(08-24-2020, 10:01 PM)tomh009 Wrote:

(08-24-2020, 09:17 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: They also improved the same crossing on West, but the city felt that there was too much traffic there to put a raised crossing...which really makes me question what they think the purpose of a raised crossing is....to me, Patricia has less traffic than West, therefore a raised crossing is LESS warranted than on West, not more...and Victoria has an order of magnitude more than West....

Yes, indeed.

A hump/raised crossing doesn't impede traffic flow, it just slows it down. 

(09-01-2020, 10:29 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: Decided to visit the Grand river today, since it's been a long time. I hopped on Google maps to see what part would be the closest to walk to from DTK, and then set off for the area behind Riverbend drive. And I have to say, most of the walk north of Victoria/Lancaster is thoroughly unpleasant. The sidewalks on Lancaster were haphazardly repaired, or blocked off with tape periodically. I decided to pass through Woodside, which has no sidewalks on either entrance despite one of them being a pedestrian pathway...

(09-01-2020, 10:29 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: Decided to visit the Grand river today, since it's been a long time. I hopped on Google maps to see what part would be the closest to walk to from DTK, and then set off for the area behind Riverbend drive. And I have to say, most of the walk north of Victoria/Lancaster is thoroughly unpleasant. The sidewalks on Lancaster were haphazardly repaired, or blocked off with tape periodically. I decided to pass through Woodside, which has no sidewalks on either entrance despite one of them being a pedestrian pathway...

Despite no sidewalks, Spring Valley Rd was probably the nicest part of the walk because it was the evening and there was only a couple cars. The Guelph St underpass had a sidewalk! The bridge is also impressively  massive. Too bad the sidewalk disappeared halfway through the block... And of course, no sidewalks on Riverbend despite having trail connections.

On the bright side, the Grand river was beautiful in the setting sunlight.

Heading home I thought maybe I'd try Victoria even though I know it hate it. The Wellington/Shirley crossing sucks every time I've had to use it, and I'm surprised they even put in a pedestrian crossing at all... The lack of sidewalks on Victoria and highway crossing both suck, and were as scary as the way I took there.

On a more positive note, I ended with a nighttime walk through the Frederick/Civic residential areas which was very nice. I spent most of my life taking walks after dark, and I've just realized how much joy that brought me and how much I've been forced to miss out on that by living downtown.

(09-01-2020, 10:29 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: On a more positive note, I ended with a nighttime walk through the Frederick/Civic residential areas which was very nice. I spent most of my life taking walks after dark, and I've just realized how much joy that brought me and how much I've been forced to miss out on that by living downtown.

(09-02-2020, 01:12 AM)plam Wrote: I complain about the pedestrian infrastructure in Wellington (NZ) a lot. It's hostile. But usually one is walking by interesting things at least. (It's just impossible to cross the street where you want to at certain key times). This is sadly not the case in much of KW. Sometimes there are interesting things, but too often there aren't.

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote:

(09-01-2020, 10:29 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: On a more positive note, I ended with a nighttime walk through the Frederick/Civic residential areas which was very nice. I spent most of my life taking walks after dark, and I've just realized how much joy that brought me and how much I've been forced to miss out on that by living downtown.

Forced to miss nighttime walks -- because it's too dangerous? Or something else?

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote:

(09-02-2020, 01:12 AM)plam Wrote: I complain about the pedestrian infrastructure in Wellington (NZ) a lot. It's hostile. But usually one is walking by interesting things at least. (It's just impossible to cross the street where you want to at certain key times). This is sadly not the case in much of KW. Sometimes there are interesting things, but too often there aren't.

We find many things of interest on our downtown walks. There are lots of houses from different eras, architectural details, renovations, parks, gardens, construction projects, cats, giant tortoises (OK, only one of those). But it of course depends on what you find interesting.

(09-02-2020, 06:49 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: I'm sure I can write down some more of my experiences, but the point is that while 95% of the time things are completely uneventful, I've had enough shocking experiences that I can't go without wondering when the next one will be. I do what I can to avoid them at this point, and nighttime is just another factor that is under my control. Things might be safe, but I can't help but feel differently.

(09-02-2020, 06:49 PM)dtkvictim Wrote:

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote: We find many things of interest on our downtown walks. There are lots of houses from different eras, architectural details, renovations, parks, gardens, construction projects, cats, giant tortoises (OK, only one of those). But it of course depends on what you find interesting.

It really depends where you go. We have some great residential neighbourhoods around downtown, and even the more modest houses are usually nice to look at. I also find north of Weber there is a very high concentration of dogs, and south of Charles I often run into 5+ cats on my walks. Always a treat with either.

