News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 9.7K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
EarthCam Time-Lapse Documents Rafael Viñoly-Designed New Stanford Hospital Construction
 41K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
Resort Town
 5.5K     0 

IanO said:
Less about 'crime' and more about 'impression'.

Had a nice night out to the ESO (symphony - movie music) last night with a family member who does not regularly come Downtown. Great to see it 80-90% full.

However, would it be too much to ask to have EPS or Peace Officers visibly present pre/post events in key traffic areas in pedways or around Churchill? How about a sweep before shows or even during them?

Concert goers literally had to walk around 2 guys doing meth or something as they walked up the underground pedway/stairs to the Winspear; some with kids. A lady with cart was blocking the elevator completely.

On the way out, we took the Milner exit via their stairwell and good lord it was disgusting. Smelled like urine or worse, garbage and refuse x 20, 30? littered the entire place and burn marks were present on multiple walls. You then exit and the front of the Milner looked like a war zone with broken things, garbage, a guy yelling.

Talk about making an impression. Letter sent.
Click to expand...
I was in the City recently and attended a Winspear concert. Oh my gawd. What IanO describes is no exaggeration. The Winspear is an island with a very unhappy moat around it. The lack of complementary food options nearby also poses a problem. As a result, the Winspear becomes a drive in/out facility without a safe environment that would promote walkability for a pre or post-concert meal.

The elevator issue mentioned by IanO is a huge problem for anybody with mobility issues. That area should be cleaned out and secured before, during and after events.

If I had an ESO membership, I'd be pushing them to relocate out of the core. Or just give the membership up, at this point.
 
Offworld said:
I was in the City recently and attended a Winspear concert. Oh my gawd. What IanO describes is no exaggeration. The Winspear is an island with a very unhappy moat around it. The lack of complementary food options nearby also poses a problem. As a result, the Winspear becomes a drive in/out facility without a safe environment that would promote walkability for a pre or post-concert meal.

The elevator issue mentioned by IanO is a huge problem for anybody with mobility issues. That area should be cleaned out and secured before, during and after events.

If I had an ESO membership, I'd be pushing them to relocate out of the core. Or just give the membership up, at this point.
Click to expand...
I felt similar when they had the Disney symphony in the square in august. Literally 20,000 people come to it, most with kids. And there were multiple people passed out or doing drugs in shelters for the valley line.

EPS are cowards at this point. Bunch of them getting paid 2-3x their already exuberant wages to do those events as OT shifts. Yet they can’t even make the immediate surroundings safe.
 
TAS said:
There are some great eating options within two blocks (a very short walk). I just had a nice lunch at Bianco as one example of several around Rice Howard Way.
Click to expand...
Also Playwright in the Citadel, Oil Lamp and Continental Treat on 97 Street, Rigoletto's on Jasper and Double Greeting on 96 Street. There are plenty of food options nearby for pre and post concerts.
 
One of the biggest issues that could be sorted relatively easily is the removal of the upper doors on exterior LRT stations. While I bet they were added to help control HVAC pressurization or the like in the stations, these have been nothing but problems as they make them more comfortable for non-transit users to do non-transit related activities as they become opaque one temps drop.

Three days ago I walked into this one unaware of 3people smoking a crack pipe right inside the doors and I am right inside where not only were they blocking the free travel path, but their fumes were required to go through if you wanted to proceed.

Disgusting.
IMG_1787.JPG
 
IanO said:
One of the biggest issues that could be sorted relatively easily is the removal of the upper doors on exterior LRT stations. While I bet they were added to help control HVAC pressurization or the like in the stations, these have been nothing but problems as they make them more comfortable for non-transit users to do non-transit related activities as they become opaque one temps drop.

Three days ago I walked into this one unaware of 3people smoking a crack pipe right inside the doors and I am right inside where not only were they blocking the free travel path, but their fumes were required to go through if you wanted to proceed.

Disgusting.
View attachment 622840
Click to expand...

