Homelessness

Despite the fact that LIHI's proposed affordable housing project has been advancing for nearly three years, public opposition has kicked up in recent weeks. The new campaign contends that such a prime Bainbridge Island site isn't appropriate for affordable housing.

The pair of appeals focused on alleged impact from providing too few off-street parking stalls, but the Hearing Examiner upheld City's decision to permit the project. Plymouth Housing's long-planned project can now advance toward construction.

How the City of Tacoma uses planting strips along its streets tells a tale of haves and have-nots, and of our differing standards. The City has gone out of its way to exclude homeless people from this space with $163,000 worth of boulders.

King County is seeking to site a walk-in mental health crisis center in Capitol Hill, but a group of local business owners and residents are pushing back. Health care providers have backed the location, and Seattle Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck has emerged as a vocal proponent, while her colleagues and Mayor Bruce Harrell have mostly withheld support.

King County's Health Through Housing program provides a road map for exiting homelessness, providing housing first to stabilize people, and it’s working. Newly unveiled 2024 data shows a high rate of success among participants.

In the middle of a homelessness crisis, Seattle is still allowing employers to reject qualified job applicants simply because they don’t have a permanent address. That’s discrimination, and the Seattle City Attorney should lead the way in banning the practice.

This fall voters will decide whether to give Bruce Harrell another term as Seattle Mayor. In the third article in a series, Ron Davis argues that Harrell's current term has been a failure on the issue of homelessness.

Homeless encampment sweeps have tripled under Mayor Harrell, but shelter capacity has shrunk, and the number of people who are unsheltered remains stubbornly high.