homeless-encampment-sodo-stadium
Fix Homelessness How to rebuild human lives
Share
Facebook
Twitter/X
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email
Type
post
Date
June 11, 2026
Categories
Governance
Homelessness
Street Report
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

Days Ahead of World Cup, Seattle’s Lumen Field Surrounded by Homeless Encampments

Jonathan Choe
June 11, 2026
Governance, Homelessness, Street Report
1
 View at Jonathan Choe's X
Categories
Governance
Homelessness
Street Report

Worse Than Ever

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson wants these homeless drug addicts far away from the FIFA World Cup stadium in SODO. Imagine if fans and visitors saw the open-air drug use, tent encampments, and permissive street culture. What would they think of the city?

We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez and I are checking in on the city’s problematic hot spots. Right now, it looks worse than ever as Wilson pushes the addicts further away from the downtown tourist corridor.

For whatever it’s worth, there’s another mega sweep scheduled for Friday in SODO. Will it make a difference?

Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth & 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.