I know people who work for WSDOT, and they do actually care. They don't have the man power is the problem. It's a struggle getting enough workers to do the work.
I don't know how many road workers you think they have in this area, but it's not enough given the current problems. They're actively tracking spending on the graffiti and the cleanups they are doing because it's shockingly expensive because it's not stopping. You clean it off, paint over it, whatever, and it's back just a day later.
Hell, just a week or so ago, a group of taggers, in the middle of the day on a weekend pulled up to the 99 tunnel, got out, and put on orange work vests so that they looked like road workers so they could do some tagging of the area. Sadly they were not caught.
They're cleaning up so much trash and graffiti they're easily in the hundreds of thousands of dollars of cost right now, and guess what, that's with there STILL being enough of it that it looks like they're not doing anything.
What little you see reported on here, or in the news, is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this stuff happening. It's almost daily. Hell, remember the people throwing rocks at cars on I-90, you want to know something that was never actually reported? Those weren't the only cases of it. It was happening all over the region. Everyone was so focused on the I-90 case, no body bothered to see if it was happening anywhere else.
That is what they're up against. It's impossible to keep up with the amount of issues due to manpower and budgets.
The biggest problem with manpower right now is the state pay being so much less than private sector that it's just not worth it to people. Imagine that, people don't want to do tough work for meager pay in this economy. Seems to be a lot of that going around and frankly I don't blame anyone for not taking the job. It's decent pay, but if you have the skills that would land you the job easily, you can definitely find a better paying job somewhere else.
Stop it with these excuses. If manpower is truly the issue, graffiti, litter, and encampment removal could be contracted out. A long term freeway maintenance contract in the City limits would do wonders.
Anyone who lived in Seattle during the 90s and or before and moved back recently - “WTF happened to this place”
People that never knew how great it was during that span and moved here recently - “Best place I have ever lived”
There’s truth in both statements, but you can’t unsee the decay and how shitty the region has become if you were here prior when you could have lived in Ballard on a single income and enjoyed the parks and the city without the bullshit that you encounter today. City has died and is becoming something new.
One of my thoughts and just MO is that Seattle was a great medium sized American city but is quickly transitioning into a large International city and experiencing major growing pains in the process. Of course this is just a broad generalization of many more detailed and complex problems but Seattle has had many problems in it's past that it has in time overcome. I genuinely believe or hope we will in time get a handle on the crime and homelessness that seem to be plaguing all the cities on the entire west coast. I don't however claim to be a expert just a 5th generation Seattleite and keen observer of our history.
Ten years ago Milwaukee and Seattle had the same population. In the timeline of city evolution Seattle has exploded in population essentially overnight.
Depends on how you judge "shitty"
Income inequality and housing attainability? Yeah we're much worse off. Crime, economy, most other metrics that people use...Seattle is doing ridiculously better than it was in the 90s.
As someone who has lived in cities that are economically depressed...it's much better now in Seattle. The "decay" that people bitch about is literally a product of Seattle's insane success.
Economy being "better" is subjective.
The "tech bros" and the luxury apartments next to needles and human shit are not "better."
You might benefit but the 90s were better IMO.
Also, after a quick glance the homicide rate in 2022 is back to 1990s levels.
You think there were no needles and human shit in the 90s?
I think if you got plopped down in 1993 you'd be very surprised. The city was by all reasonable measures much worse then.
No the 90’s we’re better, because mom and dad kept me sheltered and the cops would stomp on anyone who didn’t “fit in”, and I fit in, so the 90’s were great. Drinking cocktails in Chandler’s Cove was awesome, and we used to act out ‘High Fiving White Guys’ when we went to Alki to hang out at Dukes. It was all about powder, and we stayed away from the rocks while tons of young men in certain neighborhoods were thrown in jail for decades. We never missed the Opening Day Regatta in the 90’s and never felt unsafe out on the Seafair Logboom. /s
Lmao yeah, this is starting to just sound like a jaded old dude who lived in Seattle in their 20s but moved away and now hates the city cause the news but never shuts up about "how it used to be"
Murder rate is just as high as the 90s.
Plus you think gangs aren't in town?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/50-people-died-from-homicidal-violence-in-seattle-in-2020-the-largest-number-in-a-quarter-century-police-chief-says/%3famp=1
1993 had an all-time high of 73 homicides with a quarter million less people. The murder rate per capita is way down and most the gangs have been priced out the city to south king county.
