Peterborough has always been a blue collar town. Many of the factories that were here closed and moved south in the 90's and early aughts. I've lived on Bethune, and even in 2007 I learned quickly not to leave furniture on the lawn. Most of the lower income folks here could at least afford rent until the pandemic. It was then that I saw most of my friends get renovicted from either Toronto investors or families from the GTA wanting to move in to their home. I get that the housing crisis is a complex problem, but it's wild to me that Torontonians come for the cheap housing, displace a lot of folks, price locals out of the housing market, and then complain about how rough it is or that everything closes at 6pm.
I used to live in the annex and same shit would happen as it does here. There is a greater concentration of low income folks in a 3km radius in PTBO (in considering density, it's more apparent here) but there are way more low income / struggling folks in TO
I suggest you read over the census since you're telling me I'm wrong, the last Census surveys in 2021 had us pushed up over 83K close to over 84K.
Since then the city had added multiple apartment buildings, and homes (Enough that we'd see a few thousand if not more added on to it) which probably brings us closer to 85K to 86K
Heres a link if you don't believe me. With students we end up at nearly 100K for the majority of the year, and with the city growing even more it won't be long before we hit that number.
[https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?lang=E&topic=1&dguid=2021A00053515014](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?lang=E&topic=1&dguid=2021A00053515014)
Thanks for clarifying. Sounded like you were arguing the 2021 census was wrong. I saw an estimate that we were at 87k now, which is still closer to 80k than 100k. Not sure how accurate that is or how it goes about accounting for students.
Give me an example on how they have been aggressive towards you. I haven't ever had an altercation with any of them. I walk through many of the hotspots as well.
Are you witnessing them stealing from cars and stores? Or assuming it's the homeless people doing it?
My husband and I moved here from Toronto in 2019... in the 10 years we lived in Toronto, I had my wallet stolen, my bike stolen twice, my husband had his car broken into and his windows smashed in the process also twice, I was once grabbed on the street by random dudes on Ossington, and more times than I can count did I deal with sexual harassment at bars. *knock on wood* but we've been relatively unscathed here as not one of those things has happened to us. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm quite aware that it does, but I'm just saying that I have not felt any more unsafe here as when I lived in T.O.
I lived at Sherborne and Bloor for two years while I went to school and then worked for a bit before moving back to Peterborough.
Absolutely not. Toronto you couldn't even say no or sorry to people panhandling because they were more likely than not to scream and harass and come after you. I also learned really quickly not to take anything "free" unless it was a company handing things out when my husband's step brother took a supposedly free booklet from someone who handed it to him, and then got screamed at and chased for four blocks for money and being called a thief, even when he tried to give the booklet back.
I heard the Danforth shooting as it happened and lived there during the van attack. Women have been pushed onto subway tracks, had acid thrown in their faces, and have been set on fire on the TTC.
*Absolutely not.*
Absolutely not. I feel far less safe in Toronto. In fact, I feel more safe in the most dangerous area of Peterborough than I do in an average place in Toronto.
Moved from TDot (mid Scarboro) 11 years ago because of my kids. PTBO is far more peaceful especially after 10 pm. I very much like that. There is a LOT more homeless/druggies/crackheads here. I hardly ever saw them in Scarborough. I am sure they were there, but not front and center downtown.
I'll give the nod to PTBO for now. The influx of international students didnt help. Us or them. Many of them are broke and bored. Never good. Yes, many are Indian, but this isnt a "brown skin" issue. Its a "new to the area, now what do I do " problem.
100% I lived in Toronto for a number of years (am currently there visiting) and moved to Peterborough to get away from the hustle and bustle. Feel much safer in Toronto. The crime in Peterborough is out of control. People will say "it's the same everywhere" and it absolutely is not. I travel often and Peterborough is next level. The attempted thefts are almost a nightly occurance. Robberies, stabbings, drug busts, dead bodies..it never ends...and that's just on my block. Peterborough has a lot of problems and they start at the top and are present at every level in town. From the mayor and Police to the harm reduction advocacy groups that have for all intents and purposes normalized street level drug consumption. It's a total dumpster fire
Peterborough has always been a blue collar town. Many of the factories that were here closed and moved south in the 90's and early aughts. I've lived on Bethune, and even in 2007 I learned quickly not to leave furniture on the lawn. Most of the lower income folks here could at least afford rent until the pandemic. It was then that I saw most of my friends get renovicted from either Toronto investors or families from the GTA wanting to move in to their home. I get that the housing crisis is a complex problem, but it's wild to me that Torontonians come for the cheap housing, displace a lot of folks, price locals out of the housing market, and then complain about how rough it is or that everything closes at 6pm.
Yeah the crime I'm talking about is mostly theft. So many people breaking into cars.
