Volunteers have begun work preparing the City Light lot at 8030 15th Ave. NW for the city’s first sanctioned homeless camp for women.
The Whittier Heights Village for Women will feature 20 tiny houses operated by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), the same group that has organized tiny houses for the Nickelsville sites. The existing City Light building on the lot will be refurbished as a community space with a kitchen, bathrooms, showers and laundry.
When the camp opens in May, LIHI staff will be on site around the clock “to supervise and keep the village clean, organized and safe,” according to the nonprofit group. LIHI will also provide a case manager to work with camp residents with the goal to transition them into permanent housing.
The site is bordered by Homestreet Bank to the north and Duo apartments to the south. The old Pancake House restaurant (soon to become Crown Hill Broiler) is across the street to the west. The only entrance to the camp will be on 15th Ave., not the alleyway behind it, which backs up to a residential area to the east.
LIHI plans to open the camp on Mother’s Day, May 13th. If you’re interested in helping put the camp together, contact LIHI via this page.
Ballard’s other sanctioned homeless camp, Nickelsville, moved to Northlake last month.
(Our thanks to Tyrel for the tip.)
What will the cost of this marginal space be to taxpayers?
Will it draw drug dealers to the site to supply the heroin/oxy or meth these low barrier residents will need on a daily basis?
How will they pay for their fixes?
Whittier Heights residents and their neighbors want to know.
Are you suggesting that these people in need are the drags of society? Even the drags of society did not start out as such! Never say never! I have known people across all levels of society that never planned to end their lives in dire straits & I have lived in many states, so yes, I can make such a statement
You may be one ☝️ of the elitist but hindsight is 20-20
That’s kind of “stream of consciousness” there…and it’s DREGS of society, FYI.
Glad i dont live in Ballard or Seattle anymore
Odin
Interesting how the first comments to come in are the ones disparaging all homeless persons as drug-addled slackers. Yeah they’re all inferior to you. You’re such a superior being. To you these people aren’t even good enough to cut your grass
Very sad the commentaries, when people need help
One of Harley Lever’s sock handles always posts first. He doesn’t have a job.
Have you ever been on this site, that’s exactly what it is.
If you have a different opinion, the moderator will have no trouble deleting them.
It’s interesting all the progressives “white knighting” for the homeless (junkies). They will ridicule you for implying that they’re addicts immediately after bemoaning some other statistic about how many of the homeless are, in fact, addicts. Semantics, I guess.
These same progressive will also ridicule working people for being taxed into near poverty, yet defend the right of these campers who smash the car windows of those same working people while they put in their shifts at the bar, restaurant, grocery store, or nursing home. Even better, they are stalwart about “stopping pollution” yet seem a-ok with piles of garbage and filth in every possible open space in the city AND the precious parks.
They have bumper stickers that say “read more books” even while turning the libraries in filthy shooting galleries unsafe for children and families.
The city, and the “white knights” in the neighborhoods (St Lukes etc) have done all they can to accommodate these people at the expense of everyone else because they’re either getting paid to do so (O’Brien Industries) or they get some personal satisfaction out of being sanctimonious. The stench of their narcissism is as bad as the stench of the trash piles.
@California – there is a serious level of ignorance on the side of the progressives regarding the homeless. I had a 3-hour conversation with one just a week ago. Now, he’s not a bad person, not a far-left wingnut – he just believes that we should help them, because, honestly, there are always going to be dregs of society, and it makes him, personally, feel better to provide some of his tax dollars to support them. He has no delusions these people want to improve their lot in life, and although he can agree with my point of view (which is, if they don’t want to help themselves, then screw them), he still feels enough compassion for them to want to help them. I bet when you get right down to it, most of those who support the homeless feel this way – let’s not get too close to them, but if I can give them some of my tax dollars, I feel better about myself, and can sleep more soundly at night
i feel really bad for the folks that have homes backing up to the alley behind this camp.
Glad some deserving women are getting a chance at some help.
@Odin, we’re glad you don’t too. :)
More enabling! As our taxes continue to reach a all time daily high we are forced to roll over and put up with this. I work near the Ballard bridge campground, all day people honk as they drive by… no doubt out of frustration. I just wonder how long it will take before people take the law into their own hands and perfom “hate crimes” yeah I hate this! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF THIS AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!
