Is homelessness a chronic problem that simply cannot be solved in an affluent city like Seattle where household incomes, as well as housing prices, rank among the top three among American cities?
Consider some recent numbers:
• In April, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority very quietly announced that 16,868 folks are homeless in the county, a 26% increase from 2023.
• Reports of unauthorized homeless encampments to the city’s Find It, Fix It app have rocketed from 27,711 during an eight month period in 2023 to 50,270 during a similar period this year.
• Mayor Bruce Harrell has tripled the number of encampment removals, scattering people living outside to more locations (which may help account for the spike in the number of reports).
• According to a snapshot count in 2024, there were 4,300 people living outside in Seattle and Vashon Island.
• When offered shelter, a mere 11% of encampment dwellers were recorded as accepting the offer.
• Since 2021, the number of shelter spaces funded by the city has increased by just 13 units, from 2,837 to 2,850.
• A rough total of all the money currently being spent annually on homelessness programs by local, state and federal authorities comes in at $2 billion, or around $120,000 for each unhoused individual.
If homelessness continues to get worse in King County, one is inclined to ask an obvious question: What are all those billions of tax dollars buying us? Certainly not a resolution to the crisis. As a Seattle resident with no particular expertise other than pointing my finger at problems, I certainly do not have an answer for how to fix this, but, apparently, neither do the politicians and housing bureaucrats who are paid to find solutions to this intractable predicament.
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