Seattle’s (former?) Capitol Hill neighborhood

[Josh]

How, exactly, does increasing density fix a problem with drug users openly using drugs?

I should think the answer is obvious.

If people have a roof over their head, even a cheap scuzzy single room occupancy flophouse with rats, then they don't have to shoot up in the streets and public parks. There were plenty of heroin junkies in the 50s and 60s too. But most cities were full of cheap SRO housing that you could actually afford on a SS disability pension or whatever. So we weren't stumbling over them on the sidewalks and they weren't invading kids playgrounds. At least not nearly so much.

During the 60s and 70s we bulldozed and remodeled hundreds of thousands if not millions of units of cheap housing in cities across the US in the name of urban renewal and today's cities are the result. Closing mental hospitals across the country and the subsequent waves of opioid epidemics didn't help either.

It is all utterly predictable.

Sorry, Ken, but I don’t think I should have to pay for a druggie to have free housing so he can shoot up illegal drugs in comfort.

[Ken]

How, exactly, does increasing density fix a problem with drug users openly using drugs?

I should think the answer is obvious.

If people have a roof over their head, even a cheap scuzzy single room occupancy flophouse with rats, then they don't have to shoot up in the streets and public parks. There were plenty of heroin junkies in the 50s and 60s too. But most cities were full of cheap SRO housing that you could actually afford on a SS disability pension or whatever. So we weren't stumbling over them on the sidewalks and they weren't invading kids playgrounds. At least not nearly so much.

During the 60s and 70s we bulldozed and remodeled hundreds of thousands if not millions of units of cheap housing in cities across the US in the name of urban renewal and today's cities are the result. Closing mental hospitals across the country and the subsequent waves of opioid epidemics didn't help either.

It is all utterly predictable.

Sorry, Ken, but I don’t think I should have to pay for a druggie to have free housing so he can shoot up illegal drugs in comfort.

No one is asking you to.

The question is why is it illegal for even private developers to build higher density housing in 90% of Seattle. Not the outer suburbs, but central Seattle. A metro area of over 4 million.

This is why the average home in Seattle costs over $1 million and the average 2 bedroom apartment costs north of $2,500/mo. And explains the "house rich, cash poor" thing that Temp posted about upstream. It also is party why the rich get richer while the poor get poorer and why we are becoming a more unequal society.

[Josh]

If I had a regular house in a city I would not want a high rise dense building going up next to me, bringing with it traffic, crime, and noise.

[Ken]

If I had a regular house in a city I would not want a high rise dense building going up next to me, bringing with it traffic, crime, and noise.

Guess what. You own YOUR property. Not your neighbors property. And you don't own a buffer zone around your property that you get to control. If that is what you want you can buy up all the houses on your block. Farmers tend to get very annoyed when outsiders and urbanite migrant neighbors try to regulate what they can do with their property. Such as complain about the noise of milking at 5 am. Same principle applies.

And if you live in central Seattle you already have traffic and noise. That comes with living in the center of a city of 4 million.

There are literally a bazillion small towns in America where you can get the full white picket fence experience. They are everywhere.

And guess what. If you own a home in the central city and the city up-zones then you get a massive free windfall in terms of increased property value.

Vancouver has been allowing up-zoning of former middle class single family home neighborhoods for years. Mostly it looks like this: https://goo.gl/maps/seg6M3nsZj6E35vSA You can explore all the surrounding streets in google street view to see all the horrible traffic, crime, and noise that comes with a neighborhood that has more than single family bungalows priced at $1 million plus like much of Seattle. How horrible that middle class families with more modest means can afford to live closer to work, school, etc. and don't have to spend hours each day in their car. Vancouver is also suffering from a tidal wave of investor cash coming in from Asia. But that is a separate issue.

[ken_sylvania]

How, exactly, does increasing density fix a problem with drug users openly using drugs?

I should think the answer is obvious.

If people have a roof over their head, even a cheap scuzzy single room occupancy flophouse with rats, then they don't have to shoot up in the streets and public parks. There were plenty of heroin junkies in the 50s and 60s too. But most cities were full of cheap SRO housing that you could actually afford on a SS disability pension or whatever. So we weren't stumbling over them on the sidewalks and they weren't invading kids playgrounds. At least not nearly so much.

During the 60s and 70s we bulldozed and remodeled hundreds of thousands if not millions of units of cheap housing in cities across the US in the name of urban renewal and today's cities are the result. Closing mental hospitals across the country and the subsequent waves of opioid epidemics didn't help either.

It is all utterly predictable.

Sorry, Ken, but I don’t think I should have to pay for a druggie to have free housing so he can shoot up illegal drugs in comfort.

Maybe you'd be willing to pony up a small contribution so that he can at least get out of your sight while he gets his high. That way you could pretend he doesn't exist.

[Josh]

Maybe you'd be willing to pony up a small contribution so that he can at least get out of your sight while he gets his high. That way you could pretend he doesn't exist.

As a general rule, I don’t like to support alcoholism and drug use.

A friend of mine I used to spend a lot of time with would talk to homeless people and offer a job to any of them. (He was usually in his work truck.) None of them ever accepted.

It would have been an easy $120 cash for a relatively short day of work.

