596 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

On last Friday’s radio segment, I specifically mentioned that area of Douglas Street as a major problem. Days later a stabbing occurred during business hours.

There was also a stabbing on the other side of the block, on Douglas and View, on the east side, wasn’t there? Back in March?

[Victoria Watcher]

What is the motive in all these stabbings?

I’m going to presume most are over drugs/money.

Another reason that illicit drugs should never have been legalized.

[Blair M.]

 

I used to love going to town. Now it is very seldom, if at all. I am a busy woman; I can’t risk being stabbed and then the recuperation time, let alone being murdered.

 

This needs to be read a few times to absorb the full impact of the writers statement.

When people begin thinking like this it's already too late. 

Downtown may ultimately be salvageable, but the suburban concerns noted above indicate that we're certainly within a year or so from an irreversible suburban vision of the downtown core being far too dangerous to visit. 

As the OP above noted, concern about serious injury or death isn't really an option simply to go shopping. (and there's an inadvertent element of comedy to that statement, if the thought itself wasn't so serious).

 

The folks purchasing all of those downtown condo's will be in and around the downtown core regardless, as after investing a million or more on a home, they really don't have much of a choice.

I know a lot of locals believed that there couldn't possibly be a worse City Council than the previous one. It's too bad those feelings weren't at all accurate.

[Victoria Watcher]

I can’t afford to take the time off work if I’m murdered.

[Mike K.]

There's also the less talked about stuff, like vehicle break-ins and vandalism. Nobody wants to return to their vehicle, only to see the window was smashed in.

 

VicPD are also so busy, that the small stuff isn't much of a concern for them. If it's not a serious threat, they'll ask you to call non-emerg, which can take an hour or more to connect. Are you going to file that police report, or just tape up your window and put in an insurance claim?

 

The streets are also filthy. Every alcove smells of urine, or worse. There are people smoking drugs in doorways and on public benches. You can't stand at a bus stop in the downtown core without someone carelessly smoking cigarettes where they're not supposed to, or worse yet, smoking from a drug pipe with complete indifference to the rest of the people around them.

 

The situation is simply untenable. Until we change our laws and bylaws, the situation will only worsen, and under the current system, I cannot see laws or bylaws changing, not when we are now creating drug use zones in hospitals as the answer to violence, drug dealing and drug use in patient care areas.

[Nparker]

The laws have no chance of being changed until we abandon woke governments once and for all. Their philosophies have proved detrimental to society wherever they have been allowed to flourish. They are simply untenable.

[spanky123]

The 2,000 or so zombies living on the streets and in Government housing will all be given a pencil and told how to vote at the polling station set up close to their shelters. Until people get upset enough that they actually vote then nothing will change.

[lanforod]

I think you need the police report number for most insurance claims...

[spanky123]

^ Most businesses aren't going to report damage under $5K as any payment less deductible will just be offset by future premium increases (assuming your carrier evens wants your business).

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria gets down and dirty for the 2nd annual Scrub Up Event

Second annual event attempts to gently apply lipstick to the pig

https://www.vicnews....p-event-7354982




(I added the second part)

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 May 2024 - 12:38 PM.

[Nparker]

I imagine the CoV had to increase its lipstick budget significantly for 2024.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria moves ahead with renewal of downtown business improvement area

Council approved a process that will canvass property owners in the catchment area to get approval to impose a levy to fund the DVBA.

https://www.timescol...nt-area-8766480

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 May 2024 - 04:56 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Survey finds Victoria residents feel less safe downtown, day or night

 

 

Fifty-nine per cent of people told a community survey they felt safe downtown during the day, compared with 73 per cent last year, while only 22 per cent felt safe downtown at night

 

 

https://www.timescol...r-night-8790790

 

 

 

 

 

But Bray suggested the reality is sometimes blurred by the amount of focus on the negative.

 

“Today, there’ll be 60 successful planes that land at YYJ, but it will not be in the media because there’s not a story there. But if there was an engine leak as a plane is landing, that would probably make the news,” he said. “It’s the same thing with downtown.”

 

Bray said thousands of people go downtown every day and leave having had a great experience, while hundreds of thousands of tourists will pass through during the summer and rave about the downtown.

