Homeless/Drugs question (Seattle, Vancouver, Bellevue: crime rate, house, neighborhoods)

[CirculateRX]

Hello all,

My spouse and I are 2 nurse practitioners, and we'd really like some advice. We are interested in making the move to your city but don't want to come as ignorant people. We'd like to be helpful, good members of it. I feel like being well informed is one way to be a productive member. Everyone knows that Seattle is suffering regarding a surge in homelessness, drug use, and inattention from the SCC/no one really has a perfect fix type of thing. We do not plan on living in Seattle proper however and wonder how bad the issues spread to neighboring communities. Say, Redmond, Shoreline, Kirkland, Lynnwood, Kenmore... Do you see as many tarps, tents, needles, aggressive homeless, trash heaps in parks, etc? What do you feel the 10-year future looks like for Seattle? 20?

I know this is a heated subject, and sorry if I stepped on any toes, I am trying to learn as much as I can.

[homesinseattle]

No, you wouldn't really notice that in surrounding communities, same with many of the "pricier" neighborhoods of Seattle proper.

[turkeydance]

"What do you feel the 10-year future looks like for Seattle? 20?"
take your pick of my opinions:
1. Global Warming floods most of it.
2. combined Taxes take 70% of all income.
3. drugs are sold in the same way as booze is sold now.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by CirculateRX

Hello all,

My spouse and I are 2 nurse practitioners, and we'd really like some advice. We are interested in making the move to your city but don't want to come as ignorant people. We'd like to be helpful, good members of it. I feel like being well informed is one way to be a productive member. Everyone knows that Seattle is suffering regarding a surge in homelessness, drug use, and inattention from the SCC/no one really has a perfect fix type of thing. We do not plan on living in Seattle proper however and wonder how bad the issues spread to neighboring communities. Say, Redmond, Shoreline, Kirkland, Lynnwood, Kenmore... Do you see as many tarps, tents, needles, aggressive homeless, trash heaps in parks, etc? What do you feel the 10-year future looks like for Seattle? 20?

I know this is a heated subject, and sorry if I stepped on any toes, I am trying to learn as much as I can.

Wow.

So Seattle is liberal and yes there are some homeless in some areas. What is "inattention from the SCC"?
It rains a lot in Western Washington; coming from Arizona, there could be issues with SAD. The winters have low hanging clouds that can last for weeks. Odds are it will be more expensive than it is in ten years and traffic will be worse than it is now. We have hundreds moving here every week and the traffic is truly terrible. Are there other choices?

[CirculateRX]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Wow.

So Seattle is liberal and yes there are some homeless in some areas. What is "inattention from the SCC"?
It rains a lot in Western Washington; coming from Arizona, there could be issues with SAD. The winters have low hanging clouds that can last for weeks. Odds are it will be more expensive than it is in ten years and traffic will be worse than it is now. We have hundreds moving here every week and the traffic is truly terrible. Are there other choices?

What's the Wow for?
Inattention from the Seattle City Council meaning they aren't doing much to resolve the issue, and it seems from reading a lot of Seattlites' concerns, they seem to be making things worse.
We are considering Portland, but they have the same issues, Sacramento but taxes make us wary due to our "higher income", and Austin, but we aren't sure we wanna move from one hot area to another hot area. We looked into Denver but the cost of living is so high and it doesn't seem any nicer there than Seattle. Our friend is trying to encourage us to look into Vancouver WA... I've only explored it on google street view, and other than the newly built waterfront stuff, it doesn't look that desirable. Though his argument is being close to portland for everything.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by CirculateRX

What's the Wow for?
Inattention from the Seattle City Council meaning they aren't doing much to resolve the issue, and it seems from reading a lot of Seattlites' concerns, they seem to be making things worse.
We are considering Portland, but they have the same issues, Sacramento but taxes make us wary due to our "higher income", and Austin, but we aren't sure we wanna move from one hot area to another hot area. We looked into Denver but the cost of living is so high and it doesn't seem any nicer there than Seattle. Our friend is trying to encourage us to look into Vancouver WA... I've only explored it on google street view, and other than the newly built waterfront stuff, it doesn't look that desirable. Though his argument is being close to portland for everything.

If Denver is considered high, the Seattle metro is way too high. Denver is a bargain compared to the Seattle metro where a house on the Eastside (Bellevue, Redmond, etc.) will start at $600-$700K. And again, SAD could very well be a factor if one has never spent a winter in a truly damp place where in December, the sun rises at 8:00 am and sets by 4 p.m., it starts raining in late October and pretty much rains through January and the clouds hang low for weeks.

Here is the traffic an HOUR after rush hour began: https://mynorthwest.com/traffic/?

The worst is on 405 (the Eastside).

[Guineas]

Basically the Seattle City Council sees the trash-strewing homeless drug addict as a better constituent than you, the tax-paying dual-income homeowner. You are "part of the problem" of the high housing costs and wealth disparity, you see. You can also potentially challenge the SCC's power, while the drug addict if he remembers to vote, along with his social justice pals, will always vote for the current incumbents of the SCC.

Seattle has some of the highest property crime rate in the country, over double that of NYC, LA, Boston and Vegas.

[CirculateRX]

Originally Posted by Guineas

Basically the Seattle City Council sees the trash-strewing homeless drug addict as a better constituent than you, the tax-paying dual-income homeowner. You are "part of the problem" of the high housing costs and wealth disparity, you see. You can also potentially challenge the SCC's power, while the drug addict if he remembers to vote, along with his social justice pals, will always vote for the current incumbents of the SCC.

Seattle has some of the highest property crime rate in the country, over double that of NYC, LA, Boston and Vegas.

So, what do I do... The IDEA of Seattle/Surrounding areas sounds great but if it's so bad, where can I go?

[leastprime]

What do you want the SCC to do?
I guess the #1 thing is to have the Seattle Police move the homeless & druggies out to somewhere else; Like Bothell or Bellevue?

[CirculateRX]

Originally Posted by leastprime

What do you want the SCC to do?
I guess the #1 thing is to have the Seattle Police move the homeless & druggies out to somewhere else; Like Bothell or Bellevue?

I'm trying to get my questions answered... not start a "what do we do with the homeless" thread..