@ Dale – I’ve wondered the same thing. At some point, a citizen, or a group of citizens, may indeed think it’s time for civil justice. The problem then becomes, are these people who would go out and beat the homeless any better than far right-wing, violence-prone neo-Nazis?
The solution that doesn’t involve violence is going to be the one most palatable to everyone, and no, I don’t like giving them my tax dollars either. I’ll defend myself if attacked, but I’m not going to go out and try to pick a fight with a homeless person because I’m sick of seeing them everywhere.
This is horrible. The homeless in Ballard make me want to sell my house and clear out. I can’t even walk to the Ballard library with my baby without feeling threatened. And my tax dollars pay for me to enjoy it.
I’m glad you don’t live here anymore too Odin.
CUA your lack of humanity is far more powerful…it stinks like someone who lost faith in living long ago. Go rot in a hole far away that won’t affect those who have some degree of hope.
Sorry, Ron, folks are fed up with the entitled junkie swarms and the endless tax waste.
Your juvenile insults are irrelevant and pathetic- and just reinforce the fact that many of our “homeless neighbors” and their activist exploiters are undeveloped, misguided, and spiteful.
No, i can’t spare a dollar.
I guess Mike, above, didn’t know that this is low barrier camp – meaning it is wet. Come as you are, drugs/alcohol and all. No expectations and bring your pet with you. 24 hour security which is a substantial cost. Also means somebody will be selling them drugs – H, meth, whatever else. Where are residents going to hang out all day long – the Safeway 1 block to the north? It will cost maybe as much as $350K per year to run this camp for 20 women,assuming they keep it full. Nickelsville ran at about 80 percent of capacity at its Market St. location. Is that a good use of your tax dollars? Inquiring minds want to know.
They want a free place to live? Put them to work cleaning up the trash of their fellow hobos.
Careful @greenonred, you might be advocating that the homeless work for their ‘free’ housing, security, and whatever else they receive. NOW, that ‘should’ be a requirement for living in ‘citizen-subsidized’ ‘free’ housing, but of course, according to the City Clowncil, they’re our most vulnerable members of society and therefore, we shouldn’t stress them out and/or trigger them by asking them to work for their free house. You’re using logic, and the Clowncil doesn’t want logic in the conversation. Because if people start to use their brains instead of hearts, they’ll realize what a joke these subsidized villages actually are.
@ Ron: “hope” is not a policy. “Hope” is not a program either. It’s you that IS the problem, because YOU voted for the people foisting this upon us, and worse yet, tolerate shreds of human debris all around you AND your neighbors. Did we vote FOR this? I didn’t. I also did NOT elect our crappy media that seems to love the chaos too. I sobered up over 16 years ago, as most limitations ARE self-imposed. Give these people a title/ job to earn something, such as dignity. Is this a hand-out, or a hand-up? Safety-net, or hammock? It’s a shame the word “compassion” has been trashed and turned into anything but.
Two thirds of District 6 voted for this. You didn’t, but your side is unpopular. In other words, “not liked”. You guys definitely had names on the ballot who didn’t want to help anybody, who opposed services, and who wanted more cops and more persecution of anyone living on the street or in a park. There were candidates who said crime is rampant and taxes are too high and get off my lawn and such.
What happened was, YOU LOST. You didn’t do better than sixth place in the Mayor primary. Catherine Whatbrook got her ass handed to her in a campaign that Mike O’Brien phoned in. Scott Lindsey got 25%. Ouch.
I know I’ve said all this before. But you guys keep yelling “I DIDN’T VOTE FOR THIS!” Correct! You didn’t vote for this. But you also didn’t win.
I don’t know if I can explain it any simpler than that. Have you spent your entire life being handed everything you asked for? Haven’t you ever, I don’t know, played sports? Was your school all participation trophies? Everybody wins every time?
It’s basic democracy. Nobody is *entitled* to winning. You only win if people like you, and agree with you. In Seattle, people do not like Safe Seattle, and they do not like Safe Seattle’s candidates. Their candidates get the fewest votes, and as a result, they lose.
