Canada is actually a pretty nice place

And you threw out Chicago. I've walked downtown Chicago at 2 a.m., from the Navy Pier to a friend's condo in the South Loop and didn't have a problem. Nor was I concerned a problem would arise.

There are areas where I live now in my 140,000-population city I wouldn't walk around at 3 p.m., let along 3 a.m.

 

Agreed. There also are neighborhoods in Montreal I wouldn't want to be in at 3 a.m.

If you want trouble badly enough or are stupid enough, you'll find it, regardless of where you are.

Montreal is, indeed, a fantastic city. So are a lot of U.S. cities.

 

Listen, I've never been to Seattle or Phoenix, so I can't comment on those towns. And downtown Chicago may nice, but there are a heckuva lotta neighborhoods I don't think I would want to be in after dark. My comment was more of the crime factor--how many murders, gangs and guns are there in a typically large American city compared to a Canadian city. My example was Montreal, because I've been there. I visited as many neighbourhoods as possible and never felt I had to look over my shoulder. I realize Montreal had the mob-biker wars of the 90s, but it seems some American cities have been fighting gang problems with mixed results for more than 20 years. Maybe there are the same amount of murders in Montreal or Toronto as there are in Baltimore or Washington? I just to know what is different about American citites that make them seem violent? Maybe its just perception.

 

Didn't Moddy tell you to stop flashing SportsJournalists.com?

 

Well played, well done

 

Toronto and Montreal have murder rates of about 80-90 a year.

 

Nice peaks ... eh?

 

The beer isn't bad, either.

 

I threw out Chicago because I've only been there once and I was about 12 at the time.
I think you are correct. No matter what city you go into anywhere in the world, if you want to be scared to death walking around at 3 a.m. you can find a place.

 

If you do, don't eat anything from the hot dog vendors in the Toronto streets. Forty percent of them failed health inspections.

http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/toronto/archive/2007/07/18/food-cart-inspections-find-a-problem-or-two.aspx

 

The valleys are pretty special too...

 

I don't think anybody's debating there's more violent crime in American cities. However, most of the crime takes place in a few neighborhoods, and a lot of it is gang-on-gang, etc. The odds of being a random victim of violent crime in an American city are extremely small.

I think it might be more your perception than anything else. I've been in a lot of American cities after dark, on foot, and never felt threatened.