The Jungle (Seattle)

Coordinates: 47°34′30″N 122°19′6″W / 47.57500°N 122.31833°W / 47.57500; -122.31833

Downtown Seattle from a wooded hill
Downtown Seattle as seen from near The Jungle

The Jungle, officially the East Duwamish Greenbelt,[1] is a greenbelt on the western slope of Beacon Hill in Seattle that is known for its homeless encampments and crime. The Jungle consists of more than 160 acres (65 ha) underneath and along an elevated section of Interstate 5 between South Dearborn Street and Lucile Street; a January 2016 assessment counted 201 tents and estimated more than 400 homeless people lived in the encampment prior to a shooting on January 26, 2016.[2]

Location and ecology

The Jungle grows on the steep western slope of Beacon Hill near the south-end of Downtown Seattle. Being bound by Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 90 to the north, the land is primarily managed by the city and state departments of transportation. The thin tract of land is about 100 acres (40 ha) and extends south to the Georgetown neighborhood.[3] The wooded area can be entered through Rizal Park, highway maintenance roads, or residential areas on Beacon Hill.

Thick blackberry brambles and vines grow among maple and other trees in the urban forest.[4] Various rodents—including rats—and numerous species of birds are common.

The Jungle is featured on OpenStreetMap and surrounds part of the Mountain to Sound bike corridor.

History

Homeless people may have used the area as early as the 1930s.[3] It gained notoriety in the 1990s when the city began razing the encampments.[5] In 1994, about 50 campsites yielded 120 tons of trash.[6] Seattle's organized tent cities for the homeless are offshoots of illegal communities that formed after squatters were forcibly removed from The Jungle.[4][7] Periodic bulldozing since the '90s by the city or state department of transportation has led the homeless to complain that the city provides little to no warning before enacting cleanups.[8]

The Jungle increasingly became a haven for criminals in the 2000s.[9] Criminal activity has included assaults, rapes, prostitution, and murders.[10] Residences in the Beacon Hill neighborhood have been burglarized by those staying in The Jungle. Gang members basing drug trade in the woods also became a concern.[11] The Jungle is considered by many unsafe at any hour, though others have argued that its danger is exaggerated by officials and media.[12] Weapons, used drug paraphernalia, potentially stolen goods, and human feces are often seen during the city and state sweeps.[13]

There have been many deaths in and around the greenbelt. Between September 1997 and February 1998, the bodies of three women murdered by a serial killer were found in the area. There have been numerous lower-profile murders. Transients have been killed attempting to cross the nearby freeways. A homeless man was inadvertently killed in June 2007 as workers were mowing a blackberry thicket he was sleeping in.[14]

The city announced plans to revitalize the greenbelt with an extension of the Mountain to Sound bike corridor through the Jungle that opened in the fall of 2011. The trail features a paved path, lighting, and fences.[15][16]

2016 shooting and closure

On November 2, 2015, Mayor Ed Murray declared a civil state of emergency over Seattle's growing homelessness crisis.[17] That declaration was followed with calls for greater state and federal funding, moderate increases in city funding for homeless services,[18] and clearances or "sweeps" of unauthorized homeless encampments that homeless advocates and some city council members have publicly decried.[19] On January 26, 2016, two people were killed and three were injured during a shooting at the Jungle encampment.[20][21] The shooting led to calls from Mayor Ed Murray and other local officials to close the encampment per state trespassing laws,[22] though homeless advocates have said that the city should stop closing unauthorized encampments until it has an alternative location or shelter for campers.[23]

In February, 2016, the Washington State Legislature proposed $1 million to install a 8,000-foot-long (2,400 m), 6-foot-high (1.8 m) razor wire and barbed-wire fence to encircle the 100-acre (40 ha) area.[24]

From 2011 to 2016, the area was the site of at least 750 incidents responded to by the Seattle Fire Department, of which 500 times were emergency medical situations.[2]

On May 17, 2016, the city of Seattle and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced plans to permanently clear out The Jungle, with the estimated 300 remaining people living there to be resettled by the Union Gospel Mission. WSDOT will also clear debris from the freeway's underside and improve road access, while the city will clear the hill above the site, at a total cost of $1 million.[25]

Demographics

A 2016 survey conducted by the city of Seattle and the United Gospel Mission determined that a total of 111 people remained in The Jungle after multiple attempts to close the encampment. Approximately 80 percent are male and 20 percent are female. 45 percent of residents were white, 45 percent were black, and 10 percent were another race.[26]

References

  1. ↑ Raftery, Isolde; Gruener, Posey; Radke, Bill (January 27, 2016). "Photos: This Is Seattle's Notorious 'Jungle'". KUOW-FM. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  2. 1 2 DeMay, Daniel (February 17, 2016). "Report: 'Jungle' homeless camp under I-5, home to 400, 'uninhabitable'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Vaughn, Adam (February 16, 2008). "Seattle's Homeless Jungle". One World Report. Bellevue, WA. KBCS-FM.
  4. 1 2 Martin, Jonathan (October 19, 2003). "Crime in homeless camp sparks cleanup". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  5. ↑ Keene, Linda (June 27, 1994). "`Jungle' For Homeless Will Be Swept Into Extinction -- City Squatters Readied For Move". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Tons of trash taken from 'Jungle'". The Spokesman-Review. August 14, 1994. p. B3.
  7. ↑ Clarridge, Christine (June 11, 1998). "Tents For Homeless Replace Beacon Hill `Jungle'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  8. ↑ Gillis, Cydney (March 17, 2010). "State saves few of belongings called out in policy". Real Change. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  9. ↑ Thompson, Craig (October 22, 2005). "South End positions itself as kingmaker". The Seattle-Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  10. ↑ Flick, John (April 29, 2011). "Seattle planning to clean