I'd really like to know where I can find this giant tortoise.

(09-02-2020, 06:49 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: I'm sure I can write down some more of my experiences, but the point is that while 95% of the time things are completely uneventful, I've had enough shocking experiences that I can't go without wondering when the next one will be. I do what I can to avoid them at this point, and nighttime is just another factor that is under my control. Things might be safe, but I can't help but feel differently.

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote: We find many things of interest on our downtown walks. There are lots of houses from different eras, architectural details, renovations, parks, gardens, construction projects, cats, giant tortoises (OK, only one of those). But it of course depends on what you find interesting.

It really depends where you go. We have some great residential neighbourhoods around downtown, and even the more modest houses are usually nice to look at. I also find north of Weber there is a very high concentration of dogs, and south of Charles I often run into 5+ cats on my walks. Always a treat with either.

I'd really like to know where I can find this giant tortoise.

(09-02-2020, 10:14 PM)plam Wrote: I'm not a super big fan of adding to the police budget to get more police officers downtown, but if it had to be police, they should not be in cars. Probably better is something like what I saw in Wellington the other day: there were these people who had vests inscribed "Maori Warden". They are not police officers but their (volunteer) job is to encourage Maori to stay out of trouble. It may work better when there is more of a culture of listening to elders.

(09-02-2020, 06:49 PM)dtkvictim Wrote:

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Forced to miss nighttime walks -- because it's too dangerous? Or something else?

I hesitate to say that I think it's too dangerous... I'm aware of the reality that our city, even in the worst parts, are generally safe. But I would say I've been forced to miss out on it due to a combination of feeling unsafe and general lack of quiet, pleasant areas in the immediate core. I think the latter is a feature of North American cities, and I fear our city will stick with the status quo as it grows.

The former is the much larger issue for me though. When I first moved downtown I would go out whenever I pleased. I learned through experience that even when I don't actively fear for my safety, I know I won't be able to enjoy myself because I'll be on edge. I've had a man run through an active intersection and attempt to kick me in the face. I've had things thrown at me. I've been followed after telling a man I don't have cash to give him. I've had a homeless man repeatedly walk into me (twice). The fire department has had to put out 3 fires in 2 years, feet from my back door, in a historic building that would surely go up in no time... Often one of my doors are blocked by people I'd rather not bother, but there's even been an instance where I didn't feel like I could leave as a group of 4 smoked presumably crack at my back door, and a homeless lady had set up camp for the night in my front door (no, I'm not afraid of her, but when I say set up, I meant she was really settled in). I've been shouted at more times than I can count, and the verbal harassment is far worse for my female partner. 90% of the time it's addicts and homeless, but every so often it's drunks spilling out from a bar, which I'm more concerned about. I've heard a women screaming as she was sexually assaulted on my back doorstep. She came into our building to calm down and speak with the police, but the sounds of distress she was making as she tried to calm down isn't something I can forget.

Even in my home I've had enough problems, though this part is unrelated to walking... I've had people climbing on fire escapes, trying to open windows. I've had floodlights from 3 firetrucks, and a ton of other emergency vehicles shine in my window at 2am, and watched as they pulled a body from the roof of my building.

I'm sure I can write down some more of my experiences, but the point is that while 95% of the time things are completely uneventful, I've had enough shocking experiences that I can't go without wondering when the next one will be. I do what I can to avoid them at this point, and nighttime is just another factor that is under my control. Things might be safe, but I can't help but feel differently.

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote: We find many things of interest on our downtown walks. There are lots of houses from different eras, architectural details, renovations, parks, gardens, construction projects, cats, giant tortoises (OK, only one of those). But it of course depends on what you find interesting.

It really depends where you go. We have some great residential neighbourhoods around downtown, and even the more modest houses are usually nice to look at. I also find north of Weber there is a very high concentration of dogs, and south of Charles I often run into 5+ cats on my walks. Always a treat with either.

I'd really like to know where I can find this giant tortoise.

(09-02-2020, 06:49 PM)dtkvictim Wrote:

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Forced to miss nighttime walks -- because it's too dangerous? Or something else?

I hesitate to say that I think it's too dangerous... I'm aware of the reality that our city, even in the worst parts, are generally safe. But I would say I've been forced to miss out on it due to a combination of feeling unsafe and general lack of quiet, pleasant areas in the immediate core. I think the latter is a feature of North American cities, and I fear our city will stick with the status quo as it grows.

