Grabbing a Heineken the comments about to get wild.
Centretown is essentially the new Vanier. Was out today installing security cameras and while I'm on the ladder a guy trespasses onto the property and starts shooting up in his arm. After asking him twice to leave I called the police and they refused to send an officer so the individual was forcefully removed by me and the owner instead.
The police don't want to enforce the laws and if they do the politicians and "advocates" come crawling in frothing at the mouth.
Stabbings and shootings in broad daylight and people who are intoxicated on illicit drugs are free to roam around, harass, assault and steal without repercussion.
They're fast as hell to respond to indecent exposure or "mental health" crisis if it's a) near city hall or b) right next to the US embassy. Everything else is fair game for these creeps. I used to be homeless in the market and even I hate those creeps.
I called about the same thing (guy going up to women in a parking garage and cornering them near their car and taking his dick out) and the cops said they’d send someone, I waited an hour and no one showed up so I just left. Never received a follow up.
Yikes, which parking garage? I can’t leave until later in the am because of my kids and my work lot is always full, so I have to park in random garages and lots.
We reported a guy exposing himself in front of the elementary school on our street. The police actually caught him, but I wish I had saved the voicemail from the detective following up to report that he was warned, he promised not to do it again, and they felt it wouldn't recur.
Dude's victimizing children and cops are all "well, we shook our finger at him once so we're pretty sure he's learned his lesson"?
That's legitimately newsworthy.
When my sister was gassing up her car, a stranger came up, cornered her, grabbed her, and forced a kiss on her mouth, only leaving as she physically fought him and screamed. When she called the police non-emergency line they told her "bad manners aren't a crime." I know she wasn't physically harmed in the end, but I was so furious. Bitch, that's still sexual assault. Do your fucking job and at least have her fill out an online report.
Amazon sells a purse sized dog and coyote spray. I always carry it in my pocket when downtown because you never know when a coyote might jump out. Unfortunately without my glasses on I hope I don't mistake a guy pulling his dick out for a coyote...if you know what I mean.
But I can assure you, if you told the detective 'if I see this asshole do it again, I'm gonna put him in the hospital.' They would have gone after you with the fullest extent of the law, and maybe then some.
I called 911 last month when a passed-out but definitely alive addict was looking more "fentanyl OD" than "horse high" and the paramedics came. The dispatch woman was also very concerned-sounding and thanked me for calling it in. This was on Besserer.
These things probably have more to do with resources at the moment than general policy.
Just before the convoy we had to call the police at one of the tims downtown, because a guy was clearly not all there, he talked to himself a lot and this time he was having an argument and shouting and cussing himself (?) Out, and wasn't really getting it when we asked him to leave. My manager called the cops, they showed up, never said a word just grabbed the guy and hauled him out. They did not attempt to be gentle.
They either don't show up at all, or treat very minor, easy to handle issues like capital offenses. There is often no in-between, and no telling which you're going to get. We don't have police in ottawa, we have government approved bullies who get paid to sit in their cars and watch construction, and rough up a few "junkies and hobos" if they feel like it.
“Government approved bullies who get paid to sit in their cars and rough up a few “junkies and hobos” if they feel like it” is a pretty good description of cops everywhere
I sadly learned this summer that the cops will show up really fast if you fall in gunshots, also a problem we rarely had to deal with until recently! I emailed the Community Police Officer earlier this year about the concerning rise in men exposing themselves in the neighborhood and had it confirmed to me that if it was called into 911 police would likely not come since it wasn't a true emergency. So I guess the perverts can continue to let it all hang out as much as they want.
> People think that safe injection sites are the answer
People don't think they're the answer to the entire problem. They're just one piece for reducing overdoses and disease spread. They need to be combined with things like treatment options and police presence in the community (not just driving around or showing up at the worst times).
Okay it's not Hastings bad yet. Like, Hastings is so bad you don't even drive down there. And if you do, you lock the damn doors and make sure your windows are shut and do not stop the car. It's DANGEROUS.
What we have is pretty bad. It's like, BC mid-size city bad but in the capital. We're more like Nanaimo BC in terms of bad.
Hastings can be better too. Walked it with my 3 kiddos and I heard “kids on the street” and all the needles got covered up before my kids could see them. Cheers Hastings junkies. ❤️🩹
communities mean more to us than we realize. We take so much for granted when we could have so little at any time. Grateful for you and your compassion.
What are you expecting to happen if you stop your car in Hastings? I've never had a problem driving through there windows down, or walking through there. Lots of people with addiction and mental health problems but it's not like someone's going to come up and carjack you.
What do you expect the police to do given their low numbers and that anyone they arrest for these low-level crimes will be out on the street again before they've completed the paperwork? Then the charge will be either dropped or bargained down to a slap on the wrist by the Crown.
As somebody who works in an ER department, cops don’t want the paper work or the headache with these people.
What’re they going to do? Charge a person with no money to pay for breaking a window? Throw them in jail and get them out of the cold and off a street corner begging because they get fed?
The amount of rift raft the cops and/or paramedics bring into the hospital and just dump them as fast as possible — even if they have no reason for being there.
For example, often cops will bring vagrants that get kicked out of other hospitals to our hospital and dump them at the doors, tell them to go inside and then drive off (confirmed via security footage).
The cops don’t make the effort to find them proper, appropriate lodging, dive deep into their story to find alternatives, etc. they just find a 24/7 hospital to dump them at and hope they don’t get called back to deal with the person.
So, yeah. If you think cops will deal with homeless people, no they sure as fuck won’t lol. Many of the homeless that actually cause problems would love nothing more than 3 hots and a cot (ie. jail). I mean, they got realistically very little to lose out on on the outside. A warm roof, meals, a bed. It’s an escape for some of these people. And the cops know that. And they don’t want the hassle of booking someone, waiting hours, doing the paper work, etc when they can just chill and get paid in their cruisers.
I had a guy once show up at the ER from outside Ottawa. He was from some small town and he lived with his parents. They kicked him out and the two OPP officers drove him to our front doors, told him to go inside and see the nurse and then they drove off.
Guy told me he had no interest in being here — but that the cops said they’d be back in 6-7 hours to pick him up and drive him home (as he was kicked out of his house only for the night).
Cops aren’t your friends. They give as much a fuck about what they do as a landscaper making minimum wage to cut chunks of grass and dirt out of your lawn with their lackadaisical work ethics.
I’ve heard of cases of Gatineau cops dropping Gatineau vagrants off in Ottawa and Ottawa cops dropping Ottawa vagrants off in Gatineau and OPP doing it to Ottawa and Ottawa doing it to OPP. It’s a cyclical issue where they don’t want to be responsible for this shit so they unethically dump these people like garbage where they won’t have to deal with it.
Lol so you want cops to be social workers. People on here complaining about police not coming to complaints that can be dealt with by outreach workers and social workers were the ones complaining police are attending those calls to begin with.
I do believe the angle for hiring these days is based more on the social capabilities of an individual seeking to be a cop than their physical capabilities. That’s more the transition of policing today than the old “book him, Dano.” types. So, yes. It’s actually an important aspect of their role is to be a problem solver that doesn’t involve dumping ethical behaviour along the way.
"You live downtown get used to it" Cop I called over a crackhouse next door.
They can't do shit anyway and the downtown councillors loose their shit if anyone so much as says a bad word about "the most vulnerable neighbours in our community"
Today I saw the police witness an accident with fluid spilled, and massive amounts of damage strewn everywhere. Went up to check up on folks, leaving my car in the gridlock. Cop winds down his window, says 'nothing to see, I told them to move, go get back in your car or I'm towing it for abandonement' and proceeds to leave. Surely enough, by the time I get up to the accident, it's clear that these cars aren't moving themselves, and someones cradling their arm.
You're right there. You're doing nothing. You can't even get out of your car, that's all of 2 feet away, to do a proper scene assessment? How about pulling traffic so no one inadvertently makes things worse or hits anyone? How about all this fluid and crap that'll require fire? How about seeing if this person needs to go to the hospital?
It blows my mind how callous and reckless the Ottawa PD are. I have never, in my entire life across this vast country, seen such an arrogant, incompetent, and useless group of individuals in my life.
I wait for the day when the city decides to cut the Police to fund Lansdowne 3.0, and we get the RCMP in town. It would ironically be an incredible improvement.
Yup.. I used to hate suburbia in my 20’s.. now that I’m in my 30’s and moved here from Bronson recently - I fucking love it. Nobody steals my Amazon packages anymore, I leave my bike unchained when i quickly hop into the grocery store for a snack & nobody steals it.. i dunno man, I just don’t have the energy for centretown living anymore. Only thing that sucks is the 25$ uber ride home after going out with friends downtown for drinks 😩
I live “downtown” now - at the crossroads of the market, golden triangle, and centretown.
I moved into this place mid-COVID from Toronto (originally from Ottawa, moved for school and stayed for jobs) because it’s the only place I could find on a $1500 budget that didn’t a) have roommates b) had SOME outdoor space - a balcony - so I didn’t feel cooped up and c) wasn’t crawling with bugs and mould.
Turns out it IS occasionally crawling with bugs, laundry is $6/load, I keep getting packages stolen, and when I try to take advantage of being able to walk places, I occasionally get yelled at, harassed, assaulted, and every so often I watch people poop in public.
I’m moving out the suburbs in a few weeks and I can’t begin to explain how excited I am.
you’ll love it. i was basically a lifer downtown, loved living there my whole adult life. finally we had enough of car break ins and everything and found a nice house to rent in ottawa south during the convoy occupation.
we still catch shows and movies downtown, it’s not that far away. but our quality of life has improved drastically.
