City works on plan for west side
For Paul Barr, talk of improving the quality of life in and around his neighbourhood hits hard.
His son, Jaron Tyler Jahnke, 28, was gunned down last August in Riversdale, only a few blocks away from where Barr and his wife now live.
If the city wants to improve life in the area, he says they first have to deal with the gang and drug problems.
“It’s got to change,” Barr said, standing in the porch of his home on Avenue J.
The city is hoping the launch of a new sweeping redevelopment plan in Barr’s neighbourhood will be part of that change. The plan, called The Junction, incorporates existing redevelopment projects such as Station 20 West and the Wolf Willow communal housing project into a broader, forward-looking plan for the entire area.
The Junction plan is set to be unveiled to the public next month.
The plan encompasses a crosssection of three neighbourhoods: Pleasant Hill, Riversdale and the West Industrial area. The Junction is bordered by 21st Street on the north, 17th Street on the south, Avenue P to the west and Avenue H to the east.
The city says it wants to make the area around Station 20 West a more pedestrian-friendly community hub. It is offering incentives aimed at encouraging development on vacant and contaminated industrial land in the area. And it wants to make places such as Optimist Park, which is located just across the street from Barr’s house, safer for kids and families. Barr said he would like to see an indoor recreational centre in the area that would offer young people an alternative to street life.
“They are trying. You’ve got to give them kudos for that. But there are still a lot of people who slip through the cracks,” Barr said.
Other people believe carefully co-ordinated development could be the key to improving quality of life in the area.
“The problem is when an area is abandoned and it seems like no one cares, that’s where people gravitate to if they want to do things that are outside the law,” said Pat Lorje, the city councillor for the area. “Improving the public perception of an area is extremely important.”
Residents and business owners say things have improved in recent years. Fire crews have cut down trees and improved sightlines in the parks. The Riversdale gang house where Barr’s son was shot has since been torn down. But some say there is still a long way to go if the city wants to turn the area into a commercially viable and culturally vibrant part of the city.
“They can make everything as pretty as they want to, but if people are afraid to come down here, pretty or not, they are not going to come,” said Jennifer Senger, who has owned Windmill Flowers on the corner of 20th Street and Avenue M for the past 20 years.
Senger welcomes the city’s ideas of improving the streetscape and redeveloping underused land. But she believes there are other more pressing issues the area has to deal with first. In January alone, there were five reported car break-ins, two serious thefts, four accounts of mischief and two stolen cars in the area.
“They have to have a bigger police presence. They have to make sure people feel safe coming down here,” she said.
The city is currently holding meetings with stakeholders in the neighbourhood. It will hold a public open house asking residents for feedback and recommendations on March 14.