Awe c'mon, they're just the Boy Scouts earning a merit badge in camping!

It's illegal to camp there. It's also illegal to live in Bergen Park. What's this 48 hours crap?

Summer is coming. Is there a plan to get the meth heads out of Bergen Park, or are we supposed just put up with it as they multiply and keep our traps shut?

It looks like they have claimed The Chai House as the official Meth Head tranisient headquarters, which is fine. At least they are all over in one spot. But, can they at least stay inside the damn place, not be out in the park? And, maybe keep all the backpacks and bikes off the sidewalks in frount of the Chai House, some some of us can at least get by? The hackey sack is annoying enough, but the meth heads are not something we need to navigate through on a sidewalk paid for by the taxpayers. For Christs Sake, grow up.

There is a retirement home on the same block and same side as The Chai House. Some of the older folks in wheelchairs would like to use the sidewalk. You mind?

Everybody pays sales tax, buddy. Congratulations on owning property, I'm sorry it's so taxing.

Oh boy...

BHO. You really need to learn how to express yourself. Don't hold back next post. Not clear exactly just where ya stand on this one.

A tent with a view and off street parking!

Welcome to the echo chamber.

you'd think the exhaust from all the cars parking in and out of there would be bothersome, and dangerous...I was suprised when I saw them too..and not sure why the 48 hr deal either..but there must be some reason..

Happy campers.

They are camped out for the free Monday lunch.

Then, Wednesday and Thursday we will have the food bank influx of transients aka "sweet old ladies".

Then, Friday we have the whole downtown Ballard area and Bergen Park flooded with meth heads and panhandlers for the free lunch at St. Lukes.

We also have the Bergen Park Meth/Crack/Booze party on the first, when the welfare checks come in this week. That will last two or three days. That will be a joint Chai House/Friends of Bergen Park event.

To top it off, we have the Car Campground for Meth, sex offenders and Crack heads, still scheduled to open in the St. Lukes parking lot, right next to the new library for summer.

Finally, we have the secretive Maniac Shelter at Calgary opening, for the kiddies in the neighborhood park.

And, we still have no Seattle Police foot or bike patrols or answers from Officer Haag.

I mean, we have an Army of Meth and Crack dealers on parade, all day and all night, marching from Bergen Park/The Chai House Pay Phone to the 7-11 pay phone and back.

Selling Crack/Meth and everything else under the sun to pedestrians up and down those sidewalks, while panhandling along the way. You mean to tell me, the Seattle Police refuse to even enforce that law (No meth/crack selling) or make a single arrest to set an example? Just one?

The Seattle Police can’t figure out to bug the pay phone in frount of the Chai House, when it was right on the frount page of the Ballard News Tribune, that it’s used mostly for drug deals?

Then, we have meth heads camping on Shilshole and Officer Haag practically offers to fluff up thier pillows for them and tell them a bedtime story, rather than take them in?

BHO, have you given this information to the SPD? Your reconnaissance would be much valued. Even your suggestions for police strategy and tactics would be of help.

Jesus put those unsaved wretches in those tents, and he put those tents in sinful Ballard. It is the Lord's will that those who cannot earn a respectable upper middle class salary should be cast out and scorned. The Seattle Police well know the wrath of God is mighty, and they know better than to move anyone from the spot He has chosen to lay them down upon.

Cease your blasphemous whining, Ballard, and pray the market turns around so you can sell your house and move to a gated Christian community and be among the saved, far, far away from the sick and the poor and the unclothed!

48 hours to stop committing crimes?

The new SPD catch & release program!

BHO:
You are such a simple-minded person, fitting the entire homeless population into one box, all the same. If you only realized how completely stupid you sound.
The homeless are no different than any other population on the planet. Some good, some not so much, some addicted, yet many who are not. Many are just struggling to survive in these hard times and yes for various reasons, some have been on the street for years. Do you personally know any homeless people? I do and not all of them are the criminal evil-doers you post about here.
In this economy, just about everyone is a few paychecks, if not closer to homelessness. I'm thinking the problem is only going to get worse here in Ballard and all over the city, though perhaps not in some of the wealthier areas or at least not right away.
You've mentioned before that the food bank and meal programs should move somewhere like Medina. I don't think Medina needs a food bank or soup kitchen, but Ballard does. There are a lot of people here who need help. Perhaps you'd be happier in Medina.I'm sure they have a blog too where you can relate your stories of the evil homeless people that ruined your life. Real estate is cheap now. Check it out.
I don't know about the rest of you here, but I am so sick of BHO and his endless tirade that does nothing to help the situation.

If every church member took 2 homeless people into their home, problem solved (?) You may want to screen them first, just a thought.

No, go to the U District and Downtown where they have more soup kitchens and shelters than you can imagine or visit in a lifetime. Plus, churches and state and federal agencies to help you. This is a family neighborhood. It was never designed to solve homelessness. It was a dumb experiment that has backfired. There is more help than you can ever want, if you would simply go get it. It's not here, I assure you. This is not the neighborhood for that. It's a family neighborhood. Get a clue. Go downtown, go to the welfare office and speak to a social worker. It's very simple.

phishstu - Give the info to the cops? Its on the frount page to the damn newspaper!

Church Neighbor - We get it by now. You are a schill for the Ballard Food Bank or actually work there. Take your propaganda elsewhere. Nobody with a broken window or stolen car gives a rats ass any more about the food bank. Plain enough?

BHO and others:

A week or so ago, someone posted a comment that contained all the appropriate phone and email contact information for the Seattle Police Department's North Precinct command, including Officer Devlin Haag's supervising Sargent.

Aside from slamming the CPT officer (Haag) in this forum, have you had any constructive conversations with the SPD management ? If you haven't then you're just "some troll on a blog" to them.

"The homeless are no different than any other population on the planet."

Well, except for one whopper of a difference—they screwed up so badly and planned so poorly for life that they are homeless.

"just about everyone is a few paychecks"

Total myth.

"There are a lot of people here who need help"

No, there's many COMING here for help because some of our knuckleheaded neighbors put out the welcome matt for moochers. Big difference. See the pigeon feeding analogy.

