Walkway is attracting riffraff, neighbors say

VANCOUVER, Wash. - It was supposed to make life better but some residents in northeast Vancouver say a path through their neighborhood has become a walkway for crime.

When the development was built about a dozen years ago, the county made the developer put in a pedestrian walkway designed to get people walking through the neighborhood.

But every Monday morning, neighbor Norman Brown heads out to clean up the weekend mess of garbage and graffiti. He said he even finds stuff stolen from nearby homes.

Brown said the path and field is a hangout for young people to get drunk and have sex and makes a perfect getaway for burglars.

He and his neighbors have petitioned the county to gate off the path and a county spokesperson said they have been working on the problem for several months. The county is willing to put a gate at the opening of a short off-shoot by Brown's house but not one for the long path that runs behind all the homes.

County officials said any decision on what to do needs to be well thought out because shutting down a walkway will set a precedent for other neighborhoods.