kind of scary

This took place in my neighbourhood... just down the street from me actually!

http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/794476

This area has a checkered past. Back in the 70s and 80s and maybe even the early part of the 90s this area was really tough and run by the mafia and there were open disputes between the rival crime families.  The mom of one of the crime families lives just two blocks from me and I see her and her boys all the time.  They say hello and how are you.. and somehow they heard about my son's brain tumor and ever since then they ask after him too.  The Christmas after he was diagnosed (he was diagnosed in late January 2008) the mom was at my door with a plate of cookies and in her broken English wished us well.  He does odd jobs for any neighbour who needs it and I think they all have a soft spot for him. 

Things have changed in the area since the city made bayfront park

It's more of a hotspot now because people can walk their dogs by the water etc... but to see what went on just around the corner is sickening and I hope they catch the b**tard soon!! 

Thanks for letting me ramble!

Thanks DC!  I'm not sure what to make of it and neither are the police.  One of my friends is a lifer.. she was born and raised down here and now she is raising her family here and she has never seen anything like this before.  I'm a transplant north ender.. I grew up on the mountain and ever since I was a kid I loved the lower city.  When I was in high school and my bff lived just a block from where I do now I looked at the houses in my row and vowed one of them would be mine one day and guess what.. it is!!  My mom had a coronary saying we'd get murdered etc as Barton Street had a bad name but all we have met are decent hardworking people.  We have had issues now and then.. a few summers ago there was alot of gang activity in the survey but they have moved elsewhere and we had some crackheads renting a place and they're gone now too.. crack houses can happen anywhere.  

My son shoveled mafia mom's snow for a few winters and I think her boys may have been in jail for at least one of them but she always paid him $20 for his time and gave him a can of pop.  I'm not sure how she found out about him being sick.. the ambulance in front of our house may have sparked some interest and likely she heard through the grapevine. 

After living in inner city Toronto I always lock my doors front and back and I have a lock on the back gate too so no worries on that situation.  Any time my front door is open the dog is lying in front of it and she goes into defenes mode if anyone dares to step on our walk. 

Gypsy you're so right!  I know everyone who lives on my street some not by name but I can tell you who lives where.  We have a couple of rental houses and they keep changing tenants every few months but I figure out pretty fast who the new renters are.  You'd think if someone had a summer home that they'd want to get to know their neighbours.. it'd make sense to have the local people looking out for their place when they're away. 

Things seem to have quieted down now... I think everyone is more concerned over what happenned in TO this past weekend with the G20 violence.

I saw in the paper that a few hospitals and the Eaton Centre were on lockdown on Saturday and GO transit suspended service until 10am Sunday morning.  My daughter was late for work because of it.. normally on a Sunday she takes the GO and then walks to the restaurant (we're right between Burlington and Appleby GO stations) but she ended up taking the city bus and that got her to work fifteen minutes after her start time.  They were fine with her arrival time as we were totally dead all weekend.  Normally we do 450-550ppl on Saturdays and Sundays but this past weekend we only did 400 each day and we were done and out of there by 3pm each day.. definitely not the average weekend.  

Now the mayor of TO is looking to the federal government for compensation from the G20... I wonder how that will go over. 

City people seem to think the country and smaller towns are safe.  My inlaws live in Woodstock and when Victoria Stafford was abducted the town was in shock that something like that could happen there.  We were there visiting when the OPP was going door to door and we even had to speak to the police even though we were visitors from out of town. 

That's funny about your inlaw's neighbours... I bet they started talking to their neighbours after that!  I always let the neighbours know when we're going to be away.  We always get my friend's daughter to dog sit so I let them know that we'll be gone and not to be alarmed when they see someone going in and out of the house.. she's watching the dog. 

My parents always left the car unlocked and never locked the house up until they went to bed at night.  My dad owned a construction company and he never locked the truck or the toolboxes he had built for the truck and never had anything go missing. My mother in law to this day unlocks her doors when she gets up in the morning and leaves it that way until she goes to bed.  She doesn't lock her car either and has never had a problem.  One of my friends is the same way.. her door is always unlocked and when I go over there for a visit I walk in and say hello..it's just the way she is.  Me.. I need locks.. my years in TO have done that to me I'm afriad..