I won't disclose anything about my contact with the police. Let's just say, I am doing my part. I would strongly suggest those email addresses to others. But, I am pretty fed up with these obvious things that a simple chat by a couple of officers could end. Like, simply going over the men sleeping in Bergen Park, and saying it's against the law, and if you do it again, you will be arrested. Try the same thing with the drug dealers outside 7 11 every night. They need me to tell them that? Ok, I admit, officer Haag is taking the brunt of the frustration. I will refrain from that from now on. But, I am the only person in Ballard, bothered by swimming in meth heads, crazy people and panhandlers, every day of my life? Come on... Just cut off the food supply.

Interesting approach that seems to be working. Maybe housing should be the first thing we address? While under a roof, an addiction might be easier to conquer?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews...

So yes, I apologise to Officer Haag

BHO:
I think you are over ruffling your feathers. A lot of people see you as a joke.
I don't work for the Ballard Food Bank, but support them with financial and other donations regularly. I believe in their work and have volunteered there. Lots of people in Ballard and beyond support the Ballard Food Bank. They've been here for years and done lots of good work. Why do you feel the need to bash them?
I was stating my opinion as someone who knows some homeless people. You clearly do not, as you only see them as faceless, evil people who should be wiped off the planet.
So sad to hear your endless heartless bantering. One can only hope you might be in need someday. Then you might get a clue.

BHO:
and maybe you should do us all a favor and take yourself elsewhere. Ballard is progressing and looking for solutions. You clearly are not.

Donate to NW Harvest and soup kitchens in neighborhoods with adequate Police and services for the homeless. Since when do when need to compete for homeless people? Let the neighborhoods designed for that do their jobs.

There are mental health facilities all over downtown, free food, needle exchanges, methadone clinics and every other program we dont have and nobody but a few want in Ballard. This is not that type of neighborhood and this is not a competition to see which neighborhood and feed the most homeless. What is this sudden Ballard fixation on homeless? It's like you people are trying to recruit them or something.

"There are mental health facilities all over downtown"

Yes and you should use them. You sound like you are paranoid schizophrenic

Um Church Lady, I aint going nowhere. You wack jobs moved into my neighborhood. Not the other way around...

Bark More:
No need to dignify that with a response...read the news...Look at stats...

CHURCHNEIGHBOR aka also neighbor of the proposed shelter

BHO": You are going to be out numbered by the many homeless here soon...What will you do when they are camping in your yard?

Church Lady, what make you think the business owners of Ballard want to play mental health case worker with your homeless friends, or break up their fights inside their businesses? Don't you feel these people could benefit from professionals downtown, mental health case workers, needle exchanges and rehabs? Why don't you go feed them there? Too lazy to take the bus downtown?

Medina is calling you...Lots of cheap really right-winged self absorbed neighborhoods there

Great, the only spokesperson the food bank has put on here, turns out to be a fruit cake. Just great...

"Look at stats"

What stats? You gave none.

All you naysayers, please listen to BHO. He has a handicapped placard obtained by dubious means and is serious about his business. Although he is not gainfully employed, he wants to keep us all safe and garner a little love in the process. So quit being haters and lets all organize a benefit at the Chai House on his behalf. I now know where he drinks and would be happy to organize a community "come to jesus" event on his behalf. Love people, its all about love.

BHO: No. Nobody wants to put up with people who cause problems. You have an idea that all homeless are bad and blame everything negative that happens in Ballard has to to with a homeless person. I happen to live in an area with neighbors with teens that tag and do drugs. Does that make me think all teens are bad? I think not. I am smarter and more progressive than that.
I have worked in social services for years and the answer is not to send your neighborhood problems to another area. Those areas have problems too that they need to deal with.
Ballard has a problem with homelessness, as do many other areas in the city. Sending it away is not an answer.
The answer is to set up services for these people in this area to get services like jobs, housing (perhaps some of our condos go to low income housing), mental health services, drug/alcohol services etc.
Like it or not, the homeless aren't leaving or going to another area. Other areas are satuarated with thier own homeless population, just like Ballard. BHO:You just want this problem to go away....Earth to BHO...The homeless are here, as in other areas of the city. Sending them away isn't going to work. We have to find solutions.
Shooting them or sending them away are not viable answers. Other areas are also saturated.
If this doesn't sink into your tiny brain...MOVE TO MEDINA!

I will stand up for BHO here. I am sick of this neighborhood being infested by bums. I don't like walking to Safeway and having to worry about bums selling drugs in the bushes. I don't like what I see in Bergen Park.

But what troubles me most is the bum camper colony that seems to be growing daily. In the last year, there have been two murders within a 6-block radius of my house. You can check the MyBallard archives if you want more details. The long and short of it is that both murders were bums living in campers, by bums living in campers (one over some sort of malt beverage).

While I agree that some of BHO's comments are a little blunt, some of you should hear yourselves. You almost make it sound like you relish in these people's homelessness and give them 100% of the benefit of the doubt. Sorry, I don't. I subscribe to the broken windows theory, that when we see these things on a daily basis, more crime is around the corner.

I enjoy living in Ballard, but something has to be done about the homeless problem. Out of misguided "kindness" a lot of you look the other way, but for me it's a concern when I can't fully enjoy my neighborhood because there may be some methed-out bum in a trailer a block away that might try and attack me when I run by. Tolerating a few tents here and there, and the neighborhood continues a rapid decline because we're telling people, "we think it's fine what you're doing, keep it up". And then it multiplies.

What's WRONG with NOT wanting homeless crackheads in OUR neighborhood? They are not OUR homless...they are universally here from other places. Provide services, and they will come.

Condos ? Oh, that's a great concept...I'm sure someone who threw down 350K a year ago wants to share his buildling with homeless crack heads. Or that owners of said buildings might think that's a viable option.

I say we quit making it attractive to be here, and they will leave.

"Medina is calling you…Lots of cheap really right-winged self absorbed neighborhoods there."
Cheap? Medina? What color is the atmosphere on your home planet?

I'm sick of my tax dollars supporting these people, and I'm sick of the rising crime, car prowls, drug dealers, and the homeless.

I'm with BHO. There are, and have been, many many agencies for these people. Giving to off-ramp greeters has gottne them/us where? What the heck ever happened to the teach a man to fish idea? There are hand-ups, then there are hand-outs. There are safety-nets, then there are hammocks. Seems to me this tolerance crap is outta hand. Thanks again guilty white liberals, for nothing.

BHO:
Please quit presenting me as a spokeperson for the food bank.The problem with you is you assume and you know what they say about that....
I volunteered at BFB last year and know them to be a really good organization. Additionally, I am a person with an MSW who has worked with the homeless population for over 20 years. People like you are more a problem than the people I have served all these years, for you are clueless.
I am challenging you and your warped beliefs and am simply only a resident here in Ballard

You guys need to think of setting up services to help these people get on track. They aren't going to leave. You will see changes if you can provide hope.

