podunklander

Stunning city!! WOW!! They do need to turn down the lights a tad though huh? During the last few years my son and I have discussed a visit there (to see a Jays vs. Sox game, of course). But we do want to see and experience as much as the city as possible...sans the bad, but we know we might not see a totally 'Toronto the Good'. But we'll take what good the city has to offer and no doubt that's plentiful.

Sounds like a relatively safe city if one just looks at the # of annual murders to gauge 'safety'. What about the crime rate in general? Traffic accidents and fatalities? Quality of life issues, etc?

Another important question to ask is "why" the murder rate as increased? Has there been an increase in population (and in crime-ridden areas, etc)? A decrease in police patrols and prevention programs? An influx of illegal drugs/drug-related activity? Yuri has mentioned guns -are there attempts to get the guns off the streets? Probably if we were to compare population to murder rate...perhaps Toronto's is lower now than in the 70's?

As Charlene has pointed out - many American cities have a larger # of murders than Toronto. So why does a 'not so good Toronto' school of thought exist? Newspapers, politicking etc., can 'scare' people and really, when you think of it - even one murder is a horrendous thing. So there you go - murder anywhere and in any # is NOT a good thing.

The town where I live now...there have been no murders here. Now that's good!

Pam