57 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Andover 'RV remediation' complete, SPU says"

• Buck December 3, 2021 (11:10 pm)

  It is so saddening to watch the city of Seattle wander aimlessly with no firm leadership.  The RV’s are still there, the garbage will return. The city has done NOTHING to help with our city streets problem with ‘pos’ RV’s and their garbage and the corresponding crime that follows. Can the city council/mayor not help us rid our city of these vehicles that dangerously fill our public parks and streets? Good god then why have any government at all? Why pay taxes for no representation?

  • Carnofcarnage December 4, 2021 (2:08 am)

    Unfourtionatly, i am fairly sure that if the city did find a place for the rvs to go park off of the street with restrooms and a place to dispose of garbage, people would call that a waste of tax dollars

    • Peter S. December 4, 2021 (8:16 am)

      And this “effort” wasn’t ??

    • bill December 4, 2021 (10:42 am)

      A designated parking area with restrooms and sanitation would at least be a step toward humane treatment of the RV dwellers and would mitigate the public health threat. 

      • WSB December 4, 2021 (12:48 pm)

        When I inquired with the Human Services Department for the initial report on this, they sent a virtual sheaf of unsolicited information about current plans for safe lots. Separate story will ensue, but bottom line is that funding will create a grand total of 25 spots … for the entire city … and continue an existing Urban League program involving 17 parking spots for car (not RV) dwellers. And what’s done with this funding is now up to the new Regional Homelessness Authority, not the city…

        • bill December 4, 2021 (4:26 pm)

          Why can’t the city actually meet the need….

  • Brian December 4, 2021 (2:41 pm)

    It’s super strange that you’re able to identify that the RVs exist but can’t seem to connect the other dot that people live inside of them. Like human beings I mean. 

• Peter S. December 4, 2021 (12:10 am)

  As a regular WS Health Club member, I can tell you that whatever “remediation” was done was hardly noticeable at 4PM.  I happened to look out the 3rd floor window and see a cute little grey squirrel bounce across the sidewalk from the Nucor storage lot on the southwest corner and right into a camper’s tent.  Poor little squirrel must’ve been cold, because it’s tail was missing all of it’s fir.  Seeing rats out and about in daylight is never a good sign.  I wonder if the camper was home.  

  • Carnofcarnage December 4, 2021 (1:24 am)

    I read someplace that seattle is in the top ten rat infested ccity in the u.s.

    • wsresident December 4, 2021 (9:01 am)

      I think it’s higher than 10th hence the Rat City title but NY HAS to be #1, they are visible running around everywhere. 

      • Smoosh December 4, 2021 (10:19 am)

        It’s fun just after sunset in the summertime to go hang out in the grass by the liberty statue on Alki between the boathouse and watch the rats silently swarm through the grass.  You would think it was just the wind blowing by the gentle crackle of the grass but when you look closer: so many rats.  My favorite part is how so few other people notice.  

      • Erin98126 December 4, 2021 (11:03 am)

        If you’re referring to the White Center nickname “Rat City,” this has nothing to do with rats. The nickname came about during WWII when the area was a military Relocation And Training center.

      • Peter S. December 4, 2021 (11:05 am)

        Let’s be nice.  “Rat City” title officially belongs to White Center :)

      • Nick December 4, 2021 (11:51 am)

        White Center is Rat City, not Seattle.There are multiple histories for the name (restricted alcohol territory, relocation and training center), but none of them are about rodents.

• Mel December 4, 2021 (5:15 am)

  Is this a joke? It looks exactly the same. I am there twice per day. I noticed last night that there’s actually new tents popping up. This city has seriously lost its way.

• Buttercup December 4, 2021 (6:58 am)

  What is the point of the No Parking signs if they are still there?

• Wsres December 4, 2021 (7:20 am)

  I used to love our city. I want to still love it, but our city council and mayors have let it go to hell this past 7 years…

• Morgan December 4, 2021 (7:59 am)

  it’s deeper than this…case law now treats RV removal like home evictions. You need to get to state legislators for change on basic public health and safety on streets now and not just the City (although also culpable).