The former is the much larger issue for me though. When I first moved downtown I would go out whenever I pleased. I learned through experience that even when I don't actively fear for my safety, I know I won't be able to enjoy myself because I'll be on edge. I've had a man run through an active intersection and attempt to kick me in the face. I've had things thrown at me. I've been followed after telling a man I don't have cash to give him. I've had a homeless man repeatedly walk into me (twice). The fire department has had to put out 3 fires in 2 years, feet from my back door, in a historic building that would surely go up in no time... Often one of my doors are blocked by people I'd rather not bother, but there's even been an instance where I didn't feel like I could leave as a group of 4 smoked presumably crack at my back door, and a homeless lady had set up camp for the night in my front door (no, I'm not afraid of her, but when I say set up, I meant she was really settled in). I've been shouted at more times than I can count, and the verbal harassment is far worse for my female partner. 90% of the time it's addicts and homeless, but every so often it's drunks spilling out from a bar, which I'm more concerned about. I've heard a women screaming as she was sexually assaulted on my back doorstep. She came into our building to calm down and speak with the police, but the sounds of distress she was making as she tried to calm down isn't something I can forget.

Even in my home I've had enough problems, though this part is unrelated to walking... I've had people climbing on fire escapes, trying to open windows. I've had floodlights from 3 firetrucks, and a ton of other emergency vehicles shine in my window at 2am, and watched as they pulled a body from the roof of my building.

I'm sure I can write down some more of my experiences, but the point is that while 95% of the time things are completely uneventful, I've had enough shocking experiences that I can't go without wondering when the next one will be. I do what I can to avoid them at this point, and nighttime is just another factor that is under my control. Things might be safe, but I can't help but feel differently.

(09-02-2020, 03:18 PM)tomh009 Wrote: We find many things of interest on our downtown walks. There are lots of houses from different eras, architectural details, renovations, parks, gardens, construction projects, cats, giant tortoises (OK, only one of those). But it of course depends on what you find interesting.

It really depends where you go. We have some great residential neighbourhoods around downtown, and even the more modest houses are usually nice to look at. I also find north of Weber there is a very high concentration of dogs, and south of Charles I often run into 5+ cats on my walks. Always a treat with either.

I'd really like to know where I can find this giant tortoise.

(09-02-2020, 10:48 PM)tomh009 Wrote:

(09-02-2020, 10:14 PM)plam Wrote: I'm not a super big fan of adding to the police budget to get more police officers downtown, but if it had to be police, they should not be in cars. Probably better is something like what I saw in Wellington the other day: there were these people who had vests inscribed "Maori Warden". They are not police officers but their (volunteer) job is to encourage Maori to stay out of trouble. It may work better when there is more of a culture of listening to elders.

Most cops on DTK are walking, or sometimes on bicycles. Much better than intimidating police SUVs.

(09-02-2020, 11:28 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: It's funny, I've lived in a few parts of DTK, and I feel like these things are pretty localized. I don't walk at night all that much anymore, when I did I usually just walked in the residential neighbourhood I abutted--at the time I lived about 5 blocks or so from King, it was pretty uneventful, much more so than where we are now--which is only three blocks closer to King. We've had a few experiences...but nothing as bad as you've described. I've called the police for two different verbal altercations (one male-male, one male-woman-male--that was especially concerning), that I felt were turning physical, both of which I stayed to observe from a distance, and in both cases eventually resolved before the police arrived. I called the police twice for a drunk driving collision right at my home--one was a double fatality, the other was just property damage, that certainly has me worried.

The most threatening situation I've been in occurred downtown but did not involve someone from downtown, I was cycling along Water, the car behind me was well behaved, the driver behind them was so offended that at the next light he swerved into the oncoming lane and started screaming at the driver of the van behind me, I turned around and asked him to calm down, he got out of his vehicle and too a swing at me. I dropped my bike and ran for King shouting for police, which...well...was effectiving in getting him to jump pack in his car, turn around and drive up the sidewalk the other way.

We do get homeless people sleeping in our building's vestibule (and occasionally doing other less savoury things), and I'll admit, I will use the back door if I notice them.

When I do go walking I generally just walk out of the downtown core...to be honest, the core is so small it's reasonably easy for me to avoid.

Living downtown definitely puts you face to face with things that folks sequestered in their suburbs and SUVs can fairly easily isolate themselves from, but I wish more people were faced with the realities in our city, perhaps then they'd be more willing to spend time and money solving these problems.

I dunno though, I'm sorry to hear about your experiences...I do hope things improve with the new buildings going up...more people in DTK is a good thing in that regard.

Also...

"North of Weber"...come on...we know better than to use cardinal directions in the CoK...

A few days ago I was walking on Church street and had a stand off with a cat and a squirel...quite the experience.

