I see people bring this up all the time for Seattle. However... I've literally lived in the radius of the oft-demonized stretch of 3rd and Pike/Pine for the past 2-3 years.

I can assure you that while it's bad, they generally don't bother people and simply need a system that actually helps them. More police won't solve anything here - I'm confident in this statement as they sit outside my window daily and do absolutely nothing as it is.

You must live on a high floor. The homeless outside my window are annoyingly noisy. Too often they wake me up at night or scare my dog when I'm out walking. I'm tired of spotting needles in the bushes and I'm worried someday I or my dog will step on one without a cap. The other day, I watched one guy threaten another with a knife.

Call me callous, but I'd like to build drugs-allowed shelters so that they leave the streets.

I live pretty close to street level, actually - sometimes people on the corner by the Kress are playing music too loud, but this is a city: you're going to hear some noise.

I walk two dogs here a few times daily and while the litter has been worse post-COVID, it wasn't always this bad due to the city cleaners.

In general I agree with your shelters idea, Seattle does not do nearly enough to help these people.

Without knowing what part of Seattle you're specifically referring to I can't really explain more. If you're referring to Pioneer Square... well, I won't fight you on that one - that area needs help.