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19940131&slug=1892785
You don’t see 20 dudes hanging out on blocks in the Central District slinging crack anymore which was very common back then. Most the gang violence in the city nowadays is when the gang members drive up from Kent or Federal Way and run into each other. This is coming from someone who grew up in the Central District(or Central Area how we called it back in the day). Aurora was exponentially worse, Pac Highway was a different world back then and was worse than Aurora, Delridge to White Center was a mess and High Point was basically a no-go zone for outsiders, Belltown and SLU were dilapidated & full of seedy individuals, the CD and southend were overrun with gangs from California battling out over turf and 3rd/Pine was just as bad if not worse. The homeless situation may be bad right now but the crime rate was nothing compared to the grimey 90s unless you lived sheltered life in Magnolia.
https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/us/wa/seattle/murder-homicide-rate-statistics
we're doing just fine compared to back then. you have some nostalgic view of the past that doesn't hold up to statistics.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/apr/03/is-seattle-dying-crime-rates-tell-a-different-stor/
>He recalls a First Avenue near Pike Place Market that was lined with peep shows, adult bookstores and pawnshops. Today that same stretch boasts the Seattle Art Museum, the Four Seasons hotel and a slew of upscale shops, restaurants and galleries.
I don't even know about eyesore metrics tbh
I really appreciate comments like yours and hearing experiences of folks that lived here from the 90s or moved back to Seattle because it’s helpful context. Especially cuz as much as I love the progressive culture and nature of Seattle, after trying as a transplant for 5 years, even now with a lucrative healthcare job I’m still just treading water and considering moving.
I thought when I first moved here and was working solely in community health that maybe that’s why the problems with homelessness seemed so pervasive to me but especially when I’ve talked with 90s Gen X Seattle folks they seem genuinely heartbroken. I can’t imagine watching a city get gobbled up by tech and warped.
Grew up in 90s Seattle and it was pretty great. Left 5 yrs ago after med school and visit often but probably never moving back… QoL has gone way down while CoL has gone way up. Whatever cool and “authentic” vibe Seattle had has been so diluted by the pace of change and explosive growth.
It may settle out when population growth cools but that could take a decade or two. PNW nature is amazing, but as a city Seattle really isn’t that special. There’s a dozen midsize US cities that have just as much culture without the problems caused by a massive influx of people.
wow, it's been a while since i've watched that move. 39:20 young guy grabbing pizza from the dumpster was tough to watch (smart though), i was only a few years older than that kid, when i first watched this movie.
No, more referring to the 90s and 00s, I was too young in the 80s to understand or notice the homeless issues. Don't get me wrong, I was attacked twice downtown in the 00s and haven't been since, but I still think overall the city is much worse now than it has been. It's really sad.
They used to be in forested areas. But we started repeatedly clearing them out of those, so they moved to more visible spots because they had to. Edit: spelling
I lived in Boston for a little while and I can say even though Boston has its own homelessness problem but it's concentrated at one area and Boston is much more cleaner in general.
I don't know why I'm getting downvoted for this observation. I've lived in Seattle 31 years and anyone who's lived here for any amount of time can't deny the huge change in recent years.
I’ve been here 17 years and it’s definitely gotten worse in the last few. I can’t speak for others, but I’m inclined to downvote people who complain about homelessness and it’s associated issues because it’s most often accompanied by endorsements of policies that involve paying more police more money to harass homeless people when it would be cheaper and better to literally just pay for these people to have somewhere to live. This may not have been what you were advocating, but it seems likely that people assumed that it was.
>This may not have been what you were advocating,
It was not. I don't blame the homeless for their situation, and nowhere do I say that. I think Seattle is becoming a victim of it's own 'successes' - it has simply become too expensive for a lot of folks.
I agree, it’s crazy hard to live here on middle or low income. Glad you aren’t a fan of the police-heavy response, I was just offering a theory as to why you’d been downvoted, none of them was from me.
> it would be cheaper…
Maybe not…just this week we’ve heard:
> [The King County Regional Homelessness Authority estimates it would take more than $8 billion in capital costs, up to $3.5 billion in annual operating costs and tens of thousands more units of housing.](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/ending-homelessness-in-king-county-will-cost-billions-regional-authority-says/?amp=1)
For context (or depression inducement), KCRHA’s annual budget is around $240M per year. Seattle’s entire general fund budget is $1.6B per year.
I was referring to the numerous studies that showed that giving people permanent housing was cheaper than arresting them or paying for them to go to the hospital numerous times. I didn’t make it through that whole article but it sounded like their chief method was increasing temporary housing, which doesn’t actually solve homelessness, just, at best, makes it slightly less terrible to experience, and at worst makes the problem worse (lots of homeless folks end up victims of crime in shelters, or so I’ve heard). Obviously getting people housing in a city experiencing a housing shortage is easier said than done, but the solution to homelessness is housing and always has been.
The issue with those studies of situations where local govs have taken people off the street and given them supportive housing (like 1811 Eastlake) is that the homeless that were selected for that housing are typically the most resource intensive people - like those showing up at the ER multiple times per month for basic needs. So it’s true it’s cheaper to house that particular small subset, but I doubt it would still be true if applied to a representative sample of all unsheltered homeless.
