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Though I certainly agree that the area around shelters is often messy, I think you need to think a bit about why this is so.
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We can't fix the why, we can only address the what. The city should send in its crews to clean up the corner on a weekly basis. If the area is cleaned up it would be a pleasant corner for the shelter users and everyone else.
 
The bike lanes along Shuter are being upgraded with cycle tracks proposed between Bond and River Streets. This will result in a decrease in parking spots, but more robust cycling infrastructure. There's a public drop-in event planned for Tuesday, Jan 21st between 6 and 8 pm at the Regent Park Community Centre, or you can review the plans and submit comments online at toronto.ca/shutercycletrack. I'm looking forward to the upgrades, especially between River and Sherbourne.
 
For what it's worth, Schnitzel Queen is closing partly because the increased rent on the place isn't worth paying whilst having to deal with the local crackheads.

I don't have anything much against crackheads....one of my good friends is a reformed crackhead and I have a bit of a history of hilarity, if you know what I mean (though not with crack), but if the local fauna who contribute nothing to society are partially responsible for people who DO contribute something to society closing up shop, I reckon we have a serious social problem.

Can't bring it up with my city councillor of course, because that particular knob would side with crackheads over restaurants any day of the week going on previous anti-restaurant/gentrification verbalisation on his part.
 
TheKingEast said:
I thought schnitzel queen moved years ago. It's still there?
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haha...it moved to a new location a few years ago. It's just west of Sherbourne, on the south side of Queen. It's closing on Friday, I think it is. Or Saturday is the last day....I don't remember now. Hurry....I think he still has the unfiltered Pilsner Urquell straight from the brewery in Plzen!
 
The proliferation of the homeless in this area has exploded. It was certainly always there, and drug activity was always there, but largely confined to the immediate area of the intersection. I see it spilling across in all directions from Church to Parliament now. It's interesting that while this may be related to the pandemic, it isn't perfectly correlated with the time line. Nothing really changed until late May. It has since accelerated dramatically in June. What happened then? A sudden spike in evictions from rooming houses? I notice that street drugs seem as available as ever despsite the border being shut. I don't think it's simply selling off inventory. The whole supply chain for manufacturing it was here in the City all along.
 
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Jonny5 said:
The proliferation of the homeless in this area has exploded. It was certainly always there, and drug activity was always there, but largely confined to the immediate area of the intersection. I see it spilling across in all directions from Church to Parliament now. It's interesting that while this may be related to the pandemic, it isn't perfectly correlated with the time line. Nothing really changed until late May. It has since accelerated dramatically in June. What happened then? A sudden spike in evictions from rooming houses? I notice that street drugs seem as available as ever despsite the border being shut. I don't think it's simply selling off inventory. The whole supply chain for manufacturing it was here in the City all along.
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There’s a large encampment in Moss Park, while several hotels in the area, including Bond Place and the Econolodge on Jarvis, have been temporarily taken over as shelters of some sort.

Also many of the drop in centres - where many homeless people go during the day - have closed during the pandemic. Same with the local dive bars. There’s nowhere to go.
 
ShonTron said:
Also many of the drop in centres - where many homeless people go during the day - have closed during the pandemic. Same with the local dive bars. There’s nowhere to go.
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Yes, the closure of drop-in centres, coffee shops, libraries and other 'public places' certainly explalns why the homeless (or under-housed) are much more visible these days. It does, however, raise a longer-term issue. Where do we 'expect' shelter-residents to go when they are forced to leave shelters each morning? Unfortunately, people live in shelters for months (or years) and (if shelters really must be closed for most of each day) 'we' probably need to create locations where shelter residents can go during the day, to socialise, to receive support or just to sit down (and use a washroom.)
 
There's some sort of "respite centre" on The Esplanade, just east of Church. It seems to serve street people and the door is guarded by one or two (relaxed) security guards every time I pass by. Is this respite centre something like a day centre?
 
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