[Digitalis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpAi70WWBlw&t=2137s
Really shocked to see we are facing similar problems.
The lack of police having authority to do anything.
The masking of the drug problem as a "housing" problem.
Hope with all the container homes popping up around Vancouver that we dont wind up going down the same route.
Those in the know share your stories.

[SpeedStars]

Just finished watching this. It looks almost exactly like the problems we see down on East Hastings. The things happening in Seattle such as people going there to shoot up, get high, take advantage of resources - are all happening in Vancouver. There are people that come from other parts of BC/Canada to take advantage of safe injection sites and the lax policy on enforcing laws on dealers; not users. This also puts a huge strain on ambulance services, fire services, and police services. Ask them about Welfare Wednesday and they'll be able to tell you what it means. No idea how we'll get through it, but every big city seems to be dealing with a drug problem nowadays.

[josayeee]

I last visited downtown Seattle about 2 years ago. I remember it was tough to differentiate which areas to avoid.

[68style]

At least it's somewhat contained in Vancouver... if you can call that entire stretch of East Hastings "contained"... man... in Seattle though? You can be right next to Pike Market surrounded by fellow tourists and that little park just North of the original Starbucks guys will be screaming their faces off to imaginary people and making threatening motions at you... lord help you if you get stuck walking in any of the industrial areas around the stadiums late at night. Seattle is a cesspool as far as I'm concerned, I do not like walking around that city at all.

Also eagerly awaiting Hondaracer's post in this thread hahahaha

[Hondaracer]

Yea I don’t care for Seattle. And the last time I spent any sort of time there was when I met my wife like 8 years ago. And it was pretty bad then.

As 68 said that area around the Stadiums actually feels dangerous. The DTES is what it is, if you’re walking Hastings etc. it’s not a place you want to be but the people are generally calm albeit crazy/high

Seems like most major cities are facing the opioid crisis, the problem with Seattle Vancouver San Fran etc is no one can even afford a flop house so you’re out on the street when addiction takes hold

[CivicBlues]

American cities are like that though - especially on the West Coast. The Downtown is more often the not a place for office workers, tourists and junkies. We are just spoiled here in Downtown Vancouver cause of our Condo culture.

In Seattle you want to hang out in Ballard, Capitol Hill, or Freemont. Sure there's junkies in those places too but there's enough hipsters and yuppies to balance it out.

[StylinRed]

never really enjoyed seattle, lately if I do go down, ill just go to Bellevue/Redmond much nicer...its clean lol

[Digitalis]

This is what the container homes going up around all the different neighborhoods in vancouver is doing tho "spreading it out" instead of the concentration in DTES.
Can you picture Vancouver when you can't distinguish what areas are good or bad?
Yea I don’t care for Seattle. And the last time I spent any sort of time there was when I met my wife like 8 years ago. And it was pretty bad then.

As 68 said that area around the Stadiums actually feels dangerous. The DTES is what it is, if you’re walking Hastings etc. it’s not a place you want to be but the people are generally calm albeit crazy/high

Seems like most major cities are facing the opioid crisis, the problem with Seattle Vancouver San Fran etc is no one can even afford a flop house so you’re out on the street when addiction takes hold

[iwantaskyline]

Definitely a lot nicer on the Amazon side of downtown nowadays. There's also a lot of condos getting built in that area.

[Nlkko]

Vancouver is hardly a "big city".

Most big cities have ghetto areas. SF Tenderloin, NYC Harlem. It's just the wealth gap. It's hardly "dying".

[twitchyzero]

whift of urine in the staircase
needles in the park
have your windows broken even without any valuables in the car

so basically a good chunk of downtown Vancouver

but out of sight, out of mind

[blkgsr]

am i the only one that isn't afraid to walk around main and Hastings a 2am?

seriously, leave the no 5 and catch a bus....ain't that bad

even walking from further west off hastings

[Digitalis]

Clearly you didn't watch the full video.
Vancouver is hardly a "big city".

