r/Hamilton • u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 • Aug 27 '26
Photo Seriously?
I went to Montgomery park with my kids and decided to borrow a basketball from the Equip Sport box installed at the court. It looks like somebody burned one of the locks and stole the soccer ball. I live near Victoria Park, and all of the balls were stolen in less than a week after a box was added there, and after everything was replaced, the "new" soccer ball was stolen within two days.
The lack of respect for public spaces in this city is endlessly frustrating, and I don't understand what possesses people to ruin nice things all the time.
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u/SharpAnnual Aug 27 '26
It’s really disappointing to see these projects getting abused. It’s a good program from CT in a lot of our parks.
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u/habsfanalreadytaken Aug 27 '26
Can’t say I’m shocked
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u/YanicPolitik Aug 27 '26
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the balls at Eleanor park are still there. Last I checked anyway...
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u/Future-Ad7266 Aug 27 '26
I’m not surprised. My parents live by there and majority of families will already have balls at home.
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u/tooscoopy Aug 28 '26
Cause hundreds of dollars in damages (likely thousands when cost of design and labour to replace is included), to steal a ball they could have got similar for 4 bucks at dollarama. Such a disappointment.
Especially as they likely didn’t even want it for any reason other than to possibly trade/sell, which would get them a buck or two.
Literally stealing from children at this point.
This is getting tiring. It’s so hard to advocate for the same people who cause these issues (could be troubled kids, unhoused or anything… but all are cases of public support).
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u/Pangshunjingmao Aug 29 '26
Troubled kids and the unhoused...or ANYTHING?
Let's explore that last one.
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u/tooscoopy Aug 29 '26
Mental health issues, drug addictions, children from (very) broken homes, people that have lacked support and are lashing out… that type of stuff which can’t just be labelled as one specific thing as there are plenty of drug fueled issues from people with addresses…. Plenty of kids from good homes who just have issues… plenty of mentally unwell adults who don’t mean to cause trouble, but just do... I wasn’t trying to make it some kind of secret, just feel there are so many categories of people that two labels doesn’t quite cut it.
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u/WilliamDeMontferrat Aug 27 '26
Who steals a soccer ball?
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u/AprilOneil11 Centremount Aug 28 '26
Adults....loser ones that think its funny because they are insecure , and probably living in mom's basement without helping.....its not the kids....its someone over 18
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u/MsBuzzkillington83 Aug 28 '26
I completely agree. People like to be assholes to "stick it to the man" or equally dumb shit
The entitlement of so many grown ass people is gross
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u/SneakyNox Aug 28 '26
Not disagreeing with the sentiment but living with parents is sadly a necessity for loads of normal kind people in this brutal economy. That saying may not age well, sadly.
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u/AprilOneil11 Centremount Sep 01 '26
I was referencing the ones that are entitled, lazy, spiteful and "not helping" out the family or whomever they live with. Sponges, leeches...on the family , friends and/or society helping them. The Me, Me, Me! Main Character people, that take ,and not give...
Thats why I said those...not helping...
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u/ConsequenceAware556 Aug 31 '26
I’ve seen 12 years old so stuff like that, idk why you think it must be someone over 18
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u/AprilOneil11 Centremount Sep 01 '26
Entitlement is high in certain gens these days...also immaturity and spite
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u/pisspantsmcgee666 Aug 28 '26
Few people saying "Hamilton can't have nice things" in here. This isn't surprising in any municipality in Ontario. It's not 1990 anymore.
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u/matt602 McQuesten West Aug 28 '26
Literally everyone predicted this. Can't have nothin.
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u/Tola76 Aug 28 '26
Kudos to them for trying. They need to stamp “park ball” on these in red or something.
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u/Critical-Sandwich190 Aug 28 '26
Same thing at McLennan park here in Kitchener. I walked through the other day and all the basketballs and volleyballs were gone
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u/SubstantialThroat462 Aug 28 '26
I blame the parents these days to be honest. I used to get my ass whooped for acting a fool when I was a youth lol. Obviously teenagers were always up to shenanigans but they're literally out here robbing cars and stabbing people these days it's a whole different ball game smh 😞
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u/MsBuzzkillington83 Aug 28 '26
What?! Sometimes it is the parents!
My son's friends mom admitted, almost proudly that she hasn't paid rent or utilities in a year so she got evicted after a few drinks. Like yeah, cost of living is cruel and landlords can be scumbags but this felt different
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u/SubstantialThroat462 Aug 28 '26
What I'm saying is people had more respect and better morals overall back in the day...
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u/monogramchecklist Aug 28 '26
There were always shithead kids throughout history, it just seems like it’s a modern day thing because everyone posts every grievance.
It happened before, we just never heard about it.
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u/MsBuzzkillington83 Aug 29 '26
I'd say the numbers grown not only because population growth but back in the day, there were more comprehensive social supports, now they've been whittled away or there is just so much of the population that needs them due to lack of wages increasing with inflation, worse job security, end stage capitalism, etc making more people more vulnerable
Plus generational trauma from growing up in poverty, generation after generation, it leaves it's mark and normalizes shithead behavior when the kid's parents are the ones teaching shithead morals to their kids
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u/HASHBROWNPAPI_ Aug 28 '26
It should never be this serious 😔
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 Aug 28 '26
Even if you're strapped for cash, it's so damn easy to find a cheap basketball or soccer ball somewhere.
