Dana Lee-Melfi has had about enough of Pleasant Hill.

"The boarded up homes and the activity around here is ridiculous," he told CTV News.

Lee-Melfi moved to Pleasant Hill last November and said the traffic of trespassers on his property is exhausting. He said he doesn't know what to do, other than protect himself.

"Every day I'm out here watering and what not. There's needles, there's drugs, there's a baggie of cocaine sitting on the sidewalk unattended."

Echoing his thoughts, the Pleasant Hill Community Association has penned a letter to Mayor Charlie Clark and Coun. Hilary Gough asking what the city will do to address problems in the area.

"It's not okay to tell our kids that it's not safe to play on our streets. (Pleasant Hill) is not going to have images of kids playing in a park while there is a home invasion across the street," said Shane Partridge, an ex-gang member who works for the Pleasant Hill Community Association and with STR8 UP.

The letter says the Pleasant Hill community continues to deal with several issues including crime, gangs, drugs and inadequate housing. The group says children are left to play around "third world living conditions."

The letter says the issues have been brought to the city's attention for years but little action has been taken.

“The boarded up houses isn’t a new thing," said Jennifer Altenberg, president of the community association.

"One day I drove around and collected a list of over 56 addresses that the houses were either condemned or they had boards on them. I just find that kind of interesting that a volunteer with the community association has to be the one to go drive around and to collect those addresses.”

Mayor Clark told CTV News the city has implemented services for the neighbourhood, but acknowledges there is a gap in monitoring abandoned properties.

"We need to have a more coordinated response. Coun. Gough has been working on that and our fire chief and fire inspector and that's going to be a priority to get the players together."

The letter is on the Planning and Development Committee agenda for Monday's meeting at City Hall.