crime reduction
Cities and states of nature
Monday, March 9th, 2009Drug cartel wars in Mexico’s borderlands as well as Taliban and tribal Afghanistan heroin production can generate violence and lawlessness in individual cities thousands of kilometres away. And city governments often lack the policing and even legal means to stop the chaos and control their streets.
There are as many examples as there are cities (Toronto […]
New playground as community anchor
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Like many public spaces in East Vancouver, the park by our house used to look tired — exhausted, in fact. Some playground equipment became so dilapidated, it posed a hazard and neighbors asked the city to remove it. Other plastic slides had more endurance (does plastic ever break down?), and children belonging to families living […]
Community spirit and crime prevention
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007“Build community spirit to fight crime”
I found this interesting quote from a municipal official in Barbados (the magic of the internet). He was talking about the role neighborhood watch could play in reversing an escalation in drug trafficking in a particular community. But the notion is intriguing.
Politicians and citizens in most […]
Combating City Crime - Car Thefts
Monday, July 2nd, 2007Many world cities — especially those in North America — have car theft problems to some degree. In some places most thefts result from questionable owner behaviour like leaving the car running and keys in the ignition while they run into a store. But in many cities, securely locked vehicles continually fall victim to thieves […]
Alleys: Paths to Urban Revitalization
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006The back alleys of North American cities are often thought of as places for garbage or crime, if people think about them at all. But that is changing.
Cities around North America, particularly in the downtown and urban core neighbourhoods are seeing alleys become the source for new, revitalizing urban development.
Streets and alleys fill 30% of […]
Disorder, livability and tourism.
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006A little disorder can help pull a city together — give it a creative edge. But a lot of disorder in the form of graffiti on buildings, drug use in the open, homelessness in every alley, pan handlers on each street, petty theft everwhere, and public drunkedness, well that starts to impede on the liveability […]
The role of tension in creating great communities
Thursday, September 7th, 2006Many people escape to the suburbs hoping to find an area free of crime, litter, homelessness and other urban issues. What they also find there are often bedroom communities or neighbourhoods where neighbours rarely talk or know each other. There is no inherent reason to do so — nothing that breaks the ice.
In a transitioning […]
Disorder, crime, respect and community
Thursday, August 10th, 2006The mayor of Vancouver was on Breakfast Television this morning and mentioned that a new priority for him and his administration is to address public disorder as a means to tackle rising crime and fear in Vancouver. This intrigued me, particularly as someone who lives in a fast changing community often challenged by irritating disrespectful […]