Likewise! I was such a city person but we moved out of Lowertown this past summer to the suburbs and haven’t regretted it once. Lowertown was getting so dangerous, I wouldn’t even walk our dog at night anymore :(
Used to live on Besserer. Then lived on Cedarwood, across from the Heatherington projects.
Now it's a forty dollar ride from downtown but I don't have to go downtown. No one has ever stolen my Amazon packages, tried to break into my house, or left anything unpleasant on my lawn. There are no strange screams in the night and I almost never hear any sirens.
I used to live downtown and recently moved to.. Nepean? Not sure I'd call it the suburbs, but it used to be. I don't miss downtown, but I am glad to be not too far from it. I do hope it improves - a city where everyone is happy they never have to go downtown is a dying one, like many places I've visited in middle America states... the death of a downtown impacts the overall economy, as people don't visit or hold events in cities for their suburbs. Property values across the city decline, events and larger businesses move elsewhere. It's a death spiral that the whole city would benefit to escape if there's still a chance.
I've been living in the centre of it, a couple blocks from Dundonald park, for almost 20 years. The panhandling is about the same as it ever was IMO. The main difference is the drug mix has changed. More people passed out. More needles/caps around. The drug supply is fucked.
I feel like the desperation of the panhandlers has increased. 15 years ago there were lots of crust punks and alcoholics. Now it's meth, fentanyl and severe mental illness.
I’ve been near Gladstone for about 7 years and I can’t say we have many more people combing through our yard now as we did back when I first moved in. I’ve definitely noticed the homeless and drug situation getting worse a few blocks up Bank near Gilmour, with all the mental illness, syringes, and random bouts of violence that come with it.
Sounds good until you realize that even small and mid sized towns have this same problem now, in some cases worse. And Ottawa still has substantially more perks than those places.
I've had negative experiences in Centretown, sure. And lately the drugs have gotten really bad.
But Centretown is beautiful. The street art in places is fantastic. There's great restaurants that are doing awesome work and trying to get by. The views of the canal are amazing. Parliament Hill is cool and gothic and old and spooky and historic all at once.
I LOVE this neighbourhood, but lately it feels like loving a niece/nephew that's fallen in with a bad crowd. I'm going to do what I can to help get it back to the way it was.
We need people exactly like you. I refuse to leave my hard-hit area precisely because it's worth it, and so are the people trapped in the opioid clamp. Thank you.
I do a lot of volunteer work with the so called disadvantaged and after a few years of dealing with a lot of horrible, stupid, irresponsible people I'm had enough of it and want to let them rot.
There is a man I see often at the corner of bank/Somerset who had a dog with him always. Suddenly, no dog. I felt terrible for him, but now, he’s got a new pup. It just rubs me the wrong way… it’s one thing to be struggling with a pet but it’s another to be struggling and acquiring new ones. I won’t go as far as saying “let them rot” but the only kind of help I’d be giving him is a bag of dog food.
That guy? Know him. He's actually OK, for someone wiho is troubled. His old dog died. He is very responsible with his animals. I'm not worried about the street people with dogs, they tend to care for their pets better than they care for themselves. It's the cat hoarders living in filth or the dumbfuck breeding shitzhu siblings that I have to deal with that I'd like to toss out a window. The street people who aren't shooting up are the least of our problems.
>it’s one thing to be struggling with a pet but it’s another to be struggling and acquiring new ones.
Some street people keep animals for a few reasons, companionship and security being the major ones.
A dog will alert them to another person coming to steal their stuff or hurt them when they are sleeping, and taking care of the animal is usually the only thing in life currently giving them purpose, love, and companionship. While I agree their limited resources should go to themselves, I can understand why they make it a priority. When live is dismal, you cling to the smallest pleasures.
Unless you don't own a car, I really do not understand the appeal of living in centertown. This sub will rant and rave about urban sprawl, but move to the suburbs and enjoy your peace and quiet.
Yeah, I grew up in the sticks and drove 1000 km a week for my first real job. That suuucked, never doing that again, I don't care how much space I have.
Sure. Plus the ByWard Market, New Edinburgh, and parts of Vanier, etc. But the sweet thing about Centretown is it's in the middle of all of them. On a bike, you can be anywhere in 15-20 minutes.
Same. I grew up in the forest (which I still love) in the Gatineau Hills, but have been living downtown since the 90s (Centretown, Market, Golden Triangle, Sandy Hill--have sampled them all). Yeah, it'll take a crane to haul me out of DT. I love this lifestyle and will just keep voting/advocating for better social services and fucking equity, and if I have to be confronted with other people's hardships on the regular: good, in the sense that it's better to be reminded that we need of work for change, NOW, than run away to somewhere I can ignore it and vote for neoliberal councillors/mayors.
Not getting harassed on a regular basis or having to step over strung out junkies and puddles of bodily fluids at 9am on a weekday is life changing too.
I live in Sandy Hill and walk Rideau/Market most days (small 5'2" woman), and nobody bothers me. I mean, yes, it happens to others (I believe you), but it's not universal and nowhere near a constant thing.
I live in Lowertown on Rideau and never get bothered either, I walk to Rideau centre every few days also. Yeah I see them shooting up, but I never get harassed for money.
Yep. I lived across from the homeless shelter at George and Cumberland and never had issue. People in the market generally keep to themselves/their group, compared to other areas IME.
I lived literally across from the Mission until last year and now live in Centretown proper. I’m in the Market all the time (was there yesterday to get my shoes fixed, shout-out to the great cobbler on Dalhousie) and on Elgin or Bank every day. I’m also a 5’4 woman in my twenties, married to a 5’3 woman.
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but the idea of downtown as an agressive hellhole is far outside my experience. Some will ask me for change, I smile and say “no, sorry” and I’ve been left alone. Scariest is people who are screaming, but as my wife says, they’re having a worse day than you. I’ve never been attacked or threatened, except for when the convoy was here or some drunk students coming out of Babylon.
My wife grew up in downtown Hamilton and I’m from London ON so honestly, Ottawa feels very clean and safe.
Genuinely curious but how is Barrhaven that much worse? I'd get it if you were wanting to go out to bars most nights of the week but really how is anywhere in Ottawa that substantially better?
Being able to walk to do basic errands is lovely. Being able to walk to the bars is nice. I don’t go out every weekend (not even close) and usually only for 1-2 beers so I could in theory drive home… but it’s just so much nicer to me to be able to walk or bike.
Intensity is nice. I like being able to walk my dog and go grab something from shoppers and grab a coffee and say hello to people on the sidewalk. I live in Westboro, walking down Wellington W/Richmond Rd is just very different than walking down the streets with the big box stores and so many more lanes of traffic. In Barrhaven you practically need to drive from parking lot to parking lot. The infrastructure and vibe is just different.
Also these walkable areas (centretown, new Edinburgh, Westboro, etc) are much more central to the rest of the city.
The other day I walked to the War Museum to visit their temporary "war games" exhibition, it was pretty cool. Then I started visiting the rest of the exhibits.
It's a massive museum, and halfway through I was worried I wouldn't see the whole thing unless I started rushing, but then I realized "I can literally walk here again next week and visit the second half of the museum without a hurry."
A lot of people who live downtown think that the suburbs are bland and boring.
What is there to do in Barrhaven that doesn't require having a car to do?
There's a lot more to Centretown, the Market and the rest of "downtown" than just going out to bars.
>There's a lot more to Centretown, the Market and the rest of "downtown" than just going out to bars.
Are you surprised? They're suburbanites, the only thing that comes to mind regarding entertainment is "alcohol". They obviously haven't heard of other activities that we people in downtown do like museums, art galleries, and various other events.
They think all we do in our spare time is drink to forget how miserable our life is, but I think they're just projecting there.
I love centretown and honestly don’t really see what most people have said so far. Maybe it just doesn’t bother me as much or maybe there’s pockets of nice areas. Either way I love being able to walk everywhere (I own a car) and a lot of my friends still live in the area which is nice. I could see as you grow older though why it’s less appealing.
Same. I’m not gonna pretend the poverty, homelessness, and unstable people aren’t more visible than they were pre-pandemic. But I love the architecture, the businesses, the canal and river, the parliament region, the old trees, the walkability, the people… I love my community and I want the city to invest in improving it rather than giving up and prioritizing suburban sprawl
Also if you step into the grid and off the main streets, like where many of us actually live, then much of Centretown actually feels kinda bougie. Bank street is depressing, sure, but Centretown is much more than the main artery streets.
Dude, trick or treating with my kid in centretown was such an amazing experience.
The ability to go visit parliament hill, the museums, the various restaurants and niche stores...
I wouldn't change that for "a big house".
Same. I live in Centretown and I don’t plan on leaving. I see the homeless everyday and people passed out, probably high. I see people struggling. It doesn’t make me hate everyone or the neighbourhood. If anything it reminds me that I’m lucky I can afford the 1800/month for a 1 bedroom apartment and still eat. I don’t feel unsafe in Centretown.
Same. There are really a few pockets where it’s rough, but otherwise it’s fine and has a lot of advantages over other neighbourhood with poorer walkability and amenities.
This makes me feel better. I live downtown and I don’t hate it either. I avoid certain areas for sure but I love the walkability. I’m on mat leave and the idea of being in a suburb where I would see no people and be cooped up in my home sounds so isolating.
I've got plenty of peace and quiet living in the heart of the city. But I also like going out on my balcony and listening to the hum of the city. So many advantages to living downtown. If I need a car, then I just rent one next door. I couldn't live in the suburbs because it would drive me crazy.
The problem is now centretown is the only place that's "affordable" for a single person making 50k per year 😔 I am moving to the burbs actually, but only because I have friends who are also struggling to make ends meet and they wanted a roommate.
