All of hamilton is amazing! and safe! As long as you arent dumb and know whats going on, all parts of the city no matter how crummy they look, they are safe. And its usually those crummy streets which lead to that one stretch of street which has an amazing set of small shops with tons of character! Just keep an open mind!

i dont tihnk anyone should avoid any areas of Hamilton. its a great city and i dont understand all this hype about hamilton being sketchy and all. obviously ther ewill be homeless ppl everywhere you go and druggies adn what not. as long as you are dressed properly and blend in the crowd (not hard to do as long as u are wearing cltohes), you are good to go.

How is the area around King & Wentworth?

I'm thinking of going to check out a basement apartment there this week.

Originally Posted by fullsmash26

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.

LOL wow, that's the place I was planning to go check out this week.
What's wrong with the landlord? He seemed nice on the phone, haha.

Originally Posted by meerf

i dont understand all this hype about hamilton being sketchy and all. obviously ther ewill be homeless ppl everywhere you go and druggies adn what not.

uhhh.. I dont know where you're from, but that's not normal in a non-sketchy area..... just FYI

Hamilton is a city of nearly 500,000 people. Cities of this magnitude usually have their good and bad areas, but as a McMaster student there are great places to shop, explore, and experience without ever having to face any of the "bad". There is no such thing as a city without crime, drugs, a the occasional bad apple...

What's important to keep in mind is that Hamilton has lots to experience! Don't shy away from areas just because of rumours or the occasional horror story. By exploring Hamilton to it's fullest, you will become much more cultured about the city itself and also be a much more well-rounded person in the long run.

I personally enjoy Cheapies (record store on King St) as well as the Saturday Farmer's Market (Wilson @ James N). I have never, ever had a bad experience at either of these places, and they are in the heart of downtown.

As a heads-up, East Hamilton tends to be a less than desirable neighbourhood after dark. Barton and Cannon contain a more highly increased problem zone. This being said, you can always stay South of King and find a ton of memorable and interesting shops and sights.

Originally Posted by Matt Wright

I personally enjoy Cheapies (record store on King St) as well as the Saturday Farmer's Market (Wilson @ James N). I have never, ever had a bad experience at either of these places, and they are in the heart of downtown.
.

Isn't the Jackson Square Farmers Market open all 7 days? I do recall it being open and busy on a weekday, is there something special on Saturdays?

Umm, I still stand behind my city 100%, but please also be safe!

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/611314

This isn't Cuba...you can't walk the streets at 3:00 AM and not get mugged!

Yeah, Cuba isn't all that safe either. Fact is, nowhere is really safe.

Originally Posted by Ian Finlay

All of hamilton is amazing! and safe! As long as you arent dumb and know whats going on, all parts of the city no matter how crummy they look, they are safe. And its usually those crummy streets which lead to that one stretch of street which has an amazing set of small shops with tons of character! Just keep an open mind!

hey remember that time you told me a story about how you were trying to go home through a park and saw a drug deal and decided to sleep at your friend's place instead?

Well, I tend to stay away from the James and McNab area (there's like a bus terminal close to there.. I don't know the actual intersection) because I got mugged there last year at 4 effing PM just waiting for a bus to get back to Mac.

Originally Posted by lawleypop

Well, I tend to stay away from the James and McNab area (there's like a bus terminal close to there.. I don't know the actual intersection) because I got mugged there last year at 4 effing PM just waiting for a bus to get back to Mac.

McNab and James are Two Consequetive Popular Bus Stops on Main Street for anyone wanting to go downtown/Jackson Square or up the Mountain or to Limeridge, soo you can't really avoid it at all! That's REALLY surprising that you got mugged in that busy intersection at 4pm! I wouldn't have been surprised after midnight, but I have a question was no one there watching?

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

McNab and James are Two Consequetive Popular Bus Stops on Main Street for anyone wanting to go downtown/Jackson Square or up the Mountain or to Limeridge, soo you can't really avoid it at all! That's REALLY surprising that you got mugged in that busy intersection at 4pm! I wouldn't have been surprised after midnight, but I have a question was no one there watching?

I got off the bus station at James and McNab... crossed the street horizontally.. walked for a minute, crossed the street vertically... and it was near that huge bus terminal. It was across from the King Commerce building? I think that's what it's called.

I was at one of the bus stops alone (but people were literally 5-10 feet away from me) and no one did anything. Situations like these really increase your faith in humanity.

Also, I was reading through the previous posts and someone posted that as long as you dress sensibly, you should be fine. It was 4pm when I got mugged, I was wearing baggy sweatpants and a male hoodie from West 49, didn't have a purse on me, was wearing skate shoes, and had ONE tiny shopping bag. Yea, so.. I think the "dress sensibly" comment is...moot, to say the least.

I'm sure I got terribly unlucky though. I have been in the area with other people though, and it wasn't that bad. Not that it seems particularly safe (I mean, some people do enjoy pestering you for change and drugs and try to sell you drugs on occasion) but it doesn't seem dangerous. I just personally don't go in that area by transit anymore, and definitely not when I'm alone.

Originally Posted by lawleypop

I got off the bus station at James and McNab... crossed the street horizontally.. walked for a minute, crossed the street vertically... and it was near that huge bus terminal. It was across from the King Commerce building? I think that's what it's called.

I was at one of the bus stops alone (but people were literally 5-10 feet away from me) and no one did anything. Situations like these really increase your faith in humanity.

Also, I was reading through the previous posts and someone posted that as long as you dress sensibly, you should be fine. It was 4pm when I got mugged, I was wearing baggy sweatpants and a male hoodie from West 49, didn't have a purse on me, was wearing skate shoes, and had ONE tiny shopping bag. Yea, so.. I think the "dress sensibly" comment is...moot, to say the least.

I'm sure I got terribly unlucky though. I have been in the area with other people though, and it wasn't that bad. Not that it seems particularly safe (I mean, some people do enjoy pestering you for change and drugs and try to sell you drugs on occasion) but it doesn't seem dangerous. I just personally don't go in that area by transit anymore, and definitely not when I'm alone.

Wow that is really wierd, but now I get where you were standing. You were at the Bus Terminal Behind the Convention Centre; the bus that leaves from there is the notorious #2 Barton bus(This one time two drunk girls beat up a 60 year old pensioner for no reasons at night with Beer Bottles IN THE Barton BUS). Hence I'm assuming if sketchiness is concentrated around Barton and Cannon, people get on the Bus over there only!

You know, that's f-ed up. Nothing bad has EVER happened to me or my friends in Toronto and there are tons of infamous areas. Oh, well, this random girl and her two friends were giving me a hard time because apparently I dress "white" for being a black person. But anyway, there was some physical fighting involved but I was too scared to really do anything, so I ended up smashing a glass bottle and yelling at her to leave me alone. (This was at Bloor Yonge subway, the like second busiest subway station in Toronto.) >.> I think they were drunk or high, but it was like 2 in the afternoon ... not that earliness stops teens from being dumbshits.