FOLLOWUP: Eco-blocks installed along former Andover/28th RV-encampment site

| Delridge | West Seattle news

(WSB photos)

Two days after the city cleared the mostly-RVs encampment site along SW Andover/28th SW, eco-blocks were installed this morning. The neighboring West Seattle Health Club had announced pre-sweep that to “avoid the return of the encampment, the West Seattle Health Club is partnering with our neighboring businesses to place cement eco-blocks along the surrounding area.” After a tip early this morning, we went over around 7:30 am and found two workers in gear from neighboring Nucor finishing the placement, which they said they’d started about two hours earlier.

Blocks are also in place along the west side of 28th.

As the camping was illegal – though not enforced for six-plus years – this is too. We asked SDOT about it on Thursday and spokesperson Ethan Bergerson replied:

Seattle Municipal Code 15.04 states that it is unlawful to place objects or structures in a public place without first securing a written permit. SDOT does not issue permits to obstruct public streets, sidewalks or parking spaces with concrete blocks because this can cause problems such as parking spillover onto adjacent streets, blocking utility access, conflicts with other transportation needs, or accessibility barriers which violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Additionally, the desire to prevent others from using a public space is not a valid reason for seeking a permit in and of itself.

Blocks like these have been installed, however, in other areas of the city, either post-sweeps or preventively. Some are also in place along part of a formerly much-camped area of 1st Avenue South in southeast West Seattle.

Resident June 18, 2022 (10:17 am)

So i guess our solution to homelessness now is to just make public spaces hostile and unusable to everyone?

Auntie June 18, 2022 (10:34 am)

Looks to me like these areas are more usable by more people now that the encampment is cleared out. Plenty of room behind the blocks to walk, plenty of room on the road side of the blocks to ride a bike – none of which was possible when the RVs and other vehicles were there.
Boinsted June 18, 2022 (10:35 am)

This specific area has been hostile and unusable for six years, Resident, so really no issue here. Move along.
Nws June 18, 2022 (10:43 am)

So what’s your solution then?
- Sigh June 19, 2022 (6:58 am)
  
  How about we address barriers to building enough housing so that people don’t have to be homeless? Fix the outdated zoning laws. Allow multi-unit developments everywhere and not just “urban villages”. Stop forcing developers to include parking with every unit when all that does is drive up the price of the units. Fund more temporary shelters so that the people who DO end up homeless have better options than living in an RV. Fund public shelters that allow families of all kinds–unmarried couples, LGBT couples, childless couples, singles, etc.–so that people don’t have to choose between shelter and family. The “solutions” championed by these boards (eco blocks, locking everyone up, disposing of their possessions) are about addressing the feelings of people who are housed rather than the very real NEEDS of those who are not. This will be a discussion for decades to come until we reverse that thinking. This “remediation” did nothing. I get a new RV on my block every time another encampment is swept elsewhere on the peninsula. Nothing is solved; it’s just relocated. How much money did tax payers waste on this non-solution so that a few dozen housed people could high-five each other and “enjoy” a parking strip next to a steel plant?
  - Hmm June 24, 2022 (2:32 pm)
    
    Are you aware that those living in the tv encampment received a ton of outreach on multiple occasions before the sweep? That they were offered alternative housing? Or that studies show over half of all “unhoused” are transient by lifestyle choice? Not saying sweeps are solving anything but put neighborhood (in proximity of this encampment) has had rocks thrown through windows, neighbors chased down by brick wielding meth addicts and multiple break ins and shootings. I’m all for finding compassionate and permanent solutions but posts like these that ignore the very real possibility that these folks are choosing this lifestyle are equally unhelpful.
- Kirk Truman June 20, 2022 (8:46 am)
  
  They have no clue. I think these people should know what it is like to live homeless. Maybe they should figure out how to aquire some free land from their our inventory and have some humanity for those less fortunate.
cjboffoli June 18, 2022 (11:57 am)

Public spaces are hostile and unusable to all of us when they are filled with mentally ill, drug-addicted and/or criminally behaving people (a.k.a. the 30% or so of the most visible and problematic segment of the unhoused). Personally, I was pleased to learn of this clean up and hope it endures. I reject the inherent cruelty in the normalization of people living in filth and squalor in the public right of way. It is beyond time to be less tolerant of the bulls**t that’s ruining our city. Sometimes having too much empathy can be incredibly destructive.
- KWest Seattle June 18, 2022 (2:56 pm)
  
  I applaud your thoughts as well as your willingness to sign your name to it. 👏🏼
- Also John June 18, 2022 (3:15 pm)
  
  Totally agree!
Spooled June 18, 2022 (12:03 pm)

Yes. Have you not seen park benches that can be sat on as usual but with features to prevent lying down? Or concrete stairs/railings you can use on but with anti-skateboard bumps added?These aren’t Anti Homeless blocks. That’s a protected pedestrian walkway now.For now, things like this are a necessary step. Maybe someday they won’t be needed.

