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Apparently people are setting up encampments in High Park now.

I noticed this 8 man tent sitting alongside Bloor West at Parkview Gardens.

Also noticed alot more homeless in the area today than I did before.

View attachment 432236
Good. Maybe those not in downtown east will get to experience this blight and push city hall to do something about it. Thank goodness for the Canadian winter, as it's the only semi reliable means to clear the tents out, AFAICT.
 
Check out the responses to this thread. Brutal.

The people are pissed off. I live close to Allan Gardens and the place has gone to hell. There must be three dozen squats there now, with each encampment essentially privatizing public land. Look at parks in downtown Seattle and SF... that's where we're headed if we don't shut this down now.
 
The people are pissed off. I live close to Allan Gardens and the place has gone to hell. There must be three dozen squats there now, with each encampment essentially privatizing public land. Look at parks in downtown Seattle and SF... that's where we're headed if we don't shut this down now.
Wow, lots of angry comments in that thread - has Tory's teflon flaked off?? Perhaps he's a bit more vulnerable than I thought...
 
The people are pissed off. I live close to Allan Gardens and the place has gone to hell. There must be three dozen squats there now, with each encampment essentially privatizing public land. Look at parks in downtown Seattle and SF... that's where we're headed if we don't shut this down now.

When I worked near there last year it was starting to get bad. Whenever I talked about it, I got told I was insensitive and heartless by more than a few SJWs.

You can either evict these people (by force if necessary) or let them stay. If you let them stay they propagate and become rooted. Parks are for families, dogs, etc not encampments. If people want to camp out, they should seek out Crown Land.
 
You can either evict these people (by force if necessary) or let them stay.
The best way is to close the park in the evenings. In London, UK many of the parks are open from 5 am to midnight. If you’re found after midnight you’re removed.



In Halifax, the public gardens are open from 8am to dusk. I’d love to see Allan Gardens looking like Halifax’s public gardens….. with a Victorian-like wall and a public charity to run it well.

 
I assume if they want to clear the Alan Gardens it will happen soon, but only after election day. Can't take the risk of approving that and then something truly awful happens in the process.
It's also certain they won't do it in the winter, as the optics and actual real life impacts there would be horrible, so the window is basically the two or three weeks after the election on October 24. If the tents are there on Remembrance Day, I suspect they will be there at least until April.
 
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I assume if they want to clear the Alan Gardens it will happen soon, but only after election day. Can't take the risk of approving that and then something truly awful happens in the process.
It's also certain they won't do it in the winter, as the optics and actual real life impacts there would be horrible, so the window is basically the two or three weeks after the election on October 24. If the tents are there on Remembrance Day, I suspect they will be there at least until April.

The problem is that Allan Gardens is within walking distance of the following:
  • Seaton House
  • Fred Victor Centre
  • Haven
  • The Works
  • Bond Place Hotel (currently under renovation)
  • Salvation Army - The Gateway
  • Maxwell Meighan Centre
Even if you clear out the park, they will still come back when they believe the homeless shelters are unsafe or find they are full. I worked at 251 Jarvis/200 Dundas Street East in the Condo Management office and every day my security staff were clearing out homeless from the building.

They would use our Dundas Lobby as a makeshift homeless shelter in the winter. The amount of damages caused was insane. In December last year, a homeless person with a screw loose came into the building and opened the fire standpipes in 4 stairwells. They flooded out 4 floors and did considerable damage.
 
The problem is that Allan Gardens is within walking distance of the following:
  • Seaton House
  • Fred Victor Centre
  • Haven
  • The Works
  • Bond Place Hotel (currently under renovation)
  • Salvation Army - The Gateway
  • Maxwell Meighan Centre
Even if you clear out the park, they will still come back when they believe the homeless shelters are unsafe or find they are full. I worked at 251 Jarvis/200 Dundas Street East in the Condo Management office and every day my security staff were clearing out homeless from the building.
Emphasis mine.

Therein lies the problem. The homeless aren't going to be vapourised off the streets, so unless we increase shelter capacity, they're going to have to go somewhere. Unfortunately, they end up in parks.
 