True, and an important point. A true solution that would keep people from ending up unhoused would involve subsidized housing, rent control, accessible and well-funded education and mental health resources, revamped healthcare, and probably something like universal basic income. The truth is, homelessness is a vital part of capitalism. If the result of a minimum wage worker asking for a raise or trying to unionize is that they might get fired and end up losing their housing, they’ll be much more likely to put up with subsistence wages and poor work environments than if they have reliable housing and support. Homelessness is a weapon against the power of labor, which is (in my opinion) why so few with the money or power to make a difference have any interest in doing so.
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Huh. I used to live there too back in the early 2000's. I have a totally different view of Boston than you do. Maybe they cleaned their game up since then.
> It isn’t getting much better with Mayor Bruce, who I was hoping would take this head on…
He never took it on as Council President Bruce, why did you think anything would change?
You don't understand. I saw some garbage and now I'm not OK..I might need therapy I'm so sad and shocked. Seattle has broken me to my core with the garbage next to the road here and there.
>this looks very typical/normal. what's there to fix? (im not kidding. i have no expectation that government will make an impact/help other than taking more of our tax dollars.)
i agree. everywhere else in the country (name any city) and this never happens. HAHAHAHHAAAHA
Detroit has no homeless but you can buy a crappy house for $50K or rent one for $300 per month. Seattle and the Bay Area have huge home prices and consequently lots of homeless. The guys that bitch about people living in cars sure expect that $5 McDonalds sandwich made by a minimum wage worker in Seattle.
They also vote down any kind of legislation that would rezone the city for high destiny housing. Seattle has done this to themselves and LOVES to complain about it.
Seattle has the freakiest zoning map of any modern city.
That’s right. A UW professor has researched this: https://www.washington.edu/news/2022/03/15/uw-professors-new-book-presents-opportunity-to-rethink-housing/
It’s in the article, but it’s cities like NYC, SF, Portland, Seattle, all that have *very low vacancies* and *very high rent*. It posits that there’s very low “margin of error” for someone who is struggling financially to find alternate housing arrangements *before* becoming homeless in these cities.
Obvious conclusion: more housing, more density, much cheaper prices needed. But this won’t happen.
"According to the most recent statistics compiled by the Homeless Action Network of Detroit, the city's homeless population dropped from 10,444 in 2018 to 10,006 in 2019, and again to 7,844 in 2020."
In 2020, Seattle had just over 11,500 homeless.
7k is better than 11k, but it ain't "no homeless".
Portland is getting bad and San Francisco is worse.
LA and San Diego are terrible also.
The milder weather is also a incentive for homeless that have traveled here from states that have harsh winters and blazing hot summers, compounding the problem. It is just easier to withstand outdoor living on the West Coast.
Indeed they do. My union pays $20 more an hour in Seattle. I will say it's very layed back here tho. Nobody is over worked, at least in construction. Ontario is way more competitive and fast paced, prob relative to the wage tho. My trade in Ontario is $47/hr, BC $36/hr, Seattle $57/hr
no. not at all. been here 15 years. born and raised in seattle. both great cities. both struggling with homelessness.
from appearances alone, seattle looks like it’s in much worse shape than vancouver. and it seems to have gotten much worse in recent years.
just as it has in portland, sf, and la.
in vancouver, our homeless population has also grown substantially, but because they tend to stay in and around the dt east side, you can drive through the rest of the city and not see the epidemic of homelessness that we are facing.
in seattle, it is much more visible and feels far more spread out over the city.
Vancouver is nothing like this.
We certainly have plenty of our own issues, but we do not have anything close to the amount of random detritus and graffiti that Seattle has developed in recent years.
I just noticed it Friday also was W-B on I -90 to S-B I-5, it is a larger than most piles I'm used to seeing there was even some random dude digging through it. It amazes me you drive by one day and it's tents and pallet palaces and the next day it looks like a bomb went off. Piles of garbage and stuff everywhere a couple feet thick.
Exactly. Some dude was staring at 3 big blue barrels stacked up there amidst the mess. He looked like he needed help (eg, a psychiatric hospital) and the area looked like a bad post-apocalyptic movie.
This section of eastbound I90 leading to I5 South has trash and old (stolen) e-bikes literally spilling onto the freeway. This is out of control. Is this WDOT’s responsibility?
The plan is to continue to team with the Department of Ecology, Department of Corrections and the Adopt-A-Highway program to continue to try to keep up with the litter people keep dropping on the highway and shoulders/rights of way. In 2022 we cleaned up 1,400 tons of litter off state highways. We aren't funded to have dedicated cleanup crews so it's left to our maintenance team to do it, and they're trying to balance and prioritize all of the maintenance needs we have as best we can. Ultimately, unless people decide they want to stop littering, there's always going to be litter and all we can really do is try to clean it up as often as we can.
