So I just went down a rabbit hole about Seattle crime and I leave Friday for a trip there. Has anyone been in the last couple of months and how dangerous is it really?

Went over memorial day and stayed downtown. First time for about 3 days. Went to pikes Market, super crowded but no issues. Walked around town during the day and evening. Was back in the hotel by dark. Except for the gonorrhea billboards everywhere (crazy) felt fine. Saw homeless but no one bothered us. Construction on the waterfront but still no issues. Didn't stay out past 10 pm. Stayed in tourist areas.

First time ever there. Really spread out, buildings kind of dated. But waterfront was nice. We were lucky enough to have 70 degree clear weather so I thought it would be overrun with riff raff. But we kept to ourselves and did our thing

Saw what the news was talking about in regards to everything being locked up, went into target to get tylenol and everything locked up. Felt third world. Hadn't seen it in person yet.

There is a thread about legalizing drugs in seattle on politics. Again, I was nervous but didn't encounter anything I don't see in other big cities, Pre summer 2020

My brother-in-law lives near Seattle and has to travel downtown for work and to get to the airport. He said public transportation is a big NO for him.

I'm in Seattle often as it's a hub for us to fly from Alaska to anywhere else. It's a big city like any other and I'd say safer than most Texas downtowns. You'll be just fine if you exercise basic caution.

I was up there at the end of April. We had zero issues. I even walked down to the old CHAZ area to see what that area looked like in the aftermath and it was back to normal (with the exception of some vacant storefronts). There were kids and families in the park and a city league softball game going on at what was ground zero.

It's a big city and there are some grimy areas. Just use common sense. But, especially in the tourist areas, you won't have any issues. We didn't even encounter panhandlers harassing us, which has become the norm in most cities of that size.

I haven't been up there in Seattle for a while, but like others have said it depends upon where you go and when. I live a couple of hours south of Portland (in Eugene, OR) and hear the same stories about downtown Portland as Seattle but haven't really spent much time up there unless I am going to the airport. Most local folks I know say they avoid downtown at all costs due to the crime, hell even Walmart is pulling out of Portland proper due to rampant shoplifting.

We have some of the same issues in Eugene, especially on the west side of town. There is a large "unhoused" population as they like to call it and pretty much everything is locked down in Walmart, Target, and Home Depot. I was shocked that I needed someone to unlock a cabinet so I could buy socks. I live in a great neighborhood but when I take a walk to a large city park by Autzen Stadium I have to walk through some intermittent "camping areas" for the "unhoused" along the hike/bike trails. Luckily my dog, while not not visually intimidating, doesn't like the appearance of the "unhoused" folks and he barks at them and they never really bother us, except one time when a woman asked if she could have $5 or $10 and I said I didn't have anything for her and she questioned the small plastic bag in my hand. I had to tell her that it had dog crap in it but she was more than welcome to it.

All in all, the near-decriminalization of street drugs and the tolerance of homelessness on the west coast has made some places pretty questionable, especially the bigger "blue" cities. In Oregon, once you get outside of Portland, Salem, and Eugene, it's a great place to visit.

Seattle isn't even comparable to Portland. Portland is wild.

So here right now and it's been completely fine. Everything down around the piers has been plenty safe with no concerns. Went out to Pikes Market with no problem and over to Space Needle. Saw more homeless camps out in the suburbs like Ballard. Seems south of the piers is where it all goes to hell.

Seattle is fine. Try to forget about your "rabbit hole" and enjoy what is a beautiful city with some top knotch food

CDub06 said:

---

Seattle isn't even comparable to Portland. Portland is wild.

---

I live in Portland and commute to Seattle for work every other week.

They both have pockets of garbage. I take the train and King Street Station / Pioneer / Occidental Square are hell holes.

Portland has been sweeping a lot more and just had a good scrub of downtown for the Rose Festival. Camping is also now outlawed. We'll see.

But my long game is Bend. Just gotta convince the wife to let go of the rain.