Good points.
Downtown Salem is a great place to walk around. The visitors don't overwhelm us and history is around every corner. Now, I'm sensitive to the less fortunate among us, I'm all for helping people with problems. But it seems to me that Salem has many more street people than other cities. One doesn't have to negotiate around street people in Portland, ME or Portsmouth, NH when they visit. Newburyport, MA is a great town to wander around in and there are no vagrants around that I can see.
It isn't an easy answer, but I simply wonder why does Salem have more than it's share of this situation?

Right on, on all accounts! please run for mayor

Great article! On the issue of our vagrants...how about more foot police in town. Keep 'certain' people moving and not sleeping on benches in the areas. pan handling is a fault of cities, however, the foot police would be a helping 'move along',

Great points Bill. Yes to foot patrol

Thanks Bill for highlighting some of Salem's 'works in progress'. I look forward to your next article highlighting 5 points about the downtown that raise your spirits (non-alcoholic) and make you proud. We obviously don't need a foot patrol when we are getting you for free. Resist the call to run for Mayor . . . for now.

Bill for Mayor! Yay!
There are alot of eyesores in downtown Salem, but I try to focus on the positive & the beautiful things that I see.
When confronted by panhandlers, I simply say, "I'm poor, too! Except, I work!".

salem is not the sleepy bedroom community it once was but has morphed into a borough of boston. in doing this has brought its problems. the homeless,psycho drivers,crime,and rotten politics. we all have to live with all of this and then some from all levels of government.
the patina in the parking garages will most likly stay there. the rocketts may figure out that pickering wharf buildings look like crap and riley plaza will remain the same nightmare it has been for 60 plus years. god bless america

We moved here over 3 years ago and still can't get used to the way people drive. It baffles me how people will slam on their brakes on a straight-away to let someone out of a side street, yet they run red lights and stop signs like no tomorrow. We live off Pickering Wharf, so we deal with the Derby/Washington intersection daily. The worst is when people are turning left onto Washington from Derby, and they all pile into the intersection on the arrow even though their line of traffic isn't moving. Those of us going straight across Washington on Derby the opposite way are then stuck through another light. The other bad thing about this intersection, no one gets the "turn left only" lane going straight over Washington. We're coming from Pickering Wharf, going straight in the correct lane. People in the left lane which cleary states "left turn only", continue straight through the light almost side swiping us, then we get the finger or yelled at for almost hitting them. The ignorance of some drives is really astounding. My second complaint is also the bus stop area at Walgreens. I've never gone in that store (I try to never go there) without being harassed or spit at by people if I refuse to give the beggers change. It's disgusting and I agree, more foot police would probably be of some help in that area specifically!

"Get them treatment or lock them up" i say enough with the homeless, spare change people downtown. I just removed a pillow and blanket from a tree outside my home on federal st. Good article bill. Thanks. And don't run for office.

Phew. Thanks Chester! All the warm and fuzzy feelings were making me nervous. Where was the cynicism that we look to Patch comments for? Where the hyperbole that can make Salem in the '10s into Chicago in the '30s? I knew you wouldn't let us down.

Anyway, Bill, I don't think your point about institutionalizing chronic vagrants—especially problem ones-is harsh or uncharitable. It is, if anything, a lack of charity that leaves the mentally ill to their own devices on the streets (thanks Ronald Reagan!)

In any case, I like the Harborwalk, even there is often a guy or two sleeping on a park bench. Pickering wharf, on the other hand seems like failure of a public/private partnership that perhaps should be more explicitly negotiated and discussed. The buildings were poorly made to begin with and have not aged well. On the other hand, it seems like the number of businesses there that might attract locals as well as tourists has slightly increased. If it were an enclosed mall it would be clear that it is the Rockett's responsibility to keep it clean, but since it is open air, the responsibility is less obvious. Are those city roads that lead through it?

As for Museum Place Mall, can we finally cut our losses already? Keep the Thai restaurant, the Movie Theater and the businesses on the ped mall, and add the rest of it to the parking garage.

Boston Street. All of it. The constant trash, the boarding house across the street from Walgreens, the terrible dips/bumps/potholes/and damm near sinkhole right across from Walgreens. The dregs that patrol Arge's. The parking in front of and around Arge's. The empty lot again across from Walgreens. This is one of the first things you see heading into Salem.

hey salem resident campers thats where our illustriuos mayor wants to put our senior center. what a wonderful spot. pollution trash potholes traffic to beat the band boarding houses. and your right ditch the east india mall. make it a street again along with essex st. enough of this cutsy crap and let the residents have downtown back.

Great thoughts Bill! You chose the same areas I would....I moved to Salem 10 years ago and since then there has been tremendous improvements in retail and restaurants, but there was never a serious problem with vagrants and homeless as there is now. I'm surprised no one in this forum has mentioned the amount of discarded needles found in the city on a daily basis. The public drinking, sleeping, begging and trash from these people is out of control. And this is without the methadone clinic in town that has been proposed....

To Rockett Management: PLEASE clean up Pickering Wharf. This is a true asset to Salem and it is a mess now with retailers not being able to make a living down there anymore.

One quick and easy fix to clean up Pickering Wharf a little bit- trash bins. There is NOT ONE SINGLE trash barrel in all of the Wharf, except the one that the nice fellas at the Hungry Whale put out during their business hours.
The city puts them all around, but the Wharf St. is a private road - not the city's responsibility.

