Homelessness

Happening Now Summer tourism season is underway in downtown Seattle and visitors are being greeted by brand new tents and open-air drug use. What an absolute embarrassment and disgrace for the city right before July 4th festivities. Even the elderly with walkers are struggling to navigate through this urban decay. Seriously, how can Mayor Bruce Harrell and D7 Councilmember Bob Kettle abdicate their responsibilities during one of the most important times of the year? Meanwhile, the drug den in front of controversial housing provider REACH is worse than ever. The only ones trying to save lives right now are outreach workers with We Heart Seattle. And they don’t even have a taxpayer funded city contract. Wild.

Money Gone to Waste Seattle spent more than $800 million on its waterfront revitalization project. Mayor Bruce Harrell said it would create a vibrant, accessible, and engaging public space. Today, new water fountains are being used as bubble baths for homeless drug addicts.

Political Theater WA Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal just introduced a bill that allows homeless people to camp on federal land if they have no other options. This was simply political theater and won’t go anywhere. Here’s the real problem for Jayapal. Washington’s Homelessness Crisis Despite billions of dollars spent over the years, Washington state has the third largest homeless population in America with more than 31K people living on the streets. That’s likely an undercount. This is all happening under Jayapal’s watch. Jayapal’s Ideology Part of the problem is her far-left progressive ideology. Here’s what she recently told the Seattle Times: “Because I don’t think that homelessness is a failure of the individual,” she said. “I think it’s a failure of Read More ›

Welcome to Seattle Sold out crowd Tuesday evening to watch Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark take on the Seattle Storm. Instead of rolling out the red carpet for WNBA fans, indie music station KEXP, Climate Pledge Arena, and Mayor Bruce Harrell allowed a homeless fella to set up his entire living room on the sidewalk. Zero enforcement. What a way to showcase your city.

Fencing Is Up! The fencing is up around the former Joann Fabrics location in Ballard. Problem is, all the homeless drug addicts are now spilling into the streets and some are sleeping overnight in Ballard Commons Park. Where’s Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Councilmember Dan Strauss? This is now the city’s problems.

Welcome, Soccer Fans Lumen Field in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood hosted several Club World Cup matches this week. Instead of a clean and welcoming city, soccer fans heading to the stadium were treated to dozens of RV’s, tent encampments, and open-air drug use. From 3rd Ave to Utah Ave, these are the same vehicles cleared dozens of times by Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration. After nearly four years in office, Harrell remains clueless on how to handle this unending street crisis. Sweeps aren’t working because all the campers are allowed to come right back. Taxpayers should be furious at the cost and the lack of proper enforcement. The current plan is not working.

The following is an article originally published by Spencer Pauley at The Center Square. King County’s 2024 homeless population has been revised upward by 483 people after new data was derived from a unique survey method used by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Unlike other agencies, KCRHA conducts its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s required Point-in-Time, or PIT, unsheltered count in even- numbered years. Sheltered counts are done every year. When the agency initially reported its count in May 2024, 16,385 people were tallied. However, the count was recently revised to a total of 16,868 homeless people in King County. This is a result of a subset of the unsheltered homeless population being added to the count Read More ›

Breaking Seattle Police just busted one of the most notorious homeless vandals in the Belltown neighborhood. He’s accused of going on a window smashing spree this week on Cedar Ave. He’s also believed to be a suspect in other vandalism incidents in the area. Neighbors say he’s clearly dealing with drug addiction and mental illness. We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez says she’s seen this guy before and has tried to help. The same group of repeat offenders keep running around the city causing problems.

We Heart Seattle’s “Recovery First” Model is Working Seattle voters say the homeless drug crisis remains a top three issue. But the Harrell administration is still engaged in a game of Whack-a-Mole and has failed to find long-term solutions. That’s because they’re not addressing the drivers of this humanitarian disaster which include drug addiction, mental illness, and broken relationships. Instead, city officials are touting the wrong metrics for success such as the number of tents removed from the streets. Meanwhile, We Heart Seattle’s “recovery first” intervention model is working. And they’re outreach workers have identified some new patterns that are keeping so many people in this vicious cycle. I followed them in this Center on Wealth & Poverty mini-documentary.

Seattle has lost one of its most high-profile tech events due to mounting concerns over public safety and deteriorating conditions in the city’s downtown core. Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer host its annual Build conference in Seattle starting in 2026, citing issues related to rampant homelessness, visible drug use, and urban decay. According to an internal email obtained by journalist Jonathan Choe of the Discovery Institute, Visit Seattle—the city’s official tourism and marketing organization—was informed that Microsoft will cancel its 2026 event and release all future holds for the conference in Seattle. The email, titled “DEFINITE BOOKING CANCELLATION NOTICE,” said the decision was heavily influenced by the experience of company leadership and attendees walking the downtown core Read More ›