Quote:
Originally Posted by Vixx
Completely agree.
Having been raised in Ottawa's south end, I've witnessed first hand the weird build up (juxtaposition) of areas that are mixed between upper middle class/wealthy, right beside areas that are low income, social housing (that were once middle class areas). Many of the people living in those wealthier pockets have taken notice for awhile now of whats been going on and they are pissed.
I have a few close friends living in those wealthier pockets (one lives very close from where the recent murder took place, in a high end neighbourhood) close to some of the shady ones that have sprung up and all agree that the south end is becoming a magnet for crime. In another 5-10 years I expect to see many of the middle/high income folks take off to Greely, Manotick, Riverside South etc.
I remember growing up the people living near South Keys were primarily of Italian descent, along with some people of Polish, French and Lebanese descent (mainly European) and some typical working class Canadians. Nowadays there is a very heavy Lebanese and Somalian presence, so the area has witnessed a demographic shift. Many new immigrants and refugees have moved to that area, resulting in a sizeable group of low income families just starting off life in Canada with their kids turning to gang activity, drugs etc. Some of the families that have lived in the area for a long time are either thinking of moving or already have.
I think this is how some areas in Ottawa have that strange juxtaposition of wealthy and low income neighbourhoods so close to each other now. Unfortunately I think in another 5-10 years the situation will be worst and we'll see more people take off deeper into the south end with more people living in social housing/low income move into the area, resulting in a higher crime rate. South Keys station went from just a normal, boring plaza/bus station to an area with a lot of seedy activity at night. There's been more then a few incidents that have taken place there.
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I tried to start a discussion today in the Ottawa forum and was basically told I was full of it (nicely - it's Ottawa after all) and subtly accused of being a Nancy Grace-style crime alarmist.
I probably won't insist more in the Ottawa thread (even if nothing prevents Ottawans from posting here) but I actually find that attitude to be a bit worrisome.
Public indifference and denial of a crime problem has often led to spiralling crime rates in other cities and it's often hard to bring it back down. A lot of the denials come from the fact that murders dropped from 24 to 14 from 2017 to 2016. But shootings were still up again - I don't know if there is much comfort to be found in the fact that violent criminals are poor shots...
For having lived in this area for quite some time (at various points in my life) no matter what certain stats say there are some types of crimes taking place in Ottawa that almost never happened before. For example I did not live in Ottawa proper in my youth but my friends and I did go out on the Byward Market and I can hardly remember any shootings at all on Friday and Saturday nights in all those years. Now they happen with some degree of regularity in the market and in certain other areas of the city too.
Hopefully it won't take a Jane Creba-type tragedy in order to wake people up. That was like an electroshock for Toronto and yet the "Toronto The Good" public safety climate never really returned to that city.