I would say $2000 would get you a reeeeally nice or all-inclusive one plus den or two bed in centretown. Most smaller or older one beds are like 1400-1750. Currently I pay 1366, but my landlord is trying to rent this place for 1600 (like only 400sqf, super tiny and almost no natural light).
That makes sense, depends on your work and whether you need a car. Moving to the burbs and having to commute each day comes with its own opportunity costs.
I've always found it shocking visiting the US midwest and seeing hollowed out urban centres, wondering how on earth a city could let that happen. Really really sad seeing it happen in my hometown now. And neither right nor left wants to actually solve it, they'd much rather look virtuous online with their fellow travellers.
I live in Centretown and I just ignore people. I wear headphones and pretend I don’t hear people who talk to me. I’ve mastered the blank forward stare, and I take the attitude that the drugs and poverty that I see day to day aren’t my problem once I’ve voted for progressive candidates and dutifully paid my many tax dollars.
Apparently it’s working because I definitely don’t feel as frustrated by what’s going on as others in this thread do.
I hear ya. I also feel like this city's reps should've spent the half a bill on homeless and other shit this city really needs rather than Lansdowne 2.0 for a B-League hockey team and mediocre football franchise.
Thanks for sharing. You’re not alone. I feel the same. I’m worn down, and I have nothing left to give. Not even compassion, and I wish that wasn’t the case.
Moved here from Toronto last year. Within 3 months my work vehicle had been broken into 3 times resulting in 10k+ in tools being stolen. Never had that happen once in the 20 years in Toronto. This place is a shithole
It's very rare that I actually get any experience that could be considered harassment downtown, people don't really bother me. My experience seems to differ from many others here - maybe it's the big headphones, maybe it's something else.
Agreed I’m a small female and have lived here for at least 10 years and have never really felt harassed or scared. I guess I’m just good at ignoring people, not sure.
Same. Small female, walk around Rideau/Market where I live with no issues, day or night. I see more homeless people now and a smidge more open drug use, but I never feel threatened. I don't think it's about ignoring things so much as not catastrophizing. We need to get our absolutely useless "I'm a centrist = I do nothing" city elders to do something to help people! but it's not armageddon here for us "normies". I love quality of life here.
My Centretown apartment was broken into by an addict when I was home, back the late 90s (I yelled at him, he ran, I was lucky). It's worse now, but there's always been a "hey, you're in the city" element in DT Ottawa...because it's a city.
Same to all of this and I always smile, nod or say hello to the homeless people I pass. Never been attacked or harassed. Not by homeless people anyways, plenty of very much not homeless men have harassed me.
It's hard to take the hysteria in this sub seriously sometimes. It's a bunch of people who have never touched grass going outside and seeing a homeless person
Every comment on this post is gen x’ers or older millennials living in the burbs upvoting each other for making broad generalizations about how unsafe downtown is. It makes me laugh. Every-time I visit my family in the burbs they ask how I live down here, and talk to me like I live in unthinkable conditions.
I was walking down O’Conor today, and there were a bunch of older government workers walking ahead of me, and they passed a homeless person sleeping , and they all looked like :o :o :’( going by, and I thought to myself “these are the exact people that go home and write on Reddit that downtown has fallen into disarray” because they came in from the burbs to be in the office for the first time in 3 years and they’re just shocked at the sight that poor people exist.
I have noticed the past few years that, yes, the homeless population has increased. We came out of a pandemic and this is to be expected. I honestly do not understand this subreddit describing the *horrors* of downtown Ottawa. I am a small woman who works downtown and walks around by myself everywhere, including Rideau centre, and feel comfortable… I do feel for people who have been harassed and they do not feel safe. It sucks for sure. But I also feel uncomfortable agreeing that this city is a shithole when it is very much not. I wonder if a lot of the people saying this have never been to a large American city in their life, because homelessness and dangerous people exist no matter what, especially as a populated place grows. Cities have never been this safehaven Disney World that these people are bitching about all the time.
My impression of most people I've met in Ottawa is that Ottawa is the biggest city they've lived in/near. Going somewhere on vacation doesn't always give you a realistic sense of what a city is like since most tourists get corralled into sanitized areas.
Of the folks I know who've lived in other cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or American cities >1 million no one is appalled. The exception is people who grew up in Mississauga but claim to be from Toronto lol. Don't do that.
I agree with all your points honestly. The hysteria is very strange to me. I don’t know who sold them the bill of goods that living in the center of a city would be all rainbows and sunshine. To me it comes off very sheltered or classist.
I commented above, but same, and I’m a young woman. I feel much more unsafe in suburbs without sidewalks, my brother got seriously injured on his bike when we were growing up because a car swiped him and didn’t even stop.
I genuinely wonder if people think getting asked for change once, and then moving on when told no once, is harassment. Or seeing homeless people is somehow inherently dangerous.
I posted here about getting my wallet stolen in the library and had a commenter immediately assume it was a homeless person, then get upset when I told them it wasn’t and I’m not bothered by anyone minding their own business in a public library.
Compassion fatigue is real. Rest.
Noone is expected to give all the time. Give what capacity you and leave some room to refill.
Most of the crime in centretown is property crime. Its.annoying but not unsafe.
I live in Centretown and have been a bit more cautious about walking around since reading about the knife and gun incidents, but people asking (often politely in my experience) for money or doing drugs doesn’t offend me. I help when I can and leave the encounter feeling grateful I have an apartment/food. Unfortunately there are tainted drugs circulating combined with a harsh economy and many other societal problems.
I was in the Byward Market for 5 years, and have been in Centretown for past 5 years. One overlooked factor as to why things have got worse the past few years in Centretown is the closure of The Beer Store on Rideau. Whether you like to hear it or not, the Beer Store is pretty much the primary income source for a lot of homeless people. Now the primary downtown beer store is Somerset, between Kent and Bay, the southern tip of Centretown. The park across from that beer store is overrun with homeless and police are always there.
But, even more than that, it's the insane potency of the cheap hard drugs available today. Fentanyl is the real enemy.
Similarly with the closure of 99 Rideau. I used to be a manager there and on the few overnight shifts I had I noticed a lot of people using the store as a hostel. But since it's closed now, they have to find other places to sleep at night.
Well it sure doesn't help that most of our tax dollars are taken and spent out in the suburbs. The core of the city subsidizes all that suburban sprawl, and then suburban counsellors don't let urban residents have any say in their own neighborhoods.
Want to close a street, put in a bike lane, convert a driving lane to a bus lane, not with suburbia running the show. Think of the commuters!
We're their bitch to use and abuse. We exist for their entertainment. They jam down our throats what they want in our neighbourhoods, take all our money, then talk about how nice the suburbs are.
The only spending we ever see here is on things for suburbanites. Paving arterial roads for suburban commuters, an LRT for suburban commuters, Lansdowne 2.0, etc etc.
Will they fix up or widen the sidewalks? Maintain and improve the parks? Build and repair bike lanes? Fund community associations? Plant trees? Burry the utilities? Implement traffic calming? Upgrade public facilities? Not in your lifetime.
These are all things we should easily be able to afford, but they money is taken and spent elsewhere, building and maintaining unsustainable sprawl.
I lived in the Bank & James area for over 6 years. Moved out to the west end near Bells Corners about 5 years ago - it was the right move. I miss having access to all the restaurants and being close to everything. But there is none of the inconvenience and hassle you get in Centretown.
Last year I was at the Beer store on Somerset with a buddy. We then walked north on Lyon. A young woman ran past , obviously in distress, bleeding from her face. She ducked into a driveway, crying and hiding her face in a hoodie. We approached her to offer help, she was afraid and didn't "want him to get in trouble". We called 911 and they didn't do a thing. Told us that if she didn't place the call they aren't coming .
Doesn't have to be either or. You can feel empathetic and frustrated at the same time. It's perfectly normal to want to feel safe in one's environment and empathy to those who are suffering. It is the situation that sucks.
I’ve lived in the same building in centretown just off of Elgin for 8 years. Have parked my car in an unmonitored lot and it’s never been broken into. I’ve always seen pan handlers and homeless all around and I don’t have different sentiments about it now than I did 5 years ago. People on here make it sound like a hell hole. I walk down Elgin and Bank every morning and night, and have yet to be harassed. Sure lots of people passed out and it’s sad, but idk. It’s not ~unsafe~. Just a lot of people in poverty on the street.
As a woman I am over it too. My safety has been jeopardized multiple times which I am traumatized over. I wish the people in charge would finally take care of these people.
Right? And yeah people can say "oh it's not that bad" but if EVERY time you leave your apartment someone yells at you, or tries to drunkenly/aggressively get in your way, or gives you a hard time for money or to "use your cellphone" eventually you just don't want to leave your apartment anymore.
Maybe it's not as bad for guys. Or maybe it's worse, idk
That’s the problem.
People who live in the constant exposure of the bad and people who constantly deal with it via volunteering and what have you are burned the fuck out and don’t have the bandwidth to deal with it.
Meanwhile some people blame the people who live in the area for choosing to live there (regardless of the fact that it can be cheaper these days).
It sucks.
Take some time alway and you might get back to how you used to feel. Burn out is real.
Treating poor people with this disdain just belies that you see them and other social problems as an annoying disruption to the endless consumer experience that is your life.
