I know nobody wants to be near a drug treatment center but it just might not be all that bad. The location convenient to SEPTA. It is in a very high traffic area pedestrianwise so these folks wouldn't be overwhelming the area during the daytime.

These people would be there for treatment and I would assume would be trying to better their lives. It is probably preferable to the drug addicts wandering around Frankford (and elsewhere) that aren't looking for treatment.

Are libraries magnets for junkies or ex-junkies? I believe the tragic Center City incident was perpetrated by a crazy person who wasn't looking for treatment.

Are there problems with NET at Bridge and Aramingo?

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All comments made by me on his board are given freely and probably worth what you paid for them.

I think you should give it a chance. We have had a drug treatment center operating on North Broad street near my home in East Oak Lane for years. Nothing has ever happened. It is discreet. People go in for treatment and then go about their business. Some of these folks live in our community. One person who uses the facility lives up the street from me. No increase in crime or drug activity. As a matter of fact our rate of crime has decreased over the years. These people are in our communities anyway, they are from our communities. Better they get the help they need to turn their life around.

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In my totally unscientific opinion, I'd 1 out of 10 have success. Another 2 out of 10 are making an honest effort, and maybe it's just not their time. That leaves 7 out of 10 just playing the scamster games they've always played. They're mandated there and just biding time or are just looking for a bed. There's tremendous turnover and little oversight in these places.

The directors will point to their altruisic efforts, but it is little more than ordering their residents to perform community clean-ups a couple times a year (not a penny our of their profits).

Frankford's already flooded with these places. If Frankford wants to move in another direction, I say the placement of this one is a bad idea.

While we don't know if this story is true. Let's assume that it is. Is this a big problem?

Frankford Avenue is downtown Frankford. That is a far better place to put a facility like this than on a residential block.

I don't think treatment centers are a problem. The people who are not getting treated are the problem. I passed 3 of them at 6AM Friday morning sleeping in front of the news stand at the El stop.

In the same way, AA is not the problem, drunks are the problem.
The drug, alcohol and other substance addictions are part of our society now and we are all in this together.

We don't want Frankford to only have drug rehab facilities
but we can't ignore the need for them either. So we need to find a way for them to exist and do the job that needs to be done while not interfering with our redeveloping retail area.

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Frankforder

www.frankfordgazette.com

We do? Why? Why does the region's drug and alcohol treatment facilities have to be centered in Frankford? Because only alcoholics and drug addicts are from Frankford? I think not.

Why aren't other communities opening up these places en masse for THEIR drug and achohol problems?

Because it would interfere with THEIR developed and/or redeveloping efforts.

I think AA is a lot different then a drug rehab center that will be heavily used by court ordered patients. This could be extremely counter productive.

I dunno geno, the smoke break at St Joachim's AA meetings looks intense.

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Not to mention all that coffee drinking from Styrofoam cups.

A distinction in my mind. I think the treatment centers with a professional staff that do mostly outpatient (like NET) are a service to the community just like a doctors' or dentists' office. No problem there.

I think local churches that host 12 step programs are also vital to any community.

What I have a problem with is these halfway houses. Under the guise of 'treatment', they are little more than flophouses. High turnover and little oversight of people with serious criminal and emotional problems. 15-20 people warehoused on a residential block. They've flourished and multiplied in Frankford and we have to say enough is enough. Who would move to such a block? What about longtime residents who have to suffer through this? This a huge weight chained to the leg of Frankford's advancement.

Very well said and it is something that some nearby residents were concerned years ago might happen. Now through the successes of the Non Profits and any others with access to funding or non accountability or w/o a civic that monitors and fights the variances and zonings of such properties, these now have proven our worst fears about Frankford are coming to fruitation. Hence, the strength needed in our Northwood Civic to fight commercial interlopers and monitor thes types of rehabs/halfway houses-they seem to be in a hurry to gain ground in NW as we have many large homes here

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