I'm sure YOU have a spare room or two, or even the couch, take a few into YOUR home, provide some "HOPE" . Practice what YOU preach. Seattle and Ballard already have services, no need to set more up, too many "services" now.

Ryan, this isn't Bellevue. We deal with these issues as a community, not as a posse. I care, about you, the "bums" and every other human being. There is no trash. If you want to fully enjoy your community on your own terms, move to a neighborhood with covenants and terms that you can deal with. If you want to impose your will on the rest of Ballard, you are in the wrong place. That methed-out bum living in the trailer has every much right to existence as you do. None of us likes being the victim of crime, but I don't see how you are helping the situation. There are no absolutes no matter how much you wish it to be so. I'm not you and you are not me. Can we address the issues behind the crime or should we just lock everyone up and throw away the key? Simple solution, huh?

It's perfectly reasonable to give them at least 48 hours to move. They're not hurting anyone. I walk around Ballard every day and is nothing like the MyBallard nutters describe. It's sort of interesting to see that so many people live in fear.

BHO, so the evidence seems clear. What can we do about this?

I'm not suggesting more "giving", but agengies in this area that will help address the homeless people's problems such as housing, medical help, and yes addictions. There aren't any agencies that direct these people for help in this area. We need that in Ballard, with our ever increasing homeless population. If we would provide the services here, the area would begin to clean up.Wishing them away won't help.

I'd be open to setting up a community meeting to talk about his issue. Anyone open to that?

"perhaps some of our condos go to low income housing"

How do you plan on getting them from their rightful owners, gun point?

"answer is to set up services for these people in this area to get services like jobs, housing"

Ah yes, feed the pigeons, then complain about pigeon sh*t everywhere. Great idea.

"Other areas are also saturated."

Queen Anne, Wallingford, Magnolia, even Fremont and have no where near as many homeless. But they didn't put out the welcome matt. I have no problem helping homeless who can prove they are from Ballard. All the migrants from Belltown and Pike place running from the crackdowns? No way.

define resaonable...?

Imust agree with Nordic Woman post #37

"What’s WRONG with NOT wanting homeless crackheads in OUR neighborhood? They are not OUR homless…they are universally here from other places. Provide services, and they will come."

we have become to easy on it all..to actually camp in parking space area shows they are not afraid to be booted out anytime soon..and we have proved that to be true..nice tents where did they get them?

#44 Churchneighbor...we provide services more will come..pretty simple

typo...I meant this not his in my last post. Didn't want to start a riot.

How can a homeless person prove where they are from?

Last paycheck(not), last address (they obviously moved)

THT - what has this community done about the bum problem? Doesn't seem like much to me. More and more bums coming to Ballard all the time, and more campers parked in people's neighborhoods.

Nice try pulling the "move to Bellevue" card. Just keep your head in the sand and say there's not a problem, I'm sure that will help things. Two "methed-out bums living in trailers" have committed murders in my neighborhood over the past year. I don't think that's something that my neighborhood should tolerate. You may desire to out of some fake sense of "tolerance" and "loving everyone", but you are naive and conveniently ignore the truth. This city, including Ballard, has to get this issue under control.

The homeless are here and no services, except the food bank and a few free lunches are here. They aren't going anywhere. Other areas are also full of homeless. Like it or not, we have to be creative and provide services in our community that will help these people move on.It is the reality we are faced with.

BALLARD IS THE ONE OF THE HOT POTATOES OF THE HOMELESS POPULATION!

We are going to be part of the solution or we can continue to be part of the problem. Saying it isn't so or it's not our problem is a joke. It's here. Let's figure it out.
As I said wishing it away isn't going to work nor is officier friendly.

Community meeting anybody? BHO where are you?

"How can a homeless person prove where they are from?"

Bills, old rental contracts. Very simple especially since you seem to to think so many of these folks are recently homeless, the paper work would fit into a wallet.

If you can't even keep a single scrap of paper to show where you lived last, you are not homeless, you are a bum.

Stupid Hippie:
School yourself on low income housing options.
There is funding such as section 8 housing and other forms that will allow an owner to get current market rent and still allow a low income person to live in a dwelling. The renter pays 1/3 of their income. Lots of street people have an income,yet nowhere to live. This would not be a meth house, but people who want to work out of their current circumstances.

So you want us the tax payer to pay the high rents so bums can live in top end Ballard condos? How about this, I'm woilling to pay for a room on a work farm in Eastern Washington. Full room and board in exchange for work.

You think the condo owners will allow these people to live in their $250-400K properties in Ballard?

Stupid Hippie:
Good Name for yourself. Lots of homeless have nothing left in their wallet, much less a wallet.
Are you a real hippie. I think not.

And all this time I thought Ballard was a progressive community...Give them a blog and they become like Rush Limbaughs...scary...so scary...

"Lots of homeless have nothing left in their wallet, much less a wallet."

Then they are not homeless, they are bums who simply don't care enough to take care of themselves and simply want a handout. I hope your door is open to them.

"I thought Ballard was a progressive community"

Moderate/conservative Democrat, voted that way all my life. However, I'm not a fool. And since when is everyone in Ballard supposed to think the same? I know you far left wack jobs wish it were so, which is why you are no different from Rush and his yahoo followers.

if i recall correctly from my high school language classes, churchneighbor is french for black helicopter operations, no?

Why not have section 8 pay for homeless in all the vacant condos around here. God knows nobody else will. Look at all the vacancies...

Doc: are you stoned?

Stupid Hippie: You chose a good name for yourself...

Why not call it a night, churchneighbor? The blog will be here in the morning.

churchneighbor is a moron. I live by the same church and I want the scum out of my neighborhood. I'm inclined to include churchneighbor in that category.

Why SHOULD condo owners accept Section 8 housing??? Oh, yeah, I've seen what happens when you get Section 8 housing in a neighborhood and it isn't pretty.

Yah sure, you betcha, all the condo owners who threw down $400K to live in a nice condo want derelicts and drug addicts living next door.

I am sick of the con artists, panhandlers, drug addicts, shoplifters, and just plain crazy people moving HERE. Where, exactly, is it written that we, the residents of Ballard, are under ANY obligation to entice more of these people here by providing services to them?

