've seen in Hamilton.

For the most part I wouldn't say its dangerous (although I do know one girl who got mugged at 3 pm downtown), but its certainly unsavory. I wouldn't be afraid of pretty much any area if it was daytime, especially if you're in a group. But at night I wouldn't recommend it.

But just because its not dangerous doesn't mean its someplace you want to be. It's just not... nice.
Old 07-06-2009 at 09:06 AM   #66
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Pretty much every city outside of small towns has areas that you want to avoid. I think everyone's point was that Hamilton is not as bad as some people make it out to be, not that it's the safest place in the world.

I mean you can spend four years sitting inside the comfort of the Mac bubble, or you can take some time and get to know the real world. I think that you get so much more out of your university experience if you take some time to connect with the place that you live in.
Old 07-06-2009 at 10:19 AM   #67
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hamilton is fine, especially during the day... night however...

me and my buddy were walking downtown near jackson square at night at there was some pretty messed up shit going down lol.

we looked to the side and see this shady guy come out of a completely black door, which opened to a completely dark and unseeable room/ally/walkway? right next to the pr0n movie rental store.

lmao.

fun fun.
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Old 07-06-2009 at 10:40 AM   #68
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I think how you take to a city like Hamilton all stems from where you come from.

Right now, I live in a village of just over 200 people. Its small, but a community of sorts. The town I lived in before moving here six years ago has a population of 15,000. My experiences with live in my village and town will be completely different from those of someone who came from inner-city Toronto, for example.

Really, its just a matter of personal experience how someone takes to a big city. If you know how to navigate and be city-smart, you probably won't have a problem.
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Old 07-06-2009 at 10:46 AM   #69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zango View Post
hamilton is fine, especially during the day... night however...

me and my buddy were walking downtown near jackson square at night at there was some pretty messed up shit going down lol.

we looked to the side and see this shady guy come out of a completely black door, which opened to a completely dark and unseeable room/ally/walkway? right next to the pr0n movie rental store.

lmao.

fun fun.
yep! you were near Gore Park near Jackson square at that time, which is pretty much shady central for Hamilton(after eastgate square). Look closely enough and you'll see pimps/prostitutes and drug dealers hanging around as well!
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Old 07-06-2009 at 11:03 AM   #70
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huzaifa47 View Post
yep! you were near Gore Park near Jackson square at that time, which is pretty much shady central for Hamilton(after eastgate square). Look closely enough and you'll see pimps/prostitutes and drug dealers hanging around as well!
haha, yes, but it was necessary in order to pick up a few extra things for my pirate halloween costume at the time

but yeah, for future references, dont go downtown alone at night.
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Old 07-06-2009 at 11:09 AM   #71
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zango View Post
haha, yes, but it was necessary in order to pick up a few extra things for my pirate halloween costume at the time

but yeah, for future references, dont go downtown alone at night.
Well you could go to Party Packagers in Ancaster for that! Take the 5C Meadowlands bus! They have a huge offering in October
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Old 07-06-2009 at 12:41 PM   #72
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Hamilton has a bit of an undeserved (in my opinion) reputation for being sketchy/dangerous. A lot of people I met from Toronto seemed to think Hamilton was dangerous, but it's safer than areas of Toronto. There isn't the gang problem that Toronto has, and I've been in the "nice" areas of Toronto (theatre district) and seen a drunk stumble down the street with a bottle under his arm asking for money in the middle of the afternoon. That's actually worse than anything I've seen in Hamilton.

Sure, there are areas that you wouldn't want to go into at night, or that you wouldn't want to live in if you could avoid it, but it's not dangerous if you use your head. Stay away from places like the east end and Gage Park at night, that kind of thing.

I'm from a small town (Waterdown), and, although it's near Hamilton, I haven't spent a lot of time in Hamilton before last year. I went all over the east end/Barton/north end during the day, and felt perfectly safe, and went to Jackson Square Mall for a movie at night, and didn't feel threatened or sketched out at all.

Use common sense, trust your instincts, and you should be fine

Ian Finlay says thanks to Maegs for this post.
Old 07-06-2009 at 02:07 PM   #73
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This has been a very interesting thread.

I cannot comment on where is a good place to live, but I can comment on there being a lot of wonderful shops and restaurants in Hamilton to explore! I loved the little "market-like" shops with their sidewalk displays that we'd peruse when we'd go down to the waterfront (the yacht club) for sailing lessons. Fantastic varieties of foods from so many different cultures to be had. I've found this to be true in so many areas of Hamilton.

I think one just needs to use their common sense and trust their "gut" when dealing with new situations and new areas, and pay attention to their surroundings.

Lots of good advice and thoughts here. Thanks everyone.
Old 07-06-2009 at 02:39 PM   #74
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Haha Hamilton... Its not such a bad city. It has a lot of great places but some area's at night get really creepy. Some people are just plain wierd. I thought downtown Toronto was bad but Downtown Hamilton... they very core has its fair share of oddballs. As long as your close to McMaster its all good. I'd say the westdale area is probably the best.
Old 07-06-2009 at 09:56 PM   #75
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Downtown Hamilton isn't bad at night. Sure, there are prostitutes, there are also prostitutes in downtown Toronto a few blocks away from Ryerson. Sup, Hookers Harveys.

If you use common sense: avoid the really sketchy areas, don't go into dark alleys by yourself, mind your own business, and try to avoid traveling by yourself ... you'll be fine.



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