Immediate Sheltering Responses to Homelessness in Seattle Proposal for Transient Shelter Villages – Identifying Key Strategic Locations December 2021
Saba Fatima MS Architecture (History & Theory); University of Washington, Seattle. URBDP 404; Introduction to GIS | Fall 2021 | Instructors: Lamis Ashour, Yuqi Li
Introduction and Problem Definition Over the last five decades, cities globally have been experiencing rapid capital growth and infrastructure investments along with a simultaneous, and proportional increase in urban poverty and homelessness (Lin and Mele 2013). New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle in the United States have some of the highest numbers of homeless individuals as of 20201 (City Mayors Research 2020). King County’s Point-in-Time data estimates a five percent increase in homelessness during 2020, with about 11,199 people experiencing homelessness on one night in January. Fifty three percent of those were reported to be sheltered, leaving forty seven percent experiencing
unsheltered homelessness.2 On January 24, 2020, the count of unsheltered homeless individuals was 5,578, the number homeless individuals in Emergency Shelters was 4,085 and the number of
1
http://www.citymayors.com/society/usa-cities-homelessness.html Point-in-Time count estimates a 5 percent increase in people experiencing homelessness, newly updated data dashboards reveal more people receiving shelter and services - King County 2
homeless individuals in Transitional housing was 2,088, for a total count of 11,751 homeless people.3 Those unhoused are broadly categorized as experiencing sheltered or unsheltered
Figure 1 Seattle Homelessness
homelessness, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines unsheltered homelessness as “a place not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks, abandoned buildings, or on the street (HUD Exchange 2007) (Rose 2019).” 4 Existing permanent housing solutions take too long to build (2 years or over), or emergency shelters (not popular among homeless individuals and communities for a variety of reasons). Transitional housing or homeless encampments sanctioned by the city help homeless individuals get housed more sooner (albeit temporarily), and set them up on the process of getting re-housed through case workers who help search for employment opportunities or other necessary support. With the city of Seattle experiencing some of the highest gentrification rates in the United States, as well as urban homelessness, an urgent need to address the crisis was recognized and several
3 4
https://kcrha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Count-Us-In-2020-Final_7.29.2020.pdf Microsoft Word - A Guide to Counting Unsheltered Homeless People_Se (hudexchange.info)
efforts were made to both accommodate as well as impart necessary services to the suffering communities. Some of the infrastructural measures were the establishment of temporary housing units by organizations like LIHI5 and Nickelsville6 since 2013, with the aim of immediately sheltering homeless individuals and families rather than relying solely on permanent supportive housing which often take as many as three to five years to be built. The Low Income Housing Institute in Seattle, WA is an organization that among other homeless advocacies, helps rehouse homeless communities in Washington State with temporary ‘Tiny House’ housing (approximately 60-80% residents find permanent homes within a year) to permanent supportive housing. Before its establishment as an organization in 1991, LIHI provided support to individuals who, as a result of experiencing homelessness formed an emergency shelter at the Seattle Center in 1990- the “bus barn.” Their efforts resulted in the development of Aloha Inn, a 57-unit, self-managed transitional housing program in the United Stats for homeless peoplefor the first time. Since its founding, LIHI has advocated consistently for housing and infrastructure needs for homeless communities, installing urban rest stops (hygiene spaces), conversion of abandoned hotels such as Gossett Place into affordable housing units, and the unique Tiny House projects that provide immediate shelter to homeless individuals. Expanding on LIHI’s Tiny House Villages idea, which is already approved by the City, this policy recommends the installation of additional transitional shelter villages across the city of Seattle, and recommends approporiate neighborhood locations for them, based on accessebility to basic
5 6
www.lihi.org Nickelsville (wixsite.com)
needs such as food and sanitation, from City provided services. Given the exacerbated homelessness situation in Seattle, it must be considered on a priority basis.
Methods Research Question: What are possible locations in Seattle where more city-sanctioned temporary housing villages can be installed (about 5 years). Key Requirement: Occupied land cannot be changed in any significant way for future development purposes (by government or private developers). The mapping for this research was carried out on the ArcGIS (Geographic Information System) software to analyze Seattle’s spatial data, and make empirically, and logically suggest locations for new transitional homeless housing. The analysis was conducted primarily with reference to services provided by the City (such as food, transit, public libraries, and sanitary services), so the camp locations may be in close proximity (walkable) to these City services for residents’ ease of access to their needs. Focus Data: i.
LIHI (sanctioned encampments)
ii.
King County (Public restrooms/ Hygiene stations)
iii.
King County Bus Stops (did not generate ‘logical’ results)
iv.
Link Rail stations
v.
Emergency food and meal stations (City of Seattle)
Spatial Data Sources:
Source
Type of spatial data / information
Emergency Food and Meals Seattle and
A list of emergency food (meals, food banks,
King County | City of Seattle Open Data
etc.) available in Seattle and King County.
portal Current Land Use Zoning Detail | Current
A generalized version of the City of Seattle's
Land Use Zoning Detail | Seattle GeoData
land use zoning symbolized at the zoning
(arcgis.com)
class detail level with 28 categories.
