I am so surprised the police haven't done anything or arrested anyone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39355341@N03/

-David

How come all the “oh, wont somebody think of the homeless” crowd, who generally runs with the environmentalists, ever care about all the litter they produce?

The van, the van, the van is on fire. We don't need no food bank let the glass meth pipe burn, burn meth pipe, burn.

“1 week $150″

“$200/week, no more than 4. gas included”

“$200 a week, no drugs, no alcohol”

Each one had phone numbers scribbled down on them.

But whatever gmer, sit in your home and act blind to the fact that there are now RV-slumlords.

If a shelter is just a set of beds in a big room where it is first come-first serve, sure. If it is a 24-month safe room plus job training plus counseling, is it still worse than vehicle living?

On NW 42nd Street just west of 7th Ave NW (beside the Activespace) and sometimes just to the east of 7th Ave NW too, there were frequently 1-2 vans and 1-2 motor homes where people were living.

On NW 41st Street just west of 6th Ave NW, there was a whole encampment. Until 6-9 months ago there was never less than 2 vans there with people occupying them, and often as many as 8 cars, vans, and motor homes.

On NW 36th Street between 3rd Ave NW and NW Canal Street, there has been almost continually 1-4 vans or motor homes with people living in them. The vehicles didn't move in months.

In the bushes along the Burke Gilman Trail just east of Stone Way, at least one and possibly up to three people were living in a tent hidden in the shrubs for almost a year.

Just on the other side of those bushes were a few vehicles that appeared to be lived out of.

Under the Ballard Bridge, on 46th, 45th and Shilshole, we had a few clusters of pickups with campers, motor homes, vans, and lived-in cars ranging from 5 to 15 vehicles at any given time.

Today, these are all almost always vacant. At most, surveying all of these spots on my way home, I might notice 2 vehicles out of the (up to) 31 vehicles that I was previously seeing on a daily basis for multiple months at a time.

I can see an incremental increase to the population, but even when I canvas the whole area, and I have, I don't even see double what I was seeing 2 years ago. It isn't exponential…unless you didn't have your eyes open before. Now, they have moved north closer to residential areas and even into residential areas, so maybe you are starting to see them now where you wouldn't have before.

My memory for dates is a little weak, but it seems like the DSHS office went in around 5 years ago…if you want to blame something, that and the food bank have as much to do with “drawing” the population as the “do-gooder” churches. If you are going to cast blame, do it fairly. And frankly, while you are at it, you should blame UW and Sustainable Seattle for designing the mobile shower facility for homeless encampments.

Someone figured that pushing was the answer and now they are camping closer to your door instead of hiding around the industrial areas.

Apparently the homeless don't like to be around the homeless either.

Also it will turn Ballard into a hole of a place.

Charity should start with the family. It always surprises me how you never see many people on the streets that come from a background/culture that revolves around a strong family unit.

It is not safe for people to live in cars, or break into unoccupied properties, and frankly it is not fair to the rest of us that pay our way in society.

These vehicles aren't just for folks down on hard luck. Look inside the windows and you'll see signs where folks are renting these out for cash. This isn't just about people trying to get by, this is about people renting out vehicles as property with little regard for the inhabitants (as seen by propane and gas tanks haphazardly attached and maintained).

What really gets me is when the inhabitants blatantly throw garbage out on the grass next to their vehicle and leave it there.

I saw (at the sustainable ballard festival in ballard commons park) that there were some great ideas for supporting those that have vehicles to live in and provide them with showers and toilets plus a private place to stay. Some of those who own vacant lots or parking lots could set up one of those stations for the night. Basically it amounted to a retractable fence about 10 ft tall. and a trailer that housed a portable shower and toilet. It could handle 4 cars with their inhabitants. Also, could give jobs to people as attendants.

There is a group that counts Seattle's homeless on the streets at night- sure bet that they miss some because people know how to hide really well.

Right now we have the bible-thumper bus back in Ballard. This guy is here every summer just in time for the Fremont Solstice Parade so he can tell everyone that they are going to hell, and he parks his bus in Ballard within a few blocks of the Fred Meyer / Trader Joe's area every year and he lives out of that bus.

I realize that some folks are just noticing how much homelessness we have. I've been watching these folks just be pushed from one place to another for years. Pushing isn't the answer. I'm not even convinced that the problem is that much larger today than it was 4 years ago.