The number of incidents in the area over the last few months means we no longer go to Westbrook Mall (then again, we only really used the Walmart on occasion, but now, never do) and will not step foot in the restaurants near there. The number of times I've seen the yellow police tape to the south of the station near the Subway is disturbing.
Currently the McDonalds on 17th ave near the Subway has broken out windows covered with plywood. Last week there were two carjackings in the parking lot by the mall.
Avoid the area completely. Its starting to become like the Vancouver's east side downtown. Completely sketchy.
There is zero chance I'd take my daughter to the library there, we use the Signal Hill branch which is quite safe and doesn't need security staff.
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I live really close to the Westbrook LRT and in the summer, walk over to Westbrook mall daily for a coffee. I shop at the Safeway and the Walmart, and eat in the food court on occasion. I take the LRT from Westbrook reasonably often.
I have noticed the odd vagrant and the occasional police presence, especially around Walmart and Dollarama, but I have never felt unsafe in the area. The odd person has asked if I can spare a couple bucks, but no one has ever approached me or been aggressive.
It's a busy, near the inner-city transit hub in a city of 1.2 million with incredibly diverse socio-economic neighbourhoods surrounding it. You're going to get a mix of people from different walks of life.
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Maybe we should round up all the homeless/drunks/druggies and ship them out to Airdrie. Might give that community a little culture while cleaning up the city....
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Maybe we should round up all the homeless/drunks/druggies and ship them out to Airdrie. Might give that community a little culture while cleaning up the city....
Where do you think yours come from? There are no services here, really, for the homeless and others. It's why they tend to end up in Calgary. I think there are several groups trying to change that, establish some kind of service/aid/help program, but so far, I don't think they're making much progress. I suspect it happens with a lot of the surrounding communities - very few services to help out, and so a lot migrate to Calgary, where there are at least places like the DI, etc, where they'll find some sort of assistance.
Maybe we should round up all the homeless/drunks/druggies and ship them out to Airdrie. Might give that community a little culture while cleaning up the city....
Are you kidding me? We don't want them just 10 minutes away from anywhere in Calgary?!
This made me curious, so some quick numbers just surfing around for 5 minutes.
Criminal incidents in Calgary from 2012 to 2016 (4,790 to 5,561 or +16%). I'm not sure why the chart has decimal incidents but I assume it's just a graphing thing from cbc.
Anyhow, for areas that directly surround the mall and C-Train station there:
2012 to 2016 & 2012 to 2017 percentage increases
Rosscarrock: +72% and +78%
Shaganappi: +42% and +68%
Spruce Cliff: +82% and +78%
Killarney/Glengarry (includes areas a bit further out): +76% and +89%
versus
Total Calgary: +27% and +29%
The train station opened at the end of 2012. Correlation versus Causation of course but it appears that (reported) crime in the area has increased at a much faster pace in the surrounding areas for one reason or another since the opening of the station.
And that can lead to a problem, says Jen Deamer, who’s among a handful of residents who claim they’ve been “targeted” by swarms of children hurling rocks and insults.
“There’s 20 kids outside with no supervision. They’re up at 3 a.m. coming up to my house,” said Deamer, pointing at holes in her window and exterior siding that she claims were inflicted by an air gun in 2013.
Deamer isn’t the only one experiencing problems. Shaganappi Village made headlines in May after a Caucasian family claimed they were being harassed by neighbours from other ethnic backgrounds. A dozen residents from a variety of backgrounds have told the Herald that children frequently bully residents of another race, including Caucasian children attacking non-Caucasian.
A recent Shaganappi Village resident named Blair France attracted national media attention in May after telling the press her children had been punched and stoned by roving groups of children with African backgrounds. She has since been relocated.
Last month, a freedom-of-information request revealed the bullying escalated after the event, and France told the Herald public-housing officials relocated her over concerns for her safety.
“The police were there everyday, talking about what was going on with the parents,” Parker claims. “Calgary Housing said ‘Keep your kids inside.’ That’s not fair; it’s like a gang.”
Parker says East African children would often gather and lob rocks at houses where Caucasians live. Residents have said the bullying occasionally happens in reverse.
It would be nice if we could get rid of homeless people and vagrants somehow. I find them to be very off putting.
It amazes me how selfish these people are. Don’t they realize the minor discomfort their mere presence brings to our otherwise privileged lives? They can’t imagine how they affect us by briefly thrusting their lives of utter despair into our well-fed, groomed faces.
So we have these first hand comments from people who have seen the problems at or near Westbrook recently, on the first page of the thread, excluding my own:
One:
Is there something wrong with the Westbrook underground C-Train station? I keep hearing from other people that the amount of homeless people sleeping / not leaving the station is resulting in some interesting encounters for riders.
Two:
Drunks, druggies, petty criminals, homeless, etc have increased in the area since the LRT station went in. Westbrook Mall itself is sketchy.
The library at the LRT station doubles as a homeless drop-in.
Three:
My kids got to experience a guy on drugs screaming and flailing his arms get taken down by police at Little Lebanon there. That was a good life lesson.
Four:
Was at the BPs there not to long ago and a guy OD'd in the washroom, fortunately he lived but talking to the staff it's not a uncommon occurance. Unfortunately, the ctrain has turned that area into a pretty sketchy one.
Five:
That place wasn't always like that; I will concur that Westbrook Station has made the area more sketchy too.
Six:
You definitely see some sketchy characters in the area...
Seven:
Westbrook is pretty ugly, but not much different than downtown stations during non-peak hours.
Eight:
Going to the McDonalds just south of the Westbrook station recently, one crackhead out of a group was holding out a box full of Iphone chargers. Certainly some auxiliary sales after their five finger discount at parked cars in the station.
It's a total hellhole, to be avoided if you can and don't mind having to fix your windows in the middle of winter as you left a charger visible in your car.
Those are just random readers on a message board seeing what is going on in the area.
Chemgear shows up on page two with actual statistics from CPS which shows how much crime has increased in that area over the last few years. Its pretty bad.
Here is an article about the city needing to add to security in the area entitled "Drunk, abusive customers prompt security to increase at Calgary's Nicholls Family library": http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...fety-1.4281531
So if you feel safe there, good on you, its simply an area I no longer take my 4 year old to. There are better places to go.
Kjesse - let's be honest, you can get jumped anywhere in the City. And after living in that area for 10+ years (pre and post LRT), I still would take it 10/10 times before most areas in the NE.
Calgary is one of the safest places in the world; living your life in fear of crime - especially being in Calgary - is kind of sad. Westbrook is fine and the area is generally good if you keep your expectations realistic.
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Maybe we should round up all the homeless/drunks/druggies and ship them out to Airdrie. Might give that community a little culture while cleaning up the city....
But they could back downtown in only 20 minutes...... or so I’m told by people who live in Airdrie.
Last edited by TheAlpineOracle; 01-15-2018 at 11:06 PM.
Westbrook Mall and surrounding area was always sketchy, at least for the 12 years I’ve lived here. Don’t think the c-train made much worse. It always was sketchy.
There are no services here, really, for the homeless and others. It's why they tend to end up in Calgary. I think there are several groups trying to change that, establish some kind of service/aid/help program, but so far, I don't think they're making much progress. I suspect it happens with a lot of the surrounding communities - very few services to help out, and so a lot migrate to Calgary, where there are at least places like the DI, etc, where they'll find some sort of assistance.