  • flimflam December 4, 2021 (10:54 am)

    So that makes them exempt from parking laws?

  • nwpolitico December 4, 2021 (8:13 pm)

    That’s not entirely true. While it would be helpful for the state to amend the Homestead Act, it’s not necessary for basic public health and safety on streets. The State Supreme Court’s ruling this summer classifying vehicles as homes only says the city can’t excessively fine those vehicle owners, not that it can’t subject their vehicles to parking regulations. The Durkan administration has tied its own hands and made everybody mad in an effort to avoid accountability, while indirectly blaming the court.

• Tracey December 4, 2021 (8:45 am)

  Pretty disappointing but I guess not surprising.  Fingers crossed Harrell has a better plan.

  • Smoosh December 4, 2021 (10:21 am)

    Ooooh, let’s all wait and find out…..

  • Amy December 4, 2021 (6:08 pm)

    Harrell had plenty of time to propose a plan when he was on the city council from 2007 to 2020 but didn’t. 

• Auntie December 4, 2021 (10:25 am)

  What a complete waste of time, energy and money. It will be a matter of days (hours?) before it is a complete sty again. This “remediation” did nothing to help the people living in the encampments and sure didn’t help the poor souls who live in the area and have to deal with it on a daily basis. Sure, they hauled away some garbage and towed one RV. I’m guessing if I drive by there today, it will be back to situation normal – piles of garbage and stolen bikes. Bah!

  • Nick December 4, 2021 (11:58 am)

    I am here to simply respond to the distress and anger of commenters like this, who will “drive by” later, or who come to the neighborhood to use the gym.I live a block from the RVs, I interact with the residents at the convenience store around the corner and when I walk by their vehicles. There has not been a demonstrable increase in any sort of crime due to the presence of these HUMAN BEINGS.These comments (a vast majority on post of these sorts of topics) are embarrassing at a west seattle resident. It’s taken me a decade to realize the anti humanist streak in west seattle. The “problem” you all seem to think needs to be solved is the presence of poor people in the area, not the conditions which create poverty. gross.

    • Rhonda December 4, 2021 (12:57 pm)

      Our stolen SUV was found at this illegal RV encampment filled with burglary tools and items from several burglaries. Many area residents have been harassed and threatened by the RV inhabitants. I don’t think shaming our hard-working, law-abiding West Seattle residents who have legitmate concerns is necessary to reinforce your position.

    • Brynn December 4, 2021 (1:35 pm)

      Nick, thank you for your response and your humanity. I get pretty disheartened reading the blog comments most days. It’s comments like yours that help remind me that the majority of commenters on the blog don’t represent all of us here in West Seattle. 

    • Dave December 4, 2021 (2:52 pm)

      Please go ask your new friends to return my stolen bike, and let me know how many teeth you having missing afterwards.

    • westwood December 4, 2021 (2:55 pm)

      Guess you didn’t read the letter from Nucor. I think they would disagree with your assessment of the level of crime in the area. So far, I’ve read drug dealing, theft and prostitution. Last I checked…all crimes.

      • Mr. Henry December 4, 2021 (4:41 pm)

        I agree Westwood.  Nick needs to review the  facts and data.  The homeless that want help will get the help they need.  The ones that don’t are the ones causing all the problems for our neighbors and police.  “One solution does not fit all” 

        • Nick December 5, 2021 (3:16 pm)

          Again, I would point folks to the SPD crime dashboards. There is no evidence of a significant rise in property or violent crime in the F1 North Delridge beat over the past 4 years (I could look further back if folks think that’s where it is hiding). You can say I don’t understand, but everyone here is sharing anecdotes without data. Nucor might disagree with “my assessment,” but it isn’t mine…its the literal number of crimes as compiled by the SPD.

    • Business Owner December 4, 2021 (3:10 pm)

      Nick,I’m a business owner near by.  They pulled 4 tons of garbage out of there and it didn’t make a dent.  

      I assume the 20 foot high bike sculpture is made from all free-range purchased bicycles.  My vehicle fuel lines have been cut for siphoning, my storage has been broken into repeatedly.    My crime and business expenses have gone up significantly and I didn’t have an RV run into my building and explode.