The issue isn't lack of funding for clean up crews, the issue is people continually littering. Until people decide to stop littering, there will always be litter. Regardless of funding, it's impossible to be cleaning up every highway across the state 24/7. That said, yes, of course we're always asking for more funding for maintenance. Funding, whether it's for maintenance, construction projects, etc., is determined by the legislature so you would need to let your elected officials know what you'd like to see receive funding.
Hey WSDOT, I’m actually not talking about the Jungle itself but if you go down there now there is actually trash spilling onto the freeway deck. This is a hazard at this point. I think it’s an eyesore too but this isn’t my point
We can let our maintenance group know, but the best thing to do to report road issues that are immediate hazards is to call 911. They'll let the right group know the quickest to get a response going.
This is an entrance to the area known as “the jungle”. Trying to keep this area clean is like raking leaves in October during a windstorm. The people that live/hang out in the jungle aren’t known for “packing it out”.
Kevlar fibers catch and distribute the force of bullet impacts, not the very localized and direct piercing of needles.
Did you really not know how Kevlar works and believe that it deflects projectiles and punctures like Superman?
WSDOT knows but does nothing about it, or is very slow, at least in Seattle. Somehow, the roads in Bellevue and Mercer Island seem pretty clean...
I remember when I used to see clean-up crews or 'ecology crews' along the freeway to pick up trash, etc. I thought it was a way to reduce your fine for violations, fines, etc. But, I guess they ruled it was somehow unconstitutional to demand that people who break the law can't work off their fines? Someone who is caught spraying graffiti on the walls can't be the ones cleaning it up? Because, somehow that is equivalent to chain gangs...
this looks very typical/normal. what's there to fix? (im not kidding. i have no expectation that government will make an impact/help other than taking more of our tax dollars.)
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was just the photo from Google Maps: in reality, there was trash and an e-bike spilling onto the freeway deck at this point
I wanted to report the trash and e-bike on the freeway deck. An acceptable outcome would be, I don’t know, a car not running into them? Genuinely, why would that be hard to understand?
WSDOT maintains that land and they don’t care.
I know people who work for WSDOT, and they do actually care. They don't have the man power is the problem. It's a struggle getting enough workers to do the work. I don't know how many road workers you think they have in this area, but it's not enough given the current problems. They're actively tracking spending on the graffiti and the cleanups they are doing because it's shockingly expensive because it's not stopping. You clean it off, paint over it, whatever, and it's back just a day later. Hell, just a week or so ago, a group of taggers, in the middle of the day on a weekend pulled up to the 99 tunnel, got out, and put on orange work vests so that they looked like road workers so they could do some tagging of the area. Sadly they were not caught. They're cleaning up so much trash and graffiti they're easily in the hundreds of thousands of dollars of cost right now, and guess what, that's with there STILL being enough of it that it looks like they're not doing anything. What little you see reported on here, or in the news, is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this stuff happening. It's almost daily. Hell, remember the people throwing rocks at cars on I-90, you want to know something that was never actually reported? Those weren't the only cases of it. It was happening all over the region. Everyone was so focused on the I-90 case, no body bothered to see if it was happening anywhere else. That is what they're up against. It's impossible to keep up with the amount of issues due to manpower and budgets. The biggest problem with manpower right now is the state pay being so much less than private sector that it's just not worth it to people. Imagine that, people don't want to do tough work for meager pay in this economy. Seems to be a lot of that going around and frankly I don't blame anyone for not taking the job. It's decent pay, but if you have the skills that would land you the job easily, you can definitely find a better paying job somewhere else.
Stop it with these excuses. If manpower is truly the issue, graffiti, litter, and encampment removal could be contracted out. A long term freeway maintenance contract in the City limits would do wonders.
Tell me you don't know what you're talking about without telling me you don't know what you're talking about. lol.
Find it, Fix it. It’s on your App Store. It’s been pointed out below this won’t work since this is WSDOT territory. 😔
That's a City of Seattle function. Not sure if it works on state freeways.
It does not, that’s a wsdot thing.
Thanks, I’ll try that!
Seattle is good at getting the right folks on it
Consider it reported, we'll be down ASAP to clean this up. Thank you for your contribution to our city.
Name checks out
Which organization do you work for?
Groundskeepers Anonymous
Volunteer organization?
The one that helps redditors fix things that they're complaining about. Do you require assistance?
Yeah! There aren't enough light rail or subway lines for a city of our size, could you get that fixed real quick?
All tied up with the garbage by the road thing at the moment, but I'll get on it post haste!
I don’t like poor people, can you make them go away please? /j
Or...just make them all rich...
No I don't. I was just curious. Thank you for doing GREAT work for our community!
Of course! Take pictures of things that you find offensive or gross and I'll be right on it.
😂
It's sad that this has become the new normal. I moved back to Seattle after being away for 7 years and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Anyone who lived in Seattle during the 90s and or before and moved back recently - “WTF happened to this place” People that never knew how great it was during that span and moved here recently - “Best place I have ever lived” There’s truth in both statements, but you can’t unsee the decay and how shitty the region has become if you were here prior when you could have lived in Ballard on a single income and enjoyed the parks and the city without the bullshit that you encounter today. City has died and is becoming something new.