Over the holidays, I met up with my nephew who is 11 months in to a trip around the world with his wife - they live in Vancouver but family is here. So far, they've spent 5 months throughout South America, then part of Africa and now Asia. They finish in April in Europe before coming home again.

I asked him some takeaways from his travels so far. The first thing he mentioned was that we tolerate a lot in Canada/U.S - things that other places do not tolerate and then he specifically referenced public transportation (drugs, cleanliness, safety).
 
That's cool, I'm glad to hear it wasn't an YEG thing, as I'm sure he is horrified to walk down East Hastings in his hometown along with their skytrain network as well.
 
MacLac said:
That's cool, I'm glad to hear it wasn't an YEG thing, as I'm sure he is horrified to walk down East Hastings in his hometown along with their skytrain network as well.
Click to expand...
All that said, they still rank Canada on top of the list for places to live - except for maybe New Zealand because it's a lot like British Columbia in terms of the environment.

They are likely to move to Alberta to start their family as well because they don't want to have a $10,000/month mortgage.
 
^My experience is that in winter disorder and open drug use is spread across all of Downtown Vancouver. It was worse than I've seen during the summer months and worse than Edmonton. They have cops around in vehicles but they rarely intervene.

Transit is better simply because they have dedicated police and turnstiles. But the entrances to the stations still have people laying around sometimes.

The main thing is Downtown Vancouver has so many people around the disorder doesn't take over the narrative. 100,000 live there and it's a major place for tourism and shopping. It's like an Oilers game day every day x10.
 
Barnaby said:
Vancouver does a better job of keeping their transit safe and clean than Edmonton. Also, Hastings is BAD and so much worse than anything in Edmonton, but it seems to be concentrated there.
Click to expand...

Hastings is so BAD that it does make other streets in Vancouver where there are some problems seem insignificant.
 
TAS said:
Over the holidays, I met up with my nephew who is 11 months in to a trip around the world with his wife - they live in Vancouver but family is here. So far, they've spent 5 months throughout South America, then part of Africa and now Asia. They finish in April in Europe before coming home again.

I asked him some takeaways from his travels so far. The first thing he mentioned was that we tolerate a lot in Canada/U.S - things that other places do not tolerate and then he specifically referenced public transportation (drugs, cleanliness, safety).
Click to expand...
I honestly still can’t get my head around how in a city, there’s only a handful of multi billion dollar standalone projects/pieces of infrastructure. And only a few hundreds “blocks” of sidewalk that regularly see 5000+ daily walkers.

The LRT entrances check those boxes. Imagine if this was a rec centre, the UofA, the airport, a henday off ramp. Like how do we tolerate wasting so much investment and endangering so many people.

I don’t want Hastings or encampments, etc. but I also don’t get how the most busy and high value items in our city aren’t protected. People doing crack in an empty parking lot vs a LRT entrance isn’t the same “cost”. We need transit police asap, 0 tolerance for disorder, and a PR strategy once solutions are found.

Multiple of my friends now drive/bike to stantec instead of LRT due to disorder (new within the last year…so not a 2021 issue. And 2024 issue).
 
IanO said:
One of the biggest issues that could be sorted relatively easily is the removal of the upper doors on exterior LRT stations. While I bet they were added to help control HVAC pressurization or the like in the stations, these have been nothing but problems as they make them more comfortable for non-transit users to do non-transit related activities as they become opaque one temps drop.

Three days ago I walked into this one unaware of 3people smoking a crack pipe right inside the doors and I am right inside where not only were they blocking the free travel path, but their fumes were required to go through if you wanted to proceed.

Disgusting.
View attachment 622840
Click to expand...

Do you report these incidents to TransitWatch?

I shoot them a text every time I see anything like this; people blocking walkways, acting aggressive, sleeping in elevators, any kind of drug use, etc. They always answer right away and say they will send a peace officer. I like being able to text instead of call as it is discrete and you can report someone near you without them knowing.

I don't usually stick around to see if officers actually show up, but my hope is if they have lots of incident reports then they have data to back up a decision to increase patrols, CCTV, etc.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top