Seattle is Dying

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Mar 27, 2019

See: KOMO News Special: Seattle is Dying |

Quote
...This one is about everyone else.It's about citizens who don't feel safe taking their families into downtown Seattle. It's about parents who won't take their children into the public parks they pay for. It's about filth and degradation all around us. And theft and crime. It's about people who don't feel protected anymore, who don't feel like their voices are being heard.
This program is not about demonizing those who are struggling with addiction and homelessness and mental illness. On the contrary. Instead, it asks the question, "Why aren't we doing more? Why don't we have the courage to intervene in lives that are, in the face of a grave sickness, reeling out of control?"...

OldDude · Mar 27, 2019

I visited Seattle a few years ago. I don't visit big cities on a regular basis but the ones I have visited have the typical panhandlers in common; all planted in their area with whatever sign or gimmick to plead for money. The thing that stood out to me while I was in Seattle was the number of people actually eating out of garbage cans; they would go through the trash cans, and eat food scraps thrown away by others. True hunger on display...very sad.

guest974915 · Mar 27, 2019

9 hours ago, Emergent said:
Seattle is Dying is a good, neutral analysis of the mental and physical repercussions of a lax and liberal governmental oversight of the homeless and sociologically impaired population of Seattle Washington.
I can personally verify that this account is accurate.

I, too, can verify that this is an accurate depiction of Seattle but not just exclusive only to that city. This tragic scene unfortunately plays out everyday in many large metropolitan areas (especially the west coast and PNW) and it is heartbreaking to see. While walking about one of these cities' tourist districts during the day, it's not uncommon to have to step over people passed out on sidewalks, sleeping off the effects of drugs and/or alcohol. Common areas, parks, and benches have been all been taken over, sidewalks and alleyways double as toilets, and tent cities are pretty much ubiquitous in some areas. I wonder, why has the US government spent trillions (with a 'T') for international relief or completely failed foreign invasions instead of combating this growing problem head on?? What's needed is allocation of very extensive funds, earmarked specifically for drug rehabilitation, short and long term housing, and jobs creation. This is a problem that is not going to fix itself or get better.

allnurses Guide · Mar 27, 2019

3 hours ago, morelostthanfound said:
I, too, can verify that this is an accurate depiction of Seattle but not just exclusive only to that city. This tragic scene unfortunately plays out everyday in many large metropolitan areas (especially the west coast and PNW) and it is heartbreaking to see. While walking about one of these cities' tourist districts during the day, it's not uncommon to have to step over people passed out on sidewalks, sleeping off the effects of drugs and/or alcohol. Common areas, parks, and benches have been all been taken over, sidewalks and alleyways double as toilets, and tent cities are pretty much ubiquitous in some areas. I wonder, why has the US government spent trillions (with a 'T') for international relief or completely failed foreign invasions instead of combating this growing problem head on?? What's needed is allocation of very extensive funds, earmarked specifically for drug rehabilitation, short and long term housing, and jobs creation. This is a problem that is not going to fix itself or get better.

I would add to that increased community resources and research regarding psychiatric conditions, which go hand in hand with addiction the vast majority of the time.

offlabel · Mar 27, 2019

San Francisco has the same problems. Institutionalization is a crappy solution, but the alternative isn't much better.

Defer tax revenue from the extreme wealth that has been created in these cities to such institutions after enacting laws to allow for the institutionalization of the mentally ill to include those devastated by addiction.

Daisy4RN · Mar 27, 2019

To the list of Seattle and SanFran you can also add Portland, LA, San Diego and to a lesser degree Anahiem/Orange County. Yes, what great government leadership on the West Coast!

offlabel · Mar 27, 2019

Well, a big part of the problem is the complete loss of the middle class in those places. They really begin to resemble a 3rd world economy where there are the relatively very wealthy and the relatively very poor with no middle. Folks are less than a paycheck from being homeless or well off. Don't know how they could have seen that coming or what could have been done about it, but you're correct. The response by those in power has been abysmal.

Daisy4RN · Mar 27, 2019

2 minutes ago, offlabel said:
Well, a big part of the problem is the complete loss of the middle class in those places. They really begin to resemble a 3rd world economy where there are the relatively very wealthy and the relatively very poor with no middle. Folks are less than a paycheck from being homeless or well off. Don't know how they could have seen that coming or what could have been done about it, but you're correct. The response by those in power has been abysmal.

They have seen it for a very long time but chose to turn a blind eye. I dont know about OR, or WA but in CA they continue to raise taxes, fees, etc on the middle class to such a high degree which pushes them right out of the state, less middle class to pay the bills of gov overspending means raise taxes, fees etc again, vicious circle continues. The are collecting monies for these issues but it is obviously not getting where it needs to be. Wonder where it is going!

brownbook · Mar 27, 2019

Obviously a very complex issue. I don't trust some statistics.

Not that it is a great situation, but a person, or multiple families, living/sharing a house or apartment can be considered "homeless".

My grandson is technically considered "homeless" because he and his mom live with my husband and I!

Anyhow....that doesn't matter. One or ten or one-hundred generally debilitated elderly, or young, adults living on the streets, eating out of garbage cans, is one too many.

My gut feeling is mental illness is a key culprit, in spite of the "statistics" that less than half were evaluated by a court as severely mentally ill.

I think it is very difficult to deem someone severely mentally ill in our current legal system.

Someone can even be evaluated as severely mentally ill.... be in a locked psychiatric facility, then eventually they are released, and end up back on the street.

Decent, long term, well run, psychiatric facilities are my solution.

The law allows sane, and insane, people to be homeless and eat out of garbage cans.

guest974915 · Mar 28, 2019

56 minutes ago, brownbook said:
Obviously a very complex issue. I don't trust some statistics.
Not that it is a great situation, but a person, or multiple families, living/sharing a house or apartment can be considered "homeless".
My grandson is technically considered "homeless" because he and his mom live with my husband and I!
Anyhow....that doesn't matter. One or ten or one-hundred generally debilitated elderly, or young, adults living on the streets, eating out of garbage cans, is one too many.
My gut feeling is mental illness is a key culprit, in spite of the "statistics" that less than half were evaluated by a court as severely mentally ill.
I think it is very difficult to deem someone severely mentally ill in our current legal system.
Someone can even be evaluated as severely mentally ill.... be in a locked psychiatric facility, then eventually they are released, and end up back on the street.
Decent, long term, well run, psychiatric facilities are my solution.
The law allows sane, and insane, people to be homeless and eat out of garbage cans.

While I agree that mental illness plays a very large role, I believe substance abuse and addiction is even more to blame in this tragic situation that is now rampant in our cities. Also, as another poster mentioned, the 'deinstitutionalization' of our chronic mental health care centers has allowed many to fall between the cracks.

Susie2310 · Mar 28, 2019

The problem is a complex one. Costs of living are high, rents are very high, and buying a house is unaffordable for all but the highest paid workers. Salaries/wages have not kept pace with the costs of housing, and there are a limited number of decently paid jobs (many of which require a substantial amount of expensive college education).