I'll say this again: the City does not have enough available units to give thousands of homeless people free homes. The SHA has a waiting list that is years long. The KCHA has the same list. Peninsula HA has a waiting list. Kitsap HA has a waiting list. Seattle could buy every motel on Aurora and

Asking RV campers to move a mile to south of Lander seems quite reasonable. As long as their vehicles are functional...

I meant to say '... and it would be a drop in a bucket".

A careful observer would note (if they bothered) that most RV inhabitants are pack rats and their collection progressively expands outside the vehicle, onto the sidewalk and beyond. If your shit doesn’t fit, then sorry; off to the dump with it. Wtf is the city supposed to do? OCD is a bitch - appealing to their civic duty to keep things tidy is pointless.

Living outside requires a community for survival. Does it matter where if there are at least some services (social worker outreach, food banks, shower/laundry locales). No? Then stay fuck out of dense areas of commerce and tourism. Sorry if that sounds shitty, but bright lines in the homeless game would help, not hurt.

I'm not entirely sure what an All-Star game is, but I can say with some authority that big events like this bring millions of dollars into the local economy and the tax base, some of which will undoubted go to help Our Unhoused Neighbors. So sweep away.

If there is truly a city policy to move encampments prior to the All Star Game (which I doubt), it's a pretty dumb policy. Anyone visiting Seattle, using any mode of transportation, will pass numerous large encampments on the way into the city. It's not like moving a dozen or so sketchy RVs around is going to make any meaningful difference in aesthetics.

@5 -- you don't understand. The Stranger's editorial stance is that wherever there are societal trade offs, they should be resolved in favor of the encampments. A choice between kids having a safe walk to and from school or an encampment that's endangering the surrounding community? Choose the encampment. A choice between an event that will be publicized around the world showcasing the city and an encampment? Choose the encampment. A choice between accessible and usable public spaces like parks or sidewalks or beaches and an encampment? Choose the encampment.

It doesn't matter what is on the other side of the tradeoff: The Stranger believes encampments are more important.

The Stranger always tells us homeless campers have nowhere else to go. But these campers have (nominally) mobile shelters that could take them anywhere in the Lower 48. Yet they doggedly stay in a very expensive city, drastically reducing their chances of ever affording stable housing. Why do they stay? Why does the Stranger support their foolish decisions? Doesn’t the Stranger want them to become stably housed?

(Note also that while they are not capable of obtaining stable housing, employment, and support networks for maintaining same, they are very capable of organizing to fight the city on enforcing the laws.)

@10. Yeah, no. Those RVs in Ballard and elsewhere are stationary more often than not. Broken windows. In need of repair, whatever. Some of those folks have their shit together. Most RV's owners are struggling and theived on by the dickhead component who steal your bikes, walk out of Safeway with a cart full of groceries, smash and grab your back window, steal tools from jobsites, etc.

I'm not on the side of KOMO - rather there has to be some geographic rules of engagement in our fake-ass welfare state and provide real support within established zones. If you don't want to play ball and freelance your encampment, you're on your own; you'll be moving (and losing your shit). If you are a thief - then fuck you.

Let's see...a maximized MLB All-Star Game experience will bring the city $50MM. A bunch of criddler RVs will bring us...bedbugs? Theft? Fires?

I'm so torn!!!

I hope the tarp next to the bonfire a few blocks from my house doesn't catch on fire. Fucking idiots.

I’m sure Metthew and Methany will be fine setting up a Tarp Mahal a few blocks south. Or perhaps HanHan wants to take them all out for an overpriced hipster drinkie poo, and then back to her pad for a late night TS dance party. Just shake it off!

The rest of us? Sick and tired of the fent b.s.

Most of you are not looking at the facts. You’re all judging a whole group of people by the worst individual’s behavior. One of many reasons they don’t “just leave” is that many have jobs here. https://youtu.be/dQEDfsCSTyE
https://youtu.be/dQEDfsCSTyE

As long as I've lived in Seattle, we've always had itinerant workers due to the nature of the fishing boats and other piecework. When the Alaska Ferry used to leave out of downtown, there were often RV's parked in the industrial areas overnight. But they weren't like the rigs we're seeing around town these days and they were transitory.

I'm not against the concept of "housing first", but it appears to me - a casual observer at best - that the missing part is screening to figure out who goes where. If I were a person with a job who couldn't afford housing, I wouldn't want to be shoved into some motel full of tweakers and crazies. The Renton Red Lion situation seems to have been just that.

The woman who drove a rental scooter into the back of our truck, which was parked in our driveway, and then proceeded to pull all of the stuff out of the bed and then drink neighbor's cat's water, needed both mental health care and addiction treatment (judging from the pipe she left in the bed of the truck). Conversely, the person who set a small fire in my car and who left their panties behind probably just needs to be thrown in jail. The people who used to come into the Millionair club for lunch when I volunteered there were mostly the working poor who deserve a safe roof over their heads.

Catalina has a point. We should relocate the homeless to live on the fishing fleet.

Bazinga dear, there's no need to be insulting. As all decent people know, Republicans are horrible people.

My point @6 is that large events help local businesses and the local tax base thanks to our insistence on subsidizing the wealthy through our idiotic tax structure. Some of that tax revenue goes to help the homeless. The dollars generated go to help support working class people.

My point @20 is that "Housing First" seems to have a flaw. I'm all for housing people, but I think we need to be more thoughtful about how we're doing it.

Working poor: Red Lion Renton and other underutilized hotels (fun fact: The Renton Red Lion used to be a Holiday Inn with a revolving rooftop bar)

Mentally ill and/or addicted: Involuntary commitment at an appropriate treatment facility. Long-term supported housing.

Criminals who dwell among the working poor and mentally ill and/or addicted, and prey upon them: King County Jail.