See? It’s called “losing.” It’s the opposite of “winning”. I’ll explain more if you’re still confused.
I just don’t understand why there are such a large number of services in Ballard and NEVER in Laurelhurst, Wedgewood It is better for all the neighborhoods to spread them around.
I love all the people and sockpuppets on here griping about the homeless and blaming everyone but themselves for the problem. But not one, not a single comment from these hand-wringers, even comes close to some sort of a solution or even a suggestion on how to mitigate the problem. Just complain and clutch their pearls until they turn to dust.
And so here we are, in 2018 in a (for now) first world country, and we have a homeless problem.
@Scott:
It’s you that IS the problem, because YOU voted for the people foisting this upon us…
Do you have proof that Ron has ever voted for a politician who has voted for tax cuts for the wealthy?
@ Erin (and whomever else cares):
I live near the post office. Since people on this MyBallard site tend to be total jerks, no matter what information is presented, I am listing the following incidents merely as facts. You make of them what you will.
1) Last Wednesday, we (and our neighbors) heard 5 gunshots.
2) Last night, two homeless folks were camped in front of my garage door drinking beer. They left quietly and respectfully on request.
3) On Sunday, my 2.5-year-old daughter and I were attacked by man “in a mental health crisis” (to quote SPD). It was 8 am, and he had just emerged from a gas station store with a brand new large beer. The only reason he did not kill me and my daughter, or at least seriously injure us, is because he got bored with what he was doing and left. There is nothing I did or didn’t do that made him stop. My screams for help were ignored/unanswered. SPD took 30 minutes to respond. Thankfully they arrived right as the man came back towards us again. I go to court today under subpoena to testify against him. I have been naive to think that “nobody would hurt a mom and her baby.” That is not true. Erin and other moms, please buy yourself some form of protection; I have chosen a Vigilant brand “screech alarm” because I don’t feel comfortable carrying/using a gun, a taser, or pepper spray around my young daughter.
Welcome to the New Ballard
comfortable carrying/using a gun, a taser, or pepper spray around my young daughters
” The only reason he did not kill me and my daughter, or at least seriously injure us, is because he got bored with what he was doing and left. ”
I thought you were only listing facts Nico. How could you possibly know he would’ve killed you if it weren’t for ennui?
What do gunshots have to do with homeless?
Hey @Bart, how quickly you work to divert a woman stating mostly facts. This is the only way you and the other SJW’s have to turn people away from the truth that many of these homeless people have mental issues, and that some of them are violent for no reason other than proximity to another human being.
Aladin1: I’m glad you are. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with those items, but I am not adept enough to use them. Also my daughter is pathetically severely allergic to everything under the sun, so being in the general vicinity of pepper spray would probably kill her. :)
BART: you have obviously never been a woman being attacked by a man. The sense/instinct that “this person is going to try to hurt or kill me” is fact. If you want to disagree, then go right ahead, but I will not defend my instinct to you as it does not serve me. As a victim in this case, I’ve been informed of my attacker’s name and history: he has 23 local arrests, multiple restraining orders, and two convictions for 4th deg domestic violence against someone of the opposite sex. Are you understanding the connection? That this is a human being who has no qualms about physically harming someone more vulnerable. Also I never said that gunshots have anything to do with the homeless. In fact, none of my three examples have anything to do at all with the main story. I was simply using MyBallard as a platform for informing the public. Primarily, wishing to inform moms with kids to protect themselves. Like I said in my original post, make of it what you will.
@NicoNico: I too live near the post office and have for many years. I, nor any of my neighbors, have ever experienced anything close to what you’re describing, especially the gunshots, and I am out and about around the neighborhood everyday. So maybe you’re (1) extremely unlucky, (2) misinterpreting everything in life as dangerous or (3) live near a different post office (maybe the carrier annex on 46th?).
Hey Bart: We’re glad you like what’s going on in this city. Must be nice not to notice JUST THE BLEEPING TRASH that is everywhere. Are you gonna ask me what trash has to do with homeless?
@ Truth that’s it again. A bunch of trolls complaining because they can. Although, I’d hate to go through my life being as scared of everything as most of the commenters here are, could you imagine? Daily life must be a hopeless struggle. OH NO, the homeless boogyman is out there waiting for me!
