Seattle Civic Emergency: City Fences Off Homeless From Camping Under Bridges

by stockboardasset
Two years ago, Seattle and King County officials declared homelessness an official emergency. Millions of dollars from the city and county’s coffers were drained to combat the crisis, but since, the problem has expanded and got much worse.

King County has become the third-largest concentration of homeless people in the United States, according to a federal report from December. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development compiled figures that show an estimated 11,643 homeless live in the area in 2017, which trails behind Los Angeles County and New York City in total homeless population.

The Seattle Times blames the soaring homeless population on the lack of affordable housing and soaring rents but mentions that the homeless crisis extends across the entire West Coast.

King County also ranks third in the number of unsheltered homeless — people living in vehicles, tents and on local streets. The 5,485 unsheltered people counted in the county in 2017 represent a 21 percent increase over last year’s tally.The numbers underscore the severity of a problem that stretches from Seattle to San Diego. As rents soar and access to affordable housing shrinks, the number of people living in states along the West Coast is trending in the wrong direction.

Seattle rents have been soaring in many neighborhoods for nearly two decades, which has pushed many people in the region out of the area and into the outlying parts because of lower rents. In all, Seattle rents have soared 65 percent since 2010. The typical Seattle renter now pays around $21,900 for rent per annum, up from $13,200 from ten years ago.

The primary driver behind the exploding homelessness crisis rocking the streets of Seattle is straightforward: diminishing housing affordability. Surging rents and soaring home prices have left many people behind, who are stuck in a period of wage stagnation with minimal savings. The response, well, Seattle declared a public emergency, as many who cannot afford housing have migrated into authorized and nonauthorized homeless camps across the city.

Ironically, some Seattle officials are now fighting back against homeless encampments in the city, which it was their very own policies that have contributed to soaring rents and skyrocketing home prices in the first place. Instead of helping the very people they made homeless, some officials are now in the business of running them out of town.
Meanwhile, Mike O’Brien, Ballard’s Seattle City Council member, biked up to Ballard Bridge last week, where he counted five or more homeless tents underneath the bridge. He went back Tuesday and discovered Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) had evicted the homeless and installed a 10-foot-high spiked fence to prevent anyone from trespassing under the bridge. The price tag for fencing underneath the Ballard bridge came in around $100,000 said The Seattle Times. O’Brien said the money could have been used to support homeless shelters, but instead, the SDOT used it for fencing.
“So where are they [homeless] now?” O’Brien said, with construction under the bridge behind him almost drowning him out. “They didn’t go into housing. They likely didn’t move to North Dakota. They’re probably three blocks from here, next to some business.”
 
Last year, SDOT faced community backlash when Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda pointed out that the organization was installing “hostile architecture” meant to deter the homeless from setting up camps around the city.

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Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) installed bike racks in Belltown last year, and told The Stranger in December they were explicitly designed to keep people from camping there. Backlash has gradually built among City Council members. In December, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda wrote a letter to SDOT’s director criticizing the use of bike racks to discourage camping. “Continuing to advance the notion that hostile architecture should be used to inconvenience those who are unsheltered is misguided,” Mosqueda wrote in the letter. The agency plans to remove the Belltown bike racks in the next four to six weeks, SDOT said in a statement.

The use of “hostile architecture” infrastructure has become pretty frequent with some city officials to deter the homeless from sleeping or camping in public areas.
However, SDOT has no plans to remove the fences at Ballard bridge citing the importance of public safety. Here is what the agency said:
“SDOT’s focus is to maintain the structural integrity of the bridge and keep our communities and commuters safe, especially following a series of reported fires.”
“Wooden structures, open flames, and propane tanks all pose a clear danger to public safety and has the potential to destroy this critical transportation corridor that 60,000 vehicles rely on each day.”
Further, the SDOT claims that recent fires by the homeless under the Ballard Bridge, one in 2013 and one in 2016, lead to repairs costing upwards of $380,000.
The Seattle Times says this is not the first time officials have tried to deter the homeless from setting up camps in an area. In the Sodo neighborhood, officials spent $1.1 million on “hostile architecture” infrastructure and fences to prevent the homeless from setting up shop under the Spokane Street Viaduct.
Erin Goodman, executive director of Sodo Business Improvement Area, says that’s not hostile architecture. “I think there’s a long stretch between a bench with spikes on it to prevent people from laying down and fencing off key infrastructure,” Goodman said. “We have to determine that some areas just aren’t safe.”
Lastly, The Seattle Times noted,