Rcl June 18, 2022 (10:28 am)

Maybe local artists could paint on these blocks?

WSCurmudgeon June 18, 2022 (12:31 pm)

As the mens clothing slogan puts it:

“I guarantee it!”
💛 June 18, 2022 (8:37 pm)

How about painting 10 root causes of homelessness on these blocks? Looks like there are enough blocks.

https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/root-causes-of-homelessness/

It Doesn't Matter June 18, 2022 (10:38 am)

This is fine. A comment above decrying making public spaces “hostile” is ridiculous. Ramshackle broken down rat-infested RVs, drug deals, moving stolen goods, all of those things make public spaces hostile. A yellow block isn’t going to steal someone’s bike or car for drug money, or assault someone. I applaud the surrounding businesses for taking the initiative to make their area safer. The city clearly cannot carry out its duties in that regard, six years of that encampment demonstrates that very well. That place was a festering sore. So, fine, leave it up to the businesses in the area. Blocks are better than what was there before the sweep.

Rocket June 18, 2022 (10:44 am)

Remember in this country the law code with very rare exceptions is the tool the wealthy use to exploit the poor. They can use it how they see fit and if the poor find a loophole say in enforcement the wealthy with learn from the poor scofflaws and do one better.

wscommuter June 19, 2022 (9:55 pm)

What a remarkably deluded comment. Clearly you don’t know much about the law.

Blbl June 18, 2022 (10:52 am)

Suddenly SDOT cares about enforcement.

StupidInSeattle June 18, 2022 (5:07 pm)

I say the City owes us 6 years of illegal blocks by the road to make up for the 6 years of illegal camping that they allowed…

D June 18, 2022 (10:57 am)

More RV’s lining Harbor Ave, the stretch South of Salty’s. Many are pushing out past the parking lines and significantly protruding into the road. It’s nerve wracking, dangerous for drivers, inhabitants alike. Some already look like as if they’ve suffered collisions due to this.

JustUWait June 18, 2022 (11:09 am)

Plenty of space for a new encampment of tents and tarps between the Nucor dense and the eco blocks. Give it a few weeks.

cat June 18, 2022 (11:16 am)

Since these eco-blocks (could there be a more Orwellian name?) have just been illegally abandoned in a public space I am assuming it would be entirely legal to just go and take them? I think they’d be hard pressed to find a way to prosecute someone taking them.

Vladimir Ilyich June 18, 2022 (3:06 pm)

Go ahead, take them. Sure, you’d have to pay $400/hr for an excavator to pick them up and load them on the $1000 per load truck, but at the end of the day, you’d have yourself at least $300 worth of concrete. Capitalism rules.
- CAT June 18, 2022 (6:54 pm)
  
  Good point, Vlady.
  
  New approach:
  
  CONCRETE ECO-BLOCKS FOR SALE! CHEAP! $25 PER BLOCK! U-PICK UP! VENMO ME THE CASH AND THEY’RE YOURS!
  - Steve June 19, 2022 (6:30 am)
    
    Nucor would make a profit. They only paid $20 per block.
Ron Swanson June 18, 2022 (5:11 pm)

They’re called ‘eco blocks’ because they’re made from the leftover portion of batches of concrete that would otherwise go to waste

bikerep June 18, 2022 (11:21 am)

it’s awesome we can get concrete for these blocks to be placed all over these days to push the unfortunate around versus getting it for this debacle we call a bridge repair. #priorities #agenda

WSB June 18, 2022 (3:10 pm)

I don’t know exactly who made these blocks or exactly what they’re made of, but the definition of “eco-block” is that they’re made of recycled/unused materials. So I doubt there’s any overlap between what/who manufactured these and what was needed/used in the bridge repairs.
- John Smith June 18, 2022 (4:30 pm)
  
