A Roving Tent City Continues to Look for a Home

Nickelsville, the self-sufficient tent city in Seattle that has been working towards making things better for those who are homeless but not helpless, moved into a new location this week. While residents, who call themselves Nickelodeans, wait to hear about a permanent location, they settled in for a six-month stay at an old firehouse. As expected, neighbors aren't happy.

Previously, Nickelsville issued a proclamation of a state of emergency. The camp's residents openly acknowledge that they are the disabled, the mentally ill, the unemployable or the too old and too poor to matter. They'll also tell you that things are getting worse, not better, despite the existence of Seattle's 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Budget cuts have reduced the funding for human services by 46 percent. Funding for youth shelter has been eliminated, along with many other programs as Washington State faces a budget crisis. Nickelsville has been working with the Mayor's Office to find a permanent site for the tent city so that residents can have a sense of stability moving forward. Tent cities might not be the most ideal option for the homeless, but they can be the best thing available in tough economic times. They're certainly better than the streets.

Tell Seattle to find a permanent location for Nickelsville now!

Earlier this month, Mayor Mike McGinn posted on his blog that he believed the most viable permanent site for Nickelsville would be the old Sunny Jim peanut butter factory building located in the SODO district. The building was destroyed by a fire a few months ago and the plan was to clear the site so that there would be enough space for an encampment.

Towards the end of the blog post, the Mayor goes on to say that no promises can be made to open the SODO site to Nickelsville soon but that the city is pushing as hard as it can and that there are many hurdles to "overcome." There is no mention on the blog as to what specifically those hurdles are, so the Nickelodeons were wise to post on their announcement page that they were prepared for failure on the Mayor's part to find them a permanent location before the move date that landed them in their new temporary space.

At the start of the month, Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith informed the residents of Nickelsville that Mayor McGinn said a permanent site will not be found this winter even though a citizen's panel looked at seven "shovel ready" sites and recommended four of them as appropriate. The city's timeline of March 15 did not match up with Nickelsville's move date of November 15.

So early yesterday morning, the residents of Nickelsville began the laborious process of packing up and moving to their new location in Lake City at the old Fire Station No. 39. No sooner had they moved in than opposition to their presence set in. According to local business owners, having homeless people around is bad for business.

Lake City's Chamber of Commerce President Peter Lukevich told the Seattle Post Intelligencer that Nickelsville's move to his city was another example of the Mayor shoving off Seattle's homeless problem without a consultation. Local business owners are in an outcry over the new Nickelsville even though it is a temporary arrangement. McGinn still intends to move the Nickelodeons to a permanent site within six months.

Hopefully the business owners in Lake City can invest in a little compassion until then.

Photo credit: Zach Welty