O’Brien planned to ask SDOT interim director Goran Sparrman about the Ballard fences in a transportation- committee meeting Tuesday, but Sparrman didn’t attend. O’Brien said he understands the desire to fence off areas where people keep camping, but he thinks it’s useless and wasteful. “It serves this kind of immediate desire to feel like you accomplished something, but it doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, it makes it worse,” O’Brien said.

An exploding homeless population in Seattle is not what the Federal Reserve bargained for when they decided to blow bubbles in the housing market. Perhaps, with the US 10-year Treasury yield nearing 4-year highs around 2.88, the housing market in the not too distant future could be ripe for a correction and allow affordable housing once more. Nevertheless, Seattle’s homelessness crisis is yet another example of deteriorating inner cities through America.

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7 thoughts on “Seattle Civic Emergency: City Fences Off Homeless From Camping Under Bridges”

  1. soon the entire cities population will be gasping in profound incredulity…..wondering why everybody is homeless….without work….without real money….without fuel to heat….without gas for their trendy little cars…..and worse of all without their tasty cup of Starbucks coffee…..i chuckle…..everything has an ending…..as the world rapidly shuns the dollar….the reality of drastic change will be soon apparent…..soon the spaces under bridges will be filled to capacity…..and that thing under the George Washington bridge will soon come alive to feast on the blind…..glad i left when i did…..

    Reply
  2. That’s it , Blame it on High Rent and don’t say a Word about War Economy with 60+ mil out of Work . . . What do they blame closing of hundreds of Walmart stores , Sears ,Toy’s R Us , Kmart’s , Target store etc ? What do they blame that ON ? ? ?
    Not to mention , heaps of homes , units are falling apart ( like the US Air Force bombed them ) WOW Blame it on Rent , One must be A Stupid Idiot / Moron to believe that . . .
    But plenty money for 700+ military bases around the globe + billions of $$ for israHELL and Billions for Bombing people who did NOTHING to america
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiRuLDTNM1w

    Reply
  3. This reminds me of these two verses in the Old Testament about why the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah:
    “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. ” (Ezekiel 16:49-50, King James Version).

    Reply
  4. enough for a real American Revolutionary ARMY if you let all the prisoners out and arm them all with ak-47s to join in the fun with the homeless?
    Charie Manson ‘s big idea, could really work with no WALL or real US gov.anymore.

    Reply
  5. “The primary driver behind the exploding homelessness crisis rocking the
    streets of Seattle is straightforward: diminishing housing
    affordability.”
    Ok, so what causes the diminishing affordability? That would be vastly increased demand, due to a rapidly growing nationwide population, driven by… immigration!
    Stop the immigration and watch the homelessness population slowly solve itself!

    Reply
  6. It’s simply not safe to camp out under any structure in that region of the country.
    Imagine the overpasses and underpasses collapsing when the Cascadia Fault ruptures, ot the San Andreas finally slips-up big time! Everyone will be crushed with the falling debris…
    Agenda 21 is coming along nicely…with the next step in FEMA rounding-up the Tent Dissenters’ for extermination, using the excuse of ‘disarmament exercises’ to take the firearms from the tent dwellers who will rise up in force and put a stop to the GDP being spent on wars, and not on Americans in need!

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  7. Gee, what are those arrogant idiots going to do when their house burns to the ground? Live in a hotel or motel until they can find new digs??
    If the campers really are creating a fire hazard under the bridge, why not install some fire sprinklers under it? These so-called “leaders” haven’t a clue as to what real leadership is. All that they do have is knee jerk reactions to problems.
    Randy

    Reply

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