BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following story is in reference to 'COLUMN: Encampments shouldn't prevent others from enjoying parks,' published Nov. 13.
I live at 101 Kozlov St. in Barrie. Our apartment backs on to a forested area going as far as to Bayfield Street.
When we moved in seven years ago, it was so nice to walk the walking trails through the woods. Now we don’t go in the woods at all. At any given time, there are several homeless living in tents in various sections of the woods.
Currently, we have two tents we can see from our living room window. This morning, when I opened the drapes, I was greeted with a bare bottom and a male defecating on one of the paths. Not sure whether this was a person from one of the tents, or just someone walking through the woods at approximately 6:15 a.m. Whatever.
The people living this way have issues, but we need to also respect those who should be able to feel comfortable using public spaces. Families are uncomfortable taking/letting their kids go to parks that were originally built for use by citizens of Barrie.
Now they are being used, in a lot of cases, as encampments for the homeless. When are all levels of government going to truly acknowledge this ongoing/growing problem and do something concrete to fix it?
I keep hearing about building affordable housing. What is considered affordable? A one-bedroom apartment for $1,500-plus, not including utilities?
It’s time to really do something about this problem. It gets worse and worse with no viable solutions. Just a lot of talk.
M. Gow
Barrie
