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news

Is Toronto Safe?

By David Topping

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On Monday, after running a factually-dubious cover article claiming Toronto was in the midst of another “summer of the gun,” the Toronto Sun conducted a poll asking their readers if they thought Toronto was safe. Of 3648 respondents, 72% said no.
At least the Sun gave their readers an option: after CityNews also published a story claiming a summer of the gun, their poll offered voters five possible responses to the question “Do you believe Toronto is enduring another ‘summer of the gun?’”: “Yes, we’ve had too many shootings”; “No, it’s always this way now”; “Only in certain areas”; “It’s not just the summer”; and “Other.” Sigh.
We’re curious as to whether the perspective held by the Sun and its readers—and the people running City’s polls—is one shared by Torontoist’s readers. If we go by the accepted definition of “safe” as the adjective applies to places (“Affording security or immunity; not exposing to danger; not likely to cause harm or injury,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary), is Toronto, as a city, safe for its citizens?

Comments

  • panko

    David, good call on following up the coverage in the media. Skewed and sensationalistic reporting can easily lead to skewed poll results. Top it off with horrible design of the poll (the answer choices you quote wouldn’t pass in any respectable market research or polling firm) and you get what you basically ask for: people play into your hands by re-telling stories you published back to you: silly and not particularly commendable method but journaliztic integrity isn’t really a hot commodity these days.
    When viewed in context of other cities, Toronto is very safe and that is not debatable. However, perceptions of people can greatly deviate from the fact, thanks to erroneous or biased reporting and that’s the case in the aformentioned coverage.

  • rek

    I just sent CityNews some ‘feedback’ about their poll, and peppered it with some of the numbers used in the Thoughtless Mind article.

  • Ben

    Whoever votes “No, not at all,” please comment with your reasoning behind the choice.
    Presumably it has something to do with our non-rubberized sidewalks and “stranger danger.”

  • Paul Kishimoto

    Some of my friends give me odd looks whenever I:

    • leave my $1100 bike locked up on Yonge or Queen while eating dinner,
    • leave my back door open, with only my unlocked screen door closed as I sleep, or
    • walk home alone and drunk from King E, the clubbing district or various other places to the Annex.

    Some of them are Mississaugans, but I don’t understand how the rest can feel the above somehow constitute living dangerously. I guess once bitten is twice shy (I’ve never had anything valuable stolen from me).
    As another example, dozens of people play volleyball or dragon boat at Sunnyside Beach most weeknights in the summer. Many dragon boaters leave their bags—complete with car keys, phones, electronics, wallets and other valuables—piled on the benches just outside the café (in fact, I’ve even left my bike unlocked, leaning against the fence) yet I’ve never heard of anything being stolen by the hundreds of people passing by on the boardwalk.

  • MariaPD

    Paul, thanks for the tip. Now we know where to go get free stuff! Just kidding, but you get my point.
    BTW, I voted for “for the most part”.

  • Amanda Buckiewicz

    I have always felt safe in this city. Last Sunday, I was running late for the Jays game and so I rode my bike instead of walking. I got there and noticed that I had left my bike lock at home. Instead of riding back home and being 45 minutes late for the game, I just left it in the bike racks and hoped for the best.
    Lo and behold, when I came back out after several hours (and an embarassing loss by the Jays), it was still there.
    I also once went a year without carrying around my house keys because we just never locked our door. I used to work the late shift and walked through the city at 4 in the morning.
    I’m not saying that this city is crime free. I know some people who have had their houses broken into, and others who have gotten mugged. I live metres away from where those two guys were gunned down in June. A friend of mine had her car stolen last week. But this stuff happens, it happens everywhere. In fact, most of the situations I’m talking about above happened in the outskirts, in Scarborough or Brampton, not even Toronto proper.
    People need to relax, otherwise, we’re just live in a culture of fear. People get murdered, it’s a sad fact of life, but it happens. Stop freaking out.

  • Cecil

    To be honest, I do feel a little less comfortable walking around Toronto at night compared to my experiences in other similarly-sized North American cities.
    Why?
    Well, for one thing, there are wide expanses of streets in Toronto developed without street-level storefronts or residences. So at night, there are fewer eyes on the street. I feel alone when I’m walking home. This is especially true near the lakefront, but it’s also true of most of Toronto’s core district.
    Another reason is because the GTA’s nightlife is largely condensed into that core area. If everyone who partied in the club district actually lived in the club district, it would feel less anonymous. But the club district mostly attracts suburbanites who see our city as a lawless playground for their deviant behavior. So it’s like a magnet for douchebags. Cities like NY an Chicago (I’ve lived in both) have much more predominant and visable gay cultures, which actually serve to scare the homophobe asshats back into their suburban enclaves, and thus, those cities have cultivated a safer, more bohemian-friendly vibe.
    Thirdly, I’ve never met so many coke-heads in one place in my life. I don’t know what’s up with Torontonians and cocaine. I’m not judging, but, you know, where there’s illicit drugs being bought and sold, there’s always trouble lurking in the shadows. Maybe it’s cause liquor is too expensive???
    I’m not saying I wear a bulletproof vest when I go out, but I do feel a certain oppressive, threatening, angry energy here. I don’t feel like I’m going to get shot, but I am caution not to get mugged or pushed around.

  • McKingford

    As I said previously, if you don’t sell or buy drugs, associate with criminal confederates or have an abusive spouse, your chances of being murdered in Toronto are less than being hit by lightning (n.b. this is not hyperbole).
    But if the Sun reported it that way it would sell a lot less papers.

  • andrew

    I voted with my gut instinct: “Totally Safe”.
    But last night Parkdale had a lot of fidgety people out on King St desperately begging for change. One guy asked me for a dollar, then a cigarette, then two cigarettes [while i was fiddling to get one out of the package], then three times in a row asked me for “just one dollar” again. I did worry that he was going to jump me from behind while walking away.
    But I also did spot two police cruisers cruising, with spotlights shining. I think they were looking for trouble.
    Still, I feel safe. I’ve been assaulted, and robbed, and had family and friends assaulted in Toronto. It’s what happens when 2million people live in close proximity. It’s not a great thing but it isn’t worth getting immobilized about. I went to school with kids who fought in the Iran-Iraq war as tweens, I’ve dated a refugee from SE Asian conflict, I’ve worked with people from Kingston, Jamaica, and their experiences have always put the fear I feel living in Toronto in a much broader context. But that’s just me.

  • Cecil

    N.B.: 7 people were struck by lightning in Toronto last week.
    Just say’n.

  • McKingford

    Not read’n though, because there was a caveat, that might well bring that 7 down to 0.

  • David Toronto

    The disparity probably comes from the different
    demographic between the Sun and CITY audiences and Torontoist’s readership.

  • Green Sulfur

    The Sun is only read by drug dealing gang bangers, obviously.

  • mister j

    maybe affect is more important than reason?
    Sure, the numbers/stats/calculations say the city is safe, but it doesn’t hold up to … that feeling…

  • Acadie

    Anyone who reads the Sun or who would bother to vote in their lame ass poll are Toronto haters anyway. I spend more time telling those from the 905 that we are very safe and they need to actually come here instead of listening to all this hearsay. The Sun for a paper that claims to be a Toronto one has always been on this Toronto bashing frenzy since its inception. They should just move to one of the 905 areas and rid themselves of the Toronto moniker once and for all. The 905 Sun works. I am constantly surprised people still purchase that trash they try and pass of as a NEWSpaper. People still vote Tory so go figure eh.

  • McKingford

    The Sun is only read by drug dealing gang bangers
    That would account for The Sun’s preference for pictures over words…