Calgary - a Dangerous City to live in? (1 Viewer)

[Michael Silla]

Okay,
I've had a long day . This morning I found out that my brother, who has lived in Calgary for the past 2 years, was jumped, hijacked (by 4 youths in a car) and THANKFULLY released after an hour minus his jacket and a shoe. This all in the Southwestern part of town - a supposedly "better" area to live. My brother is physically safe and doing fine although he is, understandibly, traumatized beyond belief.
I last visited my brother there in 2001. Seemed like a safe enough place to me. I don't know much about the attack or attackers. What I wanted to know from you fellow Calgarians is if there has been any recent increase in gang related activities that has been splashed on the news as of late? My brother was out getting some magazines at the 7 eleven when it happened (early morning hours before work). The boy is young and frankly it smells like some dumb gang initiation thing but the violent nature of the crime has me scared.
Sorry if this sounds more like a rant but I am really pissed right now.....
Michael

 

[Max Leung]

Which 7-11?
I find that Calgary is quite safe, if somewhat American-like in demeanor. Most of the dangers are from the badly-driven SUVs and luxury cars that swoop by through crosswalks. It is not safe to be a pedestrian in this city!
Advice: Stay away from 7-11s or other convenience stores and fast food places at night. They are magnets for violence. Remember the Subway clerk who got beaten to death 2 years ago? Poor girl. :frowning:
Many grocery stores open past 9 pm nowadays...get your food and magazines there.
With that said, if you really need to go to a convenience store, at least be sure you have a good view of the people hanging around outside.
I'm glad your brother is okay. In the states, he would probably be threatened by a gun!

 

[Michael Silla]

Max,

The people threatened him with a gun. I am not sure at this point if my borther saw it or they just told them they had one. I wish I new more details at this point but I haven't spoken to my brother yet. He filed a police report earlier today.

Michael.

 

[Cam S]

Calgary is no worse than any other big city. I bet it isn't nearly as bad as alot of cities the same size and larger than it.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Since your brother was involved, the event has more immediacy. But Calgary is just fine, I'm sure.

I feel almost perfectly safe in my neighborhood. Yet my sister was mugged and robbed in broad daylight at the Bank of America ATM I frequent, just three blocks from me. She even had to go to a police lineup to identify the apprehended suspect.

Life in the big city. More people, more incidents.

It's like this everywhere. Calgary's no worse than any comparably sized city.

 

[MikeH1]

Edmonton is Calgary's "twin city" to the north (300km)and even though we always poke fun at each other one city couldn't get by without the other. Well, I'm sure Edmonton could but...
Unfortenetly this is life now in the big city of Canada. Even 10 years ago all seemed so much tamer. Because it was. I grew up in a place of Edmonton called Millwoods. Most in western Canada would have probably heard of it for one reason or another. Think of it as a big subdivision in the southeast with approx 90 000 people. In the late 70s and 80s and even into the 90s it was a great place to raise kids. Many young couples moved here and every little neighborhood within "the woods" had a skating rink. As I got older and moved away from millwoods I always found myself back there. I pined for it sometimes, my little neighborhood meant the world too me and I always figured I would buy a house in Crawford Plains, a little area in the very southeast of Millwoods.
But by the summer of 2000 a lot of things changed. Violence was escalating. Low key "gang" violence if you will. The culprits were usually in their late teens and early/mid twenties. Molatov cocktails were getting thrown through peoples windows. Shootings were occuring and in fact murders. Fights in parking lots and front page headlines made it all to real. I can remember sometimes sitting out on my balcony enjoying a cold one with a friend late at night and hearing gunshots. Quite rare yes but something I'll never forget and most importantly something you never heard just a few years before.
The particular neighborhood I grew up in just isn't the same. Theres vandalism, they tore out the old rink and it just looks drab. I have friends that live in millwoods and they tell me housing prices are starting to fall even though other areas are staying consistent or are even on the upswing.
I could seriously enter the realm of politics here but I will refrain. Its too bad that the drugs and violence ruined my little utopia. I mean, its not as bad as one sees in the movies and I'm sure its still safe to walk down the street. But its just not the same. Not since that one summer when many were injured and 2 people were murdered. The cycle of suburbia perhaps?
This is not just in millwoods anymore. In fact this violence has been occuring all over the city though it tends to be concentrated in millwoods. The whole city has changed. Its always being discussed over ones coffee in the morning and the media always reports it, feeding these so called "gangsta's" ego's. A viscous cycle.
Despite all this I guess one can say " thats life in the big city". Edmonton and Calgary are very much the same in this manner, I'm sure. I hate to see it but we have come of age. With both cities very near 1 000 000 people and a very hot economy this stuff just tends to happen, anywhere.
Funny, today I was just in my old neighborhood doing the informal dropping-by-cause-its-christmas visits and must have pissed off a fellow driver somehow for he came roaring up beside me, gave me a dirty look and gunned the engine of his cheezy little decaled chrome 2.3L mustang.
I will not be moving back there :frowning:

 

[Max Leung]

Heh, I hated Millwoods when I was growing up there (in the late 70s to the mid 80's). I already saw the beginnings of gang-formation there, as I was nearly recruited into a Vietnamese gang, although I'm sure I would never fit in anyways. Fascinating how a handful of people can change the destiny of a neighborhood.
When my family moved to the neighborhood just west of Millwoods, south of the defunct Heritage Mall, it was a total utopia in comparison. Still is, so far.
On that note, I'm looking forward to seeing "Gangs of New York".
Imagine the sequel: "Gangs of Millwoods".

