1139 Lonsdale Avenue | North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 PETER SPECK Publisher __ es aus-2i91 (1 Chris Johnson Operations Manager “Doug Foot * > Comptratter 985-2131 (133) . 985-2131 (706) acti Linda Stewart f Managing Editor ~ Sas Matteting Director “sas zi8h (116)°. Valerie Stophensca 4 Display Manager" Classilied Manager || 90-8511 (109), 8 "i Agrios * Plemotions -GaB-21 (218) Photogaphy Manager.’ Distibution Manage Production Mat ea erior tay ean nang anna SRezit : Reaawoom Fax “>, Cluseified, Avceuntiag «| OS G Mada Offea Fax “l. MOrtR Shore Wewu, founded in 1909 at an "1 indepemfent suburban newspaper an! qualified under Schedule 11, Parsgeaph LIL of the «Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday'and Sunday by North Shore Free Press * Lid. and ubstributed to every door on the North <1 Shore, Canada Fust Canadien Publications Mait “Sales Product Agreement No: . OOR7238.. 4 _ Mailing tates available on request. | eae vernon amber Enite conlents e© 1995 North Shore “e Free Press Ltd. ‘Ali rights reserved.” : 980-0524 (319) O65-2131 (160), 1 HE LST SALTON OFF NASKA, AUGUST. 19982) Vicente nes Go Wirth becaltvesde YOURE CRAZY! WE AGTUALY GOT Filth OF THE. LAST SALMON! SIGHTED OFF _BOC.OCTOBER, 1998! yy yy 7 KEY to making the North Shore’s new , Low Level road link a real long-term success is to. ensure. that its entire “Tength include facility for bicycles and bic yele commuters. . ‘Thus far their inclusion is only being con-. ‘sidered. And that is short-sighted. ° , Those who choose to commute across the North Shore via bicycles right now literally “take their lives into their own hands, The. main. east-west traffic’ corridor, f ‘Marine Drive, is seriousty. deficient when it comes to bicycle use, as are virtually all main transportation links on the North Shore. | But the call from ail sectors of the public and political spheres is that we need alterna- _ tives to the single-occupant private vehicle to _ help untangle o our current mess of commuter - THERE ARE lies, damned lies and statistics, goes the ° > ald quip. Last week’s crime’ figures from Statistics |. : Canada being a shining ~ example. Hf you ask the first 10 people on the sireet whether crime is getting, worse, chances are that at very least: eight will say “yes”. po Nonsense, say Ottawa’s number: ! crunchers. Tota! crime was actually down by 5% last year, violent crime » by. 3% (despite a dramatic rise in “viclent youth crime) and all cate- gories of property crime also ' declined. So how come jaw-abiding B.C. citizens get it all wrong? : homicides (2.7) after Winnipeg - Building roads without facility for the use: of such alternatives reduces that -outcry to mere lip service. Bicycles are not the sole answer to solving the current:.commuter jam ‘on ‘the: North Shore Mainland. ; t They have many limitations for many peo- : ple. But they represent one alternative that is cheap, non-polluting and compact. hoa, More people would use bicycles if road sys terns were designed with their use in mind. | «fis time then’ to back. up words with, , ‘actions. a ~ Build bicycle consciousness into our read- ; ways and provide commuters with: practical . encouragement fo get out of their. cars and - ‘into alternative forms of transportation. Panes All else is empty rhetoric. and overheated political bluster. Ss ; Metro Toronto. And between | 1986 and 1993, according to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, violent crimes by j juve- niles aged {2to 17 skyrocketed from 9,275 to 21.47} — an increase | of 131%, It's these longer-term figures that." explain people's fears now about walking the streets after dark, using ‘big underground parkades or brav- “ing bored teens hanging out at malls and convenience stores. Inevitably they contrast such hazards with the carefree safety they took for granted 30, 20 or even just 10 years ago and _. demand action by the justice system te restore that safety, Third, the very insecurity now hither and yon’ or elsewhere around ‘the Lower : The answer is simple. They . DON'T — for three good reasons. ’ First, the figures are for the ‘whole country, high and low-crime’ areas alike, Vancouver's overall crime rate — unlike Canada’s — is, in:fact, UP 1.4% and property crimes here are UP 4.5%. : .Measured by cases per 100,000. ‘Population, Greater Vancouver comes third in violent crimes. . * (1,346) after Winnipeg (1,371) and - “Montreal (1,359), and second in’ (2.85). Violent crimes in Toronto (1,252) are almost 8% lower and the homicide rate (1.99) some 26% - ‘ower than Vancouver. The safest ; big city, by the way, is Calgary (vio- lent crimes 858, homicides |. 58). Second, these latest figures are for a single year’s change, 1993 to’ 1994. Bat over longer Periods i isa very different story, - ; From 1984 to.1994 overall crime” Tose by 8% — soaring 30% in suffered by law- -abiding citizens can . coin the short term — obviously “Cause reported crime to drop, ’ Today home Security systems to : warn of break-ins are common: Place, So are car alarms and anti- theft devices. Peopte no longer walk the streets alone at night. ‘They.’ , avoid loitering packs of teens, They » Carry pepper spray and keep their eyes skinned in parkades, So crime statistics may dip a lit-- ' : “tle year-to- year. while criminals fi ig-" Monument Lonsdale? Dear Editor: In’ response to D. Darlington’s letter concern=. ing the: perceived: need ‘to’ construct . the ” Montroyat’ Connector so. that he* may’ visit, friends in the Upper: Lonsdale‘area, | would like to: point out a few interesting facts. Delbrook. is exactly. Li km. from Montroyal tc Queens; Lonsdale is exact! 1 km from Queens to the top . (Lonsdale,.and Rockland); “and Queens, from/Delbrook :: to Lonsdale, is’ 1.2.) km Therefore .D. Darlington: i currently. driving a total dis “tance of 4 km to visit his/he friends. : . . This journey would: tak approximately "6, minutes.