Toronto has gangs. Jane and Finch area, and the far east end. No reason for anyone to go to those areas. Safe enough is you stay away, it's just plain turf war. But on a small scale. My Mom and Dad went to a convention 20 years ago in Grand Rapids (church thing), and wanted to go out for a walk after supper. The man at the door told them it was way to dangerous.

But even at 2 am. thousands of tourists walk around Downtown Toronto. That's a fact, Jack. Sorry to say it but 80 percent of the shootings are young black males, and 10 percent are Asians, and about .01 percent end up innocent bystanders. It did happen, Jane Creba was sitting in a Starbucks or something when some guys got into it with handguns. But that's the only one I remember.

We had a 3 on 3 basketball tournament here downtown every year. The bulk of the players were from Detroit. At 12 p.m. the downtown became a shooting gallery, car windows shot out, buildings with windows shot, and people running through the streets with handguns. I'm on the downtown committee, we did a review, it brought in big bucks, but we canceled it. It was called the Gus Macker 3 on 3. We closed all the downtown streets and they set up courts. The building I take care of downtown, (hire electricians plumbers etc.) made 20k more in revenue that weekend. But it didn't feel safe at all.

2003 stats
Detroit 42 murders per 100,000 people
Toronto 1.8 murders per 100,000 people

Take your pick for nice vacation at a a downtown hotel. And when you look at crime, better Cuba than Jamaica. I've been to both, and I'm sure of my safety in Cuba. When I went to the beach in Jamaica I took a few dollars, and left my key with the desk at the hotel so they couldn't take me back there and clean out my room, which happened to a friend of mine.

John Conley
Musica est vita