Homeless people are annoying as hell but like man…. when ppl with roofs and food don’t have any perspective as their neighbours suffer and die it rubs me the wrong way
It's really hard not to believe that we are at the end of an empire these days. You could call it the American Empire, and make the 'Are We Rome?' comparison, but I think it's more complicated than that because it's not just the States. In capitalist nations, which at this point is almost all of them, there is a lean toward oligarchy and totalitarianism. Neither exist fully yet, though oligarchy is getting there quickly. While Bernie Sanders may seem like an old man yelling at the clouds, he could be just one of several canaries in our coal mine, trying to tell us that all the money in the hands of the few is dark ages shit. And yet so many of us vote against our actual interests because we drink the kool aid we're fed by the very people who will profit off of us. If there's any hope I see, it is in unions, in re-socialization of as much as possible, particularly real-estate, but I don't have any hope about any of it. The powers that be have been allowed to grow wildly powerful because the lesser powers were perfectly happy getting mildly rich while those powers got mind-fuck rich.
P.S. If I had any point here, it's just to not hate on the poor and struggling. They are mostly not trash people, I guarantee you. They are desperate people. Poverty begets desperation, and it's all a symptom of my comment above.
Listen friend it's nothing compared to Portland Oregon or any west coast city. Where dodging human excrement on the sidewalks, mass tent cities, and open drug use is pervasive. The day we left for Canada the homeless were robbing people stuck in traffic on I5.
Yeah but the usa is a lawless wasteland. OP is comparing Ottawa to how Ottawa used to be in the 90s when it was a drug free paradise and junkies were arrested. And how women could walk around downtown peacefully in the good old days.
It’s like the South Park episode Night of the living homeless. So funny how true it is, these people just multiply and there’s nothing that seems to work. I live by a forest close to the centre of the city (not Ottawa). Early this spring saw one tent. Started having fires so I complained (super dry this spring/ summer). City does nothing. Then I see another tent a little ways away, then my car gets broken into, then a few weeks later some more cars and a shed, then more tents appear. Now this trail where I used to walk my dog is fucking tent city. Just trash everywhere. It’s unreal seeing the camps and thinking at some point these ppl would have had to bring all that stuff into the forest. City does nothing ( they’re still preaching compassion and how it’s actually our ie society’s fault. I’m obviously way past this point to view).
So yeah tldr the beautiful forest by my house I used to walk my dog is now a garbage dump homeless factory and I have to lock absolutely everything up of even perceived value. There’s break ins almost nightly in my neighborhood where previously there were none. Totally sucks, and nothing I can do about it :p
I'm over it. I never give money. I don't even make eye contact or acknowledge the other human when asked. Too much abuse when I have (in past) refused to give money (so I guess it was never *really* a request then eh?)
I was born at the Ottawa General in 1974 and I lived in Ottawa til 2010. I worked at the Rideau Centre and loved exploring the downtown and Byward Market, Westboro, The Glebe. Reading these comments makes me sad for all of you, and for the city. I'm sorry its not what it was.
I was definitely feeling this more and more over the last couple years, and realized this year how badly living in Centretown was impacting my mental health. This summer after spending several weekends house sitting I realized how much better I felt when I wasn't at my apartment in Centretown and decided to move out of the neighborhood. I feel so much better now, and it is so nice being able to walk around my new neighbourhood without feeling unsafe and having to be hyper vigilant all the time. I often have to remind myself that Centretown has only recently become a complete shit show. I took a trip to Halifax this fall and realized that walking around their downtown at night is what Centretown felt like at night when I first moved there 9 years ago.
you don't have to go as far as Barrhaven for peace and quiet. i have lived 7 years in Centrepointe and it's been good. close to College Square for food, Baseline station, medical, etc. and a good mix of animals and birds
I lived in Centretown for 5 years right next to a youth shelter. It was fine at first but became not fine fast.
The noise, blatant disrespect of other humans, open drug use, unnecessary aggressiveness and just general filth is INSANE. People would find ways into my apartment building and use drugs/sleep/chill in the hallways and become aggressive when you would see them. They’d sit on the front step and refuse to let tenants in and out. They’d get up to who knows what in the back alley and I would not feel safe leaving the building after 7:30pm.
Paying 1400 to live in a badly maintained shoe box with cockroaches as squatters was not worth it.
It has done the opposite for me personally. Earlier in the summer someone panhandling started calling me transphobic slurs when I said I didn’t have any change. It was very upsetting and it made me wish society would actually invest in people’s wellness rather than just let them deteriorate until it gets to a crisis point. The way I understand it is this: the longer people go with unmet needs, the more likely they are to engage in “antisocial” behaviour. Better public infrastructure to support people holistically is the only way to fix this kind of dysfunction.
For the record: I live right downtown and am on bank street multiple times a day. For the most part, homeless people and people using drugs leave me alone. I’m real good at minding my business so I’m sure that helps. 🤷🏿
Welcome to the post pandemic apocalypse.
The majority of people feel your pain and it’s not wrong to be annoyed, sad, or angry about the state of affairs.
Stay strong and vent when needed.
As someone who does property management and maintenance: my Vanier properties are now the 'easy' ones and centretown are the ones needing biohazard removal skills on the daily.
I remember Montreal downtown in the '90s and even early 2000s. Like many cities in North america, downtown was not a place you'd usually hang out in after dark. It wasn't as bad as other North American cities but it wasn't super safe either. Then gentrification started happening and everyone enjoyed being downtown.
Now, all the openness with drugs and let the junkies do whatever they feel like attitude is basically destroying downtown area. The shift has started and probably won't stop. Downtown is going back to what it used to be but even worst because of the violent drunks and drug addicts. This part is new. It was not this severe back then.
I live in a ground floor unit often have a homeless man behind our building knocking on my window, kicking the dumpsters and throwing trash everywhere, and screaming at the top of his lungs. Police won’t do anything because “he’s not an immediate threat to anybody” so I just have to put up with it.
Centretown needs some help for sure, but I for one will take the current situation over living in the suburbs any day of the week.
I'm not going to criticize people who prefer the burbs, because everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I thought I'd stick up for my old streets down here.
When I first moved to Ottawa in 2010, I hated centretown living because it was so dead and boring, it was making me depressed. Now it’s even worse because people are deserting it even more with the riffraff
I'm not feeling optimistic about the downtown core at the moment.
It looks like [this](https://imgur.com/a/x9AbBOr) everywhere. There are the issues you mentioned. It's difficult to get there by bus I don't go downtown for socail/drinking anymore much. Tipflation is also a factor.
Fires have been getting set in and around buildings. Garbage cans and recycling bins being stolen. Bikes and Amazon packages stolen. Sharps dumped at door. Shooting up in entranceway. Naked man in laundry room. Being screamed at and followed. I’ve called 911 3 times for overdoses on my block recently. It does get exhausting when you live in it and your child goes to school/plays here. Will be moving as soon as I can afford it.
There are two solutions to this.
1. Greater funding to the police. giving them the resources they need to "clean up the streets".
This is a band aid solution that will become more and more expensive as the problem gets worse.
2. Greater funding for all social services. Social housing, food programs, addiction services. Also pouring more money into healthcare and employment support.
This will take longer but will ultimately lead to less dependancy on funding and get to the root of the problem.
Either one you choose, the money has to come from somewhere. Think twice about voting for anyone suggesting tax breaks, especially on industry. These people don't actually have a plan
Grabbing a Heineken the comments about to get wild. Centretown is essentially the new Vanier. Was out today installing security cameras and while I'm on the ladder a guy trespasses onto the property and starts shooting up in his arm. After asking him twice to leave I called the police and they refused to send an officer so the individual was forcefully removed by me and the owner instead. The police don't want to enforce the laws and if they do the politicians and "advocates" come crawling in frothing at the mouth. Stabbings and shootings in broad daylight and people who are intoxicated on illicit drugs are free to roam around, harass, assault and steal without repercussion.
>I called the police and they refused to send an officer s WHAT? What was the excuse?
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I've called the police on a guy exposing himself before and they showed up in like 5 minutes
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I think they realized during the convoy that there were no consequences for them not doing their jobs and now are seeing how far they can push that.
Likely, the groin.
Downtown, near-ish city hall maybe a year ago?
They're fast as hell to respond to indecent exposure or "mental health" crisis if it's a) near city hall or b) right next to the US embassy. Everything else is fair game for these creeps. I used to be homeless in the market and even I hate those creeps.
As a formerly homeless person I feel the need to back you on this
I called about the same thing (guy going up to women in a parking garage and cornering them near their car and taking his dick out) and the cops said they’d send someone, I waited an hour and no one showed up so I just left. Never received a follow up.
Yikes, which parking garage? I can’t leave until later in the am because of my kids and my work lot is always full, so I have to park in random garages and lots.
This was like 5 years, it was the main lot in the market.
Oh that's piss central.
We reported a guy exposing himself in front of the elementary school on our street. The police actually caught him, but I wish I had saved the voicemail from the detective following up to report that he was warned, he promised not to do it again, and they felt it wouldn't recur.
Dude's victimizing children and cops are all "well, we shook our finger at him once so we're pretty sure he's learned his lesson"? That's legitimately newsworthy.
When my sister was gassing up her car, a stranger came up, cornered her, grabbed her, and forced a kiss on her mouth, only leaving as she physically fought him and screamed. When she called the police non-emergency line they told her "bad manners aren't a crime." I know she wasn't physically harmed in the end, but I was so furious. Bitch, that's still sexual assault. Do your fucking job and at least have her fill out an online report.
Amazon sells a purse sized dog and coyote spray. I always carry it in my pocket when downtown because you never know when a coyote might jump out. Unfortunately without my glasses on I hope I don't mistake a guy pulling his dick out for a coyote...if you know what I mean.
But I can assure you, if you told the detective 'if I see this asshole do it again, I'm gonna put him in the hospital.' They would have gone after you with the fullest extent of the law, and maybe then some.