 

“But what captures the media’s attention is when something negative happens. And that does tend to fuel part of the perception issue,” he said. “Of course, there are challenges downtown, but I would say that there is still a bit of a disconnect between the reality of being downtown versus the perception.”

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 May 2024 - 05:07 AM.

[aastra]

Always with the perception thing.

Edited by aastra, 23 May 2024 - 12:05 PM.

[aastra]

 

2024:

Fifty-nine per cent of people told a community survey they felt safe downtown during the day, compared with 73 per cent last year, while only 22 per cent felt safe downtown at night.

 

--

 

 

Times-Colonist
July 21, 2013

Downtown Victoria is seen as being safer at night but perhaps not as exciting as it was three years ago, according to a recent Ipsos Reid survey.

Sixty-four per cent of citizens surveyed by Ipsos Reid on behalf of the city agreed that the downtown core is safe at night, compared with 58 per cent in 2010, when the last survey was conducted.

But only 60 per cent of residents polled said the downtown is vibrant and exciting in the evening, down from 64 per cent in 2010.

While the majority of people living in Victoria feel safe and welcome in their neighbourhoods, about 18 per cent of those surveyed reported not feeling safe walking alone in their neighbourhood in the evening...

Edited by aastra, 23 May 2024 - 12:05 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

You can say 1000x that perception does not equal reality,

But you can never say that sane perception isn’t hurting downtown.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 May 2024 - 12:08 PM.

[aastra]

^I raised that point before re: our perception of big retailers like Walmart or Amazon. Perception seems to be a fickle beast. Sometimes a negative perception can be a killer but other times a negative perception can be irrelevant or even a boon.

[max.bravo]

Downtown deserved its reputation in 1975, and it deserves it now. It's a cesspool compared to every surrounding area. Downtowns are for yuppies who read a Jane Jacobs book, and for office workers. No other reason to ever go there imo.

[Nparker]

You can say 1000x that perception does not equal reality...

Each person's perception is their reality.

[Victoria Watcher]

1 in 5 downtown businesses say it’s bad enough to leave: DVBA report

 

Two-thirds (65.9%) of survey respondents said they saw “some” or “significant” increase in the impact street crime is having on their business.

 

 

 

 

 

Two-thirds (65.9%) of survey respondents said they saw “some” or “significant” increase in the impact street crime is having on their business.

 

“There's a sense that there's just no consequence for bad behaviors anymore,” Bray tells Capital Daily.

 

“And businesses and their staff are left to deal with it, and they're saying it's not worth it anymore—I don't want my staff placed in jeopardy.”

 

Bray said the onus is on the province to tighten laws and make more inroads on the homeless, mental health, and addiction issues that comprise a significant chunk of the issue.

 

“I don't want to run a restaurant where I'm at risk of getting a sting operation from provincial liquor licensing because I sold a beer to an 18-year-old kid, while the inspector had to step over two 18-year-olds smoking meth outside my business,” he said. “I mean, that's where the province really has to say ‘this is not working for so many people, we need changes.’”

 

Bray said there are a host of factors why businesses close, but it doesn’t make any closure less concerning. Just last month, Baggins Shoes announced it would shut its Johnson storefront in October due to “the increasingly challenging landscape faced by retail businesses, coupled with a decline in downtown foot traffic by an estimated 30-50% in recent years” moving most of its business online. 

 

‍“Also, you know, who's going to come in and fill that spot?” Bray asks. “And is it going to be another unique, you know, entrepreneurial, creative business person, or is it going to be a Tim Hortons?”

 

____________________________

 

When it announced it would be closing most of its brick-and-mortar operations a couple of weeks back, Baggins co-owner Tara Savrtka told CHEK News that although new development has increased the number of downtown residents, her tracking indicates “that isn’t necessarily equating to more people in stores on the ground level.”

 

Last week, BOHO Tribe, which has sold crystals and gems for more than eight years and has hosted monthly moon circles and spiritual workshops, announced it was shuttering, although why was not immediately made clear. 

 

The Duchess & Duke on Government, West Coast Refill on Store, and Folk casualwear in the Market Square on Pandora are some of the latest independent shops to recently shut down, although a connection to the association's social concerns cannot be clearly made.

 

 

https://www.capitald...wners-not-happy

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 June 2024 - 05:25 AM.