Hopefully they’ll all take Odin’s lead, do us all a favor and move. Get that top dollar for your house now guys! lol.
Truth: I do NOT live near the annex. There were three cops, two mother in laws, one father in law, and seven other professional, non-hallucinating sober adults witnesses to one or more of the three things I talked about. So maybe you’re 1) incapable of supporting a neighbor with kind words and support rather than doubt and criticism (re: your #2 above)… 2) live near a different post office (maybe the carrier annex on 46th?)….or 3) misinterpreting everything on the internet to be a personal attack on you and your lovely neighborhood.
Regarding your #2 suggest above: Did you even READ what I wrote on either comment?! Do you think I was misinterpreting the crazed, screaming criminal that chased me and my daughter down 15th? And, as I said, the two drunks in front of my garage left kindly and quietly…I never said they were dangerous. You, sir, are rude. Your previous comments on this website prove you to be a keyboard warrior with no kind words to offer.
I’m thinking that actually you and your neighbors and I and my neighbors live in different dimensions by the post office. Yours sounds lovely!
@NicoNico: Wait, you come in like a wrecking ball complaining about my neighborhood is going to hell and then get offended when I refute your claim that we live in a hell hole? You’re no better than the other alarmists on this blog, who recently moved from some Midwest “utopia” and can’t handle life in “The Big City”. But yeah, I interpreted your alarmist comment as an attack on my neighborhood, took offense and will now definitely be rude.
First off, the mentally ill attack would fall under the (1) extremely unlucky category and I am not and never even suggested that I was refuting you experienced the attack. Sure there are mentally ill homeless people, nobody refutes that. Sure, there are mentally ill homeless people that commit assault, but that is not the norm and can and does happen all over the country, rural or urban. Just because it happened to you does not make it normal, nor does it mean our neighborhood is terrible. It was an isolated, unfortunate event and I’m sorry you had to experience that.
Second, the garage drunks would also fall under the (1) extremely unlucky. Campers/loiterers tend to stay mostly near businesses, the parks or vacant residences, not so much on residential properties. I’ve heard of people seeing evidence of someone occupying a shed or detached, vacant garage or even a passed out person on their sidewalk, but your case is the first I’ve heard of in my neighborhood. Again, not refuting nor refuted it in my first comment.
Finally, the gunshots I would insist fall under the (2) misinterpreting everything in life as dangerous. Again, I live near the post office and I feel as though 5 gunshots would have made at least the SPD blotter or even a mention in the news or MyBallard, but alas, nothing. People that move from sheltered lives to a City tend to think that any loud noise is a gunshot. Living in a City, there can be loud noises day and night that could literally be anything. The fact that you jumped to that conclusion and use that as a reason why my neighborhood is terrible is the main reason I lump you in with the other alarmists.
You, sir, are rude. Your previous comments on this website prove you to be a keyboard warrior with no kind words to offer.
Well, when you post a stupid comment, you shouldn’t expect the responses to be all roses. That’s life sister!
I’m thinking that actually you and your neighbors and I and my neighbors live in different dimensions by the post office. Yours sounds lovely!
You too can live in my dimension (the normal one). All it requires is for you to live your life, enjoy your life and not let the bad things that are out of your control cause you to hate your life. Try it and you’ll find out that Ballard, despite not being one of those sheltered Midwest utopias I hear so much about, is actually a fantastic place to live and one of the better places in the state.
Proof: The people that complain about Ballard being a terrible place day in and day out COULD sell for a lot of money and find a cheaper place almost anywhere in the country, but they’re still here.
NICONICO – so sorry to hear that.
I hope that we get a better candidate to run against O’Brian than Wheatbrooke. It needs to be someone who is liberal in many areas, but is willing to apply some sense of reality and logic to the opioid and mental health crisis we have. (homelessness is just a side effect). If they are not liberal enough, O’Brian will just win again.
The change in this city over the past 4 years is outrageous. 4 years ago you would see some public signs of homelessness. A 20-40 RV’s in all of Ballard (Several I know for sure at the time were some construction guys living under the Ballard bridge). A tent under some trees or under an overpass. A broken out car window and a lost gym bag here or there. Some stolen amazon packages.
