This week we traveled to Snoqualmie, WA to see family with the election being up in the air and being so close to Seattle we decided to take the half hour ride and check out the former nation of #chaz and downtown Seattle to see how things are going.
Things were peaceful and downtown Seattle was very quiet on this sunny, fall Sunday afternoon. The natural beauty of Seattle can not be hidden. Dressed in fall colors I find it beautiful, but when you look closer the scars of Covid Lockdowns, Riots and Civil Unrest are everywhere.
Here you can see the remaining tent city the homeless continue to occupy and some left over garden beds. It was quite cool at 38 degrees, so most where sheltered up.
This is the "Garden Scene" where they planted in the park and some struggling plants still remain. I don't think it is going to feed anyone though. This view got a lot of National News time.
Much of natural beauty of Seattle can not be hidden but after walking through the now famous Capitol hill we continued to drive around the nearly deserted streets of downtown Seattle.
The rest of these shots show the beauty of the art, and the contrast of Wealth and Poverty shoved together in Seattle's downtown.
My observations were that most of the downtown businesses are closed, the vast majority of people on the streets were residents of the apartments and homeless camps. The absence of the normal hustle and bustle of downtown shoppers and tourism create an even more difficult situation for the poor as there is no one to panhandle.
We've spent weekends in Seattle for years and the state of the city was depressing and emotional for both sides.
No street artists were playing, no entertainment, a lot of stalled construction and the devastation of a beautiful city, both the rich and poor are adversely impacted.
Share your thoughts in the comments
