[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I work next to Fort Calgary and bike through EV most days. It's still a cool neighborhood, and the river pathway is awesome. But it's clearly a stalled neighborhood and that reason for that stall is apparent after 5 minutes of being there. Pretty much every where you go, from the river to the library to the streets around...you're around drug use and homelessness.

Few people want to live in, or hang out, or do business in an area with such an obvious problem. People don't want to live there because they have to be hyper vigilant as soon as they step outside. Businesses don't to want to commit long-term to a neighborgood where they know they'll have theft/break-in issues, and Developers don't want to invest in an area where they know they'll need to spend more on security and will have an uphill battle with moving units. And all these people know there's no clear or quick fix. It will always be an issue as long as the DI is there...and it probably always will because you need to have something.

At the end of the day, whether for residents, business or developers...there's just too many other better options. Why go through the trouble of living or investing in EV, when you can go elsewhere without the added risk? You can go to the Beltline, or Inglewood, or University District, or Marda Loop, or Bridgeland/Renfrew etc. Those areas aren't without faults, but they are clearly better alternatives, and are all booming with activity. The only people investing in EV are probably out of town investors being duped.

Should we just start referring to it as the Downtown East Side?