Problem house thing of the past
Dear editor: As residents or business owners in the City of Penticton it’s important to give credit where credit is due. So, we’re giving thanks!
We suffered through the significant impacts of having a “problem house” beside us on Winnipeg Street. It cost us a lot of money and time; our tenants had wellfounded concerns for their safety as did many in the community; and there were environmental and sanitary concerns; all of which could fill a column in and of itself.
Through the combined efforts of the city and — importantly — members of the community, we were successful in closing that problem house, and the benefits are readily visible to everyone.
Where we used to see a constant stream of people going to the problem house, literally every few minutes passing through the lane with shopping carts, on bikes or skateboards or walking, we now see nothing but a few locals from the neighbouring three seniors facilities, and ordinary people walking on their way to and from Main Street.
You can stand in our front yard of an evening, between say 8 and 9, for a half hour or more, and see almost no one; and whereas before you’d see six people coming and going — each entering the house for two or three minutes and then coming back out – a we now see just a few people walking the dog or taking a smoke, or returning late from work.
In short, there’s been a tremendous improvement in community safety throughout the neighbourhood, and residents are more able to enjoy the rest of the benefits this city has to offer.
So thank you to all the front line enforcement people: the RCMP members, bylaw officers, the fire department and others. Thanks, too, to the back room city staff that continue to look for the ways and means of addressing these situations in future. Thanks to council and civic leaders for stepping up.
Sure, there’s more to be done. Many of the problems connected with that particular problem house have moved elsewhere in the city. And problem houses are just one item on Penticton’s list of social issues, so it’s going to cost taxpayer dollars to address them.
But we took back our little corner of the city and we can take back the city... nothing we can’t do with a little money, time and effort.
Matt Taylor Penticton