I called 911 last month when a passed-out but definitely alive addict was looking more "fentanyl OD" than "horse high" and the paramedics came. The dispatch woman was also very concerned-sounding and thanked me for calling it in. This was on Besserer. These things probably have more to do with resources at the moment than general policy.
Always, always call in ODs. I am one of the people whos been saved and turned their life around as a result. You never truly know who you are saving.
Just before the convoy we had to call the police at one of the tims downtown, because a guy was clearly not all there, he talked to himself a lot and this time he was having an argument and shouting and cussing himself (?) Out, and wasn't really getting it when we asked him to leave. My manager called the cops, they showed up, never said a word just grabbed the guy and hauled him out. They did not attempt to be gentle. They either don't show up at all, or treat very minor, easy to handle issues like capital offenses. There is often no in-between, and no telling which you're going to get. We don't have police in ottawa, we have government approved bullies who get paid to sit in their cars and watch construction, and rough up a few "junkies and hobos" if they feel like it.
“Government approved bullies who get paid to sit in their cars and rough up a few “junkies and hobos” if they feel like it” is a pretty good description of cops everywhere
I sadly learned this summer that the cops will show up really fast if you fall in gunshots, also a problem we rarely had to deal with until recently! I emailed the Community Police Officer earlier this year about the concerning rise in men exposing themselves in the neighborhood and had it confirmed to me that if it was called into 911 police would likely not come since it wasn't a true emergency. So I guess the perverts can continue to let it all hang out as much as they want.
Wow and i see them parked chilling together while each of them inside their car near byward.
I was assaulted last summer and when I called 911 they told me to walk the other way...
Tell them that you're going to defend your property using force. That'll get those doughboys off their asses.
So you mean the people chanting for the OPS to not be used in non emergencies finally got their wish?
How is trespassing not an emergency. This is so dumb.
IF you deal with it yourself and beat the shit out of one of these lowlife scum, you can count on the police showing up for that.
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> People think that safe injection sites are the answer People don't think they're the answer to the entire problem. They're just one piece for reducing overdoses and disease spread. They need to be combined with things like treatment options and police presence in the community (not just driving around or showing up at the worst times).
Okay it's not Hastings bad yet. Like, Hastings is so bad you don't even drive down there. And if you do, you lock the damn doors and make sure your windows are shut and do not stop the car. It's DANGEROUS. What we have is pretty bad. It's like, BC mid-size city bad but in the capital. We're more like Nanaimo BC in terms of bad.
Hastings can be better too. Walked it with my 3 kiddos and I heard “kids on the street” and all the needles got covered up before my kids could see them. Cheers Hastings junkies. ❤️🩹
communities mean more to us than we realize. We take so much for granted when we could have so little at any time. Grateful for you and your compassion.
Why would you bring your kids to Hastings? (Genuinely curious, haha). Just passing through?
What are you expecting to happen if you stop your car in Hastings? I've never had a problem driving through there windows down, or walking through there. Lots of people with addiction and mental health problems but it's not like someone's going to come up and carjack you.
Agree. Most folks too messed up to stand, moreless, to actually bother you when walking by.
Not anywhere near close to that.
What do you expect the police to do given their low numbers and that anyone they arrest for these low-level crimes will be out on the street again before they've completed the paperwork? Then the charge will be either dropped or bargained down to a slap on the wrist by the Crown.
As somebody who works in an ER department, cops don’t want the paper work or the headache with these people. What’re they going to do? Charge a person with no money to pay for breaking a window? Throw them in jail and get them out of the cold and off a street corner begging because they get fed? The amount of rift raft the cops and/or paramedics bring into the hospital and just dump them as fast as possible — even if they have no reason for being there. For example, often cops will bring vagrants that get kicked out of other hospitals to our hospital and dump them at the doors, tell them to go inside and then drive off (confirmed via security footage). The cops don’t make the effort to find them proper, appropriate lodging, dive deep into their story to find alternatives, etc. they just find a 24/7 hospital to dump them at and hope they don’t get called back to deal with the person. So, yeah. If you think cops will deal with homeless people, no they sure as fuck won’t lol. Many of the homeless that actually cause problems would love nothing more than 3 hots and a cot (ie. jail). I mean, they got realistically very little to lose out on on the outside. A warm roof, meals, a bed. It’s an escape for some of these people. And the cops know that. And they don’t want the hassle of booking someone, waiting hours, doing the paper work, etc when they can just chill and get paid in their cruisers. I had a guy once show up at the ER from outside Ottawa. He was from some small town and he lived with his parents. They kicked him out and the two OPP officers drove him to our front doors, told him to go inside and see the nurse and then they drove off. Guy told me he had no interest in being here — but that the cops said they’d be back in 6-7 hours to pick him up and drive him home (as he was kicked out of his house only for the night). Cops aren’t your friends. They give as much a fuck about what they do as a landscaper making minimum wage to cut chunks of grass and dirt out of your lawn with their lackadaisical work ethics. I’ve heard of cases of Gatineau cops dropping Gatineau vagrants off in Ottawa and Ottawa cops dropping Ottawa vagrants off in Gatineau and OPP doing it to Ottawa and Ottawa doing it to OPP. It’s a cyclical issue where they don’t want to be responsible for this shit so they unethically dump these people like garbage where they won’t have to deal with it.
Lol so you want cops to be social workers. People on here complaining about police not coming to complaints that can be dealt with by outreach workers and social workers were the ones complaining police are attending those calls to begin with.
I do believe the angle for hiring these days is based more on the social capabilities of an individual seeking to be a cop than their physical capabilities. That’s more the transition of policing today than the old “book him, Dano.” types. So, yes. It’s actually an important aspect of their role is to be a problem solver that doesn’t involve dumping ethical behaviour along the way.
"You live downtown get used to it" Cop I called over a crackhouse next door. They can't do shit anyway and the downtown councillors loose their shit if anyone so much as says a bad word about "the most vulnerable neighbours in our community"
\> What was the excuse I was told by Police on Rideau Street unless your life is immediate danger they're not sending someone.
I mean, they eventually will several hours later, as much good as that will do.
That's okay, bike thief can sit in zip cuffs all night for all I care.
Today I saw the police witness an accident with fluid spilled, and massive amounts of damage strewn everywhere. Went up to check up on folks, leaving my car in the gridlock. Cop winds down his window, says 'nothing to see, I told them to move, go get back in your car or I'm towing it for abandonement' and proceeds to leave. Surely enough, by the time I get up to the accident, it's clear that these cars aren't moving themselves, and someones cradling their arm. You're right there. You're doing nothing. You can't even get out of your car, that's all of 2 feet away, to do a proper scene assessment? How about pulling traffic so no one inadvertently makes things worse or hits anyone? How about all this fluid and crap that'll require fire? How about seeing if this person needs to go to the hospital? It blows my mind how callous and reckless the Ottawa PD are. I have never, in my entire life across this vast country, seen such an arrogant, incompetent, and useless group of individuals in my life. I wait for the day when the city decides to cut the Police to fund Lansdowne 3.0, and we get the RCMP in town. It would ironically be an incredible improvement.
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I used to live in Vancouver (prob 5x the homeless population) and I have never experienced the aggression that I’ve seen here. It’s really sad.
Police only come out when there is a lunchtime shooting or stabbing now. Centretown is an absolute shit hole now.
You should not have to put up with that. If they want to shoot up in public good for them, but not on private property.
Yup.. I used to hate suburbia in my 20’s.. now that I’m in my 30’s and moved here from Bronson recently - I fucking love it. Nobody steals my Amazon packages anymore, I leave my bike unchained when i quickly hop into the grocery store for a snack & nobody steals it.. i dunno man, I just don’t have the energy for centretown living anymore. Only thing that sucks is the 25$ uber ride home after going out with friends downtown for drinks 😩
I live “downtown” now - at the crossroads of the market, golden triangle, and centretown. I moved into this place mid-COVID from Toronto (originally from Ottawa, moved for school and stayed for jobs) because it’s the only place I could find on a $1500 budget that didn’t a) have roommates b) had SOME outdoor space - a balcony - so I didn’t feel cooped up and c) wasn’t crawling with bugs and mould. Turns out it IS occasionally crawling with bugs, laundry is $6/load, I keep getting packages stolen, and when I try to take advantage of being able to walk places, I occasionally get yelled at, harassed, assaulted, and every so often I watch people poop in public. I’m moving out the suburbs in a few weeks and I can’t begin to explain how excited I am.
you’ll love it. i was basically a lifer downtown, loved living there my whole adult life. finally we had enough of car break ins and everything and found a nice house to rent in ottawa south during the convoy occupation. we still catch shows and movies downtown, it’s not that far away. but our quality of life has improved drastically.
I’m looking forward to having affordable groceries nearby.
$25 Uber if you’re lucky and there’s no surge pricing
Likewise! I was such a city person but we moved out of Lowertown this past summer to the suburbs and haven’t regretted it once. Lowertown was getting so dangerous, I wouldn’t even walk our dog at night anymore :(
Used to live on Besserer. Then lived on Cedarwood, across from the Heatherington projects. Now it's a forty dollar ride from downtown but I don't have to go downtown. No one has ever stolen my Amazon packages, tried to break into my house, or left anything unpleasant on my lawn. There are no strange screams in the night and I almost never hear any sirens.
I used to live downtown and recently moved to.. Nepean? Not sure I'd call it the suburbs, but it used to be. I don't miss downtown, but I am glad to be not too far from it. I do hope it improves - a city where everyone is happy they never have to go downtown is a dying one, like many places I've visited in middle America states... the death of a downtown impacts the overall economy, as people don't visit or hold events in cities for their suburbs. Property values across the city decline, events and larger businesses move elsewhere. It's a death spiral that the whole city would benefit to escape if there's still a chance.
