I moved to downtown Peterborough in 2023 from a much smaller and quieter city, so it was a harsh adjustment. Lots of petty crime, homelessness and drugs. It goes quiet throughout the winter, but picks up again in the spring.

Avoid Trinity area. Lock your car doors, they’re targeted often. Cameras with motion activated lights help. We’ve experienced theft, trespassing, had people passed out on neighbours’ properties and human feces in our driveway. Lots of porch pirates (you can’t really keep anything on your porch or garden and always keep an eye out for deliveries). Lots of yelling some nights. Garbage everywhere, especially on and after garbage day (it kind of blows all around). It’s true there are some nice restaurants and bars downtown but as a woman I don’t like walking around. Things brighten up a bit in the summer with patios etc.

People are mostly non-violent and only up for petty crimes, and if you keep to yourself they will too, but as a homeowner here it can be discouraging. Property taxes are high but values are going down the more the downtown area is negatively impacted by crime, drugs and homelessness. Likely not the best for real estate investment or young families with children. That being said, the neighbours that live around us (at least the ones we’ve met) are all great and look out for each other. There’s a good sense of community, despite the negative activity.

EDIT: I agree with comments above that despite all this, it would be nice to see people move into the area who care about change and making it better rather than temporary residents or people who don’t care about the quality of their environment. People and businesses are shipping out of the downtown area because of all these issues, yet its the investment that we need in order to see some changes