Now along every single freeway the green spaces are spewn with trash as far as one can see. The side of Queen Anne Hill along 99 is littered with refuse. The library, once a spot for a dozen homeless guys to get out of the elements, is now over-run with meth addicts and drunks. Insane junkies screaming and pushing each other on Market Street. A tent was pitched right next to the BECU at 5:00 PM on a Tuesday a few months ago- in the middle of the sidewalk. Murders and Overdoses in RV’s all along the ship canal. People shooting up in broad daylight. Every major retailer in Ballard has to pay for security to stop theft. Needles are left in the middle of playgrounds and along the BGT. Worse, people shoot up in broad daylight or in any public bathroom in the area. More tagging than most building owners or the city can keep up with. 12/16 cars broken into on a residential street over a 2 month time period.
Meanwhile – I saw an elderly woman get to her car in downtown ballard yesterday to find a parking ticket because she was parked about 4 inches into the 3 minute white load/unloading section even though she still had time on her meter.
TRUTH: I cry uncle. I’m waving a white flag. You’re right about everything. I see the error of my ways and experiences and thoughts. Thank you for educating me kind sir! You’ve been a source of knowledge and inspiration and fact and truth like none I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad to have you as my neighbor. I just hope the rest of the trolls on this website like myself can see the light like I have. Here I was not living my life, or enjoying my life…here I was hating my life…but you fixed me brother! Thank you and God bless.
Is it ok that I both complain AND moved to a cheaper place? Having lived within a few blocks of this new tiny house installation, I’d be concerned if I still lived there. Its a “wet” site and that theoritically could pose problems down the road – even SPD commented on the potential uptick in crime over at nearby Safeway parking lot. Maybe – maybe not, but it’s something to consider in questioning this location. Its already very busy street and now there’s a great deal of planned new multi-family housing coming in (see other articles here on MB and City planning docs). The city seems determined to foist a great deal of upheaval on this part of the neighborhood – is it any wonder folks feel anxious, concerned. worried, scared. Plus last time I checked, it’s ok to have a different opinion than that of my neighbor – doesn’t make you right and me wrong – just means we disagree. This endless need to attack others for their views on here is yet one more reason why I moved to a cheaper, happier, less contentious place ;o)
Just checking back in to see Truth blaming/shaming victims and Andrew “virtue signal” Daisuke telling people to leave town. Same old Seattle liberals.
Is this micro housing row really going to be a “wet site”?
You enablers have really lost your minds!
Andrew, Truth et al: you’re not much in the way of a “neighbor” if you get excited at the prospect of someone selling the selling their home out of fear for their safety or downplay an attack on a woman and her child. For all your “progressive” BS you guys are really very crass servants of the the status quo.
@Sockpuppet: Just checking back in to see you spouting off mentally delirious, incoherent babble as if you are some kind of champion of the downtrodden. You still haven’t sought out mental help, have you? Maybe you and Scott can go together!
@NicoNico: It’s not the best decision to go on a neighborhood blog and talk about that neighborhood being garbage; you could have just stated your experience without equating it to the neighborhood being trash. If you want to do that, try Nextdoor.
@Linda: At least you put your money where your mouth is. If you don’t like where you live, you can either try to change it or move. No shame in either.
holy crap “truth” is quite the a-hole. way to minimize the impact of the feral transients. there are many, many homeless that are not simply down on their luck or forced into a life of violent lunacy because “high rent”.
i would be more respectful of hardworking, tax paying citizens, personally. the impacts, anecdotes, and fears are unfortunately all too real, yet you seem to think that any negative words all emanate from some “sockpuppet” – you are either trolling, tone deaf, or really, really stupid not to recognize the problems being complained about.
Truth seems to be that hand-wringing uber-liberal who can’t actually admit the city’s homeless policies are utter failures. I don’t fault the guy for having compassion for the homeless, but when he gets on these posts and endlessly berates his fellow neighbors with his large vocabulary, it seems as if he’s trying to prove mental AND moral superiority over those of us he deems sockpuppets or neighborhood traitors. It makes me wonder where his barely hidden underlying guilt stems from – maybe he laughingly told a homeless person to ‘get a job’ and now he can’t sleep at night for fear he might have offended someone less fortunate than he!
