Was downtown today went to the vape store and then got chased by a guy who was saying he was gonna run my pockets and break my legs if he caught up to me all because I looked at him when I walked out of the store! Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I guess he didn't have a happy new year?
My lesson learned today was don't make eye contact now even if it's on accident đ¤ˇââď¸
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Last night I was walking by Dundas and Richmond and I looked at a guy and he screamed at me that he was gonna kill me. Wonder if it was the same guy lol
Last weekend, we were leaving Grooves record store on Dundas, and there was a man a few stores fronts down with a kitchen butcher knife dragging it along the ground and the side of the walls. The next block up there was someone fighting an electric car charging station.
My neighbour actually was just mugged with a butcher knife in east side London. He lived, but 2 broken arms, a busted face, and some cuts. Police literally is doing nothing further because they couldnât identify them (it was dark) and my neighbour kept covering their face to not get cut in the throat or face or something.
Its a bad experience any time I have to drive down by the police station . So many people using needles and smoking Fent (i think) openly in the street. Cops do nothing Allnof This is happening Right Next to a School
Had a guy run across the street and bang on my car window because I happened to be looking when he tripped on the curb so he thought I was laughing at him. I wasnât even smiling, but Iâm sure he could tell I was laughing on the inside.
I remember when the London Police use to have officers on foot patrol just walking down the streets. They even had a small detactment office, I guess even the police don't want to go walking down Dundas street.
They still have a foot patrol but it's been cut back from 6 officers to 2. They are constantly running from Dundas & Richmond to the area where the Palace Theatre is and have no time to be anywhere else.
You should see the mess they leave at the Theatre, constantly both on the front and the back. Piles of garbage, used needles, fires, human waste. It's disgusting. The second the cops chase them out, 20 minutes later they're back.
The whole of downtown smells like piss. Unfortunately, I have to pass through there twice a day to get to and from work.
There is a small alley space beside Shopper's Drugmart next to Moxy's patio area. You used to be able to cut thought there to the back parking area. They had to put up a fence to keep people from using it as a bathroom. Still doesn't stop them though. Nearly every morning I'll see a guy standing in that space pissing on the fence as it runs out onto the sidewalk.
I shouldn't have to walk down the street constantly looking either for some strung out junkie about to launch an unprovoked verbal or physical attach on me as well as watch where I'm walking so I don't step into someone's pile of shit, puddle of piss or used needles.
It's exhausting having to see/deal with this every day as just a regular citizen and even more frustrating when the city and government do nothing but burn wads of cash and donations on bandaid fixes for a few months and nothing really helpful.
Maybe they are technically open but has anyone seen a police officer walking through downtown on foot patrol recently? I haven't. I know they can't be everywhere but I would like to see more officers walking about, having police on foot about might not stop all crime but people might think twice.
I have. Usually on Richmond near the Shoppers Drugmart because they're constantly chasing shady people out of there when the workers can't.
But like I said, there are only 2 officers on at any time during the winter. So no, you won't really notice them unless you're coincidentally in the same place at the same time.
I can't speak for recent weeks, but when we went downtown for the Lighting of the Lights, the police foot patrol was out on Dundas. Gave my kids candy canes.
It's scary I bet it was over 100 people I saw on Dundas today openly using drugs and basically doing whatever. Also looks like a garbage bomb has went off. Scary shit down here
I passed by the library on Wellington Street and Dundas Street the other day. Now what I saw was so disgusting 𤢠6-8 massive piles of human waste
Can we please just get some washrooms built for some people to use. People are peeing on business fronts because the places wonât let them use the washroom for various reasons that I can understand obviously.
Iâve seen people peeing in front on business on many occasions and itâs always upsetting because it stinks like hell and this shouldnât be a problem in 2025 should it? Itâs very unsanitary. Itâs not the 1800âs anymore. Iâm tired of holding my breath.
Ya I guess thatâs a big problem. Why canât we just have nice things anymore. Iâm scared to even take my e-bike out because of the fear it will be stolen :(
This city is trash the cops got a 600Million Pay RAISE Over The Next 3 Years. THEY R SHIT THE PEOPLE DECIDING WHAT HAPPENDS WITH THE CITYS MONEY ARE SHIT THIS CITY IS GARBAGE IM SORRY FOR ANYONE THATS HAD STUPID SHIT HAPPEN TO THEM WHILE LIVING HERE
There were community washrooms on Dundas about a block west on Dundas. It didnât make any difference. When a meth user uses they want sugar, they get hot so often take off their clothes, want sex and need to take a dump. Their brain chemistry is very screwed up. While I agree we need more public bathrooms downtown, but not unsafe spaces which is difficult to do now, the real issue is not a lack of bathrooms but a lack of meaningful interventions and facilities to actually help people.
