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Comment by jspaur | Hacker News Reader

I'm assuming he means the Pike/Pine alley and Pioneer square, sadly famous for aggressive panhandling, unruly 'youth', and shootings. I live in and work in downtown (haven't driven in months) and it's def. getting a little more 'rough' by the month. Especially Westlake area.

(http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021614421_downtowncr...)

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Most of those complaints are from people who haven't lived in Seattle long enough to know those areas have been problem spots for at least 20 years. My father worked downtown in the early/mid-80s and says it was exactly the same then, if not a little bit worse. Not that that excuses the problem. Also, the Seattle PD is absolutely petrified of doing anything that might incur the wrath of the Department of Justice. Blaming McGinn for the street people is like blaming him for I-5 traffic: it's been a problem before, and it will continue to be a problem until something very drastic happens (and in the case of street people, it will take something unpalatable to Seattle's NIMBY/sensitive electorate)

Crime is down nationally since the 80s. So for things to be the same, or only a little better says a lot.

I completely agree that SPD is petrified. I've live/worked in downtown Seattle for a while - and while I think some of the 'scaryness' is overblown, it's hard not to see a change in the trend over the past few years.

I don't know that I'd call it "petrified" -- I believe the common term is "de-policing." It's a passive-aggressive way for SPD to deal with leadership that they don't respect.

SPD has an incredibly strong union, which is where the real problem lies IMHO. A bad cop almost literally has to murder somebody before they can fire him. DOJ took note of the resulting abuses, but of course they aren't interested in going toe-to-toe with the union, and neither is the mayor.

It's a complex problem but it stems from a fairly ordinary failure of leadership, and that particular buck stops in the mayor's office.

Can confirm this. Fiancee works in Pioneer Square and I worry every time she has to work late...

And Westlake is looking a lot more like Portland every year (as far as homeless youth go).

Homeless youth? Are they homeless or just kids hanging out?

Considering a lot of them are there during school hours and you'll see the same ones there sleeping with tarps at night - I think its safe to say homeless. Probably better to say 'young adults' though - Seattle YouthCare (http://www.youthcare.org/) does a great job with the younger groups.

I apologize, this is an assumption I'm making. I guess I meant the youth that hang out all over Westlake, especially later at night, resemble the homeless youth around Portland.

I used to work at the intersection of 2nd and Pine, where a stabbing took place right outside of work. Most of the violence in the area being gang-related isn't exactly the best reassurance of your safety.

If you want to find a scapegoat for panhandling, I'd first turn to the recession... And the anemic social/medical/mental safety net in this country.

Not looking for a scapegoat, only a solution. And I lived here before the recession/GFC. I'd completely agree that the "social/medical/mental safety net in this country" is a major problem.

> "If you want to find a scapegoat for panhandling, I'd first turn to the recession..."

How many of those homeless people are on the streets because they lost their factory jobs and the bank kicked them out of their McMansion? I am guessing very few.

The recession didn't make these people heroin addicts or mentally ill. The homeless people that make people concerned about walking around downtown Seattle during the evening aren't the "couchsurfing until I can find a new job" kind of homeless people.

Pointing at the state of healthcare, mental or otherwise, hits the nail on the head. That is a problem larger than Seattle though.

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