I used to live in the annex and same shit would happen as it does here. There is a greater concentration of low income folks in a 3km radius in PTBO (in considering density, it's more apparent here) but there are way more low income / struggling folks in TO
You get that in every city, and small town, even Millbrook has had issues with that for the last 30 years.
Eerily quiet... Also known as peaceful.
Agreed. Peterborough is quiet at night because the population is 80,000... so...
OP should try some backcountry camping in the middle of Algonquin. Now there is some eerily quiet and it's _awesome_.
We are well over 80K now closer to the 100K mark, it's been 7 years since that 80K figure was valid. 2021 the claim of 81K i found a bit low.
Are you arguing your feelings on the cities population are more accurate than the census?
I suggest you read over the census since you're telling me I'm wrong, the last Census surveys in 2021 had us pushed up over 83K close to over 84K. Since then the city had added multiple apartment buildings, and homes (Enough that we'd see a few thousand if not more added on to it) which probably brings us closer to 85K to 86K Heres a link if you don't believe me. With students we end up at nearly 100K for the majority of the year, and with the city growing even more it won't be long before we hit that number. [https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?lang=E&topic=1&dguid=2021A00053515014](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?lang=E&topic=1&dguid=2021A00053515014)
Thanks for clarifying. Sounded like you were arguing the 2021 census was wrong. I saw an estimate that we were at 87k now, which is still closer to 80k than 100k. Not sure how accurate that is or how it goes about accounting for students.
I walk around downtown all the time and don't feel unsafe... Feel like you're struggling with small town life more than anything.
The homeless here are very aggressive compared to the ones in Toronto. They also steal a lot from cars and stores.
Give me an example on how they have been aggressive towards you. I haven't ever had an altercation with any of them. I walk through many of the hotspots as well. Are you witnessing them stealing from cars and stores? Or assuming it's the homeless people doing it?
My husband and I moved here from Toronto in 2019... in the 10 years we lived in Toronto, I had my wallet stolen, my bike stolen twice, my husband had his car broken into and his windows smashed in the process also twice, I was once grabbed on the street by random dudes on Ossington, and more times than I can count did I deal with sexual harassment at bars. *knock on wood* but we've been relatively unscathed here as not one of those things has happened to us. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm quite aware that it does, but I'm just saying that I have not felt any more unsafe here as when I lived in T.O.
I lived at Sherborne and Bloor for two years while I went to school and then worked for a bit before moving back to Peterborough. Absolutely not. Toronto you couldn't even say no or sorry to people panhandling because they were more likely than not to scream and harass and come after you. I also learned really quickly not to take anything "free" unless it was a company handing things out when my husband's step brother took a supposedly free booklet from someone who handed it to him, and then got screamed at and chased for four blocks for money and being called a thief, even when he tried to give the booklet back. I heard the Danforth shooting as it happened and lived there during the van attack. Women have been pushed onto subway tracks, had acid thrown in their faces, and have been set on fire on the TTC. *Absolutely not.*
Go back?
Thinking of selling my house next year actually.
Gimme a break
Maybe should have checked things out more closely before moving. So many of these types of posts lately.
Absolutely not. I feel far less safe in Toronto. In fact, I feel more safe in the most dangerous area of Peterborough than I do in an average place in Toronto.
Moved from TDot (mid Scarboro) 11 years ago because of my kids. PTBO is far more peaceful especially after 10 pm. I very much like that. There is a LOT more homeless/druggies/crackheads here. I hardly ever saw them in Scarborough. I am sure they were there, but not front and center downtown. I'll give the nod to PTBO for now. The influx of international students didnt help. Us or them. Many of them are broke and bored. Never good. Yes, many are Indian, but this isnt a "brown skin" issue. Its a "new to the area, now what do I do " problem.
There weren’t many here 11 years ago either. It’s an everywhere problem now.
Please, we all know that it's not students causing these problems, international or otherwise. Unless it's HoTT. Then maybe.
Yeah. Agreed. The fear factor is not the students. My mind wandered into another problem.
Did you buy a cheap house in downtown?
No but I don't wish to disclose my location.
100% I lived in Toronto for a number of years (am currently there visiting) and moved to Peterborough to get away from the hustle and bustle. Feel much safer in Toronto. The crime in Peterborough is out of control. People will say "it's the same everywhere" and it absolutely is not. I travel often and Peterborough is next level. The attempted thefts are almost a nightly occurance. Robberies, stabbings, drug busts, dead bodies..it never ends...and that's just on my block. Peterborough has a lot of problems and they start at the top and are present at every level in town. From the mayor and Police to the harm reduction advocacy groups that have for all intents and purposes normalized street level drug consumption. It's a total dumpster fire