DRUGS A HUGE ISSUE IN SAPPERTON NEIGHBOURHOOD

Editor, The Record:

Drive through Sapperton and see signs everywhere: New development!
100 per cent sold out!

If buyers are looking for a place to invest in real estate, this area
certainly has a hot market. Claims of Sapperton becoming a "New
Yaletown" in New Westminster and easy access to public transportation
thanks to the SkyTrain have housing prices in this area skyrocketing.

But for the $300,000, give or take, are investors aware that they are
getting a lot more than 700 square feet, new appliances and granite
countertops?

What about crack? Why don't any of the articles about how "up and
coming" Sapperton is even mention how much easier a crack habit will
be to maintain in our wannabe Yaletown? Maybe rather than a trendy
area of undersized and overpriced condos, this comparison may in fact
refer more to the proximity to the Downtown Eastside's poverty and
drug abuse problems.

Having grown up in Queen's Park, I was in for quite a New Westminster
culture shock when I moved to Sapperton 10 months ago. On the whole,
though, the sometimes eccentric but undoubtedly harmless characters
are as much a part of this community as are the bizarre specialty
shops. Until recently. For the last several months, more and more
characters that do not seem so harmless are appearing on our streets
in the forms of drug dealers and addicts. It has reached a point now
where it is every day, and it is at all times of the day and night.

It started off with one or two familiar faces that have since grown
into larger groups of people who have gained confidence in
approaching strangers and escalating to aggressive behaviour. They
will unashamedly smoke from crack pipes outside the stores on East
Columbia Street with seemingly no concern for discretion. Needles and
other drug paraphernalia litter the parking lots and alleys behind
businesses and residences - areas where children used to be more
commonly seen than crackheads. Store owners have vocalized concern
and are bothered by the people who frequent their shops to beg
handouts from customers and then use their five-finger discounts on
merchandise.

I can't imagine our new neighbours in their shiny new condos will be
too pleased come fall when they are set to move and get a sense of
the security - or lack thereof - in this neighbourhood. Please
support and encourage local authorities to take proactive steps to
make sure our families are safe and that security in our community is
a priority for this city.

Stephanie Clark