| Panhandling
is back in the news again. Last week, the Downtown
Seattle Association scored another touchdown with a major
article in the Post-Intelligencer and made the
field goal as well with a follow-up interview on Dave
Ross’ show on KIRO 710. Last May, they did the same
thing with a hit in the Puget Sound Business Journal
and a follow-up story on Q13.
Panhandling, they say, their Have a Heart Give Smart “education
campaign,” is up 38 percent this year. This, of
course, is ludicrous. No one but them seems to have noticed
the increase. Yet, there is much talk within the DSA of
criminalizing panhandling with time, place, and manner
restrictions similar to those recently passed in Tacoma.
In a town where, relative to most major cities, panhandling
isn’t a serious issue, one wonders why the DSA has
identified this as a priority.
Look no further than the upscale downtown condo market
and the businesses this may soon attract. There’s
the Escala at Fourth and Virginia, which will feature
a 24,000 sq ft. members-only fitness club. Or the Fifteen
Twenty One in Belltown, where the average condo goes for
$1.8 million. Or the new Four Seasons, where prices start
at $2.5 million.
With all this wealth comes a vision for the kind of downtown
where no one ever has to feel uncomfortable. No one who’s
rich, that is.
Read daily posts by Tim Harris at apesmaslament.blogspot.com.
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