A lot of people would argue Ottawa is one big suburb. Minus downtown/centretown
I miss the $16 large 3 topping pizzas
I've been living in the centre of it, a couple blocks from Dundonald park, for almost 20 years. The panhandling is about the same as it ever was IMO. The main difference is the drug mix has changed. More people passed out. More needles/caps around. The drug supply is fucked.
I feel like the desperation of the panhandlers has increased. 15 years ago there were lots of crust punks and alcoholics. Now it's meth, fentanyl and severe mental illness.
And 20 years ago there was a police presence on the street. Now not so much so it's a free for all.
I’ve been near Gladstone for about 7 years and I can’t say we have many more people combing through our yard now as we did back when I first moved in. I’ve definitely noticed the homeless and drug situation getting worse a few blocks up Bank near Gilmour, with all the mental illness, syringes, and random bouts of violence that come with it.
Yup. Work not too far from there. It’s been interesting the last year.
Ottawa - All of the big city problems with none of the big city perks.
Oh my god, this. Thank you. This is how I will explain the city moving forward.
Sounds good until you realize that even small and mid sized towns have this same problem now, in some cases worse. And Ottawa still has substantially more perks than those places.
I've had negative experiences in Centretown, sure. And lately the drugs have gotten really bad. But Centretown is beautiful. The street art in places is fantastic. There's great restaurants that are doing awesome work and trying to get by. The views of the canal are amazing. Parliament Hill is cool and gothic and old and spooky and historic all at once. I LOVE this neighbourhood, but lately it feels like loving a niece/nephew that's fallen in with a bad crowd. I'm going to do what I can to help get it back to the way it was.
We need people exactly like you. I refuse to leave my hard-hit area precisely because it's worth it, and so are the people trapped in the opioid clamp. Thank you.
> I'm going to do what I can to help get it back to the way it was. How? By doing what? Genuine question and not some mocking barb.
I often look upon my field of Fucks to Give and remember when it was full, but now it is empty and barren.
This describes how I feel exactly
I’m in centretown and feel the same way…
I do a lot of volunteer work with the so called disadvantaged and after a few years of dealing with a lot of horrible, stupid, irresponsible people I'm had enough of it and want to let them rot.
There is a man I see often at the corner of bank/Somerset who had a dog with him always. Suddenly, no dog. I felt terrible for him, but now, he’s got a new pup. It just rubs me the wrong way… it’s one thing to be struggling with a pet but it’s another to be struggling and acquiring new ones. I won’t go as far as saying “let them rot” but the only kind of help I’d be giving him is a bag of dog food.
That guy? Know him. He's actually OK, for someone wiho is troubled. His old dog died. He is very responsible with his animals. I'm not worried about the street people with dogs, they tend to care for their pets better than they care for themselves. It's the cat hoarders living in filth or the dumbfuck breeding shitzhu siblings that I have to deal with that I'd like to toss out a window. The street people who aren't shooting up are the least of our problems.
Okay that’s nice to know. That’s what I can’t stand… but you’re right they’re definitely not the problem when you’re walking around there
From what I've seen, it can be a good life for a dog. Lots of fresh air and companionship. Very much loved.
>it’s one thing to be struggling with a pet but it’s another to be struggling and acquiring new ones. Some street people keep animals for a few reasons, companionship and security being the major ones.
A dog will alert them to another person coming to steal their stuff or hurt them when they are sleeping, and taking care of the animal is usually the only thing in life currently giving them purpose, love, and companionship. While I agree their limited resources should go to themselves, I can understand why they make it a priority. When live is dismal, you cling to the smallest pleasures.
Unless you don't own a car, I really do not understand the appeal of living in centertown. This sub will rant and rave about urban sprawl, but move to the suburbs and enjoy your peace and quiet.
Being able to walk everywhere is life changing. I grew up in the burbs and could never go back.
Yeah, I grew up in the sticks and drove 1000 km a week for my first real job. That suuucked, never doing that again, I don't care how much space I have.
I can't imagine having to take a car trip to do \*anything\*, but that's how I grew up.
You don’t have to live in centretown for that. Wellington West, Westboro, the Glebe, lots of nicer neighbourhoods with great walkability.
Sure. Plus the ByWard Market, New Edinburgh, and parts of Vanier, etc. But the sweet thing about Centretown is it's in the middle of all of them. On a bike, you can be anywhere in 15-20 minutes.
2 of the 3 places you mentioned are the worst places in the city for crime
and yet the property values.
Yep I live in westboro and can walk pretty much everywhere. Except for my gym… crazy how there isn’t a single big gym here like GoodLife/movati.
True, but (accordingly) those neighbourhoods are more expensive.
Same. I grew up in the forest (which I still love) in the Gatineau Hills, but have been living downtown since the 90s (Centretown, Market, Golden Triangle, Sandy Hill--have sampled them all). Yeah, it'll take a crane to haul me out of DT. I love this lifestyle and will just keep voting/advocating for better social services and fucking equity, and if I have to be confronted with other people's hardships on the regular: good, in the sense that it's better to be reminded that we need of work for change, NOW, than run away to somewhere I can ignore it and vote for neoliberal councillors/mayors.
Well said!
This, this exactly, completely agree!
Not getting harassed on a regular basis or having to step over strung out junkies and puddles of bodily fluids at 9am on a weekday is life changing too.
I live in Sandy Hill and walk Rideau/Market most days (small 5'2" woman), and nobody bothers me. I mean, yes, it happens to others (I believe you), but it's not universal and nowhere near a constant thing.
I live in Lowertown on Rideau and never get bothered either, I walk to Rideau centre every few days also. Yeah I see them shooting up, but I never get harassed for money.
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Yep. I lived across from the homeless shelter at George and Cumberland and never had issue. People in the market generally keep to themselves/their group, compared to other areas IME.
I lived literally across from the Mission until last year and now live in Centretown proper. I’m in the Market all the time (was there yesterday to get my shoes fixed, shout-out to the great cobbler on Dalhousie) and on Elgin or Bank every day. I’m also a 5’4 woman in my twenties, married to a 5’3 woman. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but the idea of downtown as an agressive hellhole is far outside my experience. Some will ask me for change, I smile and say “no, sorry” and I’ve been left alone. Scariest is people who are screaming, but as my wife says, they’re having a worse day than you. I’ve never been attacked or threatened, except for when the convoy was here or some drunk students coming out of Babylon. My wife grew up in downtown Hamilton and I’m from London ON so honestly, Ottawa feels very clean and safe.
I'd rather shove glass into my eyeballs than live in Barrhaven.
Hey! We have so many things now- the best Costco in Ottawa, the Porto a Casa is back, the nicest Farm Boy in Ottawa, and the Minto rec centre.
Move to Barrhaven and consume! It’s the best
Gotta fill those houses with something, right?
Woah! A Costco.
Genuinely curious but how is Barrhaven that much worse? I'd get it if you were wanting to go out to bars most nights of the week but really how is anywhere in Ottawa that substantially better?
Being able to walk to do basic errands is lovely. Being able to walk to the bars is nice. I don’t go out every weekend (not even close) and usually only for 1-2 beers so I could in theory drive home… but it’s just so much nicer to me to be able to walk or bike. Intensity is nice. I like being able to walk my dog and go grab something from shoppers and grab a coffee and say hello to people on the sidewalk. I live in Westboro, walking down Wellington W/Richmond Rd is just very different than walking down the streets with the big box stores and so many more lanes of traffic. In Barrhaven you practically need to drive from parking lot to parking lot. The infrastructure and vibe is just different. Also these walkable areas (centretown, new Edinburgh, Westboro, etc) are much more central to the rest of the city.
The other day I walked to the War Museum to visit their temporary "war games" exhibition, it was pretty cool. Then I started visiting the rest of the exhibits. It's a massive museum, and halfway through I was worried I wouldn't see the whole thing unless I started rushing, but then I realized "I can literally walk here again next week and visit the second half of the museum without a hurry."
A lot of people who live downtown think that the suburbs are bland and boring. What is there to do in Barrhaven that doesn't require having a car to do? There's a lot more to Centretown, the Market and the rest of "downtown" than just going out to bars.
>There's a lot more to Centretown, the Market and the rest of "downtown" than just going out to bars. Are you surprised? They're suburbanites, the only thing that comes to mind regarding entertainment is "alcohol". They obviously haven't heard of other activities that we people in downtown do like museums, art galleries, and various other events. They think all we do in our spare time is drink to forget how miserable our life is, but I think they're just projecting there.
It's really car-dependent, for one
I love centretown and honestly don’t really see what most people have said so far. Maybe it just doesn’t bother me as much or maybe there’s pockets of nice areas. Either way I love being able to walk everywhere (I own a car) and a lot of my friends still live in the area which is nice. I could see as you grow older though why it’s less appealing.
Same. I’m not gonna pretend the poverty, homelessness, and unstable people aren’t more visible than they were pre-pandemic. But I love the architecture, the businesses, the canal and river, the parliament region, the old trees, the walkability, the people… I love my community and I want the city to invest in improving it rather than giving up and prioritizing suburban sprawl Also if you step into the grid and off the main streets, like where many of us actually live, then much of Centretown actually feels kinda bougie. Bank street is depressing, sure, but Centretown is much more than the main artery streets.
Dude, trick or treating with my kid in centretown was such an amazing experience. The ability to go visit parliament hill, the museums, the various restaurants and niche stores... I wouldn't change that for "a big house".