  Around Seattle, anyway, ecology blocks are made at concrete plants. There are forms into which mixer truck drivers pour wet concrete that did not get used at the jobsite.
- HappyCamper June 18, 2022 (9:04 pm)
  
  These blocks are made by the concrete companies with leftover concrete. Say a customer orders 9 yards of concrete and ends up only using 7 yards. The concrete company will create eco blocks with the remaining 2 yards so as not to waste the concrete and reduce the amount that needs to be dealt with for disposal.
  - John Smith June 19, 2022 (12:13 am)
    
    Ecology blocks are useful because they have a lot of mass, and they are relatively inexpensive. They have a uniform shape, so they can be stacked for use as a retaining wall. They are also used on industrial/construction sites to attract attention from truckdrivers: “Durn… There’s an ecology block (in front of a fire hydrant or whatever) so I should be careful to not drive my truck into it. Durn.” This “Durn…” uneasiness is also felt by meth addicted RV drivers.

Mj June 18, 2022 (11:25 am)

Resident – I see help wanted signs all over the place. A single person working full time can find a place to rent AND not be homeless!

Travis June 18, 2022 (2:03 pm)

Where can they find a job that will allow them to pay rent – have you checked on how much rents are and how much wages are? Not everyone can work high tech jobs.
- Resident June 18, 2022 (3:10 pm)
  
  Minimum wage in Seattle is $17. That is over $35k per year. You can definitely find a place to rent for less than $2k per month that is much nicer than an old RV. Your argument holds no water.
- Nice Lookin' Blocks June 18, 2022 (3:38 pm)
  
  Ummm… how about Nucor? People can work there and afford rent, entry level starting at approx. $65k. Over 300 employees do it every day. Also, it’s not high tech. If that work is too hard – how about Dick’s Burgers? Pay STARTs at $19/hr, 100% paid healthcare and $28K scholarship to increase your learning potential. No one has a “right” to live in Seattle – folks can live somewhere else and commute in. Seattle – Nucor Jobs Employment – Dick’s Drive In (ddir.com)
  - Pessoa June 18, 2022 (7:03 pm)
    
    That is some creative Northwest math. A 1 br rental in Seattle is around $2,000/mo, requiring an annual income of about $72,000. Shacking up? The average 2 br is around $3,600/mo. So, no, I don’t think a F/T job at Dick’s @ $36,000 is going to put one at the top of the list of applicants for an apartment. There are no more “cheap” places to live outside of Seattle, by the way; there are few cheap places to live, anywhere. There is nothing wrong with hard work, but in the past there was a reasonable expectation that hard work would be rewarded with upward mobility. That is no longer the case for millions of Americans. Maybe we should be asking ourselves what part of the responsibility for the current situation do we all bear?
    - hj June 18, 2022 (9:55 pm)
      
      The problem with all of that is that there is still no natural right to live in Seattle. I lived for ten years in a rental in the Junction, a true Seattleite, and then two years ago decided that I wanted a house of my own. I looked all over the peninsula for something that met my needs but I was priced out of everything. But, instead of illegally occupying public space, I did the right thing, sucked it up and and got a house across the Sound, which fit my personal needs without imposing on the common good of those around me. And there are cheap places to live outside of the Seattle city limits. Claiming otherwise is patently false and borders on dishonesty. All of those people employed by places like Nucor and Dick’s– are they all teleported in from North Platte, Nebraska? If not, then where can they possibly live?? Nowhere where you bother to look, I guess.
    - D Chez June 19, 2022 (3:24 pm)
      
      I know people who live on Capitol Hill who work in the restaurant industry. Their studio apartment is 100 years old, and less than 1400 a month. If all these people making not much over minimum wage can afford to live in a neighborhood that is way more expensive than West Seattle, there is no excuse for anyone else. I am tired of hearing excuses for these people. I am gay, half Native American, and came from a poor background. There is no excuse for anyone in this country.
    - Anne June 20, 2022 (9:49 am)
      
      Before the pandemic, I paid 1265 for a one-bedroom basement apartment. This is when rents were high. The apartment was across from the zoo. It was in a safe area, near public transportation, and a decent place to live. Just because an article states that the average rent is $2000 a month doesn’t mean a person still can’t find cheap rent. Also, I know plenty of people who rented a room for 700 bucks. They found it on Craigslist. Their roommates were decent people. A person can work full-time and pay 700 bucks a month for a room.
    - 💛 June 20, 2022 (11:29 am)
      