It is interesting that the Downtown Merchants Association has a program to discourage people giving money, because there are 30 (thirty) places downtown where the homeless can get food. http://www.givesmartseattle.org/

Don't be so guillable...you think the $$ these people get from the state or from the naive goes to food? It goes to drugs. And where there are drugs, there is crime.

Time to clean up Ballard and get the bums OUT.

we can be part of the solution..if the number of homeles was something we coudl actually control and help...Ballard is a small community..and we can onlky do so much with what we have...so far we have become a magnet to more than we can handle..and it is hard to seperate the people who need a "leg up" from those who are here because they have drug, alcohol or unregistered sex offender" we need a filer and a number we can actually make a differnce with..lets be resonable..at least set the bar high...can you imagine the satisfaction we would feel if we actually made a diference with those that will respond instead of just use us for free food and high tolerance for bad behavior?

I'm incensed.
Sorry, HBO, but I've been out and about.
churchneighbor, pack up your tent, you are not welcome here.
I thank the members of this community who expect responsible behavior of themselves, and there-for, of others. THAT'S COMMUNITY.
I am a proud member of HBO, and will forever be.

oh, the 48 hour clock has past on this issue, get 'er done.

Mr. Haag, if you please.
Get these tents out of Ballard. If the law is lost, then we are lost, sir.
Chopper out...and about

Pink Whirlybird Operations here,

*panting*

Sorry i'm late to the party, got some great meth off some dude outside 7-11 and been high for 3 days!

What's up?

This information was entered by a fellow poster - Hope it is ok to post it here with proper credit given to the poster:

"...take action and contact the Captain of the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct, which has responsiblity for Ballard. His name is Capt. Mike Washburn, and his email is: michael.washburn@seattle.gov. The main contact phone for the precinct is (206) 684-0850

Ask him to set up a meeting with you and other concerned residents and business owners to talk about your concerns and their plans to address them. Don’t let them push you off on Neil Hansen, the Crime Prevention guy…he’s totally worthless and powerless.

You have also referenced another SPD Officer on here, Devlin Haag. Officer Haag is the Community Policing Team officer assigned solely to Ballard/Crown Hill. His email is devlin.haag@seattle.gov . His Sargeant on The North Precinct CPT team is Sgt. Dianne Newsom - (206) 684-0794. or dianne.newsom@seattle.gov

There’s an interesting description of the CPT objectives on the SPD website. Not sure how based in reality it is, but it reads as follows:

WHAT DO CPT OFFICERS DO?

“While patrol officers assigned to a certain beat and sector are usually very familiar with the area they patrol, CPT Officers go one step further. CPT officers do not respond to 911 calls for service and are instead assigned a specific area to focus on long-term, often chronic problems. They patrol many times a day, checking and re-checking known “hot spots”.

It is their job to know the residents in troubled apartments, to recognize by sight, the “regulars” who congregate on the corner, and to understand the ongoing problems and concerns of neighbors and businesses. Residents and business owners get to know and trust the officers, making it easier to work together to resolve and prevent problems. CPT is about understanding ongoing issues that go back weeks and months and taking steps to prevent problems before they arise. The officers are a unique and invaluable resource in the communities they serve. ”

And finally, if you are concerned about what happens to the people who actually do get arrested, you should voice your concerns about quick release back onto the streets to:

Ed McKenna, the Police Department’s North Precinct liaison from the City Attorney’s Office, can be reached at 206-684-7765 or edward.mckenna@seattle.gov."

Posted by REGULAR March 18, 2009

imho, being a Ballard liberal doesn't mean allowing illegal camping or ignoring meth use in our neighborhoods. If you see illegal activity, call the police (you can't expect them to read the Ballard Tribune or these comments), and more calls are better. Organizing community meetings makes sense too -- because community groups have had more success than anything else at actually lowering crime and vandalism than any other method. And look out for your neighbor wouldya? I can't wait to see the tee-shirts for the neighborhood watch patrols.

Food banks exist in many communities without increasing crime in them, and existed in Ballard some time before recent crime sprees, so I think a stronger case would need to be made to support the contention that the food bank is part of the crime problem.

It's like Night Of The Living Dead on Market Street, there are so many Meth Head Zombies and they are multiplying like coachroaches by the day. Break ins, car thefts, assualts of police... where does it end?

The cops know, but probably expect us as a neighborhood to do something. Setting up this "Crystal Campground" right by the new library and the needle exchange in Bergen park must be stopped, at any and all costs. You want crack heads and pimps, reading to your kids in the library?

I would like to walk the streets without being up to my knees in Meth Heads and Panhandlers. Is that a crime?

Nobody in Ballard actaully listens to Rush do they? I hear a lot about him here. Is Chris Matthews or the bomb thrower Oberdork good for America? Tell me just how giving the house away is a good thing? People here WERE born with a "D" by their names. They ARE getting what they deserve. Were there poor people before Republicans? Can we tax ourselves into prosperity? Tell me when the last time we saw an"R" person on any ballot in the 36th district? This state is a 1 party state. We have become Bizerkley North. 20 years ago my yuppy neighbors had the die yuppy scum stickers on their VW vans. Today they have nannies, maid services, 3-4-5 cars, and their kids drive to Ballard High. Times are tough aren't they. Hypocrites. If you're willing to "sacrifice a little freedom for some sort of security" you deserve neither. Keep on a pulling that "D" lever comrades. At least then you'll feel good about these schlubs permeating our once fair region. Keep handing 'em your $$ at off-ramps. This really gives 'em a signal doesn't it. Like turning off your lights for an hour does. Warm and fuzzy in Ballard

I agree with BHO and others, at least they are out there doing something about it and not sitting there blogging 'what should we do about the homeless'. I work for King County Public Health and know for a fact there are plenty of services out there for those needing help - and those services are not located in neighborhoods for a reason! You don't put a needle exchange program next to a school.

I know there have been many threads regarding homeless shelters/soup kitchens but this is different - the number of tents and campers or people obviously living out of their cars has become riduculous! If I can't pitch my tent in Golden Gardens this summer and do some free camping in a beautiful place then neither should they!

My point is that these people are not taking advantage of the services that are out there to them. There is plenty of low income section 8 housing available, if it isn't in the neighborhood of your choice you have no right to just set up camp on the street. It brings an old saying to mind......

#76 you said:
There is plenty of low income section 8 housing available, if it isn’t in the neighborhood of your choice .........

This is good news!

