Is there anything to control for these numbers? Such as, are the same areas being searched? Same number of searchers? The sad truth is that without such statistical controls, this spike can't allow us to make valid interpretations about homelessness.

To quote those kids on teh interwebs: 'just sayin.'

skyrocketing rents + mild winter.

Maybe they could build another jail to house all these bums.

200 million being spent to jail children. why not spend 1 billion to house these folks.

anyone seen that they cancelled the new jails open house for this weekend - since this event would of turned into a PR nightmare ;)

Now we get a "virtual open house"

Criminals run this city.

Apparently all the professionally homeless folk heard about the new awesome tent cities that will be going up on public land and moved in to get priority placement.

Yeah, I don't like the reporting of an increase in such a hard to measure number (for instance, last night it was 50F and didn't rain much, last year it was damnit cold). But the important piece is the scale of the number itself: the 3,772 people that they were able to find sleeping outside.

Though specifically regarding the cold issue, if we could get shelter counts for last night and last year we'd have some idea of how valid that 21% number is.

where are they coming from? are they locals fallen into homelessness, or are they homeless drawn here for the (relatively) generous benefits the city provides?

do not suggest we emulate Utahs' vastly overhyped "just give them a house" program. when there are no houses to give you can't do that.

@6, the answer is "yes". All of the above. And "bums", street drunks, cart pushers, and druggies are a small portion of the total number. Loads and loads of them are children, or mothers with kids, many of them desperately trying to avoid detection by the authorities because they're afraid their kids will be taken from them.

Obviously any number above 0 is a shame. But, the number here doesn't mean that much out of context. As others have pointed out, the numbers don't have enough control to say much more than we have a bunch of people sleeping outside on the night of the count. What was the number a year ago under similar weather? Has the number in Portland or SF dropped by 649? Will it double in the summer? Will it drop in half on a really cold night?
Regardless of the statistic, we still need to have a better plan countrywide than ignoring the problem or shuffling the homeless to someone else's jurisdiction. I know that's not easy, and I know it's not a single problem, but leaving things as is will only make it worse for all of us and not just the homeless.

First, these are not statistics. This is a one night count (as in counters going out at 2 AM and seeing what they see), and it is highly likely that it is an undercount, since some people go so far into the woods/parks to not be seen (and rousted by cops). The Count is mandated by the feds.

Second, a tallying of people staying in brick-and-mortar shelters and non-permanent housing will be made and published later. That's done every year, and that's where we have gotten the 8,000-plus count of unhoused people in King County every year.

For those of you asking about the "control" for these numbers, if you check the One Night Count website (homelessinfo.org) you see that this is a very organized event that happens on what is historically the coldest night of the year in King County and is mapped out so that teams of trained volunteers check the same locations every year. Like #9 said, though, it's just a one night count. If you're sleeping outdoors, you don't WANT to be found, because that often means you either get told to move along, get hurt/robbed, or worse.

That'll add fuel to the argument that the city needs to be doing more to address homelessness.

No, this only show that the more Seattle does to address homelessness, the more homeless people will migrate to Seattle from other regions to take advantage of those services.

The shelter (and transitional housing) counts are similar from year to year, plus whatever new beds have been added, because the shelters are full. So, the sheltered count will be just over 6000, as it was last year, for a total of almost 10,000 people.

Why don't they count the people who are living in broken down old RV's in places like SODO? You can hardly call that stable housing.

@11 dori monson is that you?

@13, they do count people in vehicles; there is a specific line on the report which specifies vehicles. And you're right, vehicles are not stable housing, especially since the vehicles get towed because there aren't any safe places to park and thus the owners lose the only home they have left.

Thank you for the clarification, sarah dear. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in an RV, but I suppose that's a step up from a car. At least an RV has kitchen and bath facilities - as long as there's a place to fill up on water and propane, and a place to dump your waste tanks.

Maybe they should add RV hookups at the tent cities.

Jesus, how hard is is to build emergency shelter? Stack up some damn shipping containers on an empty lot or something!

http://www.globalportablebuildings.com/

I agree with #1…unless there are strong statistical controls put on these sampling procedures, the numbers are kind of just anecdotal dart throws that could be significant under or over counts. I would much rather see a statistically rigorous sampling schema where year to year differences could be interpreted as more than just the CI.

I would just like to say that most of you are IDIOTS..... You see the homeless as a problem to be solved and trying to pin the problem on a specific issue. When in reality if you took the time to look into the facts behind the homeless problem, you just might find that this is not a choice of the majority of the people involved.

Seattle has run small business out and raised prices on just about everything. The Legislators there are Socialists that only a couple of weeks ago put out legislation to cut funding for homeless programs by 62%. Oh yes they care a lot!! This is a State that disregards it citizens on every issue from construction (Trains, Tunnels, Sporting Facilities)

to ALMOST A $1 OF EVERY GALLON OF GAS YOU PUMP GOES TO THE STATE! Almost 50% Tax on alcohol and artificially ballooned home values.

The homeless problem is the least of the Seattle issues just wait until the new minimum wages start effecting jobs and business's.

The real problem propagated about homelessness in Seattle is that it is an eyesore and not that they are real people living in the elements.

People need to WAKE UP............But they wont.

These statistics don't seem reliable at all. There's no controls for weather etc., no reproduceability, and other issues.

I think the stranger should be more responsible and not report year over year increases. Just the number of humans on the streets with no bed is staggering in and of itself.

Also, we know for sure what causes homelessness. It's because we limit housing supply so severely. The stranger should be ringing the bell to get rid of zone restrictions.