      There can be a number of factors beyond just monthly rent amount that can be barriers for people in regards to housing.
Tired of the entitled June 18, 2022 (6:53 pm)

Wow MJ – you are pretty far out of touch. You see signs at Home Depot – McDonalds, grocery, restaurant and janitor jobs, etc. huh? So all these RV and vehicle/tent dwellers are just lazy and love living this way? Do you have any idea what an apartment costs in Seattle much less a condo? I can tell you’ve not done any volunteer work nor tried to help your neighbor who is down on their luck and working 2 or 3 jobs. Guess you didn’t lose your restaurant job during covid. Why don’t you take off your cool aviator sunglasses and roll down the window of your BMW and say hello to these neighbors now and then?
- Rocket June 19, 2022 (6:07 am)
  
  Tired of the entitled raking someone over the coals because they said people are not entitled to live in Seattle if they don’t have skills marketable enough to afford it is pretty rich.It can be both things. We can most all of us be able to see a way that capitalism and patriarchy are harmful to us as individuals and a society and also accept that it is fair to point out that there are workable options to being poor around here that include not living in a van down by the (Duwamish) river.
💛 June 18, 2022 (7:30 pm)

There are a lot of reasons why people may struggle to find or to be working, especially for folks experiencing homelessness. Also, it is very hard these days to afford rent and all basic needs on minimum wage. Why don’t struggling people just move somewhere cheaper? That takes money and resources too, and it’s not easy to make huge transitions durring the best of times, let alone when in poverty or homeless, and leaving behind connections. It’s easy to project simple suggestions from the comfort of our easier situations, but the reality is more complex and difficult for many people who are struggling out there.

Resident June 18, 2022 (11:30 am)

I think the city should wait 6 years before removing them, seems about fair for how long they left the homeless encampment without taking any action.

Mr Henry June 18, 2022 (2:34 pm)

I agree with you 100 percent. But, my guess is the city with their way of thinking will remove the blocks within 6 weeks.

Zoey June 18, 2022 (11:34 am)

Will SDOT be removing the blocks then?

WSB June 18, 2022 (12:03 pm)

In the Publicola story I linked above, from last year, SDOT had a general statement indicating they don’t do that.
- Zoey June 18, 2022 (1:25 pm)
  
  We love a good double standard! Missed that link, thanks for flagging.
  - Mel June 18, 2022 (2:32 pm)
    
    We waited 6 years for that encampment to disappear. Give me a break. It’s not like the city swept it as soon as the RVs started showing up.

ws5 June 18, 2022 (11:47 am)

Great now West Seattle will look like Georgetown. And now no parking for anyone.

New Salt June 18, 2022 (12:13 pm)

Abuse it, you lose it. Nothing new. City shouldn’t have let that fester for so long. Not like you could have used those spots for parking for the past 6 years anyway (unless you were one of the RV squatters). At least eco blocks make for much better neighbors.
- Derek June 22, 2022 (11:03 am)
  
  when the punishment for a crime is just a “fine” then it’s only a crime for lower class.

Question Authority June 18, 2022 (12:16 pm)

It’s strange people will now complain about the loss of parking or public space due to the Ecology blocks, but not about the same prior lost Right-of-Way due to the encampment. Regardless of the legality of these blocks they are necessary to prevent an immediate return to a street overrun and not safe for any members of the public regardless of your views or needs. You can’t have it both ways.

Mel June 18, 2022 (2:33 pm)

I’ll take the eco blocks any day over the human feces, drug paraphernalia, and more. I drove this daily for 5+ years and can’t count how many rats I’ve accidentally run over.

Living in WS June 18, 2022 (12:57 pm)

As a member of the fitness club I feel so much safer being able to walk from my car to the gym.

Reed June 18, 2022 (1:00 pm)

I don’t like all the single occupancy vehicles that park in front of my house, so I’m going to have one of my subs coming drop a few blocks against the curb to prevent people from parking there. Nucor did it so it’s ok for me, right?

