'Canada's worst neighbourhood' on the mend

The area of Regina once dubbed "Canada's worst neighbourhood" by a national news magazine is undergoing a revitalization sparked by new housing projects and an influx of new families.

In early 2007, Maclean's published a feature on north-central Regina that described in grim detail how crime, drugs and poverty had blighted the area.

'You hear fighting once in a while, but I've never had a problem with my house.' —Kelly Grudnizki

But since then, organizations like Habitat for Humanity have been busy building new homes there, hoping to attract new residents as a solution to some of its social problems.

Five new Habitat homes are slated to be built in 2011.

Ivan Amichand of the North Central Family Centre told CBC News he feels the new housing is proof the area is on the mend. He's also encouraged by the presence of new faces in the area.

"We see a lot of immigrant families that are moving in," Amichand said. "Families who have jobs, who have good-paying jobs who are owning their own houses now."

Kelly Grudnizki lives in the area and said she's pleased to see the progress.

She suggested her experience living there has been different than the dire one portrayed by the article in the national magazine.

"I've never really had a problem," she said. "You hear people on the streets, you hear fighting once in a while, but I've never had a problem with my house — I've never had vandalism or anything like that."