Most big cities have ghetto areas. SF Tenderloin, NYC Harlem. It's just the wealth gap. It's hardly "dying".

[winson604]

am i the only one that isn't afraid to walk around main and Hastings a 2am?

seriously, leave the no 5 and catch a bus....ain't that bad

even walking from further west off hastings

I don't think anyone has said they feel afraid walking around DTES.

[Hondaracer]

I’m not afraid to walk through the DTES, due to the fucking shit cabs in this city I’ve had take the ghetto ass bus home a few times

However it’s not exactly a place you want to be hanging out, and honestly walking from No.5 to Hastings isn’t really even in the heart of the shit there

[twitchyzero]

am i the only one that isn't afraid to walk around main and Hastings a 2am?

seriously, leave the no 5 and catch a bus....ain't that bad

even walking from further west off hastings

and if your home/business front were to turn into that?

business wouldn't be affected if people started urinating/defecating at your steps and coming in to steal things, or having to explain to your young kids about sharps lying around?

[DragonChi]

It's like the found the craziest guy in Seattle and decided to follow him around to get footage. lol.

Doesn't the states have a three strikes rule? WTF are these guys doing on the streets, free, with 50+ charges.

I feel like NYC had the same issue with drug use, and now they are lowest property crimes per 100,000 as shown in the video. What did that city do to make such a big change in the last 30-40 years?

Firsthand account:
https://www.quora.com/Was-New-York-better-before-the-Giuliani-clean-up-in-the-1990s

[josayeee]

It's like the found the craziest guy in Seattle and decided to follow him around to get footage. lol.

Doesn't the states have a three strikes rule? WTF are these guys doing on the streets, free, with 50+ charges.

I feel like NYC had the same issue with drug use, and now they are lowest property crimes per 100,000 as shown in the video. What did that city do to make such a big change in the last 30-40 years?

Firsthand account:
https://www.quora.com/Was-New-York-better-before-the-Giuliani-clean-up-in-the-1990s

From reading the youtube comments it seems to me that Seattle voted a Mayor Moonbeam Trudeau type guy.

[DragonChi]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. They pretty much took away the enforcement powers of the police. I wonder if they can't jail people because they're at prison capacity. If it's not at capacity or there isn't any other legit reason, then they city council is truly inept.

[mikemhg]

I watched the documentary a few days ago, and I found it somewhat slanted. KOMO News is owned my Sinclair Broadcast Group, a conservative company that propagates these pro-police narratives throughout the stations they own throughout America.

The doc just smelt a little slanted to me, clearly pushing a certain conservative agenda, weighing heavily on "anonymous" police statements. Granting police more "power" is not the answer, that mentality does not work, and hasn't worked.

It's functionally a problem with US culture specifically towards drug addiction, and mental health. The lack of a true social safety net that Canada for example carries, is a major reason why Seattle looks the way it does. Simple prosecution of drug addicts, throwing them in jail, and granting police more power to do so does not fix this problem.

Americans need to open their eyes to a more holistic approach to drug addiction, to empower and rehabilitate these people, and address their mental illnesses. I do like how the documentary briefly touched on that idea, but I was not a fan of them pushing the agenda of bringing back a "3 strikes you're out" type of law.

You might think the DTES is bad, but in fact Vancouver is doing a pretty decent job at addressing the problem the best we can, of course more needs to be done, but we're no where near Seattle's issue.

I agree with Honda, I've never been a fan of Seattle, never liked the vibe of the city, and certainly not a fan of the downtown area. Vancouver could very easily be like Seattle, we are lucky we have a proper social safety net in place that somewhat stops that from happening, as someone said above though, this is a problem in most major US cities, especially on the coasts.

This is a social-economic problem, plain and simple, which the coastal cities have a major issue with.

[CharlesInCharge]

The US (pretty much all western countries) is built around exploiting people for empire building... even if it means enslaving people to this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly25hmMzTdc

[RiceIntegraRS]

how did they get a NHL franchise?