Resident June 18, 2022 (3:14 pm)

Go for it. Let us know how your neighbors react! Oh, and good luck finding a company willing to do it.
I'm Talkin To You June 18, 2022 (5:10 pm)

The puffed-up outrage and false equivalencies are off the charts in this thread. Attention anyone who is upset at this remediation: you are part of the problem.
- CAT June 18, 2022 (6:50 pm)
  
  lol, no.
- Reed June 18, 2022 (7:44 pm)
  
  My comment was not related to the camp sweep, but public land grab by a corporation. This is public property and Nucor has no right to drop block there and block it. They should be fined each day for the SMC violation, or properly permit it though SDOT.
  - bill June 18, 2022 (8:31 pm)
    
    It’s the company protecting its facility and employees. Nucor isn’t using the property for production or storage or any other business use, so calling it a land grab is hyperbolic.
  - Tired of the entitled June 18, 2022 (8:37 pm)
    
    Agree. The outrage about people who have nowhere else to go is “against the law” but it’s okay for the businesses to allow these eco-blocks everywhere even though that’s also against the law. City comes down hard on the poor but looks the other way for businesses. People should not have to live in filth on the streets and the city and county have literally not provided anywhere legal for these people to go. So many think that they are all drug-addicted, mentally ill, criminals. Instead many are the working poor priced out of the housing market here and trying to work a job. These are ride share drivers, food delivery, security guards, janitorial staff, maids, stadium workers, fast food and restaurant workers. I have encountered all of these workers in RVs and vehicles and more. Part time unskilled labor that housed people couldn’t live without if they want to have nice hotels, clean offices, delivery and restaurant meals. But some people here “see what they want to see” and want the easy way out so they don’t have to look at it or deal with it. They can’t be lumped all together under one moniker “homeless”. It’s way more complex than that and requires REAL and humane solutions. Where is the safe parking we have been promised? Not for six months! The city is playing wack-a-mole in order to temporarily satisfy the outspoken voters. There is not yet any real solution and the solutions are right in front of us and we have plenty of money allocated. What’s the real problem? KCRHA and the city hiring tons of staff to “look at ” this and “studying” homelessness without getting anything truly done. They are doing this on the backs of the voiceless. Wake up everybody.
    - Wavy David June 19, 2022 (8:27 pm)
      
      I agree with you that jalopy RV’s and ugly Eco-blocks permanently stationed on public throughways are illegal. As such, both should be promptly cleared after 3 days. It’s only fair.
    - Oh boy June 20, 2022 (7:12 pm)
      
      Actually lol’d at this one… taxi drivers and waitresses. Give me a break. Haven’t spent much time up close and personal with RV dwellers, have you?
- Tired of the entitled June 18, 2022 (8:23 pm)
  
  No, you are part of the problem

flimflam June 18, 2022 (1:23 pm)

Yes, it looks fairly ugly but it’s better than the RV’s and associated problems with them. Unfortunately there isn’t really a better way to keep people from returning. Yes, they’ll go elsewhere (if they didn’t accept services) and become someone else’s problem but if this happens enough perhaps it will eventually force “campers” to take advantage of services offered or otherwise abandon street life. At some point the greater good of the public has to be considered.

MrB June 18, 2022 (2:49 pm)

What a beautiful site. Should have been done years ago.

Jeepney June 18, 2022 (6:01 pm)

What exactly makes these block ecological friendly? The homeless community has discovered what we have known for years, West Seattle is a great place to live.

Rhonda June 18, 2022 (6:24 pm)

Those blocks provide free-for-taxpayers, protected, east/west pedestrian and mountain bike lanes. Everybody wins.

Tired of the entitled June 18, 2022 (8:24 pm)

Except the poor. What a society – without empathy.
- Rhonda June 18, 2022 (11:37 pm)
  
  The poor also need safe places to walk and ride their mountain bikes, and these blocks provide that. I’m FAR more concerned about the working poor who are struggling to pay their bills and keep their kids off of drugs than those in illegally-parked RVs who sell drugs.
- cjboffoli June 19, 2022 (9:04 am)
  
  Seattle is NOT suffering from a dearth of empathy. And yes, the people in our community who stayed in school, work hard, pay taxes (including those that fund $150 million/yr. in funding for homeless services), maintain their houses, take care of their families, manage their own mental health, stay off drugs, don’t commit crimes, volunteer in the community, ARE entitled to have an opinion on this matter.
  - Pessoa June 19, 2022 (1:29 pm)
    
