Burien, Washington, a working-class city of 50,000 near Seattle, has adopted a new approach to homelessness.
Like all cities in the Puget Sound region, Burien has struggled with chronic homelessness, addiction, and public camping in recent years.
The organizer spoke with more than 100 owners, representing all of Burien's racial and ethnic backgrounds-the city is 50 percent nonwhite-and their response was resounding: the homelessness crisis was dramatically affecting their businesses and sense of safety.
"We spent a month going out and talking to people," says Burien police chief Ted Boe, who estimates that 50 to 100 homeless individuals were in the city before the program.
While consultants tell cities like Seattle that they must spend billions on subsidized housing to address the crisis, Burien shows that compassionate, low-cost enforcement can change the incentive structure and immediately deliver results.
Cities operate in a competitive policy environment on taxes, regulations, land use, and-despite what activists would like, and what officials would like to admit-the prevalence of street homelessness.
Why accept the permissive policies of major cities like Seattle as the standard for the entire region? In fact, if all regional cities adopted a policy of compassionate enforcement, it's possible that many service-resistant individuals would consider entering shelters and services-delivering positive outcomes that have thus far eluded permissive cities.
https://www.city-journal.org/reducing-street-homelessness-burien-washington
Like all cities in the Puget Sound region, Burien has struggled with chronic homelessness, addiction, and public camping in recent years.
The organizer spoke with more than 100 owners, representing all of Burien's racial and ethnic backgrounds-the city is 50 percent nonwhite-and their response was resounding: the homelessness crisis was dramatically affecting their businesses and sense of safety.
"We spent a month going out and talking to people," says Burien police chief Ted Boe, who estimates that 50 to 100 homeless individuals were in the city before the program.
While consultants tell cities like Seattle that they must spend billions on subsidized housing to address the crisis, Burien shows that compassionate, low-cost enforcement can change the incentive structure and immediately deliver results.
Cities operate in a competitive policy environment on taxes, regulations, land use, and-despite what activists would like, and what officials would like to admit-the prevalence of street homelessness.
Why accept the permissive policies of major cities like Seattle as the standard for the entire region? In fact, if all regional cities adopted a policy of compassionate enforcement, it's possible that many service-resistant individuals would consider entering shelters and services-delivering positive outcomes that have thus far eluded permissive cities.
https://www.city-journal.org/reducing-street-homelessness-burien-washington
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