Quote:
Originally Posted by Dariusb
My neighbor who said she lived in Edmonton in the 70s said that crime used to be so bad there that the city was known to some as Deadmonton. As someone whose never been there was this really the case or was she exaggerating? How is the city now in regards to crime?
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we first lived here from ‘76 to ‘83. it was a much smaller community and was open and welcoming and crime really didn’t seem to be an issue (for perspective we moved from vancouver). the population - as well as the city - was young and there was a “we can do anything” approach to most things.
the national energy program and 20% interest rates changed many things and while there was an increase in petty crime and theft as unemployment rose it never felt unsafe.
we moved back - again from vancouver - in ‘98 and still never felt unsafe in what was by then a small city rather than a large town. as with any city there are some streets that are sometimes best avoided if comfort is a key criteria. some crime stats are higher than in the past but that’s not unique and most of it stems from mental health and/or drug issues and most violent crime is between known parties rather than random even those years where the crime stats compared unfavourably.
as for “deadmonton”, that had nothing to do with crime statistics and everything to do with a drive by column by a british (?) journalist (?) complaining - wrongly - about how there was nothing to do here in the same way victoria used to be described as “home for the newly wed and the nearly dead with sidewalks that got rolled up at 9:00 pm).
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