    Nothing wrong with that, but at the same time, your home has appreciated enormously due to an assist from Uncle Sam, policies that have fueled an asset bubble and now helped make your home unaffordable to but a tiny minority of home buyers, should you ever decide to sell. And what about that stock portfolio you may, or may not, own? How many out there who are pointing the finger at others while their portfolio’s profit from companies that deceptively pass on “inflationary” costs to financially stressed, desperate consumers? Over a year ago, when the market was still climbing along with inflation, I made the financially painful decision to put my “money where my mouth was,” and I sold off my portfolio of companies that were not operating ethically. I’m no martyr or saint – and I wrestle with the decision every day – but it was small price to pay for being able to look at myself in the mirror.
    - Mark47n June 22, 2022 (7:07 pm)
      
      To be clear, home appreciation is only relevant if you sell your house and is mitigated when you buy back into another in the same or similar market. If you’re not selling it only means higher taxes.This culture of decrying those who’ve been fortunate simply because they’re not struggling is stunningly juvenile and reminds me of people I knew when I was a teenager screaming “eat the rich!” and then going back to their suburban home. There will always be haves and have-nots. There always have been and there is no way for that to be eradicated. This means it becomes your responsibility to live the values that you so vocally preach. To do so I recommend reading up on Utilitarian Philosophy and beginning with Peter Singer. In short, put your money where your mouth is. Ask yourself what you need and then compare that to what you want. Do you need the computer or smartphone or is it simply convenient. What about that car? Could you do with a bike or public transportation? I’m sure you get the idea. Then you take those excess funds and you donate it to worthy causes/organizations such as Oxfam.If you’re unwilling to examine your consumption, reroute your surpluses and do little more than berate others for their lack of “empathy” then you’re doing nothing other than participating in a mental wanking. It’s easy to blame those that are comfortable. To say that because I don’t have to consider where my next meal or house payment is coming from that I have no understanding about these issues, is ridiculous. The maxim of “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” is trite, however, and tired. Homelessness is a complex issue that encompasses mental health, addiction, employability, etc. In this country we provide zero healthcare for anyone except through insurance companies and their services are supplied through employment and, generally, after taking a not inconsiderable slice of a paycheck. Those selfsame employers are reluctant to give time to access those services and the insurance companies are incentivized to reject claims. Without a complete reimagining of our system for handling healthcare, housing, education, and more then there are no real ways to mitigate the base issues in question. This means ridding ourselves of politicians that serve corporations and their interests, changing how campaigns are funded so that you don’t have to be wealthy to run for office, how those elected officials can invest, or what their future employment can look like-such as no lobbying. Perhaps doing away with our current system of majority rule of the two major parties (who are private organizations that look out for their own interests) and move to something more akin to proportional representation on a party level rather than voting for individuals, like other countries. In order for this to happen the current guardians of the political machine would have to be willing to jeopardize their political careers and their access to the feed trough. I don’t think this will ever happen without, dare I say it, a revolution. Alas, those that are most likely to revolt lean hard the other way, for an even more entrenched version of our current system…as long as it always goes their way. You know, Fascism. So, these issues aren’t going away. Not in my lifetime. This is longer than I intended but the issues being discussed are complex and a few buzzwords are insufficient. If you actually made it to the end, whether or not you agree. I congratulate you say thanks for reading.

Not so eco block June 18, 2022 (7:27 pm)

Mine as well keep going and get rid of nucor as they have been dumping slag on this neighborhood for 100 years

AMC June 19, 2022 (5:15 pm)

Evidence? Citation?
Pete June 19, 2022 (8:20 pm)

The slag, a byproduct of steel production, is sold for other uses, such as road bed. The mill scale is likewise sold. The dust that is also a byproduct of the steel production is processed to remove metals before final disposal. As for exhausted gasses Nucor beats the standards.Nucor also uses 100% recycled steel, minus alloys and lime, to make its final products, which makes it the biggest recycler in the state. As for the mill, well, it’s been here for, what, 120 years or so. It’s one of the few remaining businesses in Seattle that makes exported hard goods. It also provides jobs for 300+ people that pay very, very well at an entry level position…if you’ve got the wherewithal to stick it out. These are jobs that develop six figures without a college degree as well as the possibility for mobility throughout the other mills in the company. Who else can say that in this area?
Auntie June 22, 2022 (7:30 pm)

Yes – probably longer than your house and certainly was there when you moved there. Don’t like it? Move, please. Also, please note Pete’s comments below about “dumping slag” (i.e – total fallacy).

