I never needed an Environics Analytics report to tell me that downtown Peterborough is safe and full of amazing businesses. Anyone who believes otherwise has clearly not paid attention to what really happens in the heart of the city.

And I invite you to give it another chance.

As a county resident, I come into the city a few times a week for meetings and events in various neighbourhoods. Yes, I see people experiencing the “fentanyl fold” as I drive into the downtown area and I feel terrible for the people doubled over due to their drug use.

It doesn’t colour the rest of my experience. For every person panhandling or struggling, I see 100 others going to work or doing something productive.

They buy jewelry at Hi Lo Silver or pop into the friendliest post office location in the city. Sitting in the lobby at Venture North, I see many........

© Peterborough Examiner