Seattle Homelessness

tempo_n_groove said:

jeffbr said:

PJ_Soul said:

Seattle needs to maybe think about how Ghouliani managed to clean up NYC, honestly. Be really tough and stop letting them hold the citizens hostage like that. The cops needs to start rounding up these people and laying charges and throwing them in jail for every minor offense if they have to.

Yup, but the cops are handcuffed at this point. They aren't citing anyone for pissing or shitting in the street anymore. And no arrests for 3 grams or under of opiates! That's 30 doses of heroin that you're OK to carry around, which is why the fucking drug dealers don't even have to worry. They just carry 3g or less and no hassle. Heroin free for all. Fuckin' meth heads, crack heads and shooters killing themselves on the streets but at least our cops carry Narcan now, so they can resurrect them and let them try to kill themselves tomorrow. The cops are hesitatant to even make arrests because prosecutors won't prosecute. From that linked documentary, in 2006 25% of cases weren't filed. In 2016 that number jumped to 46%. Then you get a third of the remaining being outright dismissed. Then you get another big chunk just listed as "other" with no resolution. And you end up with 18% resulting in convictions. But after plea deals and lenient sentences, very few are actually held accountable. And there are "homeless" out there with dozens of arrests over a pretty short period of time, so they get arrested, but they're right back at it, laughing at the system that doesn't hold any of them accountable. It is time for change.

"They aren't citing anyone for pissing or shitting in the street anymore. And no arrests for 3 grams or under of opiates!"

NYC has recently started doing this.  I also saw for the first time here this winter a group of homeless setting up camp under a freeway.  That didn't last long though.

The mayor, Diblasio, is trying to not get people brought in for bullshit and petty things but if Seattle did this and ended up like they are then I say go back to arresting and citations.

Here in NY they are very big on security so the bridges and tunnels will get shut down pretty quick if "unauthorized" people are roaming around them so camps and such wouldn't last long.

In 5 years of being back in NY and traveling to the city frequently there has been an influx of homeless and panhandlers.

my2hands said:

Went to Seattle in 2005... loved it... didnt even rain... 

I will not be going back now until they clean it up

Pap said:

When we look at housing, a good example is what we're currently experiencing in Seattle, which is a housing crisis with rising homelessness. In fact, there is a housing crisis happening all over the country - apartments are either full or too expensive for people to afford, houses are difficult to rent and nearly impossible to buy, and when they do come up for sale, the bidding wars create false values that cause the entire regional market to become untenable for local residents. If you read the news from different parts of the country, you'll find that much of this unaffordable housing is the result of private equity groups who buy up entire blocks of houses and apartments, raising their rents as high as possible to get only the wealthiest people into their buildings. Where does that leave the folks who work hard, often for minimum wage (at the behest of those same wealthy landlords who want to drive down wages), and now can't find housing? If it is like Seattle, they'll end up in one of our many homeless tent communities, which have become our version of the favela. ~ Barrett Martin (The Way of the Zen Cowboy)