Seattlest: Belltown Babylon or Belltown Gomorrah?

ronaldholden

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:23:18 -0800

Worth mentioning that the only recent Belltown fatality was a 60-year-old tourist who died not at the hands of Belltown crack addicts or panhandlers but in a traffic accident apparently caused by faulty brakes on a pedicab.

Glasses

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:34:50 -0800

I'm 24, white and female. I work nights near the Key Arena. I am a big fan of not getting 'shot-mugged-assaulted-whatever' and you know how I do that? I'm nice to people. Strangers. Homeless folk. Even, gasp, dealers. I of course trust my gut, don't get too confident, and avoid a situation if its obviously unsafe, but hey, you do what you can, right? Funny how the unknown is so much less scary when you make it known. Is it racism? Lord, who knows? I don't know this Jamieson person. What I can infer from reading about him is that he must be very sad and bitter inside. To think, it seems, of other humans as nothing more than trash that needs to be swept out and away from him indicates a spectacular lack of humanity. Does no one understand that poverty and oppression are systemic and institutionalized? That years of hate, violence, abuse and other vitriol create social inequities? Nobody *wants* to be a crack addict, mister. Nobody says when they're five 'Gosh, I can't wait to live in alleyways and scrape together a meager existence while I wait for the hep c I have to slowly kill me!' I'm not joking. I know these guys. Anyone who can afford the drinks in Belltown can afford to learn about poverty, what it means for our community, and how we can support agencies, policies, and people to fight it.

TroyJMorris

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:13:32 -0800

Jeremy - gotcha. Gotta love the Seattle sub-racism.

ruffhauser

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:03:34 -0800

I agree. I keep more of an eye out for drunken frat-boy knuckleheads throwing beer bottles out of cars at 2AM that I do with bums/whores/pimps/dealers. They want to stay in the shadows where they belong.

Jeremy M. Barker

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:31:28 -0800

You may "feel" 10 times safer, but it's a matter of debate as to whether you are. If the issue is about eliminating drug dealing and prostitution, I can assure you those are still there aplenty at Times Square. When it comes to real risk of physical harm, I am rarely frightened of drug dealers and pimps in popular public places precisely because they're not trying to start trouble, they're trying to make money in an illegal trade. My fear for my well-being and my friends' is not because of those people, it's because of drunken louts coming out of bars, who can be racist, homophobic, hyper-aggressive, and all too often willing to get behind the wheel of a car. I'm not saying that's not an issue; I'm saying that the drug dealers and street people are not really the problem. As for TroyJ's comment: I'm not accusing Jamieson of being anti-black, I'm saying the take he's representing is largely representative of fear of black people. It's all over the comments.

jessejb

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:26:12 -0800

Exactly. The B&T crowd is the one you have to watch out for the most. They arent used to the bright lights and crowds (unless you count Vegas) and act like idiots.

bigyaz

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:20:25 -0800

""One-time eyesore," huh? Apparently Robert Jamieson hasn't been to New York recently." I have. And I feel 10 times safer walking in Times Square at 1 a.m. than in Belltown.

TroyJMorris

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:48:53 -0800

Jeremy, you hit the nail on the head as far as the biggest culprits being the "outsiders." I have been 'harassed' by the drug dealers, but that's just annoying conversation. I actually feel safer around a group of the razor's edge folk than the bar patrons. The drug dealers want to stay hidden, they're not going to stab me for walking into my apartment not taking their coke. But to call Jamieson, of all people, against blacks? It's going to be a hard argument to make, but that's not necessarily an attack on your statement's validity. But again, the scum of the neighborhood are not the panhandlers, many of whom have names which I know, or the "scum" so many tend to pick out of a crowd. It's the fuckwads who patronize places like the Sea Sound lounge, who yell until 3 am and punch one another in the face that bother me more because of their unpredictabilities . I was threatened on this very site when I said I was glad the Sea Sound Lounge's music equipment was stolen. I think that is a hallmark of the clubbers. Angry, small, petty and dangerous.

jwhieger

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:24:09 -0800

Belltown feels relatively safe to me, as a former resident, but the lack of police (up until this weekend)in such a tourist area just seems like bad management on the city's part. I'm of the opinion that if the city can clean up Belltown with a few extra beat cops, then by all means go for it. There is an undeniable riff/raff contingent in that area but I wouldn't say it's only black people as I see the same white trash and native american wasteoids on the same street corners as well. If anything, push these people south where no tourists are spending their money and keep the extra beat cops for the Bellevue Fighting Frat kids and the occasional crack dealer who wanders back.