Seattle’s radical progressive policies result in more homelessness and more lawlessness

SEATTLE — The richest man in America calls Seattle home So do thousands of others who are forced onto the streets because they are too poor, too addicted or too detached from reality. At night, the city’s homeless sleep wherever they can — in tents crammed in parking garages, in parks or under highway overpasses. Some feel victimized by a society that has moved on without them. Others feel preyed upon by politicians eager to push pet projects and scattered initiatives that make themselves look good but do little else. Sick of stepping over used condoms, broken lighters and needles, residents say they are heartbroken to see the city they’ve loved turn into a dangerous, drug-infested den of filth and human misery.

Like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., Seattle’s homeless crisis didn’t happen overnight. Little by little, the city has succumbed to skyrocketing housing prices, rampant drug use and progressive policies that have made it easy for people to openly feed their addictions and commit crimes and that have made it hard for the mentally ill to get treatment.

People say they don’t feel safe or protected in places they once did, and have lost confidence in their elected leaders’ ability to turn the situation around.