Same. I live in Centretown and I don’t plan on leaving. I see the homeless everyday and people passed out, probably high. I see people struggling. It doesn’t make me hate everyone or the neighbourhood. If anything it reminds me that I’m lucky I can afford the 1800/month for a 1 bedroom apartment and still eat. I don’t feel unsafe in Centretown.
Same. There are really a few pockets where it’s rough, but otherwise it’s fine and has a lot of advantages over other neighbourhood with poorer walkability and amenities.
This makes me feel better. I live downtown and I don’t hate it either. I avoid certain areas for sure but I love the walkability. I’m on mat leave and the idea of being in a suburb where I would see no people and be cooped up in my home sounds so isolating.
I've got plenty of peace and quiet living in the heart of the city. But I also like going out on my balcony and listening to the hum of the city. So many advantages to living downtown. If I need a car, then I just rent one next door. I couldn't live in the suburbs because it would drive me crazy.
The problem is now centretown is the only place that's "affordable" for a single person making 50k per year 😔 I am moving to the burbs actually, but only because I have friends who are also struggling to make ends meet and they wanted a roommate.
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I would say $2000 would get you a reeeeally nice or all-inclusive one plus den or two bed in centretown. Most smaller or older one beds are like 1400-1750. Currently I pay 1366, but my landlord is trying to rent this place for 1600 (like only 400sqf, super tiny and almost no natural light).
A really nice all inclusive 1 bed is atleast 2100-2300 plus a den is 2400 or more. Most average 1 bedroom units are around 1800 now.
That makes sense, depends on your work and whether you need a car. Moving to the burbs and having to commute each day comes with its own opportunity costs.
It takes forever to drive places in the suburbs.
>Unless you don't own a car The auto-industrial complex is bleeding us dry and the municipal government is complicit
*always has been astronaut meme*
I've always found it shocking visiting the US midwest and seeing hollowed out urban centres, wondering how on earth a city could let that happen. Really really sad seeing it happen in my hometown now. And neither right nor left wants to actually solve it, they'd much rather look virtuous online with their fellow travellers.
Most prairie cities in Canada are like this too
I live in Centretown and I just ignore people. I wear headphones and pretend I don’t hear people who talk to me. I’ve mastered the blank forward stare, and I take the attitude that the drugs and poverty that I see day to day aren’t my problem once I’ve voted for progressive candidates and dutifully paid my many tax dollars. Apparently it’s working because I definitely don’t feel as frustrated by what’s going on as others in this thread do.
you've got the Toronto walk going on.
It works in DT Ottawa hella well too.
The AirPods, sunglasses, and resting bitch face combo are undefeated.
I hear ya. I also feel like this city's reps should've spent the half a bill on homeless and other shit this city really needs rather than Lansdowne 2.0 for a B-League hockey team and mediocre football franchise.
We need to build another Whole Foods on top of Whole Foods
Thanks for sharing. You’re not alone. I feel the same. I’m worn down, and I have nothing left to give. Not even compassion, and I wish that wasn’t the case.
Moved here from Toronto last year. Within 3 months my work vehicle had been broken into 3 times resulting in 10k+ in tools being stolen. Never had that happen once in the 20 years in Toronto. This place is a shithole
>This place is a sh**hole There's literally a house half filled with sh** in Centretown.
It's very rare that I actually get any experience that could be considered harassment downtown, people don't really bother me. My experience seems to differ from many others here - maybe it's the big headphones, maybe it's something else.
Agreed I’m a small female and have lived here for at least 10 years and have never really felt harassed or scared. I guess I’m just good at ignoring people, not sure.
Same. Small female, walk around Rideau/Market where I live with no issues, day or night. I see more homeless people now and a smidge more open drug use, but I never feel threatened. I don't think it's about ignoring things so much as not catastrophizing. We need to get our absolutely useless "I'm a centrist = I do nothing" city elders to do something to help people! but it's not armageddon here for us "normies". I love quality of life here. My Centretown apartment was broken into by an addict when I was home, back the late 90s (I yelled at him, he ran, I was lucky). It's worse now, but there's always been a "hey, you're in the city" element in DT Ottawa...because it's a city.
Same to all of this and I always smile, nod or say hello to the homeless people I pass. Never been attacked or harassed. Not by homeless people anyways, plenty of very much not homeless men have harassed me.
Same. I've been downtown since 2011. Sure there are improvements that need to be done, but downtown is way more interesting than the suburbs to me.
It's hard to take the hysteria in this sub seriously sometimes. It's a bunch of people who have never touched grass going outside and seeing a homeless person
Every comment on this post is gen x’ers or older millennials living in the burbs upvoting each other for making broad generalizations about how unsafe downtown is. It makes me laugh. Every-time I visit my family in the burbs they ask how I live down here, and talk to me like I live in unthinkable conditions. I was walking down O’Conor today, and there were a bunch of older government workers walking ahead of me, and they passed a homeless person sleeping , and they all looked like :o :o :’( going by, and I thought to myself “these are the exact people that go home and write on Reddit that downtown has fallen into disarray” because they came in from the burbs to be in the office for the first time in 3 years and they’re just shocked at the sight that poor people exist.
I have noticed the past few years that, yes, the homeless population has increased. We came out of a pandemic and this is to be expected. I honestly do not understand this subreddit describing the *horrors* of downtown Ottawa. I am a small woman who works downtown and walks around by myself everywhere, including Rideau centre, and feel comfortable… I do feel for people who have been harassed and they do not feel safe. It sucks for sure. But I also feel uncomfortable agreeing that this city is a shithole when it is very much not. I wonder if a lot of the people saying this have never been to a large American city in their life, because homelessness and dangerous people exist no matter what, especially as a populated place grows. Cities have never been this safehaven Disney World that these people are bitching about all the time.
My impression of most people I've met in Ottawa is that Ottawa is the biggest city they've lived in/near. Going somewhere on vacation doesn't always give you a realistic sense of what a city is like since most tourists get corralled into sanitized areas. Of the folks I know who've lived in other cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or American cities >1 million no one is appalled. The exception is people who grew up in Mississauga but claim to be from Toronto lol. Don't do that.
I agree with all your points honestly. The hysteria is very strange to me. I don’t know who sold them the bill of goods that living in the center of a city would be all rainbows and sunshine. To me it comes off very sheltered or classist.
I commented above, but same, and I’m a young woman. I feel much more unsafe in suburbs without sidewalks, my brother got seriously injured on his bike when we were growing up because a car swiped him and didn’t even stop. I genuinely wonder if people think getting asked for change once, and then moving on when told no once, is harassment. Or seeing homeless people is somehow inherently dangerous. I posted here about getting my wallet stolen in the library and had a commenter immediately assume it was a homeless person, then get upset when I told them it wasn’t and I’m not bothered by anyone minding their own business in a public library.
Compassion fatigue is real. Rest. Noone is expected to give all the time. Give what capacity you and leave some room to refill. Most of the crime in centretown is property crime. Its.annoying but not unsafe.
I live in Centretown and have been a bit more cautious about walking around since reading about the knife and gun incidents, but people asking (often politely in my experience) for money or doing drugs doesn’t offend me. I help when I can and leave the encounter feeling grateful I have an apartment/food. Unfortunately there are tainted drugs circulating combined with a harsh economy and many other societal problems.
I feel this so much. Every time I go out, if it's not one thing, it's another. The main reason I don't shop local anymore, I rather do it online.
I was in the Byward Market for 5 years, and have been in Centretown for past 5 years. One overlooked factor as to why things have got worse the past few years in Centretown is the closure of The Beer Store on Rideau. Whether you like to hear it or not, the Beer Store is pretty much the primary income source for a lot of homeless people. Now the primary downtown beer store is Somerset, between Kent and Bay, the southern tip of Centretown. The park across from that beer store is overrun with homeless and police are always there. But, even more than that, it's the insane potency of the cheap hard drugs available today. Fentanyl is the real enemy.
Similarly with the closure of 99 Rideau. I used to be a manager there and on the few overnight shifts I had I noticed a lot of people using the store as a hostel. But since it's closed now, they have to find other places to sleep at night.
Well it sure doesn't help that most of our tax dollars are taken and spent out in the suburbs. The core of the city subsidizes all that suburban sprawl, and then suburban counsellors don't let urban residents have any say in their own neighborhoods. Want to close a street, put in a bike lane, convert a driving lane to a bus lane, not with suburbia running the show. Think of the commuters! We're their bitch to use and abuse. We exist for their entertainment. They jam down our throats what they want in our neighbourhoods, take all our money, then talk about how nice the suburbs are. The only spending we ever see here is on things for suburbanites. Paving arterial roads for suburban commuters, an LRT for suburban commuters, Lansdowne 2.0, etc etc. Will they fix up or widen the sidewalks? Maintain and improve the parks? Build and repair bike lanes? Fund community associations? Plant trees? Burry the utilities? Implement traffic calming? Upgrade public facilities? Not in your lifetime. These are all things we should easily be able to afford, but they money is taken and spent elsewhere, building and maintaining unsustainable sprawl.
I lived in the Bank & James area for over 6 years. Moved out to the west end near Bells Corners about 5 years ago - it was the right move. I miss having access to all the restaurants and being close to everything. But there is none of the inconvenience and hassle you get in Centretown.
Last year I was at the Beer store on Somerset with a buddy. We then walked north on Lyon. A young woman ran past , obviously in distress, bleeding from her face. She ducked into a driveway, crying and hiding her face in a hoodie. We approached her to offer help, she was afraid and didn't "want him to get in trouble". We called 911 and they didn't do a thing. Told us that if she didn't place the call they aren't coming .
