Right on!

This was middle of the day, a Sunday, in broad daylight! Somebody walking with a backpack gets victimized with a gun! How much more serious can it get? I understand “don’t walk by the park after dark” etc., which as Fall/Winter approaches is 5pm on. But this is a whole new level of having our neighborhood taken away. 

I’m guessing the rationale for letting the homeless camp in the parks is that it beats them camping in your front yard?  Your backyard?  storefront doorways?   Bigger broader institutional problems causing homelessness (which is a big problem in many cities across the country in addition to ours) may well be outside of the city’s capacity to handle so the best they can do within their means with public safety in mind is to isolate them in the park. 

I heard a cluster of gun shots in the middle of the night which was probably related to that (I’m a block away from there). One of my neighbors told me that last night he heard a scuffle, a guy get into his car and drive away and 3 guys chase after him in another car. Not sure if they’re related, but they probably are…

If I have time  tomorrow I’ll reply to your reply 

  If you don’t live in Westwood then you really have no place to tell its residents to stop it,    with your arm chair criticisms from your neighborhood of what Westwood residents ‘ experiences are in  their neighborhood. 

I’ve lived in Westwood for almost 2 decades and have seen changes in  Westwood that started with Nickelsville. My neighborhood was fairly quiet up until then,  but then I started experiencing beer cans and alcohol bottles in my yard.  People started walking up and down the street yelling and fighting with each other and neighbors started reporting a dramatic rise in petty crime.  This is also about the time I started noticing pan handling at the Westwood Village entrances /exits. Even when Nickelsville left,  the remnants remained.  

The introduction of the bus stops only exacerbated this situation. And as pointed out,  go talk to the Westwood businesses about crime there now. For example,  I cannot even count how many times I have been to QFC  since the busses  were put in to see the police arresting a shoplifter or someone threatening customers or an employee.  It got so bad for Rite Aid,  they got their own security,  and recently at QFC I even saw an armed security guard working there,  which when I spoke with him about it,  he said was only temporary.  

  The sketchy crowd that loitered QFC got so bad that I asked them if they could do something about it,  and they actually did.  They boarded up the pay phones and put the shopping carts in the way.  Which BTW was another thing I started to see in my yard when Nickelsville came to town.  

I drive to work between 4:30 and 5 am through Westwood and it HAS gotten worse. Come on down, take the tour and check it out for yourself. 

 No one is claiming that everything was just hunky dory at Roxhill before the busses were put in,  only that it has gotten worse since they have.  

Hear, hear.

That place has been a problem as long as I’ve lived here.