Guesty and Sockpuppet to the rescue! The white knights of the MyBallard blog comment section! They truly are the kings of straw men fallacies and concern trolling! Makes sense that you two would come screaming to the defense of someone who called Ballard garbage; you both seem to hate this neighborhood that much for some reason.
Now, you both always seem VERY concerned about the homeless problem, but are very quick to criticize any actual solutions to the problem. So let’s hear your solutions. You’ve got the eyes of about 10 blog commenters, although probably half are Mr. Sockpuppet’s split personalities.
I’ll tell you what, Truth – you give me a solution that doesn’t involve property taxes, ‘wet’ encampments, and a mandate telling the police to turn a blind eye to the homeless criminals, and then I’ll tell you mine. What do you say, champ? You’re a bigmouth bully hiding behind a screen name. You talk, talk, talk…where’s your solution? Or do you think the city’s doing a fine job? If that’s the case, then quit being a sore winner and shut up, since you’ve already won.
Sorry buddy, my solution definitely involves taxes, which would pay for housing with integrated mental health treatment, drug addiction treatment and job training. You know, like every other first world country does. We could roll back 50 years of tax cuts on the wealthy, which paid for this kind of housing and treatment originally, but since a lot of people vote as if they’ll be millionaires some day, it’ll likely fall on property taxes.
Greater enforcement would be nice, but the true solution to the problem would be fixing the underlying issues with our broken education system and justice department; throwing more police at the problem doesn’t prevent crime.
I definitely don’t think the City is doing a good job and have never said so, that’s just you trying to put up a straw man that you can attack.
So I’ve shown you mine, now you show me yours.
You’re a bigmouth bully hiding behind a screen name. You talk, talk, talk…where’s your solution?
I think you meant to create a second sockpuppet to attack your first sockpuppet with this, right? Or were you trying to be extremely ironic?
Sorry, Truth, I’m neither a sock nor a puppet. Do I think you’re a bully who attacks everyone with a screen name that isn’t “Andrew W. Person, actual person?” Yes I do. Speaking of, I notice your screen name isn’t “Actual Person in Ballard”, so who’s the actual sockpuppet?
And if you ask me, the reason people are upset about the homeless is because they seem to be disproportionately routed into our little section of Seattle. I’ve yet to hear of encampments in the main parts of Queen Anne, or Magnolia, or Medina. How come? Oh, that’s where the rich developers who have helped turn our affordable city into an unaffordable, junkie-strewn cesspool live.
Of course taxes are the city’s only solution – but it hasn’t worked yet, tell me why you believe it will work one year, five years, ten years from now? Maybe the solution is a prison labor force? We have all these unemployed, drug-addicted members of society who don’t contribute. Why not lock them up for their violations, put them to work building these ‘affordable’ houses, and then maybe, once they get out, they can go into construction or real estate, since they’ll then have first-hand knowledge of both. Even better, maybe they can go into civil service, since they would once have been ‘part of the problem’ and may know a better solution than any of us, who haven’t directly experienced homelessness, in ways that they have.
@Sockpuppet: You might want to look up the definition of a sockpuppet. Hint: sockpuppet≠user handle.
Also, are you seriously accusing me of being a bully, but exempting yourself? Your mental illness might be worse than I thought!
Regarding no homeless on Queen Anne, Magnolia and Medina: there are homeless, but in less concentrations than Ballard or other urban centers. Homeless people need services, so they are going to gravitate to where the services are, be it specifically for homeless or generic services used by all. There’s not some vast conspiracy of rich developers who are secretly turning the City into a dystopian nightmare while they laugh from their ivory, hilltop towers, but being mentally ill, you likely tend to latch on to conspiracy theories.
And why hasn’t the tax solution worked? Well to start, every time some form of homeless housing or treatment facility is proposed, a very vocal minority of people, like yourself, shit yourselves so loudly that the council panics and retracts the solution.
Also, you’re OK with spending $40,000/year to lock the homeless up, which doesn’t account for the additional hundreds of millions to build new jails, since our existing ones are overcapacity, but building actual housing and treatment facilities is a nonstarter?
