Hamilton resides on a highly polluted area of Lake Ontario. High levels of E. Coli bacteria usually prevent the beach from being open for swimming season. In addition, the city suffers from high air pollution including fine particulate matter, consistent with most of Southern Ontario from Windsor through Oshawa.
Like most cities, there are unsafe areas which should be avoided. Some of the areas that may be problematic after dark due to black market activities (i.e. sex trade and illegal narcotics) are Barton Street from around Lottridge to James Street and Cannon and Wilson Streets between Wentworth and Victoria, along with the general downtown area including Gore Park and Jackson Square, but again, only at night. Additionally, Ferguson Avenue between Cannon and Barton is home to a large transient population, as is the rest of the Beasley neighbourhood.
Hess Village can and does experience the usual amount of drunken bar fights (typically outside of the bars), but this is no different from any other large city. Several uniformed police officers typically patrol the small area on busier nights.
Use common sense and avoid walking around alone at night. Police presence is usually infrequent in less-busy neighbouroods, so it can be best to avoid them unless you have business.
The rate of violent crime is moderate compared to other similarly-sized Canadian cities.
The beautiful trails along the Niagara Escarpment can sometimes run quite close to unfenced, unmarked cliff edges. Stay on the trail and use caution and you'll be fine.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Hamilton (Ontario)
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Hamilton (Ontario) - updated May 2024
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Hamilton (Ontario) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