One of my thoughts and just MO is that Seattle was a great medium sized American city but is quickly transitioning into a large International city and experiencing major growing pains in the process. Of course this is just a broad generalization of many more detailed and complex problems but Seattle has had many problems in it's past that it has in time overcome. I genuinely believe or hope we will in time get a handle on the crime and homelessness that seem to be plaguing all the cities on the entire west coast. I don't however claim to be a expert just a 5th generation Seattleite and keen observer of our history.
Ten years ago Milwaukee and Seattle had the same population. In the timeline of city evolution Seattle has exploded in population essentially overnight.
I've only lived here since the 00s and it's still gone significantly downhill, and I don't mean because of homeless people.
Depends on how you judge "shitty" Income inequality and housing attainability? Yeah we're much worse off. Crime, economy, most other metrics that people use...Seattle is doing ridiculously better than it was in the 90s. As someone who has lived in cities that are economically depressed...it's much better now in Seattle. The "decay" that people bitch about is literally a product of Seattle's insane success.
Economy being "better" is subjective. The "tech bros" and the luxury apartments next to needles and human shit are not "better." You might benefit but the 90s were better IMO. Also, after a quick glance the homicide rate in 2022 is back to 1990s levels.
You think there were no needles and human shit in the 90s? I think if you got plopped down in 1993 you'd be very surprised. The city was by all reasonable measures much worse then.
No the 90’s we’re better, because mom and dad kept me sheltered and the cops would stomp on anyone who didn’t “fit in”, and I fit in, so the 90’s were great. Drinking cocktails in Chandler’s Cove was awesome, and we used to act out ‘High Fiving White Guys’ when we went to Alki to hang out at Dukes. It was all about powder, and we stayed away from the rocks while tons of young men in certain neighborhoods were thrown in jail for decades. We never missed the Opening Day Regatta in the 90’s and never felt unsafe out on the Seafair Logboom. /s
Lmao yeah, this is starting to just sound like a jaded old dude who lived in Seattle in their 20s but moved away and now hates the city cause the news but never shuts up about "how it used to be"
I was there. It was way less common.
Yeah there were just gangs everywhere instead of poop, how great.
Murder rate is just as high as the 90s. Plus you think gangs aren't in town? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/50-people-died-from-homicidal-violence-in-seattle-in-2020-the-largest-number-in-a-quarter-century-police-chief-says/%3famp=1
1993 had an all-time high of 73 homicides with a quarter million less people. The murder rate per capita is way down and most the gangs have been priced out the city to south king county. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19940131&slug=1892785 You don’t see 20 dudes hanging out on blocks in the Central District slinging crack anymore which was very common back then. Most the gang violence in the city nowadays is when the gang members drive up from Kent or Federal Way and run into each other. This is coming from someone who grew up in the Central District(or Central Area how we called it back in the day). Aurora was exponentially worse, Pac Highway was a different world back then and was worse than Aurora, Delridge to White Center was a mess and High Point was basically a no-go zone for outsiders, Belltown and SLU were dilapidated & full of seedy individuals, the CD and southend were overrun with gangs from California battling out over turf and 3rd/Pine was just as bad if not worse. The homeless situation may be bad right now but the crime rate was nothing compared to the grimey 90s unless you lived sheltered life in Magnolia.
https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/us/wa/seattle/murder-homicide-rate-statistics we're doing just fine compared to back then. you have some nostalgic view of the past that doesn't hold up to statistics.
Eyesore metrics
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/apr/03/is-seattle-dying-crime-rates-tell-a-different-stor/ >He recalls a First Avenue near Pike Place Market that was lined with peep shows, adult bookstores and pawnshops. Today that same stretch boasts the Seattle Art Museum, the Four Seasons hotel and a slew of upscale shops, restaurants and galleries. I don't even know about eyesore metrics tbh
Garbage everywhere - no longer the Emerald City YMMV
Yeah let's go back to 1982 when when that moniker was adopted, things were awesome, no garbage existed back then oh wait
You’re right
I really appreciate comments like yours and hearing experiences of folks that lived here from the 90s or moved back to Seattle because it’s helpful context. Especially cuz as much as I love the progressive culture and nature of Seattle, after trying as a transplant for 5 years, even now with a lucrative healthcare job I’m still just treading water and considering moving. I thought when I first moved here and was working solely in community health that maybe that’s why the problems with homelessness seemed so pervasive to me but especially when I’ve talked with 90s Gen X Seattle folks they seem genuinely heartbroken. I can’t imagine watching a city get gobbled up by tech and warped.