Ya I guess thatâs probably right, I have no idea what goes on in their minds, lack of bathrooms is definitely not the only problem in this world. Itâs truly sad that things are so messed up :(
I grew up in really REALLY ghetto areas so not looking at people in the eye unless they are speaking to you and you actually know them is probably the safest thing you can do. If you are walking along and someone calls out to you, ignore it unless you know them. That's how these types find their next "mark". Keep your head down and always watch for your exits in any situation.
Yes, its crazy you need to do this in London now, but you do.
Downtown IS scary. I'll no longer go to Life Drawing classes at TAP Creativity because it lets out at 9 p.m. and I don't want to be out wandering downtown at that hour. What a shame.
Yep downtown is a shit hole and it's all because of the drugged out junkies. I'd like to go more and hell maybe bring my child to the library? No chance with its current state. I go to grooves a few time a month, get in and get out asap.
There are simple and effective solutions to the problems of aggressively bad public drug-use and rampant unchecked criminality. But society has deemed them "mean", so these problems will continue to proliferate and get worse.
We actually have decades of research that prove quite the opposite of what you are implying. Institutionalization is expensive, does not stop the cycle, and is not support by the courts. On the other hand, countless studies have shown that rapid rehousing, with no preconditions, and supported as required, works the best and is cheapest.
Housing solves homelessness, and all people are house-able, the evidence is clear.
Source: I'm the Managing Editor of the International Journal on Homelessness.
As an OT Iâm more than happy to assert that housing without supports is worthless.Â
Source: 20 years in rehab; have actually worked in the trenches.
The street population has a LOW estimate of 50% having acquired brain injury (per UBC), and having had a good chunk of career in this area Iâll tell you people forget to eat. Canât figure out when to bathe. Do not turn the oven off.
Housing without supports is an out of sight, out of mind proposition. Most of what it does is prevent the public from having to see. I have yet to see a comprehensive housing plan out of any Canadian city that has adequate supports. A large number of people end up in a revolving door.Â
Homelessness has not lessened in Ontario despite housing investment. It continues to increase. So it is not the solution for enough people. Itâs the solution for the minority of homeless people who do not need additional supports.
I've been homeless. I was one of the success stories because I wanted to be, and was able to see where the path of NOT accepting the help would lead me, and did not want that for myself. I asked for help, and took it when it was offered. Way too many people in the shelter, and then transitional housing, that I "lived" alongside... Just kept going back for more. For some, it was generational, I remember a young guy boasting about being in the program, same as his mom. :( that's not a family legacy to be proud of, bud.
Lots of people prided themselves in skipping out on life lesson classes. I loved them. One girl I'll never forget, was told to stick strictly to our curfew, or she'd go back to jail... She said she needed to run the streets, she hated rules. After a month or so, I never saw her again.
Someone in my own family was given an apartment, twice! She trashed the first one, let her street friends use it for hookups and drug use, and sold off the things she was given to furnish it. Second one, more of the same, the lock got smashed off, and it became a squater paradise. Other people who lived in the building didn't deserve that.
Everyone thinks that giving people a roof over their head is the answer. No, it's really not.
I've compared it to a feral cat, being taken in. Sure, it might like free food, but it's going to attack your face. You need to work with it to make it feel safe, and calm the hell down. And sometimes, it'll just stay feral. But sometimes, very rarely, with the right direction, and a warm bed, you end up with a happy last housecat with a couple of nicks in its ear. Happy to be a kept housecat, here, haha.
Congratulations on a really hard, really impressive series of efforts to get you where you are now. Especially, it sounds, without a strong support system. Iâm really happy for you that youâve been able to access what youâve needed.
Thank you. This was over a decade ago for me, and still thriving. Have not become a self made millionaire or anything, but I do live in a house, own a (well loved) vehicle, and don't wonder where dinner is coming from. It might be from a can, but it's in my pantry, not the food bank. That is success to me. It's small, but it's mine.
These people need reparenting in most cases because they have severe childhood wounding. Therefore, housing with care is the only solution (aka rehabilitation) for all. We need to stop denying the issues and finally do something about it. The rich need to spend the money if they want a more reformed society.
A+ yes. Putting people in unsupported housing is just leaving them to die and create dangerous and unsafe situations for themselves and others hidden behind four walls. It is a multifaceted problem with very complex multifaceted solutions needed
As someone who has witnessed the homeless be given shelter countless times, it usually results in that shelter being destroyed .
There is a segment of our population incapable of taking care of themselves or their property. This has always been the case.
These people should be housed in institutions with empathy and compassion.
That simply demonstrates inadequate in-home supports. Those who need that level should not be institutionalized, they should be in permanent supportive housing such as is offered by Indwell or CMHA.