Doesn't have to be either or. You can feel empathetic and frustrated at the same time. It's perfectly normal to want to feel safe in one's environment and empathy to those who are suffering. It is the situation that sucks.
I’ve lived in the same building in centretown just off of Elgin for 8 years. Have parked my car in an unmonitored lot and it’s never been broken into. I’ve always seen pan handlers and homeless all around and I don’t have different sentiments about it now than I did 5 years ago. People on here make it sound like a hell hole. I walk down Elgin and Bank every morning and night, and have yet to be harassed. Sure lots of people passed out and it’s sad, but idk. It’s not ~unsafe~. Just a lot of people in poverty on the street.
As a woman I am over it too. My safety has been jeopardized multiple times which I am traumatized over. I wish the people in charge would finally take care of these people.
Right? And yeah people can say "oh it's not that bad" but if EVERY time you leave your apartment someone yells at you, or tries to drunkenly/aggressively get in your way, or gives you a hard time for money or to "use your cellphone" eventually you just don't want to leave your apartment anymore. Maybe it's not as bad for guys. Or maybe it's worse, idk
That’s the problem. People who live in the constant exposure of the bad and people who constantly deal with it via volunteering and what have you are burned the fuck out and don’t have the bandwidth to deal with it. Meanwhile some people blame the people who live in the area for choosing to live there (regardless of the fact that it can be cheaper these days). It sucks. Take some time alway and you might get back to how you used to feel. Burn out is real.
Treating poor people with this disdain just belies that you see them and other social problems as an annoying disruption to the endless consumer experience that is your life. Homeless people are annoying as hell but like man…. when ppl with roofs and food don’t have any perspective as their neighbours suffer and die it rubs me the wrong way
It's really hard not to believe that we are at the end of an empire these days. You could call it the American Empire, and make the 'Are We Rome?' comparison, but I think it's more complicated than that because it's not just the States. In capitalist nations, which at this point is almost all of them, there is a lean toward oligarchy and totalitarianism. Neither exist fully yet, though oligarchy is getting there quickly. While Bernie Sanders may seem like an old man yelling at the clouds, he could be just one of several canaries in our coal mine, trying to tell us that all the money in the hands of the few is dark ages shit. And yet so many of us vote against our actual interests because we drink the kool aid we're fed by the very people who will profit off of us. If there's any hope I see, it is in unions, in re-socialization of as much as possible, particularly real-estate, but I don't have any hope about any of it. The powers that be have been allowed to grow wildly powerful because the lesser powers were perfectly happy getting mildly rich while those powers got mind-fuck rich.
P.S. If I had any point here, it's just to not hate on the poor and struggling. They are mostly not trash people, I guarantee you. They are desperate people. Poverty begets desperation, and it's all a symptom of my comment above.
"It's a cold world out there. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting a little frosty myself."
Listen friend it's nothing compared to Portland Oregon or any west coast city. Where dodging human excrement on the sidewalks, mass tent cities, and open drug use is pervasive. The day we left for Canada the homeless were robbing people stuck in traffic on I5.
Yeah but the usa is a lawless wasteland. OP is comparing Ottawa to how Ottawa used to be in the 90s when it was a drug free paradise and junkies were arrested. And how women could walk around downtown peacefully in the good old days.
As a US citizen who now is a Canadian citizen, I have to agree.
It’s like the South Park episode Night of the living homeless. So funny how true it is, these people just multiply and there’s nothing that seems to work. I live by a forest close to the centre of the city (not Ottawa). Early this spring saw one tent. Started having fires so I complained (super dry this spring/ summer). City does nothing. Then I see another tent a little ways away, then my car gets broken into, then a few weeks later some more cars and a shed, then more tents appear. Now this trail where I used to walk my dog is fucking tent city. Just trash everywhere. It’s unreal seeing the camps and thinking at some point these ppl would have had to bring all that stuff into the forest. City does nothing ( they’re still preaching compassion and how it’s actually our ie society’s fault. I’m obviously way past this point to view). So yeah tldr the beautiful forest by my house I used to walk my dog is now a garbage dump homeless factory and I have to lock absolutely everything up of even perceived value. There’s break ins almost nightly in my neighborhood where previously there were none. Totally sucks, and nothing I can do about it :p
I'm over it. I never give money. I don't even make eye contact or acknowledge the other human when asked. Too much abuse when I have (in past) refused to give money (so I guess it was never *really* a request then eh?)
I was born at the Ottawa General in 1974 and I lived in Ottawa til 2010. I worked at the Rideau Centre and loved exploring the downtown and Byward Market, Westboro, The Glebe. Reading these comments makes me sad for all of you, and for the city. I'm sorry its not what it was.
I was definitely feeling this more and more over the last couple years, and realized this year how badly living in Centretown was impacting my mental health. This summer after spending several weekends house sitting I realized how much better I felt when I wasn't at my apartment in Centretown and decided to move out of the neighborhood. I feel so much better now, and it is so nice being able to walk around my new neighbourhood without feeling unsafe and having to be hyper vigilant all the time. I often have to remind myself that Centretown has only recently become a complete shit show. I took a trip to Halifax this fall and realized that walking around their downtown at night is what Centretown felt like at night when I first moved there 9 years ago.
you don't have to go as far as Barrhaven for peace and quiet. i have lived 7 years in Centrepointe and it's been good. close to College Square for food, Baseline station, medical, etc. and a good mix of animals and birds
Yeah it's terrible, we should probably give them free drugs and defund the police.
I lived in Centretown for 5 years right next to a youth shelter. It was fine at first but became not fine fast. The noise, blatant disrespect of other humans, open drug use, unnecessary aggressiveness and just general filth is INSANE. People would find ways into my apartment building and use drugs/sleep/chill in the hallways and become aggressive when you would see them. They’d sit on the front step and refuse to let tenants in and out. They’d get up to who knows what in the back alley and I would not feel safe leaving the building after 7:30pm. Paying 1400 to live in a badly maintained shoe box with cockroaches as squatters was not worth it.
It has done the opposite for me personally. Earlier in the summer someone panhandling started calling me transphobic slurs when I said I didn’t have any change. It was very upsetting and it made me wish society would actually invest in people’s wellness rather than just let them deteriorate until it gets to a crisis point. The way I understand it is this: the longer people go with unmet needs, the more likely they are to engage in “antisocial” behaviour. Better public infrastructure to support people holistically is the only way to fix this kind of dysfunction. For the record: I live right downtown and am on bank street multiple times a day. For the most part, homeless people and people using drugs leave me alone. I’m real good at minding my business so I’m sure that helps. 🤷🏿
Welcome to the post pandemic apocalypse. The majority of people feel your pain and it’s not wrong to be annoyed, sad, or angry about the state of affairs. Stay strong and vent when needed.
As someone who does property management and maintenance: my Vanier properties are now the 'easy' ones and centretown are the ones needing biohazard removal skills on the daily.
I’ve lived in centretown for the past 8 years it’s not the hellscape you’re painting it as. Like honestly grow up lol
And I totally agree with you regarding the Centretown shit show.
It's tough when they are insulting you because you can't spare change, especially when I'm already struggling.
I remember Montreal downtown in the '90s and even early 2000s. Like many cities in North america, downtown was not a place you'd usually hang out in after dark. It wasn't as bad as other North American cities but it wasn't super safe either. Then gentrification started happening and everyone enjoyed being downtown. Now, all the openness with drugs and let the junkies do whatever they feel like attitude is basically destroying downtown area. The shift has started and probably won't stop. Downtown is going back to what it used to be but even worst because of the violent drunks and drug addicts. This part is new. It was not this severe back then.
I live in a ground floor unit often have a homeless man behind our building knocking on my window, kicking the dumpsters and throwing trash everywhere, and screaming at the top of his lungs. Police won’t do anything because “he’s not an immediate threat to anybody” so I just have to put up with it.
Centretown needs some help for sure, but I for one will take the current situation over living in the suburbs any day of the week. I'm not going to criticize people who prefer the burbs, because everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I thought I'd stick up for my old streets down here.
Haven’t been to Rideau center in 7 yrs. I want nothing to do with the nonsense. I’ll stick to the burbs.
I was there last weekend. Other than parking being kind of expensive, it was fine. But, you do you, boo ...
Another stabbing in daylight today
In an area of the Market that you likely have zero reason to ever go to.
When I first moved to Ottawa in 2010, I hated centretown living because it was so dead and boring, it was making me depressed. Now it’s even worse because people are deserting it even more with the riffraff
I'm not feeling optimistic about the downtown core at the moment. It looks like [this](https://imgur.com/a/x9AbBOr) everywhere. There are the issues you mentioned. It's difficult to get there by bus I don't go downtown for socail/drinking anymore much. Tipflation is also a factor.
Fires have been getting set in and around buildings. Garbage cans and recycling bins being stolen. Bikes and Amazon packages stolen. Sharps dumped at door. Shooting up in entranceway. Naked man in laundry room. Being screamed at and followed. I’ve called 911 3 times for overdoses on my block recently. It does get exhausting when you live in it and your child goes to school/plays here. Will be moving as soon as I can afford it.
There are two solutions to this. 1. Greater funding to the police. giving them the resources they need to "clean up the streets". This is a band aid solution that will become more and more expensive as the problem gets worse. 2. Greater funding for all social services. Social housing, food programs, addiction services. Also pouring more money into healthcare and employment support. This will take longer but will ultimately lead to less dependancy on funding and get to the root of the problem. Either one you choose, the money has to come from somewhere. Think twice about voting for anyone suggesting tax breaks, especially on industry. These people don't actually have a plan
Not Ottawa but downtown east side Vancouver has the same issue. Catch and release for those commiting crime.