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Chinatown

456YEGGuy said:
globalnews.ca

City of Edmonton hears appeal of new Boyle Street Community Services building - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

Boyle Street Community Services is moving forward with plans to trade in its current building and move a few blocks north, but it's being met with opposition.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

Katz/OEG group is funding the move of Boyle Street up 2 blocks and towards Chinatown. It's a win for their property values but not for the communities of Kingsway/Chinatown/McCauley.
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the new site is less than 400 meters from their existing site and their existing building, a building that was originally a banana ripening warehouse, is completely unsuited to their work, regularly floods, and has no adjacent outdoor space other than city sidewalks and lanes.

their client group is already in that neighborhood - they’re not commuting in from sherwood park or st. albert or windermere - which is why boyle street is in that neighborhood.

they cannot afford a new building and this one is both well built and well suited to their needs including considerable exterior space they can control..

regardless of who is paying, unless you’re going to take the position that the status quo is “good enough, suck it up” for everyone and that boyle street should stay put, where exactly would you suggest they move to that is a better option?
 
Totally, people that use Boyle Street’s services are already in the area around the future location so that’s not a valid concern, nor it should be as the neighbourhood is their’s as well and they have every right to stay there. Plus, a heritage building that has sat vacant for years at a prominent corner will be getting a new lease on life.

There’s really nothing to dislike about the proposal.
 
kcantor said:
the new site is less than 400 meters from their existing site and their existing building, a building that was originally a banana ripening warehouse, is completely unsuited to their work, regularly floods, and has no adjacent outdoor space other than city sidewalks and lanes.

their client group is already in that neighborhood - they’re not commuting in from sherwood park or st. albert or windermere - which is why boyle street is in that neighborhood.

they cannot afford a new building and this one is both well built and well suited to their needs including considerable exterior space they can control..

regardless of who is paying, unless you’re going to take the position that the status quo is “good enough, suck it up” for everyone and that boyle street should stay put, where exactly would you suggest they move to that is a better option?
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Yes, I understand that the current building does not meet the standards, but they also need to show they're a good neighbour, just like any other business or neighbour. Just because they're a social services organization doesn't mean the neighbourhood should just STFU and take whatever comes with providing the services. It also doesn't mean that existing social services organizations can expand unchecked and without consultation of the community. Both Boyle Street and Herb Jamieson need to do better to ensure the safety of the neighbourhood, the people they serve, and the people who work there. We can't forget the deaths of the 2 people who spent their lives in the area trying to provide for their family.

Yes, you're right, their clients don't come from Sherwood Park or St Albert but they do come from Frog Lake. Their chief drove 3 hours to provide support for the rezoning and relocation. This shows an abject failure of all 3 levels of government to provide proper services. The City's Chinatown Revitalization Initiative is nothing but lipstick on a pig. It consists of nothing more than new lampposts, flowers, and a park. Then, EPS wanted a $3,000,000 bribe to even go into Chinatown to do their jobs. Neither the province nor the Feds have stepped up to provide funding or anything to address the source of the homelessness, addiction, and other root causes.

The only way to tackle the social issues is to provide proper funding. There are no better options because "we're" too afraid to offend the clients. The former Remand Centre could be renovated to provide secure, enforced detox using the Portugal model but the location is essentially a non-starter lest we re-offend/re-traumatize former "clients". Reducing homelessness will take a lot of tough decisions that will offend many people, but the experience shown by Portugal, Australia, and Norway should be something we look at. You can't keep everyone happy while trying to reduce persistent societal issues. The status quo definitely isn't good enough. The solution will require someone at the end of their political career to sacrifice what's left of their political career to make highly unpopular decisions in the interest of the clients. We all know that won't happen, so status quo it is.
 
The city’s subdivision and development appeal board held a hearing on Nov. 10 to hear arguments against the proposed relocation of Boyle Street Community Services to a new facility at 101 Street and 107A Avenue. Janice Agrios, a lawyer representing some of the appellants, argued the new building is zoned for commercial use and not for social services the organization offers. Boyle Street Community Services executive director Jordan Reiniger said the organization’s development permit application included the same uses they have in their current building. “There is a lot of fundamental misunderstandings about the work that we do,” Reiniger said. A decision from the board is expected within 15 days.
-Taproot
 
456YEGGuy said:
Yes, I understand that the current building does not meet the standards, but they also need to show they're a good neighbour, just like any other business or neighbour. Just because they're a social services organization doesn't mean the neighbourhood should just STFU and take whatever comes with providing the services. It also doesn't mean that existing social services organizations can expand unchecked and without consultation of the community. Both Boyle Street and Herb Jamieson need to do better to ensure the safety of the neighbourhood, the people they serve, and the people who work there. We can't forget the deaths of the 2 people who spent their lives in the area trying to provide for their family.