Finally, in what universe does locking up drug addicts and the mentally ill magically turn them into functioning members of society? Is this your actual solution?
@Truth: I’m not mentally ill, but you like to throw that phrase around a lot, so maybe look in the mirror first. I can prove I’m not mentally ill, because I’m actually trying to reject the ten years running liberal plan of throwing money into a hole, hoping the homeless crisis will somehow be resolved.
Do you want to talk facts instead of accusing me of being mentally slow? Did you know that the RV encampment at the old Yankee Diner, which was never run to capacity, wasn’t even cost-checked prior to opening. Our own leaders didn’t realize the cost to ‘host’ a single RV for a month! (BTW, these facts are readily available if you want to research them yourself.)
Tell you what, since you seem to need to win – every – argument on the My Ballard blog post, how about you this? I’ll quit commenting if you decide to host a few homeless people in your house. In fact, I urge every resident of the My Ballard comments section to respond to each of your comments with “put your money where your mouth is dude, and host up some homeless!” Maybe then, we’ll all follow your shining example and finally do something productive in regards to this homeless crisis.
In short, Truth, you’re a Tool of our city leaders. Heck, you might be Mike O’Brien in disguise. “Truth”. Ha. Not likely.
At the risk of getting into the middle of something (I feel like I need shield and magic helmet to read MB comments somedays ;) – an idle and perhaps unworkable thought…. I’ve often wondered why no government (or other) entity, whether federal, state or municipal, hasn’t tried resurrecting the WPA or the Civilian Conservation Corps concept in any sustainable fashion.
The tiny house thing is tangentially related, as they used to build such housing for WPA and/or CCC workers but there was an upside – roadwork, park creation and/or upkeep, trail maintenance, infrastructure related stuff etc etc. Those things are often the first to go in tight budget times and yet are much of what makes a city livable.
I get that some of the people in question are “homeless by choice” for whatever reason and wouldn’t partake of such a thing. But there are a fair number out there who are “homeless by circumstance” – job loss, health issues, minimum wage job, lack of access to proper medical care etc etc. Just a thought.. . I do think constantly battling each other here is beyond useless, but that seems to be the norm these days in “reader comment” sections..sigh…
“Just checking back in to see Truth blaming/shaming victims and Andrew “virtue signal” Daisuke telling people to leave town. Same old Seattle liberals.”
Yet you’re still here. Hey, to use a MAGA moron phrase that I’m sure will make sense to a lot of you guys. “If you don’t like it, leave!”
Feel free to move to whatever neighborhood you think is doing it better. We’re all pretty happy here in Ballard, and if you guys ever came out from under your rocks, you’d notice.
@Sockpuppet: I’m basing my diagnosis of your mental illness based on your schizophrenic like rantings, complaining about the homeless on irrelevant articles, multiple user handles and impersonation of other users.
Do you want to talk facts instead of accusing me of being mentally slow?
Sure, let’s see what you have to offer!
? Did you know that the RV encampment at the old Yankee Diner, which was never run to capacity, wasn’t even cost-checked prior to opening.
Do you have a source for that? You always post these potentially scandalous stories, but you NEVER post a source…ever.
I’ll quit commenting if you decide to host a few homeless people in your house.
(1) The homeless don’t want to sleep on my couch and (2) that’s not how you solve a homeless crisis. If you actually did some research or hell, went out and talked to the homeless, you would know this. But you don’t, you spout nonsensical, untrue garbage on a neighborhood blog and then devolve into bizarre ranting and impersonating other users when someone calls you out on your bullshit.
Heck, you might be Mike O’Brien in disguise.
Crap, they’re on to me. Better be extra careful when I drive my homeless bus full of new recruits to Ballard tonight!
Oh Truth, why does anyone bother trying to argue against your clearly superior intellect? I bet you missed out on a few hugs as a child, didn’t you?
@Sockpuppet: Well, to start, you don’t even try to argue, you either try to attack me personally, bring up irrelevant topics and (my personal favorite) build a bunch of strawmen fallacies. It’s not my fault that structured, factual debate triggers you.
