Neighbourhood changes? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Neighbourhood changes?

J

jc100

Well-known member
Not sure what things are like where you guys live but things seem to be changing in my neighbourhood here in Kingston. Lots more petty theft than usual. We have a few tents popping up in hidden away places with people sleeping rough. Cars broken into regularly. A family was attacked with bear spray when they tried to stop someone stealing their bike. Lots of little things that never used to happen even just a few years ago. We have a care hub in town that’s turned into a permanent tent city.

Is this happening everywhere or are we just very “lucky” here?
 
It is happening all over the place (specially cities) in Canada and the US (that I have seen in my travels). Some are worse than others.

IMO I see a lot of addiction problems (fentanyl) and of course the shortage of housing.... it also seems at least around TO the cops don't appear to be overly motivated to do much about it (crime aspects, car thefts etc.).

In our specific neighbourhood it is vehicle theft (lots of fancy pants vehicles). WAS mostly vehicles that have the easy theft hacks where they do not need a key or fob. Has escalated to home invasions where they just go for the keys in the middle of the night while people are home, this is for the in demand vehicles that do not lend themselves to the hacks. There seems to be one every few days. But Toronto as a whole has much of what you mentioned.
 
Parts of barrie are circling the drain. Probably an issue everywhere. Sadly, "bum" fights get filmed in family friendly areas. Not ideal.

Lots of people can't afford housing. Add in addiction issues and some streets have packs of zombies checking every car every night for unlocked doors. They even go on porches and into backyards to steal stuff. Not too many actual break ins yet where they smash something to gain access. Tons of car thefts (mostly seem to be organized/trained with fob cloning).

There is an established tent community in a reasonable location (not that far from services, not that close to residents) but there are constant fires and a stream of questionable merchandise heading in to the area (like people with three bikes on a shopping cart). Much of the time, there is a dumpster there. I suspect that is the city trying to minimize the mess. There are also many other locations with one or two tents.

Barrie tried to pass a by-law that was brutal and made it a finable offense to give people supplies, food or money on public property. Thankfully there was swift and fierce pushback. There was also an easy sidestep by conducting the transaction on private property (likely the nearest parking lot).

There needs to be a better solution than catch and release. Relatively few addicted people are responsible for tens of thousands of losses a month. There has been little real effort to change the situation. Busby centre works hard to help them survive but isn't able to help many improve their life situation permanently.
 
Everywhere.
All the plazas in my area, North Brampton, have junkies and homeless people living at them. They sleep in the banks.
My dog walk route is about 4kms.. there's 2-3 encampments on the route.
My inlaws live off Mississauga road in Mississauga.. they have an encampment in the ravine behind their house.
My parents live lakeside in Muskoka... they have an encampment down the road from them, at the edge of town... and the local motels are full of homeless.
 
backmarkerducati said:
It is happening all over the place (specially cities) in Canada and the US (that I have seen in my travels). Some are worse than others.

IMO I see a lot of addiction problems (fentanyl) and of course the shortage of housing.... it also seems at least around TO the cops don't appear to be overly motivated to do much about it (crime aspects, car thefts etc.).
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On the cop front, I understand their apathy. Expose yourself to danger, lay the charge or write the ticket and courts punts them back out asap. There is very little punishment/prevention/intervention that happens (as it is mostly ineffective anyway). Let's be honest, they won't get long custodial sentences for petty crimes. Jail doesn't help addiction or mental health issues. We don't send people to mental health facilities anymore except in rare occasions (normally after someone gets badly hurt).
 
Being on the Brampton side of Georgetown was one of the main reasons we moved, petty crime is on the rise, speeding & dangerous driving on the rise. We wanted to get out sooner rather than later. My mother lives in Tillsonburg and has to pass a small tent community in a public park to go shopping, I really worry about her but she does not want to move (yet). I think the days of a "safe community" are quickly coming to an end.
Criminals are becoming younger, more aggressive and more plentiful. Jails and prison seem to have little impact so the cycle will just repeat.
 
The hood is still the hood. But nothing like that I have noticed yet. Mind you there has always been some tents in the forest or ravine areas. But nothing like a tent city.

I heard Kingston has a severe drug problem, and lots of homeless have migrated there looking for fixes. I guess they need cash or whatever they can pawn for habits?

Strangely enough while out riding that way I pitstoped in Deseronto. This narly weirdo comes up to me and chats my ear off. Guy was clearly out of it, and asked me to smoke crack (no). Said he lived in a tent and use to be in Kingston before this. If he is a measure at all then, I can see why that area has problems.
 
sburns said:
The hood is still the hood. But nothing like that I have noticed yet. Mind you there has always been some tents in the forest or ravine areas. But nothing like a tent city.

I heard Kingston has a severe drug problem, and lots of homeless have migrated there looking for fixes. I guess they need cash or whatever they can pawn for habits?

Strangely enough while out riding that way I pitstoped in Deseronto. This narly weirdo comes up to me and chats my ear off. Guy was clearly out of it, and asked me to smoke crack (no). Said he lived in a tent and use to be in Kingston before this. If he is a measure at all then, I can see why that area has problems.
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There’s always been a drug issue in Kingston but I think it is way worse than it used to be. This is a prison town and families move to be near their incarcerated partners. Some of them bring their own issues here.

People here have long suspected that there’s a small amount of drug/homeless tourism going on as there’s way more homeless/addicted/just plain weirdos than normal.

Edit: Deseronto is the reservation area. Pot shops and discount cigarettes and cheap propane!
 
And here I am looking to move to Bradford or Newmarket to get out of Brampton ... although truth be told, outside of the drivers, it's been safe in my neighborhood.
 
LBV said:
And here I am looking to move to Bradford or Newmarket to get out of Brampton ... although truth be told, outside of the drivers, it's been safe in my neighborhood.
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brampton has its quirks, but we dont seem to have drugs/safety issues.
 
GreyGhost said:
What are those things anyway?
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Some good luck charms or something along those lines from what I gathered.

I can't say that I've seen much issues in our neighbourhood, although living near Erindale Park i expect more issues to come up with tent cities / camps forming in the spring. Big park, relatively out of the sight from major roads (Dundas / Mississauga Rd) makes for a good spot. Lots of affluent areas that can be robbed / stolen from.

I always make sure to lock our doors / cars / gates and cameras will be going up sooner rather than later.

I set up cameras at the cottage because I always expect someone to break in and try to live there while we're away.
 
crankcall said:
We had one guy , small tent , he got moved off quietly. It’s Oakville .


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all the ballers live near porsche dealers.
 
crankcall said:
We had one guy , small tent , he got moved off quietly. It’s Oakville .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
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Good move. Litter attracts litter. The problem with our chicken shyte governments is they allow encroachment on laws until they are so established you can't get rid of them. It's a form of critical mass thinking. E-bikes, e-scooters, tent cities, all fit the pattern.
 
We had some in our park. They got the message they weren't welcome. Letting our ''bite-first-claim-he-had-it-coming'' type dogs run loose made it abundantly clear.
 
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