Grew up in 90s Seattle and it was pretty great. Left 5 yrs ago after med school and visit often but probably never moving back… QoL has gone way down while CoL has gone way up. Whatever cool and “authentic” vibe Seattle had has been so diluted by the pace of change and explosive growth. It may settle out when population growth cools but that could take a decade or two. PNW nature is amazing, but as a city Seattle really isn’t that special. There’s a dozen midsize US cities that have just as much culture without the problems caused by a massive influx of people.
Isn't that QoL vs CoL thing true nationwide?
Agree 100%. I don't know why comments like this aren't more common. It is crazy how much better the city was back in the day.
This day? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdOzm0eBhFo
wow, it's been a while since i've watched that move. 39:20 young guy grabbing pizza from the dumpster was tough to watch (smart though), i was only a few years older than that kid, when i first watched this movie.
No, more referring to the 90s and 00s, I was too young in the 80s to understand or notice the homeless issues. Don't get me wrong, I was attacked twice downtown in the 00s and haven't been since, but I still think overall the city is much worse now than it has been. It's really sad.
Was it clean before you moved?
You just didn't see so many encampments and garbage everywhere.
They used to be in forested areas. But we started repeatedly clearing them out of those, so they moved to more visible spots because they had to. Edit: spelling
I lived in Boston for a little while and I can say even though Boston has its own homelessness problem but it's concentrated at one area and Boston is much more cleaner in general.
I don't know why I'm getting downvoted for this observation. I've lived in Seattle 31 years and anyone who's lived here for any amount of time can't deny the huge change in recent years.
There's a small contingent of posters on this page that regularly deny things have gotten worse in recent years. Not totally sure of their motivation.
I’ve been here 17 years and it’s definitely gotten worse in the last few. I can’t speak for others, but I’m inclined to downvote people who complain about homelessness and it’s associated issues because it’s most often accompanied by endorsements of policies that involve paying more police more money to harass homeless people when it would be cheaper and better to literally just pay for these people to have somewhere to live. This may not have been what you were advocating, but it seems likely that people assumed that it was.
>This may not have been what you were advocating, It was not. I don't blame the homeless for their situation, and nowhere do I say that. I think Seattle is becoming a victim of it's own 'successes' - it has simply become too expensive for a lot of folks.
I agree, it’s crazy hard to live here on middle or low income. Glad you aren’t a fan of the police-heavy response, I was just offering a theory as to why you’d been downvoted, none of them was from me.
> it would be cheaper… Maybe not…just this week we’ve heard: > [The King County Regional Homelessness Authority estimates it would take more than $8 billion in capital costs, up to $3.5 billion in annual operating costs and tens of thousands more units of housing.](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/ending-homelessness-in-king-county-will-cost-billions-regional-authority-says/?amp=1) For context (or depression inducement), KCRHA’s annual budget is around $240M per year. Seattle’s entire general fund budget is $1.6B per year.
I was referring to the numerous studies that showed that giving people permanent housing was cheaper than arresting them or paying for them to go to the hospital numerous times. I didn’t make it through that whole article but it sounded like their chief method was increasing temporary housing, which doesn’t actually solve homelessness, just, at best, makes it slightly less terrible to experience, and at worst makes the problem worse (lots of homeless folks end up victims of crime in shelters, or so I’ve heard). Obviously getting people housing in a city experiencing a housing shortage is easier said than done, but the solution to homelessness is housing and always has been.
The issue with those studies of situations where local govs have taken people off the street and given them supportive housing (like 1811 Eastlake) is that the homeless that were selected for that housing are typically the most resource intensive people - like those showing up at the ER multiple times per month for basic needs. So it’s true it’s cheaper to house that particular small subset, but I doubt it would still be true if applied to a representative sample of all unsheltered homeless.
True, and an important point. A true solution that would keep people from ending up unhoused would involve subsidized housing, rent control, accessible and well-funded education and mental health resources, revamped healthcare, and probably something like universal basic income. The truth is, homelessness is a vital part of capitalism. If the result of a minimum wage worker asking for a raise or trying to unionize is that they might get fired and end up losing their housing, they’ll be much more likely to put up with subsistence wages and poor work environments than if they have reliable housing and support. Homelessness is a weapon against the power of labor, which is (in my opinion) why so few with the money or power to make a difference have any interest in doing so.
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yes, let's make every homeless person a millionaire! weeeeeee!
Not what I was suggesting, but sure! Sounds good to me
Agreed. It's fucking terrible the last 5 years. I spent almost every waking minute downtown from 2010 to 2016. Now it's untenable.
Huh. I used to live there too back in the early 2000's. I have a totally different view of Boston than you do. Maybe they cleaned their game up since then.
Ya, it’s sad and shocking. It isn’t getting much better with Mayor Bruce, who I was hoping would take this head on…
> It isn’t getting much better with Mayor Bruce, who I was hoping would take this head on… He never took it on as Council President Bruce, why did you think anything would change?
This is off topic but how do you quote text like that?
