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Seattle homelessness has 2 standout aspects that I have not seen with homelessness in other cities. The first is the high degree of mental illness & civilian h
by screye 5y ago
Seattle homelessness has 2 standout aspects that I have not seen with homelessness in other cities.
The first is the high degree of mental illness & civilian harassment per capita. In my experience, Seattle's homeless come across as particularly scary in their audaciousness and willfulness to commit minor crimes. Part of it may have to do with the car centric design of Seattle, which does not give you the NYC-esque safety in numbers. Whether it be 2 am in an empty-ish subway or a park with a lot of homeless people taking shelter, I have never been harassed in NYC. On the contrary, I seem to get confronted by a homeless person rather often when I walk through Seattle's most affected areas. FWIW, my intuition is that drug abuse is much more rampant among Seattle's homeless communities.
The most confusing thing about Seattle's homelessness, is that it coincides with the high foot-traffic touristy areas. In most other cities (Boston, NYC, DC); popular walkways, green spaces and core touristy areas tend to be policed and kept clear of homelessness. The problem persists, but doesn't directly interfere with your average civilian's life as much. In contrast, Seattle's most scenic and pedestrian-dense parts are more affected by this problem. Walking from one end of downtown (Pioneer Square) to the adjacent party neighborhood (Capitol Hill) is practically a walking tour of the city's homelessness crisis. I know a few people who do not leave their houses in downtown/pioneer square without a car.
I want to blame the last decade's incompetent city leadership. But then again, it is the people of Seattle who are voting for them.
- globular-toast 5y agoWhat kind of harassment is it? I'm British and it's fairly normal for homeless people to ask for money or whatever here. But they don't often approach you, they are not persistent and I've never been followed or anything like that. When I first visited Paris I was shocked at how different the homeless people were. They were actively going around targeting people and trying all kinds of tricks to get you to give them money. This was in the major touristy areas too. I can't say I ever felt unsafe, but I certainly felt less inclined to spend time outside (and I was wearing a money belt at all times, nothing valuable in my pockets).
- Wohlf 5y agoParisian homeless sound similar to aggressive street vendors I've experienced in SEA, they were annoying and would occasionally leave me feeling somewhat violated but never really scared, except for possible pickpocketing. With homeless here (at least in Portland and Seattle) it really depends. Most completely ignore you, some ask for money, some will be very loud and aggressive at no one in particular possibly from hallucinations or just being upset in general. A small but significant percentage will act extremely unhinged, so much so they make me nervous as a larger guy with military experience. I've heard that a lot of this is due to a new kind of meth on the streets that causes terrible psychosis.
- pas 5y agoif anyone wants to know more about how meth has changed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Z_BIjfrfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Z_BIjfrfc
- polka_haunts_us 5y agoI remember walking around Green Lake during a friend's Bacehlor party prior to his wedding, and a guy brandished a knife at us because he was "Looking to stab some yuppies". This is despite us being in a group of 6 or so. So yeah, audacious is a good word.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 5y agoData on metabolites of methamphetamine found in the sewage suggests that Seattle has vastly (like 10x) higher meth consumption than the average city: https://dynomight.net/p2p-meth/ https://dynomight.net/p2p-meth/ I’m no anti-drug warrior, but it’s hard to ignore that the availability of this drug leads some people to become incapable of functioning as part of a society.
- pas 5y agoallegedly meth has changed from an upper to a downer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Z_BIjfrfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Z_BIjfrfc > I’m no anti-drug warrior, but it’s hard to ignore that the availability of this drug leads some people to become incapable of functioning as part of a society. what does this mean? if you mean that let's shoot on sight everyone who touched meth, then ... sure, that could solve this problem, but you really have to be merciless. I mean despite the current US War on Drugs ... drugs are winning (big time! https://torontolife.com/city/this-man-is-the-jeff-bezos-of-the-international-drug-trade/ https://torontolife.com/city/this-man-is-the-jeff-bezos-of-t... ) also it's hard to ignore how other countries went the opposite way and achieved better results.