You, the Mayor and City Council of Seattle made a brave, humane choice when you decided to sanction new Tent Cities in Seattle. Seattle experienced a 21% increase in its homeless population in 2014-2015 and with the growing scarcity of affordable housing in Seattle, we can only expect that number to increase.

Tent Cities are not the solution to permanently end homelessness. They do however provide a safe community for people to live in while they work on finding permanent housing. The streets are a dangerous place and Tent Cities provide a warm place to sleep and a place to store your belongings during the day without fear of theft. The new Tent Cities will be run like the current sanctioned encampments, Tent City 3 and Nickelsville, with a strict code of conduct and sobriety.

When the the new encampment on Market Street in Ballard was announced, a small but vocal section of Ballard reacted in fear and ignorance. They do not represent the greater number of Ballardites who support this site. We remember the Tent Cities that have come already come and gone from Ballard. They were good neighbors and are remembered fondly.

As residents of the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, we believe that people living in extreme poverty are also our neighbors. They live beside us, and should be treated with respect and dignity. They need our help and support, and as a City and a neighborhood, we should be rushing to help them. The Ballard substation is an appropriate location, and backing down this decision now will not only delay the process of providing help to neighbors, but will also send the message that those who don’t want to look at or help the homeless get their way if they yell loudly enough. 

We urge you to keep up your support behind the encampment, and to listen not to the people with the loudest voices, but those with the biggest hearts. To end homelessness – to help our friends and neighbors who are suffering – empathy is the right answer.