Scott, thank you so much for writing this. When I returned home to Seattle last year, I was shocked at the amount of homelessness we have here in one of the wealthiest cities in America—and how little anyone seems to care to the extent that the problem could be alleviated in any humane way. “Sweeps” of homeless camps are our “preferred” way of dealing with the issue. This doesn’t help. And it literally forces the homeless out of the improvised shelter they have, destroying what few possessions they might own, and forcing them to relocate to somewhere else—until they get swept off again. It angers me immensely and embarrasses me no end. The Seattle I grew up in—the largely blue collar middle and lower-middle class Seattle—would never have acted this way. We have Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Costco, Starbucks, Boeing, and many other large and incredibly profitable businesses here. $20 billlion? Just for our one city? It could be raised in a week from 10 people—or a year with very reasonable business and property taxation. And we probably only need $1-$2 billion at most. Meanwhile, housing prices went up 20% last year during the pandemic. (Amazon profits up 19%. Median household income—median not mean!—is over $100K a year. “Poverty Level” to qualify for so-called low incone housing is $64K a year but “low-income” apartments are $3500-a-month units for $2200 a month. And the sad ironies don’t end there.) I wish more Seattlites and local thought leaders were leading on this like you are here! Once again, you’re doing great work. Not “just” a great blog. Great work!!!—Steve
Scott, thank you so much for writing this. When I returned home to Seattle last year, I was shocked at the amount of homelessness we have here in one of the wealthiest cities in America—and how little anyone seems to care to the extent that the problem could be alleviated in any humane way. “Sweeps” of homeless camps are our “preferred” way of dealing with the issue. This doesn’t help. And it literally forces the homeless out of the improvised shelter they have, destroying what few possessions they might own, and forcing them to relocate to somewhere else—until they get swept off again. It angers me immensely and embarrasses me no end. The Seattle I grew up in—the largely blue collar middle and lower-middle class Seattle—would never have acted this way. We have Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Costco, Starbucks, Boeing, and many other large and incredibly profitable businesses here. $20 billlion? Just for our one city? It could be raised in a week from 10 people—or a year with very reasonable business and property taxation. And we probably only need $1-$2 billion at most. Meanwhile, housing prices went up 20% last year during the pandemic. (Amazon profits up 19%. Median household income—median not mean!—is over $100K a year. “Poverty Level” to qualify for so-called low incone housing is $64K a year but “low-income” apartments are $3500-a-month units for $2200 a month. And the sad ironies don’t end there.) I wish more Seattlites and local thought leaders were leading on this like you are here! Once again, you’re doing great work. Not “just” a great blog. Great work!!!—Steve