      I’m for doing things for human beings.  Leaving them to rot in the street surrounded by garbage and rats isn’t it.  How about we fully fund mental health, drug rehab and safe lots?  And also stop long term parking or tents on city streets, parks, etc.  It’s time for the encampments to go.

      • Nick December 5, 2021 (9:14 am)

        I would recommend that everyone one here with these experiences file reports. I said they’re was no demonstrable increase in crime, which according to SPD’s SW precinct F1 beat stats is true.2020/2021 saw the same rates of violent crimes and burglary, less theft, and and 2 more incidents of motor vehicle theft. Granted, we still have three weeks for this massive increase in property crime to show up?anecdotes are not data. “feeling” like it’s unsafe as a means to demonize the poor does not mean it’s true.

        • West Sea December 15, 2021 (10:07 pm)

          Those crimes are not recorded doesn’t mean they are not reported, and it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I am not really sure why you would think the report from SPD would be the most reliable source given how poorly they handled a lot of cases. 

    • Audifans December 4, 2021 (4:23 pm)

      If you don’t think they have created a problem on several fronts (behaviorly, not that they are living in an RV), I guess you don’t understand that many of these that are homeless are dealing with addictions and perhaps mental instability. Addictions will lead you to breaking into someone’s house, stealing  and other anti social behaviors. Convenience stores have cameras and you would be a fool to do someone stupid on camera. So the experience  of that one particular store doesn’t count for much.  Neighborhood issues at night (stolen bikes, et) are more pertinent

    • AMC December 4, 2021 (5:03 pm)

      Also a neighbor that has lived here for over a decade and completely disagree  there is no correlation between this encampment and uptick in property crimes and unsafe situations. I have never felt unsafe in my neighborhood until the past couple of years. But above and beyond all that no human beings should be living under these conditions . It’s unsanitary, unsafe and inhumane.

    • Buck December 4, 2021 (11:17 pm)

      If you don’t think crime follows these RV encapments, you are a dreamer my friend.  My office and my car have been broken into since these arrived.  It’s true, wake up.

• cjboffoli December 4, 2021 (11:24 am)

  Almost four tons of garbage. I wonder how people who apparently are without resources manage to generate so much waste.

  • bolo December 4, 2021 (9:28 pm)

    RV-dwellers are consumers over-packaged products and disposable products (often both at the same time) as are most of the rest of American society members. Not hard to believe the math.

    I would regularly count 16 – 18 RVs along that stretch. Not counting tents or other vehicles.

    Assume 1 or 2 people living in each RV, so approx. 36 people living on that stretch. Figure each generates 10 lbs. garbage per week? So 360 lbs. garbage/week. Takes 22 weeks to generate your 4 tons of garbage there. Less than half a year. They have no garbage cans nearby, so when was the last time it was picked up there?

    • Kat December 9, 2021 (10:14 am)

      The RV encampment receives weekly trash pick up for free BUT they have to leave it in a specific spot. They also receive regular “pumpouts of bathroom waste, although some RV have a set up were such waste empties into a Home Depo orange bucket and some of those have been found at Longfellow Creek. The city supposedly also help provide parts so they may repair their vehicles. What I have seen is hoarding, which is common with folks with these sorts of health issues.

• KWest Seattle December 4, 2021 (12:29 pm)

  Is this a joke??? That’s it?

• Auntie December 4, 2021 (4:42 pm)

  It is sad that the people living in these vehicles have to live there. But it is also sad that some people in the neighborhood have experienced thefts, vandalism and finding human waste and garbage, including needles and such, in their yards. My friend lives 1/2 block from there and has experienced all of the above. The bad apples are spoiling it for those who just want some shelter and mean no harm.

• Mj December 4, 2021 (10:39 pm)

  Auntie – yes agreed, if only the police and Court system could cull the bad apples and put them away.

• Help These People December 4, 2021 (11:09 pm)

  The city is failing its citizens, no one should be living in these conditions. Clean up complete? Nothing has change down there. 