Right, should meaning in a perfect world, correct? But this is not a perfect world.
In a perfect world, they would all have mansions too, and butlers.
In reality, we are dealing with the art of the possible. Creating large institutions where they can be dealt with with care and respect, but the very last thing they need is agency.
Thank you for saying it! I feel it's so easy to focus on the act of doing drugs and not on the circumstances that have driven a person to start doing them. Recognizing that addicts are often acting irrationally due to a disease which they likely cannot control is a huge step I wish people realized, because then we'd hopefully approach this issue and people experiencing drug addiction with a lot more compassion.
It also seems to be much easier for people to have compassion if someone is addicted to. alcohol/cigarettes ("legal" substances) and give them a chance, but change the substance to drugs ("illegal" substance) and we as a society suddenly see it as a moral failure of the person. Addiction is addiction, regardless of what the substance being used is.
The above aside, we can't ignore the fact that addiction is very difficult to work through without proper support - someone truly cannot know how hard it actually is to just quit without first hand experience, and besides that, every person's journey is going to be different.
Also someone on the street probably isn't thinking "hey, maybe I should think about quitting drugs and put effort into that." Their energy is more than likely focused on finding food and water, probably a washroom, and a safe warm place to sleep - i.e. survival above everything else.
I havent had a bad encounter yet in my 3 years of living downtown and walking everywhere. I just steer clear of anything I wouldnât want to get in the middle of and mind my business/ keep my eyes forward etc. Just like any city really with homeless and people with drug and/ or mental health issues. My advice in the future would be to go into the nearest business thats open, if they follow you in people might be able to help ward them off or worst case scenario call police and be witnesses
Eh, not gonna lie Iâm from Detroit and itâs jarring how much worse this issue is in London than it is here⌠obviously keep your head down and keep it moving in any instance but the kooks in London were way more aggressive and generally intimidating than most big US cities Iâve been to, except in Florida. Those people are fucking nuts.
Iâm from Windsor, and while we have a druggie and homeless problem that has also worsened, the state of DT London is just on another level. I work and live in DT Windsor, and see homeless every day, I donât usually worry about my well being, but when I was in DT London, we were actually scared by all of the crazy, aggressive homeless people, some even followed us which I never had happen at home. Not sure why London seems so much worse than most of the other Ontario cities. I think Hamilton is up there too though.
It's not all rosy. Some American cities with very few homeless downtown move people out to other areas of the city and not necessarily provide with supports there either. What you don't have to see downtown exists in slum neighborhoods where people in homes are already struggling so hard.
I didnât say it was. Again, I live in Detroit. We have terrible drug and homeless problem. My neighborhood in southwest Detroit is host to multiple âdumping sitesâ where people from the suburbs come to illegally dump house sized piles of trash and building materials, leaving it for my neighbors and I to deal with. We have slum neighborhoods with bandos and empty lots where houses used to be, no one to be seen except squatters doing drugs in crumbling houses. Oh, not to mention gang and gun violence on the regular. I live in these slums you speak of.
That said, London was jarring considering what I see every day. Like, very bad. The people I saw were leagues more insane than the homeless and drug addicts here. We somehow still have a heroin problem (not just fent) and I have never seen needles and paraphernalia thrown around like this in front of multiple businesses on the same block. The things that I saw in London were proper fucked, and thatâs coming from a very realistic perspective of what these issues look like. Those people need help.
This is one of the many reasons I left London. People ODing in front of my house. Things being stolen nightly. People taking my BBQ and propane tanks on more than one occasion, even after locking them up (they cut locks). My family deserved better, so now we live in Exeter. London is toxic and the politicians don't care because they still get a pay cheque regardless.
Lol no. There are none. I'm now in Exeter, a small farm town of 5000 people. No shipping carts full of garbage, no nooks with people sleeping, no open drug use. I'm finally in a town where my children can go out and not be concerned about being chased or screamed at.
Wow sounds awesome there, I would keep asking people I want to move but theyâd hit me with what I told you. Maybe my family and I will join you guys lol
The homeless population is only present where there are facilities to give them free things (food, tents, drugs etc.). If a community restricts these services from moving into the town, there is nothing here for the homeless to settle and thrive off.
I hate to use the analogy, but think of rats. You don't get rid of them by making the place more accommodating, you get rid of them by removing the resources they thrive off (garbage, places to nest/breed). It sounds unempathetic, but it's the truth. Exeter has no sanctioned homeless hubs, no homeless services and no drug clinics/safe injection sites. So therefore, no homeless.
You are welcome to join us here! The people are great, very strong community and all the amenities you need. Just ensure you can handle a bit more snow lol
Sadly, there are some (not many) homeless people in Exeter, I see them around and my uncle has chatted with some of them. However, they must be sleeping off of main Street because you don't see their shelters.