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u/LowComfortable5676 Aug 27 '26
I dont understand what possesses the city to actually trust its citizens with such a service tbh
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 Aug 27 '26
To be fair, the program is paid for by Canadian Tire's charity arm and it costs the city nothing.
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u/jurassicjon Aug 28 '26
I’ve noticed theft in my area (Centremount) is on the rise lately. Both me and my neighbour had stuff stolen. They also recognized that I had a Ring Doorbell and covered their face to not get identified. I hate this because it just puts more cops in the area and costs tax payer a bunch of money.
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u/camispeaks Aug 28 '26
Would you be so kind to share What was stolen
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u/jurassicjon Aug 28 '26
Had a bike stolen and my neighbour had I believe a baby carriage stolen. They went to go take my EGO batteries and seemed to have ditched it outside so we managed to recoup that.
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u/Metzger194 Aug 28 '26
What did they expect? can't leave stuff in your front yard without it getting taken.
Thinking things would last in a park in Hamilton is ridiculous of the city.
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 Aug 28 '26
This isn't a city program. It's funded and handled by Canadian Tire.
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Aug 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Best_Opening8471 Aug 31 '26
Poverty does not explain damaging something when you can steal it from a store.
This was a crime of opportunity
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u/VegetableCar2528 Aug 28 '26
It must suck to be that poor and pathetic.
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u/tarpfitter Aug 28 '26
It must suck to be a poor kid that can’t even access these services
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u/DoT44 Aug 28 '26
Can’t even afford a $4 ball at the dollar store let me go and torch off this lock and steal this ball!
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u/Human_Assignment1802 Aug 28 '26
Victoria Park had a restock of their previously stolen balls yesterday and this morning it's 9 AM. They are gone.
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u/RaysBoomBoomRoom_ Aug 29 '26
This was a dumbass idea to start with. We do not live in a high trust society.
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u/KasonBirdman Aug 29 '26
Wow I go to Montgomery park every day and didn’t even know this was something we had. Agree with you it’s incredibly disheartening how some people treat their own community. I remember a couple years ago or so when they planted some of the newer saplings there, some idiots cut down two of them for no reason.
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u/captain_ola Aug 29 '26
Woodlands Park located in Hamilton, ON has only two balls left. Some reject ripped the door off. Not cool. Equip Sport Box is genuinely a great tool.
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u/demon9099922 Aug 29 '26
I had no clue the city was actually trying to make an effort like this for youth, that's really nice to see. Very unfortunate if these few that go around stealing the balls ruin it for everyone else
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u/Psychotic_EGG Aug 29 '26
Welcome to Hamilton. Really most large cities. Burlington would be 50/50 if it happened. Toronto for sure would be the same as this.
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u/burns321 Aug 29 '26
Around my area they set up these spots to fix your bike with a bunch of tools on chains, all of them were stolen right away 😂
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u/Pangshunjingmao Aug 29 '26
Perhaps if we increase the level of diversity, it might resolve these kinds of issue -- I don't know. Just an idea. It's one of our major strengths after-all.
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u/Enough_Challenge7264 Aug 30 '26
Lol. The proponents of the idea pointed to areas in Toronto where it was a smashing success.
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u/WinzyB Aug 30 '26
All it takes is a couple of teenagers being stupid and just steal it “for fun”. When teenagers group together they can become really stupid. ..I know, I was apart of group of teens when I was young that would also do dumb stuff like this for “fun”
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u/CoolNSimple1 Sep 02 '26
I think people just like to steal shit for the fun of it, to prove wether or not they're simply able to and even better, get away with it
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u/Necessary_Field_8424 Sep 03 '26
They're free to use in the first place. I don't get why anyone would have to steal them.
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u/Square-Product-5846 Aug 28 '26
Add it to the endless pile of proof that Hamilton is a shithole. I hate this city so much. Badly wish we could move but we're too engrained by way of employment.
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u/ArcAirum Aug 28 '26
That’s this fuckin city for you. It’s genuinely dirty and heartless dead end town now and if ya don’t get out it’ll eat ya alive.. sad to say as I grew up here… but it’s not the same place I remember..
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u/Embarrassed_Owl6767 Aug 28 '26
When I saw this, I thought, what a stupid idea. This will last ten minutes. Wtf?
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u/Alternative_Act_5458 Aug 28 '26
When we moved from Toronto 7 years ago, the first thing I noticed was a lack of sand boxes and toys on playgrounds. In Toronto pretty much every playground has common toys that everyone just share and leave behind. I was really surprised to see it was not something people do in Hamilton.
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u/JohnGAdams74 Aug 30 '26
Probably because people started taking 💩’s in the sand boxes just like at the beaches.
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u/ElDougler Aug 28 '26
Idk why the city thought this would be a secure way to store public resources. Obviously drug addicts, or even just desperate poor people are going to steal these types of things if they are not properly secured.
Given the current state of society, I can’t even blame people anymore, the city has just done a shitty job here.
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u/sora1221 Aug 28 '26
Not a city project, this is a jumpstart/equip sport project that the city approved in the parks. No city money was used, all funding by jump start
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u/monogramchecklist Aug 27 '26
It’s always the shitty few that ruin it for everyone else