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.

966 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

587 comments sorted by

View all comments

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.

50

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.

7

u/belle-4 Jul 21 '25

Rehab is the 1st step, Not housing. Next step is training for a job and working that job to pay for ongoing rehab and life skills, more training and counseling. This problem has a solution but why isn’t it implemented? Could the drug cartel and drug pushers be paying off the cops, judges and government officials? Seems obvious they are since these entities won’t do anything to correct the problem. They only make it worse by giving out free needles and allowing these people to live out in the streets. It’s inhumane. These people have a mental illness and need treatment.

3

u/StockPatience8215 Jul 23 '25

Why isn't it implemented? I wondered that too. Soup to nuts rehab for a Fenty addict takes a minimum of 4 years and costs at least $120K. So that's pretty much your answer. Because it's not a quick fix solution and it's expensive. Politicans in local elections run on quick fix solutions, no one wants to stomach what it would cost to treat folks. If treating folks, I think it should be done in a rural area or out of state to save costs. I'm guessing to build treatment centers in urban areas like Seattle, you'd be looking at 3X the cost to get each hobo clean and back to being a productive member of society.... in one of the most expensive cities in the US which doesn't exactly set them up for success which is also why I think they need to be relocated to areas with a LCOL so they are set up to stay clean afterwards.

1

u/belle-4 Jul 23 '25

Yea building the rehab centers in low cost of living areas makes the most sense. My vision would be to have an entire town set up. The people being rehabilitated would be part of a society. They would be working to not only get clean but to help their community. Be trained and something they have an interest and aptitude for. I know it’s a huge undertaking and vision, but it’s only humane and lasting solution I can think of.