Downtown Update

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by urban_planner

Hamilton biggest problem and it has been forever isn't the street people. It's the everyone shits all over downtown and for whatever reason thinks this homelessness problem is strictly a Hamilton issue. Get over it. It's like this everywhere. I'm not living in a town with 1000 people and guess what we have a homeless guy living under a bridge. Norfork County OPP is daily getting calls in Simcoe for homeless people putting up tents where ever they feel like it.

Don't go to the east part of Downtown London. It's much worse than what I've seen Downtown Hamilton.

I'm so sick of hearing it. Get over it, it's never going away.

I really don't understand why Hamiltonians obsess over it and obsesse over being so negative.

There is a North America-wide opioid crisis. There is also a Canada-wide (at least) housing crisis. The "It's everywhere!" argument may be true, and we can debate about which cities have it better or worse, but common problems do not mean that this is not a massive existential threat for downtown Hamilton. It is not a competition. A number of places can be in trouble at the same time.

How many US cities saw a more-or-less simultaneous hollowing out and flight to the suburbs in recent decades?

Cities to this point have more or less been left to fend for themselves on these types of matters. They are worth acknowledging.

All of this said, I can semi-buy the "It's everywhere!" (and thus we can't do much about it on an individual basis) argument. What I can't buy are the denials that this is a massive issue and impediment to the growth of downtown. The tax court has left. Santa has left. Others can leave. There is a big, big, big issue.

[TheHonestMaple]

It is absolutely a major issue, and it really concerns me when some people just brush the issue aside like that. and you're completely right, Santa left, the court left, and how many other businesses have left and we just don't know about it? I'm sure many many have.

Something needs to change. It is not at all reasonable to just say "this is a problem everywhere". I'm sorry but that's just unacceptable. Yes, it's a problem elsewhere too, and the problems there needs to be fixed as well.

I was so happy to hear the government has decided to close the injection sites. That's an extremely positive move that is going to save countless lives and reduce crime in our downtown. Those injection sites are unscientific, progressive nonsense, drug dens and crime centres. You cannot ignore how bad the area around the injection site has been since it opened. From the official government press release: "Near the Hamilton site, reports of violent crime were 195 per cent higher compared to the rest of the city" . I'm so glad common sense seems to be returning to the mainstream. One step at a time.