19 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: Restaurant burglar; gas theft; two stolen vehicles found"

• Susan August 4, 2018 (7:18 am)

  The innocence of our beautiful city (as experienced by someone who arrived in 1973,)  has been ripped away.  I am wanting to be elsewhere, much as I have loved living here.

  • West Seattle since 1979 August 4, 2018 (8:48 am)

    I moved here in 1979. I went to stay in a motel while searching for an apartment, and decided to drive somewhere to a restaurant. I came from the Midwest, and we didn’t always lock our car doors. I stopped at a light, and a man got into my car and asked me for all my money. He showed a knife. He went away after I gave it to him, but still I was scared to death. Oh, and before moving here, I came out on the bus, a couple months before the above incident. Another young woman sat next to me. When she heard I was visiting Seattle for the first time, she advised me never to go anywhere on the bus at night—either rent a car or take taxis. So I guess the innocence of Seattle disappeared sometime between 1973 and 1979.

  • Sandal45 August 4, 2018 (11:40 am)

    :( 

• Swede. August 4, 2018 (9:06 am)

  Locking gas caps isn’t necessarily a working solution to stop gas thiefs. They just punch a hole in the tank from underneath if they ‘have’ to. Better check if that is the case before filling up Amy. 

• well... August 4, 2018 (9:19 am)

  Lost its innocence?  Oh, please.In the 1970s Seattle was miserable.  Due to the Boeing bust and the overall recession unemployment was the highest out of any major city.  Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer both made news in the following years.  And of course in 1983 there was the mass killing in Chinatown.What’s more, people living in Seattle are probably the safest they have ever been–violent crime has been going steadily down for decades now.  There are lots of great things to complain about, I don’t think Seattle’s lost innocence is really one of them.

• Rick August 4, 2018 (10:26 am)

  Arrived in ’69 myself after having lived all over the country. (Military,2 years each stop) Sad,but true. In ten years or less the millenials will be bitchin’ about their 210 square foot apodments with no kitchen or parking at 1400.00+ a month. And the beat goes on. (Petula Clark,1968, for you youngsters). Like the Pink Floyd song “Money”.  Another oldie.

  • Wdresident August 4, 2018 (1:29 pm)

    Not all people paying $1400 a month for 240 sq ftcare millienials, just FYI I’m 40, have a child and have three generations of family in West Seattle. I’d say 50%of the building is over 35. I’m much happier living small and simple to focus on the important things in life versus my 2200 square foot house and all of its maintenance. Just thought it would be fair to dispel your generalizations, as they are incorrect. 

    • West Seattle since 1979 August 4, 2018 (3:01 pm)

      I’m 61 and live in a studio apartment. 

• waikikigirl August 4, 2018 (2:13 pm)

  @Rick, And the beat goes on was sung by Sonny and Cher and Downtown was Petula! LOL!!!

• CanDo August 4, 2018 (3:11 pm)

  Good song….  “Beat Goes On”…  Sonny and Cher.  

• For each is own August 4, 2018 (3:38 pm)

  Innocence opposed to scandalous is all a matter of perception and ones own personal experience.For me personally I believe that overcrowding is the problem and everyone under the assumption that the next person is out to get them.As much as I love the blog I blame the blog. Allowing a community to come together yet fall so far apart at the same time.Very resourceful when needing to know what all the sirens are about but because of that awareness people are so much more on alert.Its not necessary to call the police just because a new face walks down your street or a car is out of place.Be vigilant of course but not so much so that you’re just now a paranoid freak

• LyndaB August 4, 2018 (4:19 pm)

  I met someone who was about to move to Seattle and he said he found an apartment near Pioneer Square in one of the new buildings.   He traveled a lot and like being close to the light rail.  I was feeling guilty a little about warning him about Pioneer Square and the element down there.  Like I was making a general comment about the homeless.  But weeks later I heard someone almost choked a tv reporter with a homemade weapon in that are.  I guess I didn’t feel bad for warning him anymore.

• Jay August 4, 2018 (6:56 pm)

  I can’t say I feel any safer walking downtown now than I did 10 years ago. The amount of people hanging out downtown 24 hours a day has increased exponentially. Drove to Pioneer Square this morning at 7am, took 99 and got off at Seneca. It was like a scene from a dystopian movie of Seattle in 2050, except it’s 2018. Streets devoid of cars,  but packed full of people  with nowhere to call home, many walking around looking sick. Trash blowing around the streets from one curb to the other. It’s only a matter of time until it starts to make it’s way to West Seattle. Ballard is already experiencing the effects. Seattle hasn’t “lost it’s innocence”; it’s turned to *ish.    

