The first inkling Mike (not his real name) had that something was wrong in his Markham neighbourhood was the masses of cars being parked on his street, often at odd times of the day

Then he began finding condoms on front lawns and prophylactic wrappers on the street around his home.

As if that wasn’t enough, at one point, he saw two scantily clad women running from one of the suspicious houses on the street to another one located nearby.

It was at this point Mike got onto his neighbours and local politicians about what he believes is rampant prostitution taking place on Markham’s residential streets.

“I have had one guy even knock on my door at midnight,” Mike said. “He got a phone call and then left. We feel less safe because we have these people around. We don’t know who they are. It’s very upsetting. We have kids in this neighbourhood, this is a family area.”

He added that the traffic occurs all day long, but can intensify during nights and early morning hours.

Politicians in the neighbourhood say the problem goes far beyond the two streets mentioned — Ray Street and Ash Tree Lane — explaining there are at least five streets facing similar problems. Unionville Coun. Don Hamilton said he wanted to keep the names of those streets private.

He says Markham residents, who he believes are proud of their neighbourhoods, don’t want this sort of activity located near streets and alleyways, where children can often be found playing.

“It’s not just the ladies, it’s also the type of clientele they are attracting,” he said. “Are they selling drugs, doing drugs? There could be violence, disputes between ladies and johns."

Despite these comments though, Hamilton insisted he did not want to make this a moral issue, nor does he want to pretend there is no demand.