47 replies to this topic

[aastra]

Any guesses? How about August? A city is made up of more than just a number on a census form.

Indeed. How many people use downtown Victoria in an average day? How many tourists are in town on a busy summer weekend?

The following website says 30,000 people commute into downtown each day. How many more come to shop and eat and such?

http://www.vtpi.org/

[aastra]

According to this article, there were 50,000 people down there during the Santa parade! Is that accurate? Seems high to me.

http://www.canada.co...00e426&k=29708#

[renthefinn]

Victoria's infrastructure caters not only to its residents and businesses. Don't forget the nearly four million tourists that visit annually.

For comparison, Paris (pop. 2.2 million) has 42 million tourists and 11.3 business visitors annually.

The question I have for you is what is the actual population of Victoria at this moment, ie: how many human beings are within Victoria's borders right now? Subtract the residents who work outside the City and those on vacation and add tourists and businesspeople etc. Any guesses? How about August? A city is made up of more than just a number on a census form.

What I'm getting at is 80,000 is a gross underestimation.

11.3 business visitors annually? I say we stop trying to follow a Paris example if we have to limit ourselves to 11.3 people per year! How can that be economically viable?









haha, jk

[Ms. B. Havin]

From Frances Bula (Vancouver Sun writer), printed in today's T-C:

B.C. plans facility to house mentally ill people
Move intended to help in most difficult cases

Frances Bula,
Canwest News Service

Published: Monday, February 04, 2008

The provincial government will create a new type of facility by summer to house the most difficult and violent mentally ill people from across B.C., Health Minister George Abbott said yesterday.

Abbott said such a facility would fill an existing gap for the mentally ill, many of whom are also drug-addicted, and help reduce the load on police.
Vancouver police have produced a startling report, to be released today, that documents the fact that officers spend from a third to half of their time dealing with mentally ill people. In Victoria, an estimated 25 to 40 per cent of the people living on the streets have severe mental illness.

(...)

Abbott's comments come just days after the Vancouver Island Health Authority unveiled details of its first Assertive Community Treatment team to ease the homeless crisis in Victoria. The outreach team, made up of police officers, mental-health and addictions workers and medical professionals, will help homeless people suffering from mental illness and addiction get the housing, addiction services, health care and income support they need.

VIHA has earmarked $3.35 million to fund four teams.

http://www.canada.co...d99d90c&k=96170

[Audrey]

The trouble with pinning a number on the homeless in the city is that it's a difficult thing to define. Are you only counting the people who spend seven nights a week either outdoors or in shelters?

What about the folks who couch surf from place to place, occasionally using the park, but have no address of their own? What about the ones who live in various hotels for as many weeks of the month they can afford? How about the women who--and I'll try to put this delicately--would be sleeping in a doorway if they weren't able to trade their services for a place to shower and sleep?

Who counts as homeless and how the heck are you supposed to count them? You could walk around various crash places and count the sleeping bags, but no one can pretend that's accurate. You could count folks sleeping in the shelters, but what about the ones that don't?

It's a difficult thing, because homelessness is a bit of a spectrum.

[Ms. B. Havin]

From CivicInfoBC, today:

Thursday, February 07, 2008
Victoria Learns From Portland's Success on Homelessness

By City of Victoria

VICTORIA — City of Victoria Staff and Victoria Police are participating in a delegation of community representatives visiting Portland, Oregon to observe first hand the progress they have seen addressing homelessness, chronic offenders and other social challenges. City staff and Police join representatives from the Vancouver Island Health Authority, Cool-Aid Society, the Downtown Victoria Business Association and Our Place Society.

Leading North American cities for their work in addressing the issue of homelessness, Portland is currently in the third year of their 10 year plan to End Homelessness. Similar to the plan set out in the Mayor's Task Force on Breaking the Cycle of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness, the 10 Year Plan is an integrated model where community agencies work together using a "housing first" and support service approach. In the first two years, the Portland Street Count showed a 39% decrease in overall numbers of people who are homeless and sleeping outside.

The delegation will return mid-week after three full days of meetings and site visits to supportive housing complexes, emergency shelters and community courts. A report will be presented to Council and Police Boards outlining the experiences of the agencies in Portland and potential opportunities and strategies that can be considered in Victoria.

For more information on the success seen in Portland, Oregon, visit: www.portlandonline.com/bhcd/index.cfm?c=30140

• View the full text of this press release

http://www.civicinfo...asp?newsid=2568

[Rob Randall]

VICTORIA COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS NOW A NONPROFIT SOCIETY

C-FAX News
Aug 30, 2008

THE GREATER VICTORIA COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS HAS BEEN FORMALLY REGISTERED AS A NON-PROFIT SOCIETY, AND HAS BEGUN HIRING STAFF TO START WORK ON THE PROBLEM.

THE COALITION IS THE RESULT OF THE MAYOR'S TASK FORCE ON HOMELESSNESS THAT REPORTED LAST FALL, RECOMMENDING A REGIONAL APPROACH TO THE ISSUE.

IT HAS NOT CRYSTALLIZED QUICKLY. IN FACT IT'LL BE NEXT MONTH BEFORE THE THREE EMPLOYEES ARE IN PLACE IN PERMANENT OFFICES IN A VANCOUVER ISLAND HEALTH AUTHORITY BUILDING ON PANDORA STREET.

THE FIRST YEAR OPERATING BUDGET HAS BEEN SET AT LESS THAN 500 THOUSAND DOLLARS FUNDED JOINTLY BY V-I-H-A; THE CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT; AND THE UNITED WAY.

THE COALITION'S LEADERSHIP COUNCIL IS PLANNING A MEETING FOR LATE SEPTEMBER TO SET PRIORITIES, WHICH SHOULD GUIDE ITS ACTIVITIES FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS OR MORE.

ONE INSIDER SAYS THE MOST OBVIOUS GAP IN THE STRUCTURE AT THIS POINT IS A LACK OF FIRST NATIONS REPRESENTATION, AND AN EFFORT WILL HAVE TO BE MADE TO INCLUDE THAT GROUP.

IT'S NOT CLEAR YET WHETHER ALAN LOWE PLANS TO REMAIN A CO-CHAIR AFTER HE RETIRES AS MAYOR LATER IN THE FALL.

- fms / ADAM STIRLING

--------------

I understand the biggest hurdle so far is labour. In this job market, finding qualified individuals with experience handling street people is incredibly difficult. In fact, a lot of the hiring is actually poaching--one local organization hires away someone from another organization. Finding someone with a First Nations background is even harder. This has been one of the main causes of the delay. But the hiring is not what worries me, it's the long-term funding. A Provincial election is coming up in a few months. What happens a year or two from now. One governments priority has a tendency to become a future governments pet project.

[Rob Randall]

There is good news coming on the subject of the hard-to-house. This has not been reported in the media yet because the final terms are still being negotiated, but I learned this afternoon that a deal is in the works to provide housing for up to 45 people for up to three years at a location that is well known to you all. These will be for people that are non-threatening but possess mental health issues and who are or are at risk for homelessness. This will also free up 45 beds in other facilities so that people even more troubled can get help.

This is just one of several deals in the works that will be announced. There is an unprecedented level of cooperation between all levels of government, non-profits and private developers that is making it possible.