Tell us more...I have always heard about years long waiting lists - but that is here in Seattle and King Co - where is this federal subsidized housing (sec 8) available

"Why not have section 8 pay for homeless in all the vacant condos around here"

How do you plan on getting the owners to cooperate with their private property, at gun point?

Anybody see this article in the Seattle Times on Sat. ? The Saturday Soup Kitchen in the University district is closing after 25 years so they're sending their diners to Ballard.

In the Times words ...
In the church social hall, while people lined the room waiting for the kitchen partition to open, Metzger handed out an information sheet about another feeding program, Saturday Soup, in Ballard.

Full article -
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews...

Sorry if this pops up twice but the 1st time I submitted it I don't think it went.

Anybody see this article in the Times on Saturday ?
Seattle's Saturday Kitchen closes its doors after 25 years
Guess where they are sending them...
In the church social hall, while people lined the room waiting for the kitchen partition to open, Metzger handed out an information sheet about another feeding program, Saturday Soup, in Ballard.

Full article
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews...

@2

Why do you care so much if people are playing hackey sack or standing on the sidewalk outside the Chai House? Good God, lighten the hell up.

It has been asked -
How do you plan on getting the owners to cooperate with their private property, at gun point?

The income from the subsidy is the enticment - it goes to the land-lord - no guns needed. The tenant is responsible for 30% - so even if the tenant fails to pay his or her portion, the landlord still gets 70% of market rate rental income. Sometimes the subsidy is attached to an arrangement that the tenant is recieving services from a local provider(shelter plus care). Then the landlord has comfort knowing that if issues arise, there are "people" to take care of it - the tenant has "people" to aid and assist in housing stability and another non-profit gets funds in order to pay case managers/housing support staff.

"But, I am the only person in Ballard, bothered by swimming in meth heads, crazy people and panhandlers, every day of my life"

Talk about exaggerating. It's not this bad at all. You act as if every ten feet someone begs for change or plunges a needle into their arm. It's really not that bad. You sound like a fool.

Ballard isn't a family neighborhood. It's a neighborhood with families and plenty of singles. None of my friends have kids and I don't want them. Does that mean we should move? Myballard isn't representative of Ballard...thankfully.

I do enjoy the hypocrisy of you calling someone a "wack job" though. Thanks for that.

"You guys need to think of setting up services to help these people get on track."

They don't want to get back on track. Ask them. I did. They're here for the free lunch.

Crown Hill, do you seriously think condo owners are going to house the drug addicts, alcoholics and bums we see up and down market street every day?

Hi Barkmore,
I response to your question - no I don't seriously think that condo owners are going to house the homeless. The question I was responding to asked what sort of incentives would cause a landlord to involve his property with a federal subsidy program. I was disputing the fact that it need be at gun point.

The original proposition here though was to house them in Ballard's empty condos.

Thank you Barkmore for the update - Well, that is an interesting proposition. I must have missed that proposal as I scanned through the comments. Seems like a throw away type suggestion- I doubt that anyone would take that proposition seriously.

Seems like empty condos are the problem of developer.....I don't like the idea of federal subsidies to take toxic assets off books.

I am with extremophile. Being liberal doesn't mean let whoever want to take a shit in the park. BHO- I am a democrat, because in this BS two party system, that is my only choice. But I don't give money at off ramps, or to pan handlers. I am all for helping the homeless, who want help, and are just in dire straits. I am NOT for helping addicts who do not want the help, and I for one, am sick of the drug den that ballard has become. Please, call the cops! Everytime!! The calls are a record of activity, and when they continue and we aren't seeing results, someone will be accountable.
Also most of the drugging going on in Ballard is not Meth. It is heroin. These guys are definately not meth heads. Maybe the guys breaking in to all of the businesses are meth heads, the Bergen Park guys are on heroin.

Yes, thrown away twice by a member of Ballard's easily confused far left:

churchneighbor: perhaps some of our condos go to low income housing

churchneighbor: Why not have section 8 pay for homeless in all the vacant condos

The condos are hardly an issue here.

The questions are where are these people comeing from, why are they coming here, and how did they end up as homeless?

General answers to these points will help greatly.

It is my suspicion that had we the answers to these, there would be a lot less charity and tolerance for them in Ballard.

Trizzle -

What this about Heroin in Bergen Park? I am not doubting you, but if this is true, let us know how you know and what info you have. I know full well the Crack and Meth explosion, but I have not heard much about heroin aside from some of those people who live behind Sip and Ship in the so called Meth house.

I wonder how long it will take before this Meth/Crack/Heroin epidemic works it's way through Ballard High School.

Maybe, it's already there....

It's a matter of time before we see track marks on our teenagers arms and start hearing of overdose deaths at High School Parties at Golden Gardens this summer.

These pro drug dealers target teens first for sales and prostitution to pay for the additcions they create. Your daughter could be the next they take from Ballard High/Bergen Park/Chai House and out on to Aurora Ave to become a prostitute. It happens every day in Seattle and is a big business. Some are murdered and never heard from again.

Yeah BHO- addiction is so attractive, our young ones will be just falling into the whole thing - how can we save them?