@Truth: Oh Truth. That’s what debate is, the back and forth of disparate viewpoints. However, when your ‘rebuttals’ are: sockpuppet, strawman, and my favorite, mentally deranged, and all of your ‘factual’ discussions fail to cite any actual numbers, most of us turn off and switch over to a new channel. Maybe once the safe injection site gets going you can provide some ‘facts’ about how this will actually be another good thing for our city. Until then, I’m still guessing you’re short a few hugs and a thesaurus.
@Andrew “virtue signal” Daisuke
Maintaining quality of life is important, in the same way that – I assume – you maintain the quality of product or service you provide in your line of business. We pay high taxes and the city is neglecting it’s duties, and if they were a private entity it would be, quite simply, the worst kind of “customer service”. Simply put, nobody in their right mind would defend a company run as poorly as the City of Seattle. Ask anyone with a brick-and-mortar in this city. The junkie criminal infestation is a threat to them and their (potential) customers.
Shaming and insulting people who have seen their neighborhood turn into a daily clown show of disgusting, often criminal behavior puts you in the same league as any greasy ambulance chasing lawyer, or some of the more predatory developers. So, you can bash Trumpers but face facts: your defending the policies of local politician who are just as corrupt and narcissistic.
@Sockpuppet: I do cite sources quite often. You, however, have never sourced ANY of your sensationalist claims. For example, just above here, I asked for your source on the RV lot. You gave none and instead attempted to attack me.
If you want facts on safe injection sites, there’s PLENTY of existing safe injection sites in Europe and they’ve been there for 30 years and aren’t the end of the world that all the pearl-clutchers here say they are. I won’t post any one site, to encourage you to do some research, but search for “Europe supervised drug consumption facilities”. If you want to read a good report from 2004, look for “European report on drug consumption rooms”.
We pay high taxes
No we don’t. Compared to Somalia, maybe, but nowhere near any other first world country.
Simply put, nobody in their right mind would defend a company run as poorly as the City of Seattle.
So what’s a good City that Seattle should model themselves after?
Shaming and insulting people…puts you in the same league as…
Isn’t that what you do on this blog (re: https://www.myballard.com/2018/04/19/1-injured-in-stabbing-in-loyal-heights/comment-page-1/#comment-581951)? How does that make you ANY better than Andrew or myself? Again, I think it’s your mental delirium that makes you think like your some sort of hero in this instance.
So, you can bash Trumpers but face facts…
The first mention of Trump or his supporters on this article or any article in recent memory was you, nobody has bashed him or his supporters. This, my friend, is the textbook definition of a straw man fallacy that you are so adept at doing. Read up here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man and tell me how that, and other arguments you make, are not straw men?
I have lived half a block from the (now dismantled) Nicklesville on Market for more than two years. No drunk or disorderly conduct, no litter, no thefts or vandalism. They were the perfect neighbors. I don’t know why this one would be any different (other than it’s all women.)
The same people who complain of homeless people living in tents are now complaining about them living in tiny houses. Get off your high-horse, bake some cookies and get to know your new neighbors before judging them. Ballard welcomed tiny houses, Whittier can too.
“They were the perfect neighbors.”
One of the residents raped the woman in the car dealer bathroom Monday. He had an outstanding warrant for arrest.
When we apply for new apartments background checks are run. Why not for living in these taxpayer-funded facilities thrust into Seattle neighborhoods?
I don’t care what any of the commenters here have to say about homeless people are nice lovely individuals. Too many run ins with them to think that way. Say what you want to me I really don’t care. I hate homeless people. And yea I used to be homeless. Hated homeless people before I had become homeless, hated them while I was homeless, and guess what I still hate them now that I’m no longer homeless. So no, I will not give you a dollar, I don’t want your grimey change you most likely stole someone in exchange for one of my smokes. I will gladly give you a foot up the ass if you don’t leave me alone, that they can have with a smile.
Every state should follow this example. Each governor is aware it its citizens needs & if not, change governors!
Homelessness is not excusable in America!
Plenty of vacant usable land & plenty of empty reusable brick & mortar structures which can be converted to affordable housing!
Plenty of vacant land…yep, in Alaska, Montana, Utah. Put them all out there, let them build their homeless Australia. How do you think that’s going to go? With no handouts, and work expected? That’ll be a disaster. But hey, I say let’s do it anyway…because it will make good theater.