 

[MikeH1]

Max, I never much ventured to that neighborhood south of Heritage mall. It was, if you remember, on the wrong side of the tracks

 

[Shane Bos]

I have spent some time in both Edmonton and Calgary and never ever once been worried about my safety. I don't know if this is becasue I'm a naive small town boy (Red Deer smack in the middle of Edm and Cal and a pop of 70,000) or if it is that I just feel safe.

 

[Max Leung]

Canadian cities are generally very safe. I lived in Salmon Arm, and visited nearby Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon, and Enderby. I freely walked around downtown Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver after midnight too, and no problems.
Although, I admit, Vancouver did give me pause a few times. Those crazy drug addicts!

 

[David Susilo]

I remember about 10 years ago, both Toronto Star and Toronto SUN newspapers were being sold just by stacking them on the ground, with a can next to it. People will just grab one newspaper, pay the money nad leave. Then about a year later, they have to consort to intalling the newspaper vending machine. Now, they have to not only chain the machines to a post, but they have to set the machine into a concrete slab (although they become very heavy, they are still removable, hence the chains).

sad sad sad.

 

[McPaul]

This thread concerns me.
Michael, I've lived in Calgary for the past 4 years (in April) and have never been concerned about my safety. Before this I lived in Kamloops for the first 25 years of my life and enjoyed the small town feel of 80,000 people. Calgary is significantly bigger, and although you hear about the occasional incident, has very little violent crimes here. When I was in Kamloops deciding where to move to (no economy there to get a decent job), I had a choice of Vancouver which was less than 4 hours away, and Calgary, which is about 8 hours away. I picked Calgary mostly because of its safety and small town feel compared to Vancouver, which is perhaps the worst big city for violent crime in Canada. So far I have not been dissappointed.
You are right, the SW is the better, safer, cleaner, etc. place to live. I'm in the SW as well "Canyon Meadows" (Anderson and Elbow if anyone knows or cares) and there is a 7-11 practically right across the street from me, as well as a small bar, DQ, drug mart, and a few other places. I go to those stores all the time, sometimes late at night if I need to. I've never had a problem. I don't drive so I always walk or train/bus to places. I've never had a problem EVER.
Now, I've been back in Kamloops for over a week during the holidays so I may have missed things. I put my paper on hold, etc, but have not heard of anything big happening around here. I'd be very curious which 7-11 that was if you could find out exactly for me please. This does concern me but I don't think I'll live my life any differently, perhaps just be a little bit more cautious late at night, and I ALWAYS carry my cellphone if I need it.
If you are curious, you can go to our local paper www.calgarysun.com
www.calgaryherald.com
In fact I think I will go there now myself.
I do hope your brother will be alright, and if you want, you/he can have my email if he wants.
Since you're in SLC, say hi to my cousins' uncle (other side of his family but we're still close), Don Hay. I do believe he's still coaching the Wolves?? down there. How're they doing?
Edmonton a "twin city"??
Maybe a bastard child, perhaps......
sorry Hein-ie!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

SOunds like you need to take a trip over to Stu Hart's dungeon and learn how to handle yourself

 

[MikeH1]

Hehe the Calgary jelously comes forth! Ok your our archnemisis to the south. Better? Even though our official twin city is in Japan or China somewhere, I figured that with many factors being relitivly the same (and we're both quite close to each other considering how large western Canada is) that for the sake of the forum I would use the term twin city.
However I would have been more accurate if I would have just said Calgary sucks

 

[joe rizzuto]

most of the violence in edmonton & calgary is either gang related or having to do with domestic violence.
gang related meaning one gang against another.
there is less widespread violence against the average citizen than in most american urban centres.
i grew up up in new york city and now live in edmonton and believe me, there is no comparison.
however it is still a scary thing to have happen to you and i can understand your brother being upset. my guess is, it was a gang (gun related) and they were out having 'fun' with someone. he must have kept his cool to be let go completely unharmed. lucky man.

 

[Max Leung]

Hey, I'm not a big fan of Calgary either, despite my residence! But, the economy is strong(er) and getting away from it is easy. Oh and the girls here are rather hot, although the variety is lacking compared to Edmonton.
Sure, most of the girls looks like Elisha Cuthbert (she was a Calgarian!), but it does get boring sometimes.
For me, there's no point visiting the 7-11 except in the summer for those yummy slushies.

 

[Grant B]

Imagine the sequel: "Gangs of Millwoods"

I am imagining the Hansen Brothers beating people with their toy cars and hockey sticks????

I am not making light of your situation, it's awful what happened.
San Francisco is a pretty compact city and generally pretty safe. Some time back a friend I worked with in England came for a week or so.
I had to work a few days, so he explored the city by himself.
One day I came home and asked where he went, and he told me he went to see Candlestick Park.
I was shocked....never expected him to go there, the worst crime ridden project was in between.
He told me when he was walking, a small black child said, "Mister you gonna die"
He thought he was kidding until another kid told him, "You should turn around cause your gonna die"
The kids saved my friends life because he turned around and walked back.
Thankfully it was torn down since then.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Heh he heh...small town feel of 80,000. I live in a town of 836. What do you call a big town up there?

 

[Michael Silla]

Hey Paul,
It's the Grizzlies (in the AHL). The Wolves are in Chicago. Yup Don Hay is our coach. Not the HUGEST Grizzly fan but at work I can usually pick up decent tickets for $8 a game - better than seeing a movie some nights
Michael.

 

[LDfan]

My answer to crime is a Glock .40 or a S&W .357
Jeff