Memo #9: Safety, Social Inclusion, and the Success of Main Streets

By: Pauline Larsen, Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area (DYBIA)

The global pandemic is shining a spotlight on community safety and inclusion, even in Canadian cities which are some of the safest and most welcoming in the world. Perhaps more than ever, the sense of personal safety and a need for social inclusion are critical to the economic success of neighbourhoods and main streets.

Safety and Inclusion are the Foundations of Economic Success and Quality of Life in Cities

It’s important to begin by defining both safety and inclusion in the context of main streets and the general quality of life in cities.

Safety is more than just an absence of crime. It is a sense that spaces and places are well-managed and maintained; that the street experience is a positive one. It’s a perception that a place is safe. Research shows this sense of safety can be impacted by factors like cleanliness; a number of vacant, empty buildings; overflowing trash and litter bins; graffiti; and in some cases, unpredictable behaviour that can feel escalated or agitated and thus threatening. If people don’t feel safe, they don’t feel welcome.

Social inclusion is the other side of the coin: if people don’t feel welcome, they don’t generally feel safe. Feeling welcome can mean different things to different people, but feeling like part of the community is a good start. This sense of inclusion extends across many dimensions: gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation, to name a few. On main streets in particular, it must also extend to individuals experiencing a combination of homelessness, street involvement, mental illness and challenges related to substance use. This is our specific focus in the Memo.

Toronto, one of the most livable cities in the world, is an overwhelmingly safe city with crime statistics that are the envy of many other places. But the impact of growing income inequality, poverty, homelessness and an opioid crisis remain concerns, as do a lack of housing and mental health services. On main streets, these challenges threaten both vulnerable street-involved people, and broader perceptions of safety.

Community Safety and Inclusion is Often Taken for Granted... Until it Isn’t

For Canadian cities, the global pandemic and resulting lockdown magnified issues of safety.

First, the pandemic has shown sharp economic and social inequalities in our cities and neighbourhoods - something that plays out on the street, as well as in both public and private spaces. Homelessness and street involvement - along with substance use, mental illness and related behaviours – have been far more evident on the street. This has been exacerbated by the shutdown of many social agencies who are normally available to provide supports.
Second, lockdowns can create a sense of desolation, which impacts perceptions of safety and space. Closed storefronts, boarded up buildings, and significantly reduced flow of positive foot traffic are contributors. The lack of activity and crowds has been palpable, especially on normally busy, dense main streets. On Yonge Street at Dundas in downtown Toronto, foot counts decreased by over 50% year-on-year in March 2020, and by more than 80% in April 2020.
Third, there is a high level of fear around community infection from COVID-19, which means people are very conscious of both personal space and physical distancing. This is particularly apparent on main streets, public spaces that are not managed in the way that private spaces are.

What Can Main Street Businesses do to Enhance Safety and Inclusion?

Business owners are not outreach workers, nor are they police officers. But community safety is a collective responsibility to build safer, more inclusive neighbourhoods for all who live, work, play, study or invest in our cities.

What can main street businesses do to enhance community safety and inclusion in their neighbourhoods? While every area is different, there are some common tools and actions.

Encourage Reporting

Many businesses feel that it is not worth reporting incidents – for example trespasses, threatening behaviour, or theft – in their stores or neighbourhoods, either because they believe the incidents are not important enough to warrant police attention or that police will not be able to respond in a timely manner. Data generated by reporting is important, however, helping direct resources in neighbourhoods, and assisting with allocating police, outreach and other services where needed.

Some tips for main street businesses:

A medical emergency or a crime in progress are always worth a call to 9-1-1, but there are also other ways to report incidents and request assistance.
Get to know local neighbourhood officers. Police services are increasingly shifting to community policing, an approach that is relationship-based, by assigning officers to specific neighbourhoods and communities.
Not every situation needs a police response. In the City of Toronto, for example, the Streets to Homes mobile outreach teams are available to assist people who are looking for housing and other social supports.

Share Information About Social Supports

Change the conversation between business employees and people who are street-involved by providing information on social services, food programs and shelters in the neighbourhood.

Equip staff with de-escalation techniques. Retail workers can benefit from training in de-escalation as well as mental health recognition and response.
Know what local social supports and programs exist. Directing someone to a lunch program when they come into your store asking for food avoids confrontation and encourages respectful, safe behaviour.
Build relationships with local outreach teams as well as other social agencies that provide services in easy walking distance.
Make sure staff have up-to-date contacts for helping people in crisis. In some cities, there are crisis teams who will respond to non-violent situations; in others, police partner with mental health workers for addressing persons in crisis. In violent situations, always call 9-1-1.

Be Willing to Collaborate

Different main streets face different challenges around community safety and inclusion, and require different types of interventions. For example:

The opioid crisis may necessitate street-front businesses working together with harm reduction agencies and police;
Homelessness and poverty may necessitate partnering between social agencies, outreach workers and private sector landlords; or
Mental illness and street involvement may necessitate businesses working together with local hospitals and mental health nurses.

In conclusion, community safety and inclusion are the foundation of economic development and are a prerequisite for healthy neighbourhoods and main streets. Taking the initiative to facilitate, collaborate and educate street-front businesses on these issues is an investment in the economic competitiveness of main streets and the neighbourhoods where they are located.

For more information, see the Downtown Yonge BIA “Safe & Inclusive Neighbourhoods” webpage, which features our Safe & Inclusive Streets Strategy.