27642 replies to this topic

[LJ]

Meanwhile, the police station's proximity to the severe concentration of issues would remain about exactly the same as it is now.

And still as effective in curbing the problems as ever.

[Victoria Watcher]

Enforcement is increasing along one Victoria side street where the city says campers are getting entrenched.

CHEK cameras were rolling as the Victoria Police Department (VicPD) and city bylaw showed up on Princess Avenue, making unhoused campers take down their tents for the second time Friday.

“What does my child do that now her tents have been taken twice?” said Lisa Grant, speaking to city bylaw.

Grant’s 23-year-old daughter has been dealing with mental health issues on and off the streets for about nine years. She says the city’s escalating enforcement of Princess Avenue is creating a desperate situation.



https://cheknews.ca/...-tents-1261057/




I feel badly for that mother. But surely she knows the current setup is not good. Her daughter has been struggling since she was 14 or 15. Salvation can’t be found living amongst other drug addicts.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 June 2025 - 01:10 AM.

[aastra]

 

Instead of city streets, Mycroft suggests people set up in parks where sheltering is permitted.

Grant says that’s not a solution.

“No one wants to be here. No one wants to be in a park at night,” said Grant. “Can we have another Tiny Town somewhere?

 

It's not a solution if it doesn't have official political branding™?

And since when was a tent in a quiet green park near washrooms etc. less preferable than a grubby downtown side street? Does this news item mean we're now going to be shifting away from camping in parks as a good and essential thing?

[Victoria Watcher]

Barry Greening, operations manager for Mayfair Shopping Centre, which is responsible for the shopping plaza where PENN is located, said the noise device was installed to address safety issues caused by loiterers since Muncey Place, which is owned by B.C. Housing, opened in 2020.

 

He said the device, called a Mosquito, has been “reasonably effective” in deterring people, adding he has not heard anything from bylaw personnel regarding its use.

 

Greening said the threats to safety outweigh the effects of the high-pitched sounds. He said cleaning costs have quadrupled and security costs are six times what they were before Muncey Place opened. “I feel that the disturbance caused to me by B.C. Housing would probably exceed any disturbance that I have to them.”

 

He said he wants to see more support from the city and housing agency to deal with what he described as an ongoing issue for staff and ­customers. “My intention is not to reduce the noise-emitters,” he said. “My plan is, if anything, to install more to create more of a deterrent.”

 

 

https://www.timescol...laints-10808153

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 June 2025 - 04:51 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria mayor unveils plan to reduce street disorder

 

The comprehensive plan includes more than 80 recommendations that touch on everything from housing to health care and sprucing up downtown

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...sorder-10816950

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 June 2025 - 01:13 PM.

[aastra]

 

They also include investing in downtown amenities such as benches, trees, lighting, murals and historical markers.

 

You know all those Victorians who proudly boast about how they never go downtown? They're feeling pretty sheepish right now, let me tell you.

[aastra]

Victorian: Hey, do you want to go downtown tonight?

 

Other Victorian: No way. Downtown sucks. Too few benches, trees, and info plaques. And I've already seen most of the murals.

[aastra]

 

They also include investing in downtown amenities such as benches...

 

I should be careful. This doesn't necessarily mean more benches. It could just mean better benches, but the same number as now.

[Barrister]

How about picnic tables on Pandora for family picnics?

[aastra]

I think we can all agree downtown's suitability for family picnics has been trending down for a while. That's why you don't see many family picnics downtown anymore.

[aastra]

Remember that unfortunate marketing slogan from a few years back? "Downtown: It's no picnic."

[aastra]

^It turned out to be rather prophetic.

[LJ]

No, it wasn't picnic in the park, it was Panic in Needle Park, close but not quite the same.  A lot of the same letters leading to the confusion.

[Victoria Watcher]

The District of Saanich and Victoria Native Friendship Centre say they feel blindsided by a B.C. Housing decision to deny funding for the expansion of shelter services at the Regina Avenue facility.

 

“It feels exceedingly frustrating and disappointing,” said Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock. “I find it obtuse that we would be told on the one hand that local governments need to do everything they can to support the creation of housing and the creation of shelter spaces for folks in our community and then on the other hand, be denied support through funding for the expansion of shelter space.”

 

Saanich staff had worked with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre since last fall on the plan to double the shelter capacity of the centre, and Murdock said they were led to believe provincial funding would be made available.

 

The centre offers 25 shelter beds and as many as 33 in extreme weather.

 

Ron Rice, executive director of the centre, said the decision caused a “great deal of confusion,” noting the plan to double capacity required $394,000, a 23% increase in the budget.

 

“When we started this conversation, B.C. Housing pulled us aside at an event and said: ‘Should we earmark some money for the spring?’ ” he said.

 

 

https://www.timescol...affled-10824070

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 June 2025 - 12:59 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The centre offers 25 shelter beds and as many as 33 in extreme weather.

 

Ron Rice, executive director of the centre, said the decision caused a “great deal of confusion,” noting the plan to double capacity required $394,000, a 23% increase in the budget.

 

 

So if we consider that that entire $394,000 was just for a full year and it only went to staffing and food.  And is was to take an extra 25 people.

 

Then that's $15,760 per person.  Or $1,313 per person per month.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 June 2025 - 01:01 AM.

[lanforod]

Which seems really cheap considering what the cost of it is right now for just 25 beds! Rough math tells me about 2 million, right?

[Victoria Watcher]

Which seems really cheap considering what the cost of it is right now for just 25 beds! Rough math tells me about 2 million, right?

 

Well, I think that's the overall centre budget, not just the shelter function(s).

[lanforod]

I'd hope so, but either way, you're either increasing 25 beds at far too high a cost relative to the centre's budget, or if that is just for the existing shelter portion, the budget is way too high already.

[Victoria Watcher]

'Don't need another plan': Downtown Victoria businesses demand action on street disorder

 

 

On Thursday, Victoria city council will consider a ­community safety and well-being plan designed to reduce street disorder. Councillors will vote on endorsing the plan and asking city staff to find a way to pay for it all.

 

The plan includes more than 80 recommendations that touch on ­everything from housing to health care and sprucing up downtown.

 

Coun. Dave Thompson, the council liaison for downtown, said the city has heard the pleas of the downtown.

 

“There’s a humanitarian disaster on our streets — and it’s not just about the folks who are experiencing it,” he said. “It’s about the impacts on local residents, on businesses, on city services and our budget.”

 

Thompson said the mayor has mentioned there may be things in the well-being and safety plan that can be implemented immediately.

 

“We do need to get started quickly,” he said. “We can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen.”

 

Bray said the DVBA isn’t dismissing the city’s latest plan as just another study. But members need to see “significant change” in the next six months to have confidence in the rest of the plan, he said.

 

“If everything’s going to happen 18 months from now, then businesses whose leases come up may say, ‘I haven’t seen any change, so this is like every other report,’ ” he said.

 

“Whereas if they see the street disorder significantly diminish, the encampments significantly diminish, that the sidewalk bylaw is strictly enforced, then that will give our businesses confidence.”

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...sorder-10830067

[Mike K.]

It’s more of the same gentle glove approach, that considers the people who are causing the disorder in the city the victims of a system that doesn’t adequately account for their benefits to society.

We will struggle to stop the erosion of the city centre if the architects of its decline are in control of its turnaround.

We’ve been enabling for 15 years, and the results are clear. But until the experts admit the mistakes, I just cannot see progress being made to turn the tide, try as private industry and private residents might.