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I'm a Canadian who travelled to Seattle recently and I found that city legitimately scary downtown. The addicts were unstable and violent like nothing I'd ever

I'm a Canadian who travelled to Seattle recently and I found that city legitimately scary downtown. The addicts were unstable and violent like nothing I'd ever seen, even in some of the worst parts of our country. Walking through downtown Seattle at night with a suitcase trying to find my hotel is the first time in my life I thought I was about to be attacked or robbed, but thankfully I only had stuff thrown at me by the junkies.

ecshafer 3y ago
The west coast cities of the US post covid are significantly more dangerous feeling than the east coast cities. In the past couple years Ive been in portland, seattle, chicago, philly, nyc, detroit, boston, washington dc and smaller cities. Seattle and Portland top the list as the cities that seem the most run down, and with the most visible violent crime.
Aurornis 3y ago
I'm an American with decades of history traveling to West coast cities. Portland and Seattle in the past few years look completely different than they did even a few years ago. Both cities have always had run down parts, but now it feels like the blight permeates almost everything. Some of my favorite places to visit have either closed entirely or now have limited hours and require me to buzz in at the front door so someone can visually verify that I'm not a threat. I can't explain how strange it feels for this shift to have happened in a matter of years.
- UberFly 3y ago
  It really trickles down so much. You can't use a public restroom anymore with the ease you once could. Items in stores are locked or just not available, employees feel unsafe, including my family members who are just trying to work college jobs. It's possible to help people without fully enabling them but too many who have been voted into office don't see or care to see the consequences of their policy. And the sad thing is they keep getting the green light from voters. I quit trying to understand a while ago.
- hedora 3y ago
  I recently visited Downtown Seattle, and most people I encountered shared your opinion, but based on their stories, it’s not that bad by current standards. Honestly, it’s much better than I’m used to. In a day of walking around, only one drugged out person was screaming uncontrollably. When he saw me, he politely asked for a light, and I said no, so he went back to screaming at nothing in particular. It’s not like I was tripping on human feces (SF, post-pandemic, though they seemed to have cleaned things up a bit for APEC) or needles (various cities in Europe, pre-pandemic). I don’t mean to trivialize the problems in Seattle. It is much worse than it was. However, it’s better than average these days. At least in California, housing shortages are a big root cause, as is the broken approach to mental health care: It’s basically illegal to treat someone during a psychotic episode until they’ve already committed some serious violent crimes.
- silent_cal 3y ago
  Yeah I was there before 2020 and it was beautiful, I'm surprised to hear what it's like now.
belkinpower 3y ago
What part of Canada? I live in the Seattle area and visited Vancouver for the first time recently, and Vancouver was much visibly worse than Seattle in terms of open drug use and general sketchiness. Obviously there’s a lot of potential selection bias there in terms of what neighborhoods I visited there vs where I spend time in Seattle. But I was still surprised at how bad it was.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Vancouver was definitely worse than Seattle in the 90s with respect to open drug use, but now...it feels about the same last time I visited last spring. But I spend time in downtown Seattle and walked through China town in Vancouver.
- __turbobrew__ 3y ago
  In Vancouver the rate of violent crime doesn’t feel that high. There are lots of people strung out of their mind and they will definitely yell at you but I have never heard of anyone in my circle of friends and their circle of friends being assaulted.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
WalterBright 3y ago
A friend of mine recently closed his store in Seattle, permanently, and relocated to another county. He had the door smashed, and the organized thieves ransacked the place, and caused a lot of costly damage. (He showed me the security camera footage.) The police not only did not come, they told him they no longer responded to property crimes, only violent crimes. The law does not allow citizens to protect their property, and the police won't, either. So what to do? Leave.
- SilasX 3y ago
  Even violent crimes might not be enough to get attention. I know a couple that was mugged at a gas station near the Oakland airport this past Thanksgiving. The muggers stole stuff from the car with their infant and toddler in it. Even then, the clerk watched the whole thing while not calling 911. The police didn’t come out and would only take a report if they went to the station, which they ended up not doing. If something like that isn’t even making it into the crime stats…

ecshafer 3y ago

The west coast cities of the US post covid are significantly more dangerous feeling than the east coast cities. In the past couple years Ive been in portland, seattle, chicago, philly, nyc, detroit, boston, washington dc and smaller cities. Seattle and Portland top the list as the cities that seem the most run down, and with the most visible violent crime.

Aurornis 3y ago

I'm an American with decades of history traveling to West coast cities. Portland and Seattle in the past few years look completely different than they did even a few years ago. Both cities have always had run down parts, but now it feels like the blight permeates almost everything. Some of my favorite places to visit have either closed entirely or now have limited hours and require me to buzz in at the front door so someone can visually verify that I'm not a threat. I can't explain how strange it feels for this shift to have happened in a matter of years.

UberFly 3y ago
It really trickles down so much. You can't use a public restroom anymore with the ease you once could. Items in stores are locked or just not available, employees feel unsafe, including my family members who are just trying to work college jobs. It's possible to help people without fully enabling them but too many who have been voted into office don't see or care to see the consequences of their policy. And the sad thing is they keep getting the green light from voters. I quit trying to understand a while ago.
hedora 3y ago
I recently visited Downtown Seattle, and most people I encountered shared your opinion, but based on their stories, it’s not that bad by current standards. Honestly, it’s much better than I’m used to. In a day of walking around, only one drugged out person was screaming uncontrollably. When he saw me, he politely asked for a light, and I said no, so he went back to screaming at nothing in particular. It’s not like I was tripping on human feces (SF, post-pandemic, though they seemed to have cleaned things up a bit for APEC) or needles (various cities in Europe, pre-pandemic). I don’t mean to trivialize the problems in Seattle. It is much worse than it was. However, it’s better than average these days. At least in California, housing shortages are a big root cause, as is the broken approach to mental health care: It’s basically illegal to treat someone during a psychotic episode until they’ve already committed some serious violent crimes.
silent_cal 3y ago
Yeah I was there before 2020 and it was beautiful, I'm surprised to hear what it's like now.

belkinpower 3y ago

What part of Canada? I live in the Seattle area and visited Vancouver for the first time recently, and Vancouver was much visibly worse than Seattle in terms of open drug use and general sketchiness. Obviously there’s a lot of potential selection bias there in terms of what neighborhoods I visited there vs where I spend time in Seattle. But I was still surprised at how bad it was.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
Vancouver was definitely worse than Seattle in the 90s with respect to open drug use, but now...it feels about the same last time I visited last spring. But I spend time in downtown Seattle and walked through China town in Vancouver.
__turbobrew__ 3y ago
In Vancouver the rate of violent crime doesn’t feel that high. There are lots of people strung out of their mind and they will definitely yell at you but I have never heard of anyone in my circle of friends and their circle of friends being assaulted.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

WalterBright 3y ago

A friend of mine recently closed his store in Seattle, permanently, and relocated to another county. He had the door smashed, and the organized thieves ransacked the place, and caused a lot of costly damage. (He showed me the security camera footage.) The police not only did not come, they told him they no longer responded to property crimes, only violent crimes. The law does not allow citizens to protect their property, and the police won't, either. So what to do? Leave.

SilasX 3y ago
Even violent crimes might not be enough to get attention. I know a couple that was mugged at a gas station near the Oakland airport this past Thanksgiving. The muggers stole stuff from the car with their infant and toddler in it. Even then, the clerk watched the whole thing while not calling 911. The police didn’t come out and would only take a report if they went to the station, which they ended up not doing. If something like that isn’t even making it into the crime stats…