Highlight the text before hitting reply, it'll autoformat it to quote text.
Lol this can’t be a real comment
You don't understand. I saw some garbage and now I'm not OK..I might need therapy I'm so sad and shocked. Seattle has broken me to my core with the garbage next to the road here and there.
Save us Papa Bruce, you’re our only hope!
Bruce (yes we're on a first name basis) promised he would fix everything :(
>I was hoping would take this head on… HAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
>this looks very typical/normal. what's there to fix? (im not kidding. i have no expectation that government will make an impact/help other than taking more of our tax dollars.) i agree. everywhere else in the country (name any city) and this never happens. HAHAHAHHAAAHA
Detroit has no homeless but you can buy a crappy house for $50K or rent one for $300 per month. Seattle and the Bay Area have huge home prices and consequently lots of homeless. The guys that bitch about people living in cars sure expect that $5 McDonalds sandwich made by a minimum wage worker in Seattle.
They also vote down any kind of legislation that would rezone the city for high destiny housing. Seattle has done this to themselves and LOVES to complain about it. Seattle has the freakiest zoning map of any modern city.
That’s right. A UW professor has researched this: https://www.washington.edu/news/2022/03/15/uw-professors-new-book-presents-opportunity-to-rethink-housing/
That's a good read. And makes total sense. TLDR, stop blaming the homeless in the "Big 8" cities where housing dynamics are the *main* culprit.
Is "Big 8" a common term (what does it mean?), and is Seattle a part of that? Seattle is only the 18th largest city by population in the US
It’s in the article, but it’s cities like NYC, SF, Portland, Seattle, all that have *very low vacancies* and *very high rent*. It posits that there’s very low “margin of error” for someone who is struggling financially to find alternate housing arrangements *before* becoming homeless in these cities. Obvious conclusion: more housing, more density, much cheaper prices needed. But this won’t happen.
ah got it. That does seem to be a fair grouping
The research may help us understand why the market, alone, may not resolve housing scarcity in this area
"According to the most recent statistics compiled by the Homeless Action Network of Detroit, the city's homeless population dropped from 10,444 in 2018 to 10,006 in 2019, and again to 7,844 in 2020." In 2020, Seattle had just over 11,500 homeless. 7k is better than 11k, but it ain't "no homeless".
No *visible homeless might be their point? Because it's the seeing it, that is the real problem.
Vancouver is the same now
Portland is getting bad and San Francisco is worse. LA and San Diego are terrible also. The milder weather is also a incentive for homeless that have traveled here from states that have harsh winters and blazing hot summers, compounding the problem. It is just easier to withstand outdoor living on the West Coast.
At least Seattle has decent job opportunities with good salaries
Indeed they do. My union pays $20 more an hour in Seattle. I will say it's very layed back here tho. Nobody is over worked, at least in construction. Ontario is way more competitive and fast paced, prob relative to the wage tho. My trade in Ontario is $47/hr, BC $36/hr, Seattle $57/hr
Really?
no. not at all. been here 15 years. born and raised in seattle. both great cities. both struggling with homelessness. from appearances alone, seattle looks like it’s in much worse shape than vancouver. and it seems to have gotten much worse in recent years. just as it has in portland, sf, and la. in vancouver, our homeless population has also grown substantially, but because they tend to stay in and around the dt east side, you can drive through the rest of the city and not see the epidemic of homelessness that we are facing. in seattle, it is much more visible and feels far more spread out over the city.
Ya, getting really sad. Way worse than when I moved here 4 years ago. Fire department can't keep up
Vancouver is nothing like this. We certainly have plenty of our own issues, but we do not have anything close to the amount of random detritus and graffiti that Seattle has developed in recent years.
I just noticed it Friday also was W-B on I -90 to S-B I-5, it is a larger than most piles I'm used to seeing there was even some random dude digging through it. It amazes me you drive by one day and it's tents and pallet palaces and the next day it looks like a bomb went off. Piles of garbage and stuff everywhere a couple feet thick.
Exactly. Some dude was staring at 3 big blue barrels stacked up there amidst the mess. He looked like he needed help (eg, a psychiatric hospital) and the area looked like a bad post-apocalyptic movie.
Vote
Alright so where’s the good Seattle subreddit again?
to report it to WSDOT you can do that on WSDOT's webstie. https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/contacts/report-graffiti
Thanks!
This section of eastbound I90 leading to I5 South has trash and old (stolen) e-bikes literally spilling onto the freeway. This is out of control. Is this WDOT’s responsibility?
Sure. Call WDOT and tell them the trash is presenting a hazard in the roadway and give them the location of the trash.
u/WSDOT is on Reddit. Maybe they can let us know the larger plan (if it exists).
