The borough of Ville-Marie announced Tuesday that it will be stepping up its efforts to revitalize Montreal’s Chinatown, starting with the deployment of a cleaning crew and the creation of a local alliance.

Crews will be working around the clock seven days a week to clean up the neighbourhood, Claude Pinard, Montreal executive committee chair and councillor for the Saint-Jacques district, said.

He said some work has already been done by the Société de développement commercial, but more is needed to bring out the best in Chinatown.

“The keyword is action, so we’re taking action now,” Pinard said.

Ville-Marie is also launching a process that will lead to an urban economic and social development plan, which will include the creation of a local alliance to guide the neighbourhood’s future development.

No concrete timeline has been released for the completion of the development plan but the city says work will begin immediately.

Pinard said the alliance will meet for the first time before the end of the month.

According to the city, the measures respond directly to priorities identified by residents and community organizations over the past several years. Residents and business owners have been grappling with the consequences of increased homelessness and drug use, as well as petty crimes like graffiti and vandalism.

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Bryant Chang, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Montreal, commended leaders for their commitment to cleaning up the neighbourhood, but told Global News that it is just a start.

“In the summertime, there’s a lot more activities, illegal activities. I see it all the time — drug dealers, prostitution. I hear stories that scare me,” he said. “That’s why, to me, the number one issue at the moment has got to be security.”

Bill Wong said he hasn’t heard anything from leaders that made that promise, but the 50-year Chinatown resident said he at least feels the local concerns are being heard.

“It’s the first time any councillor who represents Chinatown has come down to express his view on how we’re going to make these changes here in terms of security, in terms of development for the residents, for the business people,” he told Global News.

“There’s so much potential here.”

He said that for now he is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“A lot of politicians have promised, but nothing is done. Hopefully this will be different,” he said.

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Vincent Lupien, an area resident and landlord, described the city’s sentiment as “feverish optimism” but said he too is optimistic about what can be done for the neighbourhood.

“We’ve got an administration that’s more responsive. They’re probably not going to be perfect, but they’re on the right track,” he told Global News, adding that a full revitalization will take several years.

But he said he also wants to see more help offered to those dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse.

“The problem we have here in Montreal, and especially in Chinatown perhaps … is not a lack of housing. We have a problem with drug addiction,” Lupien said.

Pinard said there is a piece of land close to the Chinese Hospital that has been purchased by the city and is geared toward affordable housing.

In the meantime, he said temporary beautification measures have been underway and that the city has installed picnic tables and benches to support leisure activities.

Lupien said he appreciates the effort, but without targeting the root cause, he fears these efforts may backfire.

“I’m happy that it’s going to be clean, but we do have concerns about benches and the picnic tables. We’ve voiced these concerns because what we don’t want this to become is drug consumption central,” he said.

Pinard said no plans will be solidified for the open land until the city conducts consultations with residents and business owners.