Seattle Is Dying! (with 3/22 Update)

3/22/19 Update: Here's what ShiftWA post in their news email for today.

“This documentary that KOMO has put together has changed the conversation in a real way and I think that’s going to have an impact here in the legislature. It’s going to have an impact in city councils throughout the Puget Sound Region.” That’s what Sen. Hans Zeiger (R-Puyallup) had to say about a provocative documentary by KOMO News reporter Eric Johnson on the homelessness crisis. Zeiger is calling for special committee work sessions to address the issues highlighted in the special. (KOMO News)

I worked in downtown Seattle as an event guard after retiring from full-time teaching for the past 9 years. I first worked at CenturyLink Field during the Seahawks and Sounder games, then at Safeco Field during the Mariners season until last summer. It was during the last few years - 3 to 4 - in which I saw the explosion of homelessness hit the Soda District around these two sports stadiums. I also heard radio talk show hosts discussing this growing problem.

One particular day has always stuck out more prominently in my mind, than the almost daily exposure to tents, R.V.s and trash piles, when I was leaving the job at Safeco Field after a game ended. I was walking on the overpass of Royal Brougham toward my vehicle and overheard a man near me on his cell phone telling someone in another city the following, "Oh man, this place is terrible! There is filth everywhere. It's worse than home and I don't recommend coming here as a tourist!" It was then that I realized this situation was probably causing Seattle's tourist industry millions every year.

Just this evening for the first time, I was exposed to a very well produced news documentary, produced by KOMO TV - an ABC affiliate station here in Seattle - titled "Seattle Is Dying" which looks at what is happening to this once "jewel of the Northwest" that is rapidly turning into a third-world looking city. If you've not yet seen it, you need to. If you have, then I ask that you share the link for it with your email friends.

As someone who has witnessed this sad state of affairs occur, I pray that things don't get any worse than they already are before things begin to change for the better; as I believe it eventually will. For I am already kept busy every day praying for my older daughter's protection as a worker in the heart of downtown Seattle as a pastry chef.