Heilsa,All!
Looks like,the haters are fueled up to-day with the righteous indignation of some-one faceing an I.R.S. deadline:
"They come,on April 15th,dear,to take away our gold;
Tax men,un-moved by plea or tear;
It makes your blood run cold!
(chorus):
Oh,Income tax,it breaks our backs,and never more,green we see;
A sea of red in instead,from sea to shineing sea!!
(c) A.F.Gaines,submitted by A.E.Newman..
But,seriously,folks:
All things considered:
I think you haters of Indigents,(A.K.A."Bums")are going to love the Regan-Villes,Apple-Mary's,and falling stock-brokers;(don't forget the ex-celebrity stock-pickers)vending "roast-rat-on-a-stick"(C)Tm. that will magicly fill the urban zones of Amerikka(ie,Bollard{sic})by,say,next year.
All the rants about evil 'homeless'drug sellers ignores this point:
Most of the "methedrine'dealers are selling to the ex-military,thrown-aways that make up,oh,33% of the indigent,by my own estimate.
If you look at some stories about Army,A.F.,etc.training,like after ww2 in japan,korea,you might note that most druggies,speeders included,started takeing stimulants in military training scenes,officially.
Good ol'Pentagon is world's largest whole-saler/transporter of opiates:
heroin,morphine,codeine,etc.
If you doubt me,look at these books:
"The Poppy is also a Flower"
"Along the Opium Trail"
"The Politics of Heroin in S.E.Asisa"
"The Great Heroin Coup"
"Dark Alliance"
And,note that,under the Osama Bin Regan campaign brand in Afghanistan,Opiod poppy growing was outlawed.
After the USSR broke off with Bin Regan's policy,opium returned to the Afghani farms.
So,to msake a short story long,maybe the N.S.A./Army Human Intel Agency/Dea network still off-loads opioids,cocaine,methamphetamine,mdma from various satrap states(ie,israel,mexico,canada,etc)and markets through:
"Da Cuz",Black Gangster Deciples",Kruds(Bloods&Kripplers="Freeway Rick Ross,etc.),"Da Family"(not Manson's)etc.
Most street dealers are liscenced by different feddie agencies as auxillary police,and cannot be arrested.
The ones in Bollard come on #75 buses from apartments in Northgate.
Some commute from Belleview,Bothell,etc.
Any-one can observe this,just as I do.
No "street"dealer is homeless,or uses a pay phone.
Most use Blackberries.
Haters out there,I know who you are,also.
Watchbird is still singing to me.
"Phantom"
I can't wait to start an "Indigent University"and "Beggar's Guild",appoint Suthi honorary Faculty Chair'Emeritus',for Life...
Haters,etc,write:[randiO088(at)aim.com]

Maybe Geeky Sweedes should go under cover as Meth Heads for a day at Bergen Park and post the findings here. Or, pretend to be buyers outside 7 11 and report how many offers they get for Crack/Meth/Heroin.

Phantom is right

Lots of these street dealers have those ear piece phones, and come and go. The transients buy the stuff, but lots of these guys selling are well dressed and clean looking. The 711 type sellers are the bottom of the barrel dealers, but plenty of high tech dealers are on the march every day. Walk around yourselves. They are easy to spot.

Probably because they know they wont get arrested. I mean, when was the last time someone heard of a drug arrest in Ballard? 1972?

Are these folks really homeless because times are tough for them, or do they just want to "live off the grid".

Does that 48 hour timeframe inculde intervention by the city in any capacity, to find out what the deal is?

I camped illegally in Washington State before. I got caught and wasn't even given 48 minutes to move.

Folks, relax. Meth and heroin are part of natures way of weeding out the weakest from the gene pool. Hooray for population control, time our poor planet started getting a break. :)

"Yeah BHO- addiction is so attractive, our young ones will be just falling into the whole thing - how can we save them?"

You can't. They're going to do drugs if they want. Nothing you can do about it.

"These pro drug dealers target teens first for sales and prostitution to pay for the additcions they create. Your daughter could be the next they take from Ballard High/Bergen Park/Chai House and out on to Aurora Ave to become a prostitute."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

You're frickin' nuts, man. You're life must suck, if you're always this paranoid and scared.

"Your," not "you're" in the second sentence.

Also, BHO, you refer to a crack and meth explosion. I haven't heard drug use is up. Do you have any documentation or articles you could link?

Or are you just making it up?

and don't forget the new heroin epidemic that is about to give us a bunch of OD teenagers.

the paranoia in here is impressive

Yada yada yada. I LOVE the stench of the internet on a rainy afternoon.

“why do you have to have them in our neighborhood” The problem is it’s not yours. You don’t own it, only a tiny portion. I walk through other neighborhoods where I do not live and that is my right and it is the right of all to walk through the public streets of Ballard. You have the right to keep anyone you choose off your tiny portion and please do so.

"You have the right to keep anyone you choose off your tiny portion and please do so."

Actually, that the transient population is up, we have a right to be concenerd.

I wonder if it is up in other neighborhoods? Are they focusing on Ballard, and if so why?

Silence.com writes -

"Why do you care so much if people are playing hackey sack or standing on the sidewalk outside the Chai House?"

The reason is that the sidewalk is not a play ground or jungle gym. The same reason we are not supposed have people riding skateboards up and down the sidewalks, or the endless Meth Head bike parade up and down the sidewalks we deal with all day. You can actually get hit by a bike on the sidewalk in Ballard. It's absurd.

Some people actually need to use the sidewalk outside the Chai House to get to the new complex for the elderly a block down and should not have to fight their way through a bunch of 30 somethings who think they are in grade school, playing games, doing drugs, having story hour with the winos and writing on the sidewalks with chalk. Not to mention the cloud of smoke which is supposed to be 25 feet from the door, which it is not. It's childish? Ok?

Does that sidewalk belong to the Chai house or those paying taxes? I know you're actually "Hippy Tea Girl" who claimed

"We don't want to be part of your world."

Well fine, go live in a bus out in the woods and act 12 when you're actually 30. But, it's a business district not a school yard for a pre school.

People need to conduct business, walk to stores, make deliveries and all sorts of other reason that sidewalks exist.

Most normal people cross that street to avoid the entire area, which is unfair to those still inside "normal society". You might "Not want to be part of our world", but if you want to turn the center of Ballard into Burning Man, people will insist you remember it's not.

Most people were raised with manners and don't need to be taught this at age 30. (Not to mention, would probably have jobs by that age)

Silence.kit writes

"Ballard isn’t a family neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood. None of my friends have kids and I don’t want them."

If you're 30 and would rather play hackeysack while on Meth or draw things in chalk all over Bergen Park, than raise a family, you might wanna check out the U District. Nothing personal, but this is actually a family neighborhood. The U District caters to your type much more and offers more free lunches.

Silence.kit

"I haven’t heard drug use is up".

In "your world" I'm sure it's not up and is all par for the course. I assume you would the the drug use levels higher in fact.

In our world, it's up dramatically. Higher than our comfort level out here in "Our world".

I have lived in Ballard for ten years now and in Seattle for all 34 years of my life. Ballard, by far, has the worse "homeless" problem of any Seattle area outlying neighborhood. It is getting sick! The Ballard homeless are a bunch of rude, obnoxius, inconsiderate leeches on our society. They all collect a SS check of somesort and a good number of them collect their Alaska state check as well as their Native check. They are not broke they just choose to spend their money on booze, crack, meth and heroin. They're complete low lifes who are only raoming the streets of Ballard because they can. Nobody in Ballard is doing anything to get rid of these people from our neighborhood. Other neighborhoods have found ways to keep them out...why can't we. Because we're a bunch of bleeding hearts who think 'those poor souls - they need help'. Come on be real. They don't want help, they want booze, crack, heroin and meth and a place or community that allows them to be vagrant. It's obvious that the cops don't care. Unless we start calling 911 everytime we see this crowd doing something illegal - loitering is illegal - they'll stay. Why wouldn't they. We need to stand up as a community and make Ballard as uncomfortable for them as they have made it for us.

