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Letter: New Westminster is 'turning back into a dump'

Editor: I’m not sure whether you remember what downtown New Westminster looked like in the 1980s (but if) you don’t I’ll remind you - it was a dump. (Former mayor) Wayne Wright cleaned it up and made “New West great again.
New West Record
Needles and garbage on a street in New Westminster's Sapperton neighbourhood
Needles and garbage on a street in New Westminster's Sapperton neighbourhood. Traft Teleske photo

Editor:

I’m not sure whether you remember what downtown New Westminster looked like in the 1980s (but if) you don’t I’ll remind you - it was a dump.

(Former mayor) Wayne Wright cleaned it up and made “New West great again.”

I’m sorry to say it’s turning back into a dump. This has nothing to do with COVID-19, it’s been sliding for years.

new west garbage
Garbage in an alley in New Westminster's Sapperton neighbourhood. Traft Teleske photo

When my wife asked me what she thought about buying a home in New West years ago, I laughed. But she talked me into it, as it has charm, but since then it has slid downhill.

I think it’s time to move back to central Coquitlam, where we grew up.

Traft Teleske, New Westminster