Quote:
Originally Posted by Riise
One of the under-appreciated benefits of the EV will be the step it is helping the City take toward accepting mixed-communities. One of the best aspects of London is how it is such a pepper-pot and you can have the wealthy living right next to and even above or below social housing. Hopefully the EV will show that this cohabitation can successfully take place here as well.
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I think a lot of the communities in inner city Calgary are already mixed (Mission, Kensington, Bridgeland) etc. and have elements of this (low rent condo beside a higher priced single family home or high rent condo beside a single family home that is needing repair) and have pretty much everything from university students, to working poor, to wealthy tycoons.
I think at least in the inner city, that Calgary is fairly accepting of different income segments within a community.
The issue is that many of the people in the homeless emergency shelters are alchoholics, or have drug addictions and then because of the concentration of that, attract a confluence of drug dealers, and that leads to higher crime as those who are dependent on drugs use whatever means available (car breakins, house breakins) to feed their habits. Simply from a cost benefit perspective, why would someone who has say an $80,000 vehichle want to park near an area where there is a high chance that there window is smashed or keyed?
The Drop-In Centre for example, is Canada's largest homeless shelter, with space for 1,370 people, with the first and second floors serving those who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
There is also a large difference between social housing and the types of emergency shelters that are present in the East Village.
I think the East Village would have a lot higher chance of success if it were to prohibit users of emergency shelters who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. It is not easy for a neighbourhood to "cohabitate" when a large portion of a community's population is an addict or is places that are accepting of drug\alcohol addiction. I would like to see the shelters work with the development agency Calgary MLC, and the City of Calgary police, and other social agencies on the basis that the future of the community should aim to reduce crime (and social services costs), which would serve the wellbeing of those who live in the shelters and are also recipients of the results of drug abuse through assaults.