What does DTK need?

[dtkvictim]

I live and work downtown, so I know a lot of people who walk downtown. Of those likely 100+ people, I am aware of only a single person who is uncomfortable in DTK. But maybe all the people who are uncomfortable with it live and work in the suburbs?

There is some drug use, and there are some homeless people: a pervasive problem in most cities, as you note, and certainly not exclusive to Canada. It is far from being crime-ridden, though.

As for policies, there are no silver bullets. Housing-first approaches tend to be more successful, but with the combination of high housing costs, lack of affordable housing, lack of mental health funding and ready availability of illegal drugs, this is not a simple problem to solve. If it were, there would be far more cities that have addressed this.

The whole discussion of this article probably should have been in the "what does DTK need" thread, but anyways: It's incredible how we can have such drastically different experiences and perceptions from each other. I would estimate that the majority of people I know, which is a healthy mix of people who live downtown, used to live downtown, or live suburban, are uncomfortable to varying degrees downtown. Personally I am uncomfortable and unable to generally relax downtown, though I don't let it stop me from enjoying what downtown has to offer. Many people I know who live downtown do let it prevent them from going out, at least alone.

I also don't see nearly enough discussion about how gendered this problem is. I think this forum is mostly men so that probably contributes to the discourse. The things that woman have told me they've had mentally ill drug addicts yell at them (and then sometimes be followed) is absolutely shocking and makes me worry more than when I've been physically attacked. Start counting the number of solo woman out after dark compared to men; the massive difference isn't because men love downtown, it's because so many woman are afraid.

From my ties to Ottawa, it sounds like these same issues have gotten even worse there, and the few people I know from downtown there have left or floated the idea of leaving last time I met with them. Even the DND is moving 1000 employees due to safety concerns for the staff. Although I can't imagine anyone relocating to the building on the Mackenzie King Bridge will be any happier... So no, it's not just a KW issue. You can't find a Canadian city without these problems anymore. But I don't think it's something we can just ignore from an urbanist perspective. People and businesses will leave, and fewer people will move to or visit downtowns.