SUDBURY -- Sudbury's downtown has a somewhat tarnished reputation.
We told you last week about a Pita Pit location closing, partly due to safety issues the owner has with the area.
Now, we are hearing from the owner of a nearby business with similar concerns.
Since opening her new business, Da Capo Café & Lounge, in downtown Sudbury this summer, Stefania Mylona has developed concerns with the area.
"You see a lot of people using drugs around downtown, so that's one of our concerns, meaning that it's not nice when someone is new and visiting downtown, for example students/tourists. They come the first time here; probably it's not the best impression for them seeing something like that," said Mylona.
Mylona moved to Sudbury from Greece with her family four years ago.
While she has never felt unsafe in downtown Sudbury, she says what she sees is not the city she’s come to know.
"You have to think about the future, because I have kids, they are old enough, so I can talk to them and explain to them, but probably customers that have (younger ones), maybe they would not like to visit downtown just because of that," said Mylona.
Sudbury City Councillor Geoff McCausland says these problems aren't exclusive to downtown. He adds city council is taking concerns seriously during current budget debates.
"There are more and more needles being left throughout the city, and so we have a contract with SACY (Sudbury Action Centre for Youth) to actually do our needle pickup, and there’s a budget item to expand the contract to provide better service," said McCausland.
Out on the streets, people had mostly positive things to say about downtown Sudbury:
"There’s all these little hidden treasures downtown, little eateries, dining."
"I have no problems downtown. You are walking around, there’s always lots of people to help you."
"I’ve never felt unsafe. I mean, sometimes there’s people asking you for change, but if you say 'no' politely, they don’t make a thing of it."
Mylona says she remains optimistic that a brighter future for downtown lies ahead.
"It's better if more businesses are open downtown, so you have more reasons to visit, and so you have more opportunities to visit more places, get different flavours, different things when you come downtown," said Mylona.
Councillor McCausland adds that at Thursday’s Downtown Business Improvement Area meeting, police said they have no concerns with safety downtown, adding the incidents reported are between related parties.