Yes, but with people with a pro drug agenda like Silence.Kit and her friends, who don't want this a family neighborhood, it's not going to be easy. They envision a new U District and will stop at nothing, until we have the same issues, like sidewalks full of sitting teenagers harrassing people for spare change, playing hackey sack, and riding skateboards all over the sidewalks. A playground essentially.

Try telling Silence.kit that. She wants this to be a new home for all the teenagers who sit on University Way sidewalks in the U District, asking for spare change. This is not even a family neighborhood accourding to her circle of friends.

BHO,

Pull.
The.
Stick.
Out.
Of.
Your.
Ass.

Once again…I live in downtown Ballard. I do not see armies of meth addicts and sidewalks taken over by drug dealers. I have never even been asked for spare change here. I have been asked downtown and I said sorry, no and I survived.

Silence.kit - That is obviously your way of saying "put up with us and keep your traps shut". Thanks for solving the problem.

I agree with Tippy and BHO. The societal leeches, substance abusers and mental cases need to be dealt with. They do not belong living on our streets and making our parks unusable and disgusting, causing problems for the actual residents who pay taxes and who are responsible citizens. The people who are homeless due to economic situations but who want to work need to be helped with food and shelter until they can find jobs and stable living situations. Frankly, the above mentioned dregs should be shipped out to a very remote location where they can detoxify, do basic farm or ranch work in exchange for room and board and live their lives far far away from big cities that allow this type of behavior and laziness to exist. Get these folks to a place where they are forced to live a clean life, do some work and not have their lives run by their addictions.

Look at the response of Silence.kit from The Chai House. All we are trying to do is make the sidewalk and Bergen Park passable for tax payers and not have endless games, chalk all over and other nonsense. This is exactly the sense of entitlement that is creating a backlash. There are too many people in Ballard for this selfish attitude these days. The place is not one big playground. Do we really need these spolied brats and transients?

I had a wonderful drive home today. I saw them all! The hacky sacking hippies in Bergen Place, the meth whores in front of the Golden City Lounge and the elderly homeless woman...What a way to top off the work day.

Sacramento CA is rounding these people up and putting them into camps. They were living in a so called tent city, but are being taken to places run by the government, like it or not. Food, medicine, mental health, drug treatment the works. Seattle and other cities will probably be forced to follow that model soon.

Unreal

Sacramento has announced they will be rounding them up and putting them into a government camps. Tent Cities are sprouting up like Opium plants. So, they are rounding them up and giving them the mental health treatment and re-education some need, even if it's against their will. (At the tax payer expense of course). But, it looks like Seattle will have to follow that model soon. What else can we do?

Stop misquoting me BHO, I said "Ballard isn’t a family neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood with families and plenty of singles." Put the entire sentence in.

Last time I checked People's Pub wasn't a family restaurant. Nor are many of the businesses along Market and Ballard Ave. There may be families in Ballard, but it's not a family neighborhood. Maybe you'd like Edmonds better, but than you wouldn't have any evidence to support your delusions.

Also, I'm pretty sure your world is plagued with mental illness so I'm not sure I'd want to live there. For some reason, you like to make it sound like Ballard is very dangerous, and like people playing hacky sack on a sidewalk is a big deal.

Look, I just can't believe your pissed that people play hackey sack. I've actually never seen it on the sidewalk, only at the Bergen PARK. Imagine that, people playing hackey sack in a park. If silly little hippie kids want to play hackey sack, who cares? It's not affecting your day at all yet you act like it is. Would you even go to the Chai House? Probably not. You may not believe this, but I don't hang out there either. I know it's only one of two ways in your head(us or them), but I haven't been to the chai house in months and even then it was to get...chai. Notice how there are benches outside. It seems natural that people would congregate there, right?

You presume so much about me, incorrectly I might add.

The drug explosion? Well, I noticed you didn't have any sources to link, so I just assume it's all in your head and you're making it up, which is something you like to do.

Sorry, not a big fan of the u-district. I like the theaters and a couple restaurants, but that's about it. I'm going to stay here for at least a little while longer.

And I have no idea what you're talking about with this "sense of entitlement" nonsense. Once again something you made up with very little proof.

Yesterday while at work I read all your comments (not much going on at work) and some I agreed with, some I didn't...but when I got home imagine my surprise when I looked out my apartment window to find I have a new neighbor!!!!! A TENT!!!!!! It's parked smack dab in the center of a vacant lot that sits in front of my apartment building. You all probably know the lot...on 57th across from Wiggens. Being on the third floor, whoever lives in this tent doesn't have a birds eye view into my place....but close enough. He's got a pretty awesome set up. Residential street, greenery all around, a little table of which he uses to place his shopping cart and tallboys on. You know I have been praying they don't build townhouses in this lot because then it would be bye bye natural light.....so I guess I should count my blessings that it's going to become a tent city instead. I know, slight exaggeration, but with St. Lukes on the corner equipped with a homeless parking lot, the night time library crowd, and the appearance of my new neighbor, walking home alone at night is becoming a thing of the past...and is causing my tolerance to weaken.

See? They are spreading like locust....

Silence.kit writes -

"Last time I checked People’s Pub wasn’t a family restaurant"

Nobody was talking about Peoples Pub. We were talking about Bergen Park and yes, that park is not a night club, a meth house, a shelter, school yard or anything else some are trying to make it.

It's a park to honor the founders of our neighborhood and teach people about the history of Ballard. At least show respect to that much? Or, is respect just for us "Mentally ill" people. (Mentally ill is your "code" for wanting drug addicts and prowlers, out of here)

I can see you playing hackey sack and playing with chalk at a veterans memorial too, right? My God, why is this so hard to figure out, and who in heck raised people like this. There are just some things you don't do in a civilized society. What's so hard to figure out. (I won't even get into how I feel about grown men groveling for spare change or a cigarrete on a sidewalk...)

You go to Golden City with your hackey posse and let those of us who don't want to have our kids being solicited by Meth Heads and transients, go to Bergen Park. (After we get the Meth Dealers and transients out of there)

Same with your shelters, food banks and soup kitchens.

