Quote:
Originally Posted by roryn1
It is like the wild west with crazies out there and progressively getting worse. Just last week a neighbor in our apartment left her car running while going to run up and grab something, forgot to re-lock it but took the keys, and someone was apparently watching, stole their car (key wasn’t even inside but it was keyless so I guess it stayed on and could drive??), and they went on a little cruise before dropping it off at the front of The Lighthouse. The lack of rule downtown means it’s a rule less free range of actions - usually going to jail is a treat since it’s in better shape than our social assistance and social housing. Very unfortunate.
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I'll add my anecdotal two-cents to this. I live on 5th ave as well, in Saskatoon Tower. Tenants here have a Facebook group, and over the past few months there have been almost daily reports of petty crimes occurring in the building and the parkade. For example, yesterday a neighbor posted that they'd kicked a couple of people smoking meth out of our front lobby at 7am. Thefts from vehicles are common, there are ongoing issues with vandalism and crime in common areas, including the theft of mail and laundry, and even with 24-hour security vagrancy has been such an issue that we can't even have a couch in our front lobby anymore.
Now, my political interests are probably more or less aligned with djforsberg's on this issue (as they've expressed them here, at least). I see all of this disorder as the result of systemic problems caused by conservative approaches to social welfare. Judging from the Facebook page of my neighbors, I suspect that most are sympathetic to that view as well. However, harping dogmatically about historical government malaise becomes redundant and doesn't address the day-to-day frustrations caused by, say, having someone do $5000 worth of damage to your car. Tenants here are doing things like organizing meetings with the police, communicating with management, and building networks via social media to help boost their/our collective sense of safety. That kind of community-building is needed right now. Simply saying "this is a systemic, government-caused issue" is not helpful except in the abstract. If someone steals my laundry, I can absolutely be pissed off at them while still recognizing that their actions took place in a larger social context. It's not about exclusively "blaming the individual" or exclusively "blaming the government" --- these issues can't be reduced to that kind of either/or, and any attempt to do so will ultimately work at cross-purposes to real attempts to improve people's lives. In the end, this type of hair-splitting drives apart people who are probably more or less in agreement about these issues.
Now, I realize that there exists a subforum for political discussions, so I'll bend this to urban development. My neighbors here are all people who have decided to make an investment in our downtown. However, on our Facebook group, it is clear that many people are reaching their breaking point. People here frequently talk about moving out of the downtown because of the crime in this building and our neighborhood. Some are in the process of breaking their leases and moving right now. I've been reflecting on Ken Achs' recent idiotic and hyperbolic ramblings, and although I think he's wrong on most of the issues he discusses in his latest "downtown is dying" screed, it's undeniable that downtown is widely viewed as a place that is in decline. My thought has always been that (in the short-term, say 5-10 years, and alongside comprehensive government- and community-led engagements) our downtown really just needs more people living here, and that half a dozen apartment towers through the core would do more good than things like a new arena or convention centre --- which is not to say that apartments or an arena are mutually exclusive, only that massive, marquee investments like an arena are a limited form of community building. However, when I listen to the views and experiences of my neighbors in this building, I feel skeptical about downtown's future. If people don't want to live here, including people who have been making that investment in the core for years, then how likely is it that those half a dozen towers will appear? I think that COVID has forced the core to a crossroads --- will downtown rebuild and become a more livable place for everyone, or will people in this city continue to look elsewhere, say to the fields flanking the envisioned freeway?
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Beautiful! It's nice to see them use a prime space at the top of the city for a common space. They did a nice job too with the columns and the ceiling.
as “commercial condos” and it looked like a weird hybrid parking lot commercial thing lol. Maybe they have a tenant if it’s not listed anymore.
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