Jill June 18, 2022 (8:15 pm)

Definitely better!

bill June 18, 2022 (8:35 pm)

I biked through here for the first time in two months. It was nice to turn at Yancy to get away from the dangerous bike lane on Avalon. Now I’m back to just dealing with the drivers who don’t respect the bike box and no-turn-on-red signs at Delridge.

wsres June 18, 2022 (9:06 pm)

Now they are needed on harbor ave as all of a sudden several rvs have showed up there again.

Echo June 24, 2022 (10:53 am)

WSRES – give it 6 years, or so, and they’ll be forced to move again. I find it kind of ironic that people complain about making them move from this neighborhood, after 6 years, and in the same breath complain that they relocated to somewhere else a few blocks away, but in THEIR neighborhood. The RVs are impacting less residents on Harbor Ave than they were on Andover.

CheeseWS777 June 18, 2022 (9:28 pm)

These blocks look prime to build tarp tents off of, now that people are without an rv to live in anymore

Mj June 18, 2022 (10:42 pm)

Pessoa and others – Apodment units can be rented for less than a grand a month. Renting a room in a house is also an option for some. Renting a place with others can significantly reduce housing cost. A single person working FT in Seattle can find a place to stay without living on streets.

M June 18, 2022 (11:37 pm)

Yeah! Now I can feel safer going to the gym.

DRC June 19, 2022 (8:36 am)

Now clean up Harbor Ave!

Runner June 19, 2022 (10:37 am)

Thank you city of Seattle and Nucor, it’s about time. If all of the campers and RV dwellers were offered a place to go and services to help them, then the ones that refused those offers need to find another place to live, not on the Seattle streets or in the Seattle parks.

Larry Berlin June 19, 2022 (12:03 pm)

I was at Starbucks yesterday on Morgan street and I was told the nw corner at Westwood is going to host RV parking.

WSB June 19, 2022 (12:10 pm)

That’s certainly an unused spot. We’ll check out that rumor.
ACG June 19, 2022 (9:49 pm)

Is that the parking area near the new daycare playground?

K west seattle June 19, 2022 (12:49 pm)

While I think the homeless problem needs to be addressed this isn’t the solution. The RVs have just moved themselves to Harbor Ave where they aren’t going to put up yellow blocks. Now that area is trashed with RVs and garbage piles. Seems to me that we need to find safe and sensible solutions to find places and resources for these people to go instead of just kicking them out and hoping for they go to another area to be someone else’s problem.

mightymo June 19, 2022 (3:08 pm)

If City Councilmember Sara Nelson was able to put ecoblocks (illegally) in front of her business (and be elected anyway) in Fremont, I’m sure the SDOT will also let this one go as well.

Beautiful blocks June 19, 2022 (3:36 pm)

These are the most beautiful parking blocks I’ve ever seen. What a lovely addition to the neighborhood.

CheeseWS777 June 19, 2022 (11:55 pm)

Kinda like leggos… Like they should leggo the idea that they long term accomplished anything. Just less parking for everybody. The truckers in georgetown i know are starting to get irritated at the same inconvenience.Should just have gotten rid of the ones causing problems and not have persecuted those who were just trying to exist minding their own buisness. Why would any of them listen to one more word of what you try to tell them when you cheer to take away the place they live in so they forced to live outside

Audifans June 20, 2022 (8:44 am)

No parking was available for 6 years there (unless you mean the RV crowd that just basically said ‘we own this’)

Pessoa June 20, 2022 (11:43 am)

Sure, the American Dream is just waiting for anyone who is willing to work hard enough to achieve it, right? You keep at it, young man or young woman, and pretty soon you can move out of that apartment and into your $800,000 Craftsman. Forget that nearly every economist is worried about upward mobility, the sky’s the limit for anyone with pluck and determination! Most of the vapid jingoistic comments along this train of thought don’t rise above the sophistication of a mental spasm.

Mark H June 21, 2022 (6:34 am)

No one is forced to live in Seattle. Period.
Patty June 21, 2022 (9:39 pm)

Yep, then move to Ohio
Patty June 22, 2022 (3:15 pm)

So, move to Iowa, Ohio or Missouri? There are many other places to live other than Seattle!