[temporal1]

2023

Amazon leaving Seattle’s West 8th tower after more than a decade
https://mynorthwest.com/3785243/amazon- ... de-office/

Amazon Closes Seattle Store Over Safety Concerns
https://www.costar.com/article/20394816 ... y-concerns

With 3 Words, Microsoft's CEO Showed That You Can Lay Off 10,000 People With Empathy
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/with-3-w ... pathy.html

Popular Seattle pizza place to close after 20 years following pandemic struggles
https://komonews.com/news/local/popular ... mer-people

Downtown Seattle Nike store to close at the end of the week
https://mynorthwest.com/3783672/downtow ... -the-week/

Downtown Seattle movie theater set to close as businesses continue to struggle
https://komonews.com/news/local/another ... l-meridian

Perhaps woke politicians might begin to recognize most folks don’t care for filth, drugs, crime.

Back to the old drawing board:


It’s heartbreaking.
Early 1970’s, i had a short visit in Seattle and nearby Snoqualmie Pass, in January! Gorgeous. Loved it.
Dreamed of returning.

2007, our son got a job at Boeing, he and we were thrilled!! A dream for him. Annual visits for me.

2019, crazy enough, but not SO bad ..

2020, MAJOR TRAIN WRECK.

The price is high. If-only .. i would love to be there with my family.
Now i just pray for them to do as many have done: LEAVE.

“Death by a thousand cuts.” Many more than a thousand.

[temporal1]

NPR KUOW / 'It is not OK,' Seattle union leader responds to transit drug study
https://kuow.org/stories/it-is-not-ok-s ... drug-study

.. Price added that it's "not OK," because the drugs are killing people, and the issue is placing mental stress on drivers.

Seattle-area transit operators have long raised alarms over drug use aboard buses.

In 2022, KING5 reported that formal reports about drug use from King County Metro's drivers rose in recent years:
44 reports in 2019; 73 in 2020; and 398 in 2021. KOMO further reported that Metro's data for 2022 showed 1,885 reports of drug use on buses. Also, 16 operators filed workers' comp claims by March 2023. The UW study on Seattle buses and trains also began in March.

The study out of the UW's Environmental and Occupational Health Science Department focused on environmental factors and work conditions. It did not deal with health effects or toxicity from exposure to drugs. Experts did say, that while there are little or no standards for such exposures, they would not expect the low levels detected on buses and trains to be of risk to anyone.

Researchers monitored surface samples from buses and trains in Seattle and Portland. They also placed air monitors around operators and passenger areas. While traces of fentanyl were found in some samples, methamphetamine was detected in nearly 100% of samples. Researchers recommended upgrading air filters to MERV 13 or higher, as well as enhancing cleaning protocols. They also suggested mental health support for drivers. ..

^^i have an ORCA pass for bus service. A few weeks ago my grdaughter+i were on a few of these busses.
The busses are great, the service is great.

The drugs and horrors are real and common. It’s awful what people are doing to themselves and others.
Air travel must be about the same.

“Nothing to see here.”


NPR KUOW / Why does the US drug czar think WA schools should stock Narcan like fire extinguishers?”
https://kuow.org/stories/why-does-the-u ... inguishers

The United States’ top drug control official is in Washington state this week to sound the alarm on the threat of fentanyl — especially for kids this school year.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, carries Narcan with him at all times. It’s a life-saving medication that counteracts an opioid overdose.

Gupta spoke Tuesday at a back-to-school town hall at the Issaquah School District centered on fighting the nation’s growing fentanyl crisis. He appeared alongside U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington’s 8th Congressional District, and Martin Turney, chief of finance and operations for Issaquah schools.

Gupta’s visit comes on the heels of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing the death toll of the opioid crisis is rising faster in Washington state than anywhere else in the country.

As of Tuesday, King County reported 786 fentanyl overdose deaths so far this year — nearly 200 more than at this time last year.

And children are becoming more vulnerable to the powerful synthetic opioid that is increasingly being found in counterfeit prescription drugs. CDC data shows more than 1,500 kids and teens died from fentanyl in 2021 — four times higher than in 2018.

Gupta zeroed in on the dangers when kids buy drugs off the street — like Adderall to help them study before a big test or Xanax at a party — that could be laced with fentanyl.

One small thing everyone can do — from students to parents — is have Narcan on hand, just like he does.

“It may not be you,” Gupta said. “It may be your friend in school, or at a party, or at the mall. It may be a stranger, worse enough, that you may not know, but you can save their life.”

Gupta wants to see schools establish curriculum warnings against fentanyl and drugs in general, and make Narcan a visible fixture in schools, like a fire extinguisher or defibrillator.

Turney said all security staff at Issaquah’s middle and high schools carry Narcan with them, and staff spread the word about the risks of fentanyl.

“We try to make sure that students are aware of the resources available to them,” he said. “Over time, what we’ve noticed is students who are aware of an issue or they believe they can help, they just pick up and connect with those crisis lines and it can be a world of help to them and their fellow students.”

God have mercy.

[Josh]

I drove by a pharmacy yesterday advertising “Narcan nasal spray”.

Sorry, but no. If someone overdoses on illegal dangerous drugs, they shouldn’t be resuscitated. We do NOT need to make taking massive illegal drug doses “safer”.

[ken_sylvania]

I drove by a pharmacy yesterday advertising “Narcan nasal spray”.

Sorry, but no. If someone overdoses on illegal dangerous drugs, they shouldn’t be resuscitated. We do NOT need to make taking massive illegal drug doses “safer”.

That does not sound Christlike to me.