Just how bad are the bad areas of Ottawa getting?

Question

Somebody answering a question here mentioned:

"If you pick Nepean, stay away from Leslie Park, Caldwell Ave, and Baseline Court (aka the Four Holes). In Gloucester, the only part of Blair/Ogilvie to avoid is Jasmine Crescent."

And others have brought up dodgy areas as well.

If you spend time in or near one -- how bad is bad? I find it hard to believe that, say, it's really much to worry about compared to most cities, but I'm curious. What're the problems? Drugs? Extreme poverty? Etc?

Answer 1

I'll answer since that's my post you quoted. These areas are bad by Ottawa standards, they're by no means anything like Jane and Finch in Toronto. Jasmine Cres has a bunch of low income apartments. Caldwell Ave has a lot of gangs in the area. The Four Holes - I don't even know how to describe it other than saying that a probation officer that I used to know would actually start dialing 911 on her cell phone BEFORE going into the buildings.

Answer 2

Bad but not compared to Toronto, New York, Philly, Detroit,etc. They are low income areas with petty crime, gangs, vandalism,graffiti, harassment etc. No major crimes like say for instance 12 murders per year or something like that. There are murders, killings, rapes etc but if you look at the crime rate in Ottawa it is not any more or less like any major cities in Canada. Definetely not like major cities in the USA