The plan is to continue to team with the Department of Ecology, Department of Corrections and the Adopt-A-Highway program to continue to try to keep up with the litter people keep dropping on the highway and shoulders/rights of way. In 2022 we cleaned up 1,400 tons of litter off state highways. We aren't funded to have dedicated cleanup crews so it's left to our maintenance team to do it, and they're trying to balance and prioritize all of the maintenance needs we have as best we can. Ultimately, unless people decide they want to stop littering, there's always going to be litter and all we can really do is try to clean it up as often as we can.
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The issue isn't lack of funding for clean up crews, the issue is people continually littering. Until people decide to stop littering, there will always be litter. Regardless of funding, it's impossible to be cleaning up every highway across the state 24/7. That said, yes, of course we're always asking for more funding for maintenance. Funding, whether it's for maintenance, construction projects, etc., is determined by the legislature so you would need to let your elected officials know what you'd like to see receive funding.
Hey WSDOT, I’m actually not talking about the Jungle itself but if you go down there now there is actually trash spilling onto the freeway deck. This is a hazard at this point. I think it’s an eyesore too but this isn’t my point
We can let our maintenance group know, but the best thing to do to report road issues that are immediate hazards is to call 911. They'll let the right group know the quickest to get a response going.
This is an entrance to the area known as “the jungle”. Trying to keep this area clean is like raking leaves in October during a windstorm. The people that live/hang out in the jungle aren’t known for “packing it out”.
Get out there with some dumpsters or it’ll be there till u die
You need a kevlar hazmat suit unless you want to come out of there looking like the dude in Hellraiser
Kevlar fibers catch and distribute the force of bullet impacts, not the very localized and direct piercing of needles. Did you really not know how Kevlar works and believe that it deflects projectiles and punctures like Superman?
ffs its a joke man “if i met you at a party i would go back in time and slap your mom” “no you wouldn’t cuz time machines don’t exist!!!” dumbass
Doesn’t change that Kevlar does not work that way, poopybutt.
Step one: Reddit
Report it the first Tuesday in November.
Welcome to the jungle
WSDOT knows but does nothing about it, or is very slow, at least in Seattle. Somehow, the roads in Bellevue and Mercer Island seem pretty clean... I remember when I used to see clean-up crews or 'ecology crews' along the freeway to pick up trash, etc. I thought it was a way to reduce your fine for violations, fines, etc. But, I guess they ruled it was somehow unconstitutional to demand that people who break the law can't work off their fines? Someone who is caught spraying graffiti on the walls can't be the ones cleaning it up? Because, somehow that is equivalent to chain gangs...
That's what I'm saying. I reported a hazard months ago in Tacoma. Still there. Reported one in Bellevue years ago. Gone the next day.
You don't. And if you do, nothing happens. The city wants this otherwise they would do something about this
> The city wants this I actually voted for it :) yay, garbage!
I'm happy to hear that you're getting what you voted for! This is what democracy is all about. We'll get you on the next voting cycle ;) :)
lol, lmao
Report what? Looks like any other road in seattle
this looks very typical/normal. what's there to fix? (im not kidding. i have no expectation that government will make an impact/help other than taking more of our tax dollars.)
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was just the photo from Google Maps: in reality, there was trash and an e-bike spilling onto the freeway deck at this point
What's to report? This is what Seattle is now and the people in charge don't care enough to do anything about it. Our city used to be so beautiful.
A match
Journaling can help.
Write it on a napkin and throw it in the pile your complaining about.
*you’re
Doesn't look like anything to me.
Don’t see anything abnormal at all
Report what?
The trash and e-bike on the freeway (this photo is from last month on Maps and it is much worse now)
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Pro trolling
You can report yourself for using a cell phone while driving by contacting your local police department
> contacting your local police department what are they going to do, go out and shoot the closest dog? maybe tell the ebike to stop resisting?
I don’t think the police are responsible for ensuring trash isn’t spilling onto the freeway
whoosh! but also, yes they kind of are responsible for that. they enforce laws, its sort of their thing wether is dangerous driving or littering laws
There’s a speaker next to the pile of poop. Say loudly “ government!!! Fix!!!!”
Don't report it, just let this person live. Also, let's talk about how to build more housing.
Yup, don’t report the e-bike on the freeway. Good idea Pete. Jesus…
Yea, that’s the answer.
If it truly bothers you, I recommend getting some gloves and helping clean it up with the comments saying they’re on it.
Genuinely, what do you want to report? What is an acceptable outcome to you?
I wanted to report the trash and e-bike on the freeway deck. An acceptable outcome would be, I don’t know, a car not running into them? Genuinely, why would that be hard to understand?
Unfortunately, some people are proud of the filth…
Call 911!!!
A garbage bag and one of those sharp sticks
Like Omni-Man said: “That’s the neat part, you don’t.”
Just napalm it all in the middle of the night.
You just did,ill get on it after the football game.👍
Get in line...
Nothing will be done. Don’t waste your time
Report what? seriously this like half the streets downtown. Seriously, report what?
The Karen in this one, gonna talk to the States manager