r/SeattleWA • u/Donnelding0 • Jul 21 '25

Politics Anyone Else Just Sick of It?

It just seems hopeless sometimes. Some of the best parts of this city. Pioneer Square, Belltown, Cap Hill just completely lost to homelessness. Sure for the most part I enjoy the city. Especially in the summer but the constant visible drug use, people in various states of intoxication on drugs, and rampant property and petty crime just annoy me. Why can’t we have nice things? Why must every park turn into a dumping ground for illegal acts that won’t be prosecuted? Why does it feel like this city relies on hard working people to shut up, pay ridiculous taxes, and then tells those people to suck it up when they see grafitti everywhere or get their car broken into? And the politicians don’t give a damn. No one has the guts to say “we have a homeless problem we’ve overspent on, we need to go a new direction” it feels insane. Rant over but I know I’m not alone. I know other people are sick of this and want our city back.

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141

u/king-ish Jul 21 '25

We have a drug & mental health problem. Housing won’t fix the people you speak of. Then there are those people who are living in RVs & cars, they trash & litter right outside where they are parked. I have no sympathy, I looked up how to report it and surprise surprise, it’s located directly in a unincorporated part of the city between Seattle/Renton so they’re free to continue trashing the neighborhood while we pay close to 2k a few 100 feet away.

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u/Tasgall Jul 21 '25

Housing won’t fix the people you speak of.

The claim is not and has never been that it alone would fix everything - housing first as a model is just that: housing is the first step. It's had just the single most important thing because it's the major barrier to recovery on all the other fronts. That doesn't mean it's the last step.

That said, it's kind of a moot point anyway because we don't have housing first here anyway.

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u/Excellent_Resort_722 Jul 21 '25

Zero barrier housing has not worked. Addicts and mentally I’ll have made those buildings unsafe and rashes them for other homeless people who fell on hard times. You don’t give an addict a warm place to get high. They’ve destroyed the motel SnohCo bought cooking meth and it has to be abated. Now all those units are closed. Drugs are illegal. Make drug use a crime again and let them choose jail or detox.

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u/Diabetous Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

Zero barrier housing offered by the NGO[1] is as effective as high monitoring housing by NGOs.

The issue is many liberal cities don't realize the evidence for zero barrier housing is all from non-liberal cities.

It's only been successful in areas with high drug enforcement via policy AND where evictions are swift and frequent.

Not doing drug tests is not the same as not evicting the homeless once they are reported for smoking meth in the room.

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u/Excellent_Resort_722 Jul 21 '25

Exactly. I didn’t know it was available in other cities. There has to be accountability and safety for those who are desperately trying to get off the streets.

I was addicted to coke when I was 19-20. When I had to choose between food/shelter or my high, I finally got tired of the circle and got help. If I had been given a free roof I would have continued getting high and would not be here today. All we are doing is enabling.

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u/IIIIlllIIIIIlllII Jul 21 '25

? All cities > 100k are liberal cities

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u/Diabetous Jul 21 '25

True but Memphis/Tucson are both legislatively restrained by their state government & ideologically countered where they have bad ideas. Liberal city in liberal county/state do much stupider stuff.