Put them where you guys can Hackey Sack, shoot up, get drunk and sleep on benches til your blue in the face and get them off streets that are FAMILY streets full of kids.

Let the parents decide if and when they want their kids exposed to the harsh realities of tranisients and addiction. Some people, would like to shelter their kids from ugliness in the world, until they are old enough to understand it fully. Not everyone wants to explain what Meth Heads are to a 5 year old. OK?

"Nobody was talking about Peoples Pub."

*sigh*

You referred to Ballard as a family neighborhood. I listed one establishment among many on that very street that aren't for families. Unless you want to buy little Black Helicopter Operations a pint, chances are you won't be taking the family there for fried pickles. So once again, Ballard isn't a "family neighborhood" because it's full of establishments that aren't for families. Obviously, it has places that are family friendly as well.

I think you need to learn reading comprehension, BHO.

You really just miss the point entirely and then go on accusing me of things I refuted in the post you're responding to.

"There are just some things you don’t do in a civilized society."

...like play hackey sack...what?

Keep making stuff up big guy. It's what you do.

"Not everyone wants to explain what Meth Heads are to a 5 year old. OK?"

Ooooh, someday you might have to explain what SEX is. Scary, I know. All part of being a parent. Here, I'll help. Imagine this, if you will...

Little BHO - Daddy, I always here you talking about meth heads and then you yell at the computer... What's a meth head?

BHO - Well Buddy, it's someone that is addicted to a drug called Crystal Meth, which is very, very bad for you. It's rots your teeth and all sorts of nasty stuff. We don't want that, do we?

Little BHO - Nope. Nope, we don't.

It's that easy!

Lastly, I've never been offered drugs in Ballard. Not once. Several times in the u-district, though.

Black Heli might represent one extreme, but silence.kit seems to embrace the other. The reality? Well, since I'm throwing stones I'll qualify that it's at least my perception:
1. There are more homeless and transients hanging out in Ballard.
2. Crime is up as noted around here with the rash of burglaries and car prowls.
Are these two things related? I'd guess that perhaps tangentially they are as some of the people caught haven't been homeless, but have been involved in the drug scene that many of the homeless are. Some of the car prowl and brute force crime can be reasonably attributed to the homeless, like the smashed liquor store window where only one bottle was stolen. The other arrests show that the perps were not homeless at all, but career criminals who had burglarized dozens of times.

The food bank. Despite what BHO says, it's not the problem here. If you want to talk about the soup kitchen attracting homeless or making it easier for them to stay in Ballard, that's a debate we can have, but the Ballard Food Bank is something very different with a different clientele. It's a good service for some of our older neighbors and some of neighbors who are going through a rough patch and trying to keep from becoming homeless.
Please Black Heli, stop painting everything with the same broad brush. If you want to rail against the soup kitchen, do so, but stop confusing it with the food bank. Two different things.

Whats your proof that the food bank is not serving people from outside Ballard, people who are high or drunk, convicted felons, or registered sex offenders, who are taking buses into Ballard for free food, then back out again every week.

Everyone is so upset about Calgarys screening process, but the food banks brings in WAY more people nobody knows. Why are you speaking for them anyway?

They can't come on here like professionals, or contact Geeky Sweedes to clarify the procedure at the food bank? I am not so convinced these people are all safe, who they are attracting to a neighborhood full of kids.

Have them proove to me they are and I will stop questioning the food bank. It should be rather easy. Show me the written procedures they use to screen people. It's the least they can do...

The comments are like dealing with a backed up sewer in the basement...you have to wade through a ton of crap before you can even get a look at the problem.

Black Heli, You are way too quick on the trigger and way to quick to paint anyone who doesn't agree with you 100% as your mortal enemy. Believe it or not I actually agree with you about 82.3%, but not 100%.
I don't think that the food bank is serving only the annointed saints and angels, but to accuse them of creating a homeless problem and demanding them to cater to your whims is about as far fetched as demanding that McDonald's do background checks on it's customers too.
The Food Bank is not housing these people. It is not inviting them from other neighborhoods. Are some of the people taking the handout not deserving of it? Maybe. But that's the reality of everything. There's probably someone driving down the street right now who hasn't paid his taxes, does that mean we tear up the pavement until everyone can prove they're worthy?

Right, that is the point. At least Calgary houses them. These people many times hang around downtown Ballard eating the things they got at the food bank in Bergen Park and live in the woods in Ballard. I have seen them first hand and I am just saying that is we are worried about the Calgary Shelter being full of psychos, than why not the food bank and the car campground. Plus, all the new shelters, soup kitchen and other things forced on us. Why should I have to worry about who their customers are. Why is it even legal for people top be living outside in a residential neighborhood. This is absurd.

Plus, all these people living in RV's? Where do you think they get their food once a week? The Food Bank.

Mymble was right to wonder where the tents would show up next. One of them moved to the vacant lot at 57th & 20th - mentioned by Jenna. I notified SPD about the new location.

Does this mean that the tents can stay in one place for a few days, then get a 48 hour eviction notice from SPD. Guess that means they will only have to move twice a week or so to be "legal".

Sorta like the rv's I suppose. Move around if the cops ask you, from street to street.

I wish I had 48 hours to move my car once parking enforcement has marked the tire:)

Here's a new slogan for Ballard:

BALLARD - A Place For Bums...

Transient Living- Now on Every Street!

Campers and Tents Welcome, old Junky Car Live-ins too!

Alcoholic fueled Violence? Just Head Under the Ballard Bridge and Join In the Beatings!

So many more, we're doing T's next.

Did anybody ever notice all the homeless people living in the bushes right inside the locks proper, and under the train trestles across the channel?

Look in just about any dense thicket of tangled brush and you'll see evidence or prior inhabitation, if not the inhabitant themselves. Sometimes they block the entry way to their warrens with a shopping cart full of junk.

And how about the bum caches in Wallingford, right on the post office grounds? Huge tarps in the bushes covering up bum hoards of junk , clothes, etc.

Or heading down Southbound 99, in that massive greenbelt off on the right of Queen Anne, the place has massive tarp structures and is a shooting gallery. Made the mistake of walking down the park trail and interrupted two gentlemen shooting up what I assumed was black tar heroin, wow... never again.


These people were there before the economy crashed, all long term bums, so I don't think we can blame the econ for a lot of this problem.

The city is pretty tolerant of this type of activity and it's associated criminality (violence, drugs, theft, etc)