Yes, you're right, their clients don't come from Sherwood Park or St Albert but they do come from Frog Lake. Their chief drove 3 hours to provide support for the rezoning and relocation. This shows an abject failure of all 3 levels of government to provide proper services. The City's Chinatown Revitalization Initiative is nothing but lipstick on a pig. It consists of nothing more than new lampposts, flowers, and a park. Then, EPS wanted a $3,000,000 bribe to even go into Chinatown to do their jobs. Neither the province nor the Feds have stepped up to provide funding or anything to address the source of the homelessness, addiction, and other root causes.

The only way to tackle the social issues is to provide proper funding. There are no better options because "we're" too afraid to offend the clients. The former Remand Centre could be renovated to provide secure, enforced detox using the Portugal model but the location is essentially a non-starter lest we re-offend/re-traumatize former "clients". Reducing homelessness will take a lot of tough decisions that will offend many people, but the experience shown by Portugal, Australia, and Norway should be something we look at. You can't keep everyone happy while trying to reduce persistent societal issues. The status quo definitely isn't good enough. The solution will require someone at the end of their political career to sacrifice what's left of their political career to make highly unpopular decisions in the interest of the clients. We all know that won't happen, so status quo it is.
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What I don't understand is when things like soup kitchens became magnets for violence. In the past, these places were for ordinary people down on their luck. Today it seems they serve gangsters, criminal elements, "tough" guys and ex-cons, not just the unemployed.
 
occidentalcapital said:
What I don't understand is when things like soup kitchens became magnets for violence. In the past, these places were for ordinary people down on their luck. Today it seems they serve gangsters, criminal elements, "tough" guys and ex-cons, not just the unemployed.
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the gangsters, criminal elements, "tough" guys and ex-cons are not a by-product of "soup kitchens" or shelters or similar agencies or services.

they are a by-product of the drug trade and our "doomed to failure" insistence that drugs and drug use remain illegal activities which means we are the ones ceding that sphere to gangsters, criminal elements, "tough" guys and ex-cons.

they in turn are then simply congregating around a captive customer/client group that is not particularly mobile.
 
Our Downtown folks in needs, on the street, vunderable and addicted are not just Downtown people. They are from all over the province, from Canada's north, from Northern BC and Saskatchewan. They come here for services, treatment or other reasons.

The problem with Chinatown and parts of Downtown is that social service agencies have been historically concentrated here. People end up here because they need the services, not because they're from Downtown or Chinatown. It is easy to say those that need these services are from these areas but they are from all over our city, our province and Canada because of lack of services in their own communities, or trauma or lack of opportunity to leave their communities and come here. They end up finding community here but that does not mean the services have to be here. The province has recently built a supportive addictions treatment center in Red Deer for example.
 
edmontonjournal.com

Keith Gerein: How helping Edmonton's homeless has created a consultation morass for the city

Opponents of the impending move of Boyle Street Community Services from its old facility to a new home in Chinatown feel blindsided.
edmontonjournal.com edmontonjournal.com

Everyone agrees that Boyle Street can’t keep its current facility. It’s crumbling, often floods and is poorly designed for programming the agency delivers. It’s also on a plot of land the Katz Group wants to turn into a mixed-use development called Village at Ice District.
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Speakers told the hearing that while they are sympathetic to the mental illness, addiction and trauma of some homeless Edmontonians, it has spilled over into property damage, arson, human excrement, needles, threats and violence, all of which has created regular feelings of being unsafe.

A lawyer for the opponents characterized consultation as “perfunctory” and said it excluded input around the choice of the new location. As such, opponents are demanding a rezoning process with a full hearing at city council.
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Development appeal board revokes permit for new Boyle Street centre​


edmontonjournal.com

'Deeply disappointed': Development appeal board revokes permit for new Boyle Street centre

A city tribunal has revoked the development permit for the proposed relocation of Boyle Street Community Services, an organization that offers aid to vulnerable cit…
edmontonjournal.com edmontonjournal.com

globalnews.ca

Push continues to find long-term solutions to homelessness in Edmonton - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

As Edmonton city council considers funding temporary shelter spaces for millions of dollars, there are calls to invest in longer term solutions.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
 
All that's needed is for BSCS to do a proper rezoning, no? Sounds like council is sympathetic so it should pass.
They don't even have all the funding for it yet so it's not like it's being delayed.
 
Aaron_Lloyd said:
Really surprising news. A positive move for Chinatown, but hopefully a more appropriate location for these services can be found fairly quickly.
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It’ll open in the currently proposed location. It’s not like the people that use their services aren’t in Chinatown already. If it was a new service provider moving into the area, I’d be more sympathetic to their concerns for sure, but Boyle Street has been in the area for decades already.
 
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