Please, don't you be my neighbor

Is a church-run effort to help the homeless turning my picturesque neighborhood into a slum?

It's not even a month since my wife and I moved into our condo near Broadway and Cambie, almost smack in the middle of Vancouver. We have a great view from our balcony, pleasant tree-lined streets with pastel-painted heritage homes lining the way, and friendly neighbors. There's also a daycare nearby, a school, a small park and two churches practically within throwing distance of eachother. It's about as nice as city living gets.

But now something I noticed when I first saw the place and tried to put out of my mind might be coming back to haunt us.

A car with its passenger-side window smashed in was parked in front of our building. Little bits of glass still sparkled on the grass next to it.

I remember asking my agent about it. "It's a big city," he shrugged. "Crime does happen, even in good neighborhoods." Reassured that our own vehicle would be parked in a gated underground lot if we did take the place, I put the vandalism down to bad luck and moved on.

Two weeks later, we were speaking with a neighbor who mentioned there had been a few break-ins recently, and that our building would be protected by a professional security firm this month.

From what I'd read in the papers, the recent police crackdown on open-drug use in Vancouver has sent the drug-addled career criminals and their suppliers over to Victoria (The number of people living on the streets over there had reportedly boomed). But not everyone was driven off as far as the island. Now, they're living in my hood.

This week, an article by Mike Howell in the Vancouver Courier cleared it up for me. A program at the 10th Avenue Alliance Church to provide meals for more than 70 poor people a day has reportedly attracted drug dealers to service the desperate people as they're lined up for food.

One 14-year resident was shocked last month to find a woman shooting up right in front of her home. "I was shocked, nervous and didn't say anything because I didn't know what she would do."

But the police insist that crime has not increased significantly in the neighborhood in recent weeks, suggesting that there is no proven link between the program and the recent break-ins.

Are people jumping the gun on this one, fearful of any potential hit to the resale price on their homes? Or are my neighbors justified in their vigilance, unwilling to let their pleasant neighborhood fall apart one brick at a time?

Frankly, I don't have enough information to make a balanced judgement. I'll be attending a meeting at the church on Tuesday night, with city officials and police in attendance, where I'll hopefully get the full story.

I'll keep you posted.

tags: Vancouver, neighborhood, residents, neighborhood watch, church, community