> Once you get used to the ultra-safe communities like EU/Australia/Canada you can just wonder why would you even think about visiting US risking your life and your families life?
This is why I love Waterloo, Ontario. You can walk around the sketchiest allies at 2 am in the morning and feel safe.
Violence is the US and Canada is highly concentrated in a limited number of economically disadvantaged areas. It's terrible that some people have to live in those environments, and we should absolutely take steps to improve their situations. But fear of violence is not a rational reason to avoid immigration for affluent people who can afford to live in decent areas. My city has zero murders most years.
I'd say, experimental results show that the canadian way produces safer civil society. But then, I'm completely biased, being Canadian.
Anyhow, I do feel much safer in any Canadian city than in the places I've been to in the US. Just compare crime rates for major cities and you'll see for yourself.
I'm Canadian and I'd say about 95% of America is almost as safe as Canada. Or at least as safe as Brampton, Ontario (a poorish city, but not crazy).
That last 5% is fucked up though. Detroit itself is beyond fucked up. I used to run a construction site at Jane and Finch (Canada's worst intersection at the time) in 2004-2006 and a couple years later I went through Detroit while picking up my friend's car. No contest between the two. The bad part of Detroit (70% of it) was like a failed 3rd world country. I was literally told to leave the area of town I was in when I got to the closed (at least for people importing a car) boarder.
I got pulled over by cops kinda near that area and you could tell they had an obvious power trip "respect my authority" vibe to them.
But then there is Salt Lake City, or Kansas City, or even poor, but hospitable places like Cleveland. They feel just as nice as Canada. Nice cops. Nice people. No sense of foreboding. America has a huge range of situations.
Between coyotes and racoons it's hard to imagine anywhere that is really safe, at least in Canada/US. Maybe Europe is safer on that front, but there are still diseases and cars to worry about as well as other mishaps.
Frankly, seen from Europe, most things 'police', 'safety', 'justice' are nothing short of wtf-grade in the US. It's surreal, it's one of the closest thing there is to dystopia (of the wrong kind) in the west. Arguably SF/Bay is a bit of an island (even politically) but still deeply embedded in the rather 'extreme' US culture.
By comparison Canada, much like Sweden or Switzerland here, feels like a pretty 'normal' country overall, much more reasonable in many regards. And it's safer there's no question about it.
Not really a defensive reply, because I don't live in the US, but across the border in Canada we have a very similar culture and very safe public transportation. I grew up in downtown-ish Toronto and never saw a crime. There are crimes, just not too many that people fear taking public transportation. A typical subway ride in Toronto has plenty of people in suits. Bus transport in other cities in Ontario is also quite safe.
Expat living in Canada. I don't feel nearly as unsafe walking down the roughest block in Edmonton. I still have a decent chance of being stabbed and robbed, though; A 1:37,000 chance.
However, I am very excited to see how this technology will be used in Canada, or if it will even make a blip on the crime radar.
It's all relative. The safest parts of the U.S. still feel like too much for me. And I'm sure where I grew up in Canada would seem like a post-apocalyptic hellscape to some others around the world.
I've lived in several major US cities and have never felt unsafe in any way. Feels pretty similar to Canada, main difference is that the news is more toxic, and the west coast has more visible tents than what I'm used to.
Genuinely curious about how Tel Aviv, Israel, is considered safer than Toronto, Canada (4.13 vs 3.93).
Yes, a city that is under threat from terrorist rocket barrages and who's national army is currently occupying a foreign state is safer than a city that barely sees homicides.
Canada is pretty much safe everywhere. Maybe vancouver east side excepted.
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