Would more time spent downtown improve feelings of safety?

The good news is, we tend to trust each other in Waterloo region.

The not so good news is some residents feel unsafe in the core areas of the region's cities.

Those are the findings of a newly released survey from the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.

When asked if "most people can be trusted," 76 per cent of respondents in agreed they could be.

That is up from 60 per cent in 2016, "which is terrific," said Christiane Sadeler, executive director of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.

People also reported generally feeling safe in their own neighbourhoods after dark, but when asked whether residents feel safe "in your downtown area at night," 38 per cent of respondents said they feel somewhat or very unsafe.

However, those respondents tend not to be people who frequent downtown areas.

"Those people that frequent the downtowns overall feel safe," Sadeler said. "Those people that don't go to the downtowns are the ones that say, 'I don't feel safe in the downtowns.'"

Listen to the whole interview withChristianeSadeler on The Morning Edition:

Positive experiences lead to feeling safe

The council presented the survey at the police services board meeting earlier this week. It has a small sample size of 404 residents, where 194 were contacted through a telephone survey and 210 through an online survey.The data was collected between March and April through the survey research centre at the University of Waterloo.

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Despite the downtown safety findings, Sadeler said the results of the annual survey was the council's "best news report ever." And she noted feeling unsafe is only people's perception.

The downtown cores in Waterloo region are safe when it comes to crime, Sadeler said.

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So how do the core areas fix this perception? Get people to visit, she said.

"My experiences are positive and because I have so many of them, that very small experience that might give me a sense of discomfort gets watered down by my positive daily experiences," said Sadeler, who lives in downtown Kitchener.

Strategy aims to get people DTK

The survey found 42 per cent of people felt somewhat or very unsafe going to Kitchener's downtown at night.

Sarah Marsh is the Kitchener councillor for the downtown area and also sits on the city's downtown advisory committee. She agrees getting people into the core will help with that perception.

She noted things like the BIA's DTK 2020 strategy are helping guide the city in how to bring more people into the downtown core and have "heartfelt experiences" there.

"I think people remember the downtown Kitchener that was a lot rougher years gone by," Marsh said.

"The landscape of our Kitchener downtown has really changed significantly in the last few decades, but when people don't hang out downtown, they might not know that."

Marsh said she has heard concerns about downtown, but the conversation is changing away from people worried about crime to people who want to see better shopping options, such as groceries.

Cambridge 'is thriving'

In Cambridge, the issue may be fears surrounding the opioid crisis and a rise of "unwanted people" in front of stores or at intersections, said Coun. Pam Wolf.

The survey found 40 per cent of people said they felt somewhat or very unsafe in Cambridge.

Wolf said there are sometimes reports of petty crimes or the opioidcrisis in the media, along with store closures.

While five stores have closed in the Galtcore, she noted 22 new stores opened last year.

"Our city is thriving. We have the Gaslight District coming, a new pedestrian bridge, a new library opening," Wolfsaid. "I see that people are going to be drawn to the downtown and once you have more people there, I think people feel safe with numbers."

People is the 'secret sauce' to uptown safety

In uptown Waterloo, just 24 per cent of people said they felt somewhat or very unsafe.

Coun. Melissa Durrell said that's because there are always people moving in the core, whether it's people shopping through the day or peopleenjoying the nightlife.

She said the timing of the survey the spring of 2017 may have affected the results as there were fewer people going uptown because of construction.

"Uptown is a very safe core. It has such a vibrant culture to it," she said.

"There's always activities going on up here and I think that that is our secret sauce to having a safe uptown."

Now, the challenge is getting people back into uptown now that construction has moved further north on King Street.

"Maybe they haven't been here in a while," she said. "Hopefully people will come back and understand this is a really safe, warm, vibrant core and something that we should cherish."

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