• This city sucks December 5, 2021 (12:08 am)

  They wouldn’t even tow a stolen dump truck out of there the other day. It was dumped by the Halloween shooter. That’s not a homeless camp it’s a meth and crime camp ask any of the locals to that community. Go see it for yourself. It is dangerous. The number of stolen vehicles there in a month is staggering yet of no priority to the city, state or Leo’s. Hell they don’t ever arrest car thieves half of the time or felons hence all the repeat felons commiting violent crimes all of the time . 

• florida December 5, 2021 (6:33 am)

  Yesterday I was working out in the gym, minding my own, when I saw someone out the window that reminded me of the conditions behind the facade we try to ignore. I was traumatized. Not that I am the victim. Rent control . Humans, you can do it.

  • Carnofcarnage December 5, 2021 (3:46 pm)

    Alot of the garbage i can say ends up being a combination of lazyness, people forgeting how to take care of themselves, and people chosing not to care anymore because of the comunity around them hating no matter what they do anyway. On top of that, it isnt made easy for them to clean since there is no dumpster nearby to take their garbage too so its easier to just let it pile up. All of this is unfourtionate and sad. Alas, i will go to a good portion of my freinds rvs and ask them to try so that maybe a change in the image can be started. Ill let you know how that goes but yea unfourtionatly again i just dont see much changing there due to the bad apples that ruin it for the ones that do try

• Tim P December 5, 2021 (3:55 pm)

  Different street, same issue.  What is up with the encampment along the south side of SW Brandon St across from Greg Davis Park?  No change for at least a year. 

  • James December 8, 2021 (1:25 pm)

    So you want to just put poor people you don’t like on some island so you never have to “see” them? Gross.

• Dragonfly Rez December 7, 2021 (1:22 pm)

  Maybe we should do what they did in Georgetown, place concrete waste blocks in the area to discourage RV’s and cars from parking there.

  • concerned December 7, 2021 (6:45 pm)

    Yes!!! I’m in the neighborhood. When can we start barricading? 

  • James December 8, 2021 (1:24 pm)

    Hostile architecture isn’t going to put people in homes. Awful idea.

    • Dragonfly Rez December 10, 2021 (12:05 pm)

      Have you ever talked to any of these “campers”? I have.  Basically, they don’t care about the area they are in because if pressed they can just pack up and move on. If you saw someone leave a campsite in the woods like this I’m willing to bet you’ll say something. 

• Audifans December 8, 2021 (1:04 pm)

  Just to remind you what Nucor does for this area.  

• bill December 8, 2021 (7:54 pm)

  Somebody help me understand this. I biked past the RV village today for the first time since the cleanup. It looks the same. How is the situation better? Why doesn’t the city park a dumpster down there? Maybe it would cost more than sporadic cleanups, but if even half the trash were carted away weekly it would be better, and maybe the residents would appreciate the ability to keep the area clean and actually keep it so.

• Kat December 9, 2021 (10:07 am)

  I live in The neighborhood. The “remediation” was barely noticeable. The trash pile in One area is HUGE and my guess is that it is not being picked up because it is not in The designated spot. RE: crime – I have reported trespassing on properties in broad daylight and at 4 am. The SPD did get some help for one very confused soul who tried to get into a house. But, at what point do we need to do “tough love?” As in mandate some mental health and addiction care. If I were a confused soul, I would hope someone would help me. Folks who need medication and are off of it don’t always understand they need medication. As for Nick – I personally have reported: a man lying in the middle of the street in dark clothes at night, rats, trash, abandoned cars, dumping, drug deals, suspicious and suspected stolen cars and bikes, issues with dumping close to Longfellow Creek which is protected, various parking infractions. Not much changes but I will keep reporting because squeaky wheels get more attention. 

  • yes December 9, 2021 (1:23 pm)

    Love to hear it! As a resident of this neighborhood myself, I completely agree. My hope is enough backlash against the crimes that we have to witness and be a part of on a regular basis will eventually be addressed. That is nonetheless a highly optimistic viewpoint. 

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