  • well... August 4, 2018 (7:43 pm)

    Feeling unsafe is awful, and I don’t mean to diminish your fear of assault or some other crime.  

    That said, there simply are fewer assaults per capita now then there were in 2008.  I also think it’s sad that so many parts of Seattle are down-at-the-heels, but it is important to remember that feelings of discomfort, worry, or even fear don’t actually predict crimes occurring.  

    Here is a site that shows some of the statistics regarding crime in Seattle: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Seattle-Washington.html

    You can note that violent crime overall is DOWN per capita (the big exception is sexual assault which, if you do a little reading, just means that it was vastly underreported in the past).  Make of this information what you will–and, again, I don’t mean to trivialize your concerns, I just wanted to point out that violent crime in Seattle really really really isn’t spiraling out of control.

  • Rose p. August 5, 2018 (12:10 am)

    I used to work in pioneer square and went to school downtown 10 years ago. It’s always been bad. There’s always been tons of homeless and drug addicts. In my opinion it’s really not much worse now than it was then. That’s how it is when you live in a city. It’s even worse in a bigger city like New York.

• Just Saying August 4, 2018 (8:42 pm)

  First and foremost I came here in the spring of 1960 and as I crossed the I-90 bridge I truly thought it was the most beautiful city I had ever seen.  At that time there was no 520 bridge, no I-5, and no I-405.  The tallest building was the Smith Tower in downtown.  Yes, many changes since then. We’ve grown, expanded, and in places bulged at the seams.  Seattle has always been a very innovative and great city to live in.  Many of the most unhappy people here have come from other states.  As I am proud of our area my response is simple.  “If you are unhappy here, please go home!  In all my 58 years here I don’t recall ever seeing “gold plated invitations” going out to you to move here!  There are 49 other states, hundreds of other cities, and other countries where I’m sure your negativity would be welcome.” Here’s a thought, still in the middlethinking process.  Instead of all these tax breaks to the large companies, the homeless crisis, etc. let’s  help it work together.  Let’s get people to work and in lieu of high wages how about these large companies providing housing for their employees as part of their compensation and of course reaping benefits for the employees and employers alike.  People are then paying their own way and living comfortably, having real addresses so their children can go to school, and folding up our tents for summer camping trips.  No hands out, no hands up, just all working together to make sure all our people are well, safe, and our children are taught to care for there fellow man.  I was in Canada many years ago at Stanley Park.  As we walked I was observing the people in front of me.  Candy wrapper, pop cup etc. thrown on the ground.  Many of us would respond that “it’s not my fault, I didn’t throw it there.” Instead they quietly bent over, picked it up, and carried it to the trash can!  Gee folks, is that pride alive in your community?!  I’ve lived in a variety of different locations around and in Seattle over these 58 years.  It is still my home and still a beautiful city.  I’m proud to be a part of it.  So when you see things aren’t as they should it could be, reach for your phones, talk to the powers that be, call city hall, be heard.  No idea is stupid.  No help is unwanted.  We are a very innovative group of people here.  Let’s fix it!!!!!!

  • commenting from afar August 5, 2018 (8:45 am)

    …but you’re a transplant, as well. The reason people who relocate here can be “many of the most unhappy people” as you decided to say, is because of attitudes like this from people who have lived here either a long time, which you have, or have lived here their whole lives, which you have not. Many of the most unhappy and unwelcoming people I have personally encountered are people like you. The problems here are nowhere near as bad as people make them out to be, and the “locals” are rude, judgmental, and obnoxious towards those that relocate here. Look at yourself and your perceptions before blaming and shaming those that moved here with the exact same thought you had many, many, many years ago: “I truly thought it was the most beautiful city I had ever seen.” Those were my exact thoughts when I came here on vacation, and what inspired me to relocate here, as well. People like you make this city unbearable. The crime and homelessness? That’s everywhere in all 50 states! Get off your high horse!

• Michael Smith August 5, 2018 (1:29 pm)

  Those of you who have moved “whenever”, and now complain about losing our innocence, can you imagine how those of us actually born here in the 50’s feel? Maybe it was all of you moving here that did it. In the spirit of Emmett Watson, go back where you came from and leave the city to us😉

• Devin August 6, 2018 (7:50 pm)

  West Seattle is fine. Yes things have changed. Everything changes. We all just get the info more abruptly and/or quickly than 10,20+ years ago. Hats off to all the agencies involved in the community working toward a better environment for us all. People aren’t the problem. Fear of change is.

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