For all of downtown Victoria's charm, the hanging baskets, tourism-friendly appearance and relative cleanliness, there is no hiding the fact it remains a big city and comes with its fair share of big-city problems.

Like any city, Victoria struggles with crime, poverty, homelessness and a spectrum of social issues and the downtown core is where they seem to come together.

"We recognize all the social-service challenges around the region manifest themselves downtown," said Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin, noting there have been some strides made in recent years to combat the problems.

He points to employment programs that have helped alleviate some of the street youth problems and a new $9-million homeless housing project in the core.

But there's no getting away from the fact that Victoria still has work to do, especially in dealing with a homeless population estimated at 1,200 regionally, if it wants to maintain its image as a clean, green and safe city.

"All good downtowns should be edgy without being dangerous and should be interesting without being odd," said Fortin. "And whether you're coming at it from a community or business perspective, we need to do something around homelessness."

If something isn't done Victoria is flirting with disaster, according to Rev. Al Tysick, pastor and executive director of Our Place, a drop-in centre that provides transitional housing, meals and support for those in need in the inner city.

"We are not unique ... per population we have about the same number of homeless as any other city, and in terms of the poor, we're minor," said Tysick, who meets an average of 50 people sleeping on the street each day as he walks through the city centre. "All you have to do is take a trip to Vancouver and see what it really looks like. We see poverty in Victoria with rich eyes, it could get a whole lot worse."

Tysick said we are already on that slope. Big cuts are expected this year from the Vancouver Island Health Authority, which helps fund a number of social services in the core, and philanthropic foundations have had to cut back grants because of the recession. It could slide Victoria toward a bigger problem.

"I've been here 20 years. Each year it gets a little worse. If the government doesn't step up we will create another Vancouver in Victoria in the years to come," Tysick said.

For Fortin, the answer is affordable housing around Greater Victoria.

"It has to be a regional responsibility and it has to have the province as a partner," he said.

Fortin argues it should be an easy sell as that kind of housing doesn't just serve the hard-to-house set or the homeless, but it also serves the working poor and the business community and fuels economic growth as it offers accommodation for those who take the vital, if relatively low-paying, service jobs.

"Government's role is to make sure an affordable transportation [system] is there and that there is affordable housing at all levels. That supports business which needs to attract and retain employees," Fortin said.

And the mayor claims it is a winnable war. "When a community rallies, they can deal with it," he said. "We should not accept that the mentally ill and those in need are left to their own devices to wander downtown."

The Downtown Victoria Business Association has been working with the city to at least keep the downtown looking clean and safe.

The DVBA along with the City of Victoria, the Victoria Police Department and social service providers established the Downtown Clean and Safe: Block by Block program that works to slowly transform each city block into a safer place to live and work.

That program is complemented by the DVBA's Clean Team, made up of marginalized youth who work all summer cleaning the city centre during the summer.

"We're not unique ... what people see downtown is inextricably woven into the social state of the nation," said DVBA general manager Ken Kelly. "And we all have to put our shoulders to the grindstone and make sure we are cooperating with each other on these problems.

"Our programs are all trying to reinforce the decisions businesses made to locate downtown."

"But there is still a lot of work to be done," said Margaret Lucas, general manager of the Rialto Hotel. "We have to solve the homelessness problem there's no doubt about that. We may be no different than any other city, but because we are such a small downtown that issue becomes very visible for us."