(09-03-2020, 12:17 AM)Acitta Wrote: That is interesting. I have lived in Kitchener for 19 years and other than some troublesome roommates and bike theft, I haven't experienced anything like you describe. In fact the downtown has greatly improved since I first moved here.

(09-03-2020, 02:53 AM)dtkvictim Wrote: I do see bicycle cops which is great, but I've really only seen cops walking if they just parked their car to respond to something. Obviously the role of police (or even very existence) has been become a very sensitive topic, so I don't want to start a debate. But as someone who has known police, and has only neutral or positive experiences with them, I like the idea of having a local "police booth" downtown. The idea being that it forces them to be more in tune with the reality of the street, but also to develop relationships with the local area on the ground. Of course, I also understand the opposition to having a constant police presence in an area.

(09-03-2020, 02:53 AM)dtkvictim Wrote: Yes, it's been quite interesting. I've spent approximately 21 years in this city, and everything I wrote has been just within the last 3 years downtown. I am located about as centrally as possible, so it's possibly a factor if you are all even just a few blocks out. But since I've only experienced this downtown, in my mind it's a downtown problem. Of course there are people downtown who go a lifetime with no problems, and people in the suburbs who get mugged multiple times in their life, so there is an element of chance to it. Maybe I've just been exceptionally unlucky.

The folks further out being insulated from our urban reality is certainly interesting. I've spoken to many of my friends about this, and there are generally 2 reactions. The first is surprise, because they just don't know what things are like outside of their area. The second group is well aware of the area, and just doesn't understand why someone would choose to live downtown. I feel like after learning, the first group tends to become the second group, rather than becoming someone who wants to help solve these problems. It's much, much easier to run from an ugly situation than to put in effort to fix it. Those most capable are often the first leave. I don't blame them though, I begin to feel the same way. I don't see any action at the levels of government that can actually make a difference, and me writing MPs and MPPs doesn't force them to take action.

I did work downtown as teenager about 10 years ago, but I was mostly in and out. I experienced drunk customers, and some crazy people in the city buses back then, but I didn't spend much time "on the street" so I can't really speak to whether it feels better now than 10 years ago.

(09-03-2020, 02:53 AM)dtkvictim Wrote: I do see bicycle cops which is great, but I've really only seen cops walking if they just parked their car to respond to something. Obviously the role of police (or even very existence) has been become a very sensitive topic, so I don't want to start a debate. But as someone who has known police, and has only neutral or positive experiences with them, I like the idea of having a local "police booth" downtown. The idea being that it forces them to be more in tune with the reality of the street, but also to develop relationships with the local area on the ground. Of course, I also understand the opposition to having a constant police presence in an area.

Quote:Also, the idea of having "Wardens" meant to keep a specific identifiable group out of trouble seems comically controversial.

(09-03-2020, 04:03 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:

(09-03-2020, 02:53 AM)dtkvictim Wrote: I do see bicycle cops which is great, but I've really only seen cops walking if they just parked their car to respond to something. Obviously the role of police (or even very existence) has been become a very sensitive topic, so I don't want to start a debate. But as someone who has known police, and has only neutral or positive experiences with them, I like the idea of having a local "police booth" downtown. The idea being that it forces them to be more in tune with the reality of the street, but also to develop relationships with the local area on the ground. Of course, I also understand the opposition to having a constant police presence in an area.

I understand the opposition, but only in the context of having given up on improving the police.

I’m not sure that everybody understands that there are always police. The question is whether they are accountable to the communities in which they operate. So my perspective is that if there is a persistent problem with police culture, it needs to be addressed, but not by eliminating the police. However, the management structure and membership may need to be overhauled. Frequently I read of police abuses which make me think “that officer should be fired and blacklisted”, that is, forbidden to be employed in policing or related fields like security or the army. We need to get the right sort of person in the police force; honest people who will hold their colleagues to account rather than hiding crimes committed by them (among many other good qualities that are needed). The way to get there will depend on the force in question; I suspect some forces are already in pretty good shape, while others probably need a sizeable fraction of their officers to be fired (not just retrained, although that would be part of it).

(09-03-2020, 04:03 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:

Quote:Also, the idea of having "Wardens" meant to keep a specific identifiable group out of trouble seems comically controversial.

I think the idea is that the identifiable group decides on its own to appoint some of its own people to do this. So not necessarily that different from the universities encouraging their students to be good neighbours. I can even imagine the regular police calling the group-specific wardens for minor issues; if the group (whichever one it is) is willing and able to work with its members to address issues, this may be more successful than anything the police can do.