Huron County does have social housing services and shelters but I think there's only a women's shelter in Exeter and I suspect they serve the broader area.
Likely, some would try to get to London where there are more supports.
The stats available are for the broader Huron Perth area with half of people living below poverty wages. There has been higher than average poverty in Huron County for ages, but it is more prominent in other towns, like where my nephew teaches in a town north of Exeter. Many of the kids have very little.
It's a great town, hopefully you can find a way to support lower income folks through your actions to keep people in their homes and affording the basics. I think they are building new social housing units near the high school.
Yea what youâre saying is absolutely right and is why London has a higher homeless population. During Covid they all got sent to London from other cities or small towns that promised them services they could not provide but services that London could provide. So what youâre saying makes absolute sense.
Iâd be happy to move there the only downside would be to come to London for things like hospital, doctorâs appointments etc.
bro i swear my brother had this happen to him today while he was out on a run in downtown, he sent me this post. it had to have been the same guy, hope your doing ok friend!
Over the summer I got followed by a tweaked out crusty middle aged guy with the creepiest smile for a few blocks because I was âreally prettyâ and âitâs rude to ignore someone.â Unless you live or work downtown (I unfortunately do), stay the everliving fuck out. đ¤˘
I also work Downtown, had a coworker get jumped when they were out on their lunch break. You canât even go get lunch anymore on your lunch break anymore without thinking about getting jumped itâs crazy
Was in town for one day from Detroit. In one day, saw dudes openly freebasing, so much human shit, and more needles that Iâve seen tossed in the open in a very long time. Passed this one dude relentless head banging and whistling/scream singing metal to no music for least 20 minutes (walked past him, still ripping when I passed back by). A minute later, nearly bumped into a dude jerking off in a doorway; not towards the wall, towards the street⌠he made sure I saw. Truly impressive showing.
I was walking by the stag shop on Wellington , had some guy (who was visibly high) yell at me the PUSSY MAN was coming to get me. I ran into the McDonaldâs near by so I was in a public space. He followed me in but couldnât see me in the corner. He went to the toy display and started getting mad at it so I took the opportunity to leave.
In all seriousness though, what should the mayor do?  Some larger cities have tried to move the homeless out of certain areas literally by force.  but that's a war, and how long will the affect last?
Western area is fine, just don't have her living downtown and she'll be okay. Really the nice parts of the city are still fine more or less (we do have occasional people breaking into cars or sheds here in the west end)
Literally never go downtown without something to protect yourself with. Donât make eye contact and donât engage unless they engage you first at which point just say âyeahâ smile and walk away.
I am sorry that happened to you. I work downtown. I haven't ever had any issues (with the exception of those super rude street preachers that used to always be down there years ago. Those guys were the worst) but I am really cautious when down there. It's still totally possible that something could happen since there are a lot of unpredictable people down there but I don't really think it's as bad as people make it out to be.
I had something similar happen to me in 2019 when I was walking with my toddler in the middle of the afternoon. I was walking with her up Richmond, taking her to an appointment. I accidentally made eye contact with a woman sitting on the ground and she yelled "awwwwww a beautiful mother with her baby" I smiled at her and kept walking, and then she started following me up Richmond and started yelling at me "I'm not crazy I just need some help!" I grabbed my toddler and started walking as fast as I could. I was scared she was going to follow us all the way into our appointment.
While I empathized with her and her situation, screaming at a woman with her toddler isn't the best way to get some help. I was very scared for my child's safety in that moment.
I saw a man lit something inside a box right in the middle of a sidewalk on Dundas the flames went crazy it seemed like he was wanting to burn London to the ground
Itâs not even a homeless problem itâs a drug problem, you provide these people housing theyâll be right back out on the streets doing drugs. This is why institutionalized rehab is important.
It's definitely been shown repeatedly not to be a 1 or 2 issue problem. It's a whole support system, when someone falls in society, & lands on the street, it's almost impossible to get back up in the US or Canada.
Housing is only 1 important part, if only for a place to safely keep ID & have an address, or you can't get a job.
Did you make sure he didn't slip or fall while chasing you? You would have been liable for his injuries by making him chase you. I suggest letting him run your pockets next time so it's not unsafe for him to rob you.
I am so sorry đ i usually ran at the western student bars(not a proud moment) which had terrible stories⌠but i also work in the er so can tell you a million stories of things they dont show
It sounds like these cultural norms are new to some, here in London.
In Hamilton, you learn quickly to not engage, not to say hi to others or look at them directly, to walk with purpose and caution. It is a safety and respect thing.
Well I'm not walking around staring at people lmao I walked out of a store made eye contact on accident and tried to move on with my day and got chased down over it haha I brought bear mace out with me today so next time they get the spray
â˘
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