[GreyGarden]

I work downtown and don’t have negative experiences, that being said I’m a young white guy so I’m not really vulnerable to it. However, there’s areas I avoid, the back of Portage Place being one of them. Whether I experience crime or not I think there is a definite feeling amongst people in wpg who might not be as in tune with city issues as the people on this forum that downtown has gotten more dangerous and crime is on the rise, whether that’s true or not the perception and feeling are. Peoples feelings are legitimate and although I often find myself dismissing people as being uninformed or ignorant that’s not helpful.

At the end of the day all inner cities experience crime and homelessness. I suspect most people on this forum understand what I’m about to say to some extent but I’m going to try and articulate it to try and make my understanding better. I find that Winnipeg’s ratio is a tad concerning. I just finished Joe Berridges book “perfect city”. One of the cities he discusses is Belfast where he made the note that when he was hired to work there, Belfast didn’t need more poor people. It needed people with means out and about. That didn’t mean displacing the poor people. I find this is Winnipeg’s problem as well. I was on Queen W in Toronto today and made sure to keep an eye on the number of homeless people, or people asking for money and I would say it’s similar to Winnipeg. The difference is the sheer number of people with some means out shopping or eating or going for a walk. As a result, I think that the type of people who might view this group of people as a threat or scary in Winnipeg never feel that way in Toronto. They’re less noticeable but still there.