Seattle's Homeless Jungle

"We as a city have got to come together, so that we can build a movement with other cities and force this on the national agenda."
Seattle Mayor Edward B. Murray

"You step in there [homeless encampment], and it's like you're not even in the United States anymore."
"The human waste, the solid waste, the drugs, the tents -- even when you have areas of poverty around the world, you don't see it all in one place."
Chief Harold Scoggins, Seattle Fire Department

"Even though we're all beyond frustrated and disappointed with some of the results, including the increased count on the streets, which is devastating, we have accomplished a lot of good work that we have been recognized for."
"Thousands of people have gotten a roof over their head. The problem is there's been a significantly higher inbound flow of people coming into the homeless cycle than we anticipated."
"We have a very thriving, healthy, growing GDP [Gross Domestic Product] economy. We're creating poverty at unprecedented levels at the same time. That's a broken economy fundamentally. There's something inherently wrong with our economic structure."
Dan Brettler, CEO, Seattle-based Car Toys, co-chair Seattle Committee To End Homelessness 

Tents are pitched illegally on a sidewalk in Seattle in January. The number of people sleeping outside in the city shot up by 20 percent in just the past year.   David Ryder/Reuters/Landov

Seattle, Washington is doing very well, thank you, its tech-driven economy is on the booming track to continued growth and prosperity.  Its West Coast location has made it an extremely attractive venue, however, for homeless people, people who have suffered personal catastrophes that have resulted in lost jobs, lost marriages, lost homes, lost hope. And others who are afflicted with mental illness issues; others yet who are addicted to alcohol and drugs and cannot find their way home.

In November the mayor of the city, Edward Murray, declared a state of emergency over homelessness even though the city is seen as having the problem well in hand. The city is regarded as having solved to some degree the distress of homelessness, recognized elsewhere as a model in housing the homeless. Seattle has devised a city-wide-supported strategy to set aside areas where tent camps are authorized, where social services are available and rules of civil conduct govern.

Sharon Chang, ThinkProgress

There is a problem, however, in the existence of an outlier encampment whose residents consider their tent city their permanent home. That home is located in downtown Seattle, but residents can be forgiven for not being aware of its hidden existence. It is the city's largest homeless camp, and it exists among the pylons under the city's major highway. All together there is  an estimated 10,000 people without permanent shelter in King County, with its population of over two million residents.

The population of the illegal encampment which is popularly referred to as the "Jungle", a five-kilometre stretch of unseemly  territory under Interstate highway 5, which 400 souls call home. For whom there is nowhere else to go that appeals to them. Seattle has the dubious distinction of being recognized as a prosperous city whose homeless population numbers have soared. They are higher than that of any metropolitan area aside from New York and Los Angeles.

The San Francisco template of a healthy economy where the high tech sector is leading a boom, also leads to unaffordable rentals and finds its echo in Seattle. Those who can afford the high rents don't end up homeless. Those that cannot, often do. In the jungle, it could be said that a mixed-economic-social condition exists. Yes, there are the hard-core heroin addicts, but there are also couples and people with jobs, unable to afford to live in high rental properties.

"The Jungle," a unauthorized homeless encampment under Interstate is shown on Feb. 2, 2016. Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM

It was Mayor Murray's intention to clear out the Jungle, performing that public good in a measured way and offering improved alternatives to the residents. It takes money to do that properly. And there are complications, since the Jungle exists on state property, since the land under the highway is state land. Over the years funding allocated by the federal government for public housing has dwindled, just as mental health and addiction treatment have received less state funds.

Seattle Police and Fire Department crews know the Jungle fairly intimately. They have responded to over 820 emergency incidents over a five-year period. Of those incidents, 70 were violent, 500 were emergency medical calls, and 250 of them were fires.