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Homeless Encampment Grows at North Seattle’s Hubbard Homestead Park

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It Keeps Expanding

Four new tents popped up near the skate bowl over the weekend at Hubbard Homestead Park (@SeattleParks, @SeattleShines) bringing the grand total to 19. This homeless encampment is on the city’s radar, but there is no timeline yet on when it will be removed. Neighbors and local biz owners say it’s become a blight on the Northgate community. Along with the overwhelming use of fentanyl, some of the campers are also being blamed for thefts in the area. Someone went on the Nextdoor app and claimed a tent was being used to run a meth lab.

Of course I had to check it out. Otherwise, everyone living here was super accommodating and wanted me to tell their stories. Once again, there is no one size fits all to this crisis. But in most cases, root causes remains drug addiction, mental illness, and broken relationships. Housing is part of the solution, but giving away free apartments and studios will not solve this. You can’t build your way out of this problem. Stop warehousing people so they’re out of sight and out of mind. Everyone here is begging for a community, someone to walk with them across the finish line. Where’s Marc Dones and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority?

Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth and Poverty
Jonathan Choe is a journalist and Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, covering homelessness issues for its Fix Homelessness initiative. Prior to joining Discovery, Choe spent several years as one of the lead reporters at KOMO-TV, consistently the top rated television station in Seattle. His in depth stories on crime and deep dive investigations into the homeless crisis led to measurable results in the community, including changes in public policy. Choe has more than two decades of experience in television news behind the scenes and in front of the camera for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and Tribune. He has also been nominated and honored with multiple industry awards including an Emmy. Choe spent several years teaching classes on emerging media and entrepreneurship to under privileged youth in inner city Chicago. As an independent journalist, Choe also contributes regularly to the Mill Creek View and Lynnwood Times and has reported on exclusive stories in the past year for Daily Wire and The Postmillennial.