Based on this forum, it's only the British immigrants who eat & drink the shit in Tim Hortons

And this affected you in Hampshire because!?

If you read the post again you will understand that I was merely using it as an example of what the newspapers here in the UK are full of now and how it can have an effect on how safe we feel.

I think when you hear about awful things in little villages where you dont expect these kind of things to happen that it doesnt matter how far away you are it still makes you feel unsafe.

Bearing in mind the UK is a lot smaller (Massively)than Canada when horrible things happen it always feels a lot closer to home because we are a relatively small island and these things always make the national news.

Like I said in the original post I dont want to compare the UK to Canada, I was just interested if you felt safe where you were.

Do you feel safe living where you are though? Are there lots of random acts of crime or like others have said is it very much gang related.R

UK newspapers have always printed doom & gloom. There is no reason a stabbing in Wales should affect you in Hampshire. You are just letting it do so because you are frantically finding reasons to leave so you feel better about doing it.

NS is smaller than the UK and there is alot of crime here but the papers squeeze all the doom into a tiny corner on page 2 and then everything else is printed about fluffy bunnies.
There was a stabbing an hour away from us in the valley a few days ago. I heard it on the radio on the way home from work then nothing more of it. BTW, the Valley is a very small town where nothing EVER happens!

I have not been personally affected by crime here and I wasn't in England either.

Gang related crime doesn't mean you are safe!
Innocent people get caught in the shootings when they are walking along a street and a car pulls up and opens fire.

It's not all gang related either. There are random acts of violence and the knife culture is very disturbing here.

It doesn't affect me one bit. Last week a fight broke out in a McDonalds downtown with a few people stabbed. There are reports on the news about child sex criminals, drugs, violence, sexual assault, murder, racism. I still feel as safe in Vancouver as i did in London, which is very safe.

If you're the kind of person to have indirect crime, read or watched in the media, affect your perception in the UK, then i dare say that won't change no matter where you live.

I would say that Toronto's 'gang culture' is pretty much non-existant and what probably does exist, particularly among some immigrant communities, isn't seen by the vast majority of the population and only really affects those involved. There are dodgy areas definitely but nothing like a lot of places in the UK and the kids seem on the whole a lot better behaved and more respectful.

I work with another Brit expat who moved here with his wife a few years ago and although they both hate it here, particularly the wife, they stand by their decision that they moved for their kids and don't really want to go back until their kids have graduated uni and settled into a decent, quiet life.

I think you are missing my point, maybe I am not saying it properly so you understand what I mean. I am not trying to compare the UK to Canada, I am asking if you feel safe where you live.

The story of the poor lady in Wales was purely an example of something that can affect the way you feel about somewhere. I am not saying it directly relates to me.

If you read my previous posts you will see I am not even 100% sure if I will try to move to Canada, I have no reason to try and justify anything. It seems you are trying to justify your own reasons for not liking/wanting to leave Canada. Like I said the UK media doesn't help in making you feel safe here...maybe I should stop watching the news I guess

You haven't experienced local news in North America yet where a lot of the media focuses massive resources on scaring the shit out of you by heavily covering even minor crimes in your small locality.

I'm saddened to learn that the object of a university education is to settle into a decent, quiet life.

You and me both but different things for different people I suppose.

Maybe I should move somewhere where they don't have newspapers...or they are in another language so at least I won't be able to understand a word of it

I think that second one only works in the short term until you get a basic grasp of the language. I once watched a 15 minute report on NHK about how job applicants in Tokyo were so hard-up that they couldn't even afford the suits for interviews anymore and a new suit loaning charity had to be created for them and unfortunately I did understand most of it.

I read on the BBC website that they are bringing local news to most major UK cities next year by the way, whether they need to or not, it's happening. Personally local news stations really grind my gears, they encourage small mindedness and in North America seem like just another way to try to influence your thinking and sell you shit.

True but I doubt I would hear about crime in Vancouver if I lived in the Maritimes it would be like me worrying over the shooting in Belgium

I know everywhere has its bad points but I think the way you feel about somewhere can have a direct affect on the things you do so yes you may not be living somewhere safer but if you feel it then surely that's going to have a positive impact on how you live?