Public Garages or Parking Lots | Public
Display the locations of off-street garages and
Garages or Parking Lots | Seattle GeoData
lots along with information such as rates,
(arcgis.com)
operator name, etc.
Future Land Use 2035 | Future Land Use
Future Land Use Map for the City of Seattle
2035 | Seattle GeoData (arcgis.com)
2035 Comprehensive Plan.
Seattle Homelessness
Seattle's Homelessness Crisis (arcgis.com) Homeless encampment locations
Issue Analysis The analysis for this study was organized to assign weightage of priority to the various factors that contributed in the assessment of suitability of location. Factoring needs were ordered based on the severity of their need, and frequency of use- thereby access by homeless individuals who would reside in the transitional sanctioned
camps. The following flow-chart outlines the process of analysis, in a chronological manner.
locating existing sanctioned homeless shelters by neighborhoods
identifying first-priority (first tier) needsbased on walkability assigning a 5-minute walking distance, i.e. 1200 feet [ sanitary stations, and meals]
identifying second-priority (second tier) needsbased on walkability - assigning a 10-minute walking distance, i.e. 2400 feet [ public transit]
identifying third-priority (third tier) needsbased on walkability assigning a 15-minute walking distance, i.e. 3600 feet [ public libraries]
creating individual walking distance buffers around all needs, and then merging the commong areas- resulting in highlighted neighborhood areas that account for the suggested walkability distances (varying by tier), The highlighted area will be positive for accessebility to all above locatins, within the recommended walking distance and time frame Figure 2 Research process for analyzing spatial data and generating solutions
Existing city-sanctioned encampments were mapped to relate the findings from the analysis to existing locations, so newer locations may be located in other neighborhoods, spread across the city, although the study acknowledges that each encampment would serve homeless individuals seeking residence in the housing regardless of geographic background. Tiny House Villages, Seattle 1. Camp Second Chance: 9701 Myers Way S, Seattle 2. Georgetown Village: 1020 S Myrtle Street, 3. Inter bay Village: 1601 15th Ave W, 4. Lake Union Village (LUV): 800 Aloha St, Seattle 5. Othello Village: 7544 Martin Luther King Jr Way S, Seattle 6. T. C. Spirit Village: 612 22nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 7. True Hope Village: 1714 E Yesler Way, Seattle 8. Whittier Heights Village: 8030 15th Ave NW
Figure 3 Locating basic daily needs (meals, sanitary stations) serviced by the City across Seattle
Figure 4 Locating locations for second-tier (second priority) needs in terms of walkability across Seattle, services by the City
Figure 5 Creating walking buffers around food and restroom service locations.
Seattle’s future land use map was considered (2035) (fig 6) to account for changing land uses, and suitability of situating temporary residential spaces. Similarly, city owned property, public garages, and outdoor public spaces were located for possibility of locating the camps (eliminating public parks) (fig. 6&7). Results The following neighborhoods have suitable zones to locate additional transitional housing/ homeless village encampments: Existing
Proposed
Bitterlake
Broadview
Central District/Yesler Terrace
Pine Hurst
Green Lake
Green Lake
University District
University District
Whittier Heights
Phinney Ridge
Wallingford
Adams
South Lake Union
North Admiral
Georgetown
Lawton Park
Brighton
Industrial District
Highland Park
Roxhill
Highland Park
Policy Suggestions and Recommendations → Distribute shelter locations across the neighborhood income ranges where possible to avoid socio-spatial stigmatization and stereotyping. → Locate shelters at comfortable proximity to access employment opportunities. → Although the majority of city-provided services are disproportionately concentrated in the or near the downtown region, it is best not to propose too many new locations there as it is already densely crowded, and houses existing sanctioned and unsanctioned camps. → While proximity to bus stations did not generate conclusive results, identifying prime bus stop locations and accounting them in location proposals is an avenue, and can be considered next steps in this study.
Figure 6 Seattle Future lan use map (2035) with highlighted city-owned outdoor public spaces
Figure 7 Final analysis map, showing proposed neighborhood areas (hatched) superimposed with contributing factors
References
i.
Point-in-Time count estimates a 5 percent increase in people experiencing homelessness, newly updated data dashboards reveal more people receiving shelter and services - King County
ii.
Microsoft Word - A Guide to Counting Unsheltered Homeless People_Se (hudexchange.info)
iii.
History – Low Income Housing Institute (lihi.org)
iv.
"Count Us In 2020" (PDF). regionalhomelesssystem.org. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
v.
City Mayors Research. 2020. City Mayors Society. Accessed June 10, 2021. http://www.citymayors.com/society/usa-cities-homelessness.html.
vi.
HUD Exchange. 2007. A Guide to Counting Unsheltered Homeless People. Accessed June 06, 2021. https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/975/a-guide-to-countingunsheltered-homeless-people/.
vii.
Lin, Jan, and Christopher Mele. 2013. The urban sociology reader. Routledge.
viii.
Rose, Jeff. 2019. "Unsheltered homelessness in urban parks: Perspectives on environment, health, and justice in Salt Lake City, Utah." Environmental Justice 12 (1): 12-16.