"Seattle Is Dying"...A Documentary

I heard about this documentary and looked it up. It's only an hour long, so I thought I would watch (you can access the documentary on YouTube by clicking: HERE). After all, I have family living in Seattle, but I don't know much about the current condition of the city, having only visited twice.

If you're wondering what the documentary is about, the title is a good indicator. A local new station did an expose on the living conditions of some of their residents. They talked about the homeless situation. They talked about the drug problem of those who are homeless. They talked about the crime, the filth, and how this beautiful jewel of a city is, using their word, dying.

Since I don't live in Seattle, I'm not sure who this program is for. Is it for me, an outsider with an interest in the city? Or, it is more for the citizens who live in the area? They'd probably say it's for both. 

But I'm not sure.

If it's for the city residents, they should already know this stuff. It was so heavy-handed I wondered if someone behind the film had a personal vendetta against a political figure. But, if it's as bad as portrayed, the problem is real and dangerous, and deadly.

I want to talk to my nephew about it. He, his wife, and their new baby live in the city. Is it as bad as they say it is? Any large metropolitan area has its problems. And with smart writing and clever editing, you can make a relatively decent place look like a living hell. Did they do that with this documentary? Knowing this can be done and is done to shape public opinion makes me leery.

And because shows like this can and sometimes do tweak facts to make their point when it may not be the complete truth, it's hard to find their conclusions to be 100% accurate, either. What I did understand is this: the city has a problem with homelessness. Many do. The homeless have a drug problem. Many of the homeless do. And the homeless who are addicts turn to crime to fund their habits. The documentary says the police feel powerless to act due to changes in how criminals are treated, or not treated.

Like I said, I can't say for sure the problem's as bad as the show portrays it to be. I'm sure the people interviewed--the cops, the users, the homeless, the store owners--are real. Those people are hurting and need help. Again, no easy answers. It's like a strange sound coming from your car. Ignoring it almost never makes the noise go away--problems don't magically fix themselves. I hope tough decisions can be made and the people involved can be helped. Is Seattle dying? Since we all are--slowly, over time--why not the city in which the people live?