[GS8]

The meth addict they interviewed near the beginning has better teeth that I do :QQ:

[Vansterdam]

first thing you noticed when you hit downtown Seattle is all the tents lol

sketchy af to walk around at night

[AstulzerRZD]

I agree with Honda, I've never been a fan of Seattle, never liked the vibe of the city, and certainly not a fan of the downtown area.

Yep... most locals don't seem to like downtown either.

I've noticed that locals and tourists seem to spend time in very different areas... seems like locals seem to chill in the U District, Belltown, Cap Hill, or Fremont.

With the highways, living on the East Side isn't too bad. Usually a 15-20 minute drive to west side. Sometimes hop across the bridge for lunch break even.

Personally like Portland vibes a lot more but incomes in my industry are quite a bit lower there.

[adamzilla]

The US (pretty much all western countries) is built around exploiting people for empire building... even if it means enslaving people to this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly25hmMzTdc

Because Eastern countries aren't like that?

[CharlesInCharge]

Many garbage eastern countries are also puppets to western rulers... they see countries as farms and people as cattle. The object of the game is to make as much capital as possible without breaking the system.

[VRYALT3R3D]

Many garbage eastern countries are also puppets to western rulers... they see countries as farms and people as cattle. The object of the game is to make as much capital as possible without breaking the system.

Why don't you grow some balls and move to Iran? There you can turn into a woman and marry the man of your dreams.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29832690

[CharlesInCharge]

I have to bank my money first... cant go there as a beggar and expect to marry up to 4 wives.
In Iran, the government works with the people to own a home... where as western ideals are to systematically drug and bankrupt people before their engineered early death.. as Henry Kissinger puts it... https://i.imgur.com/FApWOrV.jpg

Irans Mehr Housing project; short video clip (free land and loans for millions)
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/01/17/586019/Iran-Mehr-Housing-project-

edit only $6000 for an apartment. @16:00 https://youtu.be/Svcv_fdXJQE?t=958
https://i.imgur.com/QVzaq0P.jpg


Meanwhile in Seattle and Vancouver things will never change... peasants will always be running the rat race so they can afford to live under a roof on stolen Native America land.

[VRYALT3R3D]

I have to bank my money first... cant go there as a beggar and expect to marry up to 4 wives.
In Iran, the government works with the people to own a home... where as western ideals are to systematically drug and bankrupt people before their engineered early death.. as Henry Kissinger puts it... https://i.imgur.com/FApWOrV.jpg

He never wrote that. Show me what page that quote is on to prove me wrong.

https://spectatorblogs.imgix.net/files/2015/09/li.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=620&h=413

I am sure you can sell your cardboard body kit cars there and afford to live there.

[Digitalis]

Yes they should just give them more tax dollars and let them fix the problem.
Even the construction workers knew better than that.:chairdance:
I watched the documentary a few days ago, and I found it somewhat slanted. KOMO News is owned my Sinclair Broadcast Group, a conservative company that propagates these pro-police narratives throughout the stations they own throughout America.

The doc just smelt a little slanted to me, clearly pushing a certain conservative agenda, weighing heavily on "anonymous" police statements. Granting police more "power" is not the answer, that mentality does not work, and hasn't worked.

It's functionally a problem with US culture specifically towards drug addiction, and mental health. The lack of a true social safety net that Canada for example carries, is a major reason why Seattle looks the way it does. Simple prosecution of drug addicts, throwing them in jail, and granting police more power to do so does not fix this problem.

Americans need to open their eyes to a more holistic approach to drug addiction, to empower and rehabilitate these people, and address their mental illnesses. I do like how the documentary briefly touched on that idea, but I was not a fan of them pushing the agenda of bringing back a "3 strikes you're out" type of law.

You might think the DTES is bad, but in fact Vancouver is doing a pretty decent job at addressing the problem the best we can, of course more needs to be done, but we're no where near Seattle's issue.

I agree with Honda, I've never been a fan of Seattle, never liked the vibe of the city, and certainly not a fan of the downtown area. Vancouver could very easily be like Seattle, we are lucky we have a proper social safety net in place that somewhat stops that from happening, as someone said above though, this is a problem in most major US cities, especially on the coasts.