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Emphasis mine.

Therein lies the problem. The homeless aren't going to be vapourised off the streets, so unless we increase shelter capacity, they're going to have to go somewhere. Unfortunately, they end up in parks.
EXACTLY! I doubt many people really want to be camping out (certainly not in winter) or staying in a shelter where one is thrown out all day and the beds are being pushed back close together again.

Of course, 'we' can throw people out of Allen gardens but it is like Whack-a-Mole if no acceptable alternative is offered.
 
EXACTLY! I doubt many people really want to be camping out (certainly not in winter) or staying in a shelter where one is thrown out all day and the beds are being pushed back close together again.

Of course, 'we' can throw people out of Allen gardens but it is like Whack-a-Mole if no acceptable alternative is offered.

I do not recommend bopping the homeless on the head with a large mallet.. 😜
 
I do not recommend bopping the homeless on the head with a large mallet.. 😜
Richard: YOU are the person, about 6 post up this thread, who said "You can either evict these people (by force if necessary) [my emphasis] or let them stay. If you let them stay they propagate and become rooted. Parks are for families, dogs, etc not encampments. If people want to camp out, they should seek out Crown Land."

You may not have intended the use of a large mallet but ....
 
The problem is that Allan Gardens is within walking distance of the following:
  • Seaton House
  • Fred Victor Centre
  • Haven
  • The Works
  • Bond Place Hotel (currently under renovation)
  • Salvation Army - The Gateway
  • Maxwell Meighan Centre
Like bears at the dump in cottage country, they congregate where the food is. Nothing will be done until we see encampments in Craigleigh Gardens, June Rowlands Park, Edwards Gardens and other parks in the wealthy parts of Toronto. But like bears without a dumpster, these parks don’t have the food source and thus don’t attract the squatters.

The fix for Allan Gardens is to close it at night, same as many parks in London, UK and Halifax, NS. Put up a nice wrought iron fence around the park like the main park in Halifax, and patrol at night, see below. Why can’t we have something this nice downtown?

f9eb334c88894854623bc8729b00e00b.jpg


screen-shot-2020-04-20-at-9.17.25-am.png


Heck, can we have a park warden during the day to control things? Thank god for that moat around the Toronto Islands, that paywall and the lack of free food are the only things preventing those parks from becoming a dump.
 
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Like bears at the dump in cottage country, they congregate where the food is. Nothing will be done until we see encampments in Craigleigh Gardens, June Rowlands Park, Edwards Gardens and other parks in the wealthy parts of Toronto. But like bears without a dumpster, these parks don’t have the food source and thus don’t attract the squatters.

The fix for Allan Gardens is to close it at night, same as many parks in London, UK and Halifax, NS. Put up a nice wrought iron fence around the park like the main park in Halifax, and patrol at night, see below. Why can’t we have something this nice downtown?

f9eb334c88894854623bc8729b00e00b.jpg


screen-shot-2020-04-20-at-9.17.25-am.png


Heck, can we have a park warden during the day to control things? Thank god for that moat around the Toronto Islands, that paywall and the lack of free food are the only things preventing those parks from becoming a dump.
Where do you want them to go? Back home? Be honest with us.
 
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Where do you want them to go? Back home? Be honest with us.
There were no encampments in Allan Gardens before Covid temporarily reduced the shelter capacity. Why does Forest Hill and Rosedale get encampment free parks? Go back to wherever they were before. For those that cannot, emergency shelters and affordable/supportive housing is essential, and I want the entire city to carry its share of the load. I would gladly accept a 25% property or provincial tax increase if we could clear the streets, parks, sidewalks and ravines of homeless encampments through a combination of city-wide, and nimby-proof permanent affordable and supportive housing for anyone who needs it, combined with improved law/bylaw enforcement - have you ever seen a TPS officer walking the beat, out of their car or off their bicycle, and not on paid duty? Why do we issue the TPS with shoes?

If you’re a migrant, documented or otherwise, the Federal government that allowed you in should provide your housing (along with any legally obligated sponsors) rather than stressing Toronto’s shelter system.
 
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