Nearly half of Canadians say the state of the downtown core closest to where they live has declined in the past year, a recent poll shows.
Released by Canadian market research firm Leger on Aug. 11, the poll reported that 45 percent of Canadians indicate that the downtown core nearest to them is declining.
In addition, 15 percent of Canadians say that either a close friend or family member or they themselves have feared for their safety in the downtown core nearest to where they live in the last six months.
The top three reasons that have contributed to the downtown core’s decline are mental health challenges for vulnerable populations, given by 89 percent of the respondents; homelessness (88 percent); and lack of affordable housing for vulnerable populations (88 percent)….