Vancouver streets teeming with life

Unless you like cheesy electronic scores, I recommend you mute the sound on your computer before watching this movie clip of Vancouver circa 1907 below. Thanks to Richard for the link.

In this film of the old centre of Vancouver, now tagged as the Downtown Eastside, streets teem with men, women and children. Storefronts with vibrant businesses line the streetcar route.
Today these streets are a sad shadow of their past.

The DTES is the most grotesque example of how we let criminals dominate the streets, while citizens cower indoors. But this part of Vancouver is not the only area where people avoid the outdoors at night.

The Eastside community of Renfrew-Collingwood is feeling the stress of recent attacks on women near the 29th Avenue Skytrain station. TV news crews interview women who are understandably concerned about their safety, and politicians are weighing in with calls for increased police patrols.

The solution is not to abandon the streets, but to take them back. By providing a little of their time, citizens have the power to make a difference when it comes to public safety.

Along with several neighbours, I participate in Mountain View‘s neighbourhood patrols, a program supported by our South Vancouver Community Police office. Collingwood also has one of the best community policing programs in the city (although I’m not sure how much help Constable Chip would be in a bust).

The longterm solution for community health and safety depends on citizens taking charge. The most unacceptable outcome of this fear is that the streets of Renfrew-Collingwood, or any other Vancouver neighbourhood, are abandoned.

The best evidence of a vital, healthy community is women and children walking, without fear, down a sidewalk. Like the snapshot of 1907 seen above, we need to ensure that the streets of Vancouver teem with life.