" Get mad as hell, stop complaining and get involved." Hear, hear, Bil! Now where are my appointment book and wallet? Mrs. Mayor was kind enough to meet we non-auto-wielding commuters this morning at Salem Station to collect signatures for a petition. Want to "get involved" in improving Salem? Sign the Community Preservation Act petition, and vote for it if it makes the ballot. Better yet, stand at the corner of Washington and New Derby or outside a Walgreen and collect signatures. Well?

With all this talk about Pickering Wharf and the management and merchants, how about the fact that Wharf Street is owned by THE CITY OF SALEM up to the end of 62 On The Wharf. Now let's talk about the fact that when it rains even a little, the CITY PROPERTY floods to the point that a normal car can not cross to get the rest of the wharf. The city has NO PROBLEM sending the meter-maids to write parking violation on this part of Wharf Street, but spending money instead of collecting it seems to be an issue (for this particular situation).

As for the flooding,get in line and good luck.

Thanks for pointing out these areas, I agree with you. Another that I may add (without anyone getting offended) is Salem Willows. Granted the last time I was there was in May, but it was filthy! Strewn with broken beer bottles and trash all over the place. Very sad, because it could be a beautiful destination for the day. Look at Forest River Park, it's very well kept, clean and a pleasure to spend a relaxing afternoon at. I've been living in Salem for the past 10 years and, yes, the city has improved leaps and bounds (especially since Mayor Driscoll got elected into office- Thank you Mayor), but there are certainly areas that need improvement.

here is what they do in New York city about blocking intersections .
A officer with a photo devive takes a photo it prints out a $200 fine he places it on your window and I am quite sure you won't do it again ,
Just think of the $$$$ Salem could make

Regarding the traffic issue at N Derby and Wash,I don't see this a driver only problem.The traffic design does not work for so many reasons.It's amazing when the fire trucks come towards Wash and there is no place for them to go.All of that problem is a result of the pedestrian crosswalk in the square. Two lanes of traffic merging to one just before the crosswalk.Unreal.Eliminate the parking spaces on the street from the fountain to the old court house and make it two lanes,at least seasonaly. Short of constructing an elevated crosswalk over Wash what else can be done?

Many of the problems discussed here could be addressed by relentless enforcement of the laws against littering. The panhandlers and tree-pee offenders are often the same folks who fling empty nips. Let's make that lifestyle less comfortable.
The traffic complaints are also largely issues of insufficient enforcement. I'd love to see ticketing of those who use the left-turn-only lane as a shortcut to straight ahead.
Finally, the Rocketts might be more inclined to maintain their property if there was a significant downside to their current derelictions.
In all 3 cases, I think it's a failure by the city administration to use the tools that they already have.

You all have no idea what you are talking about. The homeless population and transient population has been reduced in Salem. Go to Peabody Square and have a look, go to Beverly and have a look. There are a handful of homeless in Salem that refuse any type of help, they are not allowed into Lifebridge because they do not follow the rules and regulations of the facility. The police have had most that you are complaining about committed on a Section-12 due to alcohol abuse, they also take a zero tolerance approch with them. There is a breakdown in the system for status offenses or miscellaneous city ordinance violations. I would suggest to you that Salem way ahead of the surrounding communities when it comes to dealing with the homeless. Lafayette Park has also improved, there are in fact some people that frequent the park but I would suggest that they are not homeless, a park is a public place, you can not prevent folks from sitting on the benches. I remember when there were large groups sitting inside of the park drinking and creating disturbances. I never see that any more, the City and Police have done a great job.

One thing to consider,for whatever it's worth, is that the Police Chief and Mayor both support the shelter. Not sure how you could enforce traffic issues with such a poor design.As an example,When coming down Norman St towards Wash,when you get to the awful set of lights it goes from two lanes to three for the next 30 yards. How can everyone be in the correct lane? If you want to go straight you have to be in the right lane with all the cars that want to go right.It makes no sense.

The people everyone is complaining about are not clients of the "shelter" they are banned from the shelter, go ask them I have, they do not want help, go ask then I have. The liquor stores need to stop selling to them.

Bill I guess we should thank the law makers then for making it unconstitutional for laws and ordinances that prohibit panhandling! I would suggest that the current Director and Staff at Lifebridge have far exceeded the former "Crombie Street" flunkies. They have attempted to get this small group of transient's the help they need, however they refuse any assistance and continue to live on the street. I am not sure how Lifebridge can be held accountable for their failure. I like you have been in Salem my entire 48 years. I remember when there were a lot more homeless wondering the streets. Mayor Usovicz's task force? The same Homeless task force that now meets quarterly to discuss complaints and concerns involving the homeless, the same task force that addresses the issues of the homeless impacting the downtown, the task force that has not received a single complaint from a downtown business in years. The same task force that use to meet monthly but due to lack of complaints meets quarterly. Is that the task force you are referring to? The meeting is run by Jane Guy in the Planning Department. I believe the minutes are recorded and available to the public. If we have it that bad in this community then take a walk through downtown Lynn, I recently did to put things into perspective, things are pretty good here in Salem!!!

The board that I sat on was organized specifically to deal with the move of the shelter from Crombie Street to it's current location. It s now defunct.

There is a Homeless Outreach Advisory Committee that has met twice this year. Most businesses would seem to be unaware of it's existence.

I