This is a social-economic problem, plain and simple, which the coastal cities have a major issue with.

[CharlesInCharge]

He never wrote that. Show me what page that quote is on to prove me wrong.. He was supposedly overheard saying that but Kissinger ran in those kind of circles... the policies are pretty evident from the past to present. Watch the documentary of cut, burn and poison, and you see that they are whole slaughtering millions with unnecessary Chemo treatment.

Only upto the 70's did the US stop forced sterilizations... Im sure many people in Seattle and Vancouver would fit the criteria of criminality and alcoholism which is system engineered addiction and being poor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v0Otwor8Pw

btw Bush had nominated Kissinger as head of 9/11 taskforce.
youtube.com/watch?v=ORIU7vPiiV4


I am sure you can sell your cardboard body kit cars there and afford to live there. Im sure too, but I cant just go there broke and start carving out kits without a CNC machine and workshop.

[mikemhg]

Yes they should just give them more tax dollars and let them fix the problem.
Even the construction workers knew better than that.:chairdance:

Riiiiight, cause that's EXACTLY what I said, right?

When in my post did I state that more tax dollars should be collected for this issue?

You do realize that allotting the police more powers to arrest, and detain drug addicts in jail, also costs huge tax dollars? Based on your logic, that would also be a further appropriation of tax dollars to the problem.

What I've been saying is that American law enforcement and the DEA need to take a fundamental look at how they view the war on drugs. It simply isn't working, and is a massive waste of money.

Instead of vilifying a drug user, as this documentary does, why not appropriate dollars in a better way to rehabilitate these people? This ridiculous no tax, libertarian mentality does not work, plain and simple. I've traveled through the States and I see the same thing in their major cities, abject poverty of the likes one would see in third world countries.

You simply do not see the same level of poverty in major cities within Canada due to our social safety net. Yes we pay more taxes, but I would much prefer a safer and more ethical society than the likes I see in a lot of these American cities, it's damn depressing. I always feel a sense of unease in Seattle whenever I enter that city, I find myself wanting to get the fuck out of there as soon as I can. I can't explain it, the city has a bad energy, it just feels sad.

Many of these people on the street, you don't know their stories. Any one of us can end up in the same predicament as them, working in corrections taught me that from my dealings with some of these folks. One bad decision, one major bump in life can easily result you in such circumstances.

We are all connected as human beings in this society, learn to carry some more compassion for these people, and better yourself as a person.

On a side note, we were at Calabash last night for drinks and dancing, and inevitably I ended up walking the DTES looking for a damn cab home @ 2 AM for about 40 minutes. As usual, I never felt any sense of danger on unease from the people around me. I would definitely not feel that same way walking areas of Seattle at night.

If the price on that means more taxes, I'll take it.

[westopher]

Finding a solution that costs money is always just "throwing tax dollars" at something according to anyone that doesn't believe or acknowledge that the solution proposed could work.
It seems the common thread between people with no empathy for people with addictions either
A) Have never had a real meaningful interaction with anyone with that issue.
B) Overcome that issue themselves and have the "If I can do it why can't they" attitude.
Some people will just never have the interest in putting in the effort to understanding someone else problems unfortunately, and will just go on considering those around them who don't benefit them a burden.

[Digitalis]

Of course those that are willing to throw money at the problem are rarely the ones that are paying 40+% taxes either. Go figure.
I'm all for the Portugal model.
Finding a solution that costs money is always just "throwing tax dollars" at something according to anyone that doesn't believe or acknowledge that the solution proposed could work.
It seems the common thread between people with no empathy for people with addictions either
A) Have never had a real meaningful interaction with anyone with that issue.
B) Overcome that issue themselves and have the "If I can do it why can't they" attitude.
Some people will just never have the interest in putting in the effort to understanding someone else problems unfortunately, and will just go on considering those around them who don't benefit them a burden.