Today I am not going to write from a position of a Vancouver BC real estate agent, but simply from a position of a Vancouver’s citizen. For a significant period of time, Vancouver has been considered to be among the world top places to live. This year’s Mercer’s Quality of Living survey outcomes positioned Vancouver as the American top place to live. And yet it is getting negative international press attention by The Economics and The Independent. Why does this happen?

For the first three months of 2009 only, Vancouver (2.7 mil inhabitants) has witnessed 45 shootings, 17 of them fatal. That’s 6.3 violent deaths per 1 mil citizens. Compared to Toronto (5.1 mil citizens), there was 11 murders in the same period, which works out at 2.2 violent deaths per 1 mil citizens – almost three times less!

Parallel fight: gangs vs. gangs, gangs vs. the police

10 years ago, there were only 10 times less active gangs in Vancouver than now. This means that nowadays, there are more than 100 groups functioning in Vancouver! Moreover, there are three main factors that are not helping the situation at all: 1) the gangs’ organization is mostly quite pathetic, 2) they can acquire weapons without any significant effort, and 3) the member base of the gangs is formed of very young draftees.

Today, we can observe a parallel fight in Vancouver and its streets. The first one is of course between the gangs alone. They are struggling because of the rise of the price of cocaine coming from Mexico. Recently, the Mexican government has undergone a massive counter cartel activity operation, which drove the price of cocaine up from $23,300/kg to almost $39,000/kg.

Now you might be wondering why the connection between Vancouver and drugs is so strong. The answer to this question should mention the general carefree attitude of the place in conjunction with its location on the map and its gigantic low populated areas surrounding it, all this resulting in great conditions for a very active drug scene. Besides, Vancouver is has quite a unique combination of all these factors. Despite all this, the amount of policemen in Vancouver is lower (recalculated per number of citizens) than anywhere else in Canada – concerning mostly great cities. And in by 2012, the annual budget for police and court are expected to be $20 million lower, as planned by the local administration. If the metropolitan police had more financial and personal resources in hand, their position in the war against the gangs would be much better.

The solution

I am far from assuming that this problem we are facing can be solved by some quick & easy peace recipes. However, it seems clear to me that the police would need to increase its staff count and budget, not lower it! We have to make Vancouver a secure city and a good place to live again. Not just because of the upcoming Olympics, but for the sake of its inhabitants. Recently, the PM Stephen Harper suggested a new harsh law which would judge gang killings as first-degree murders with at least 25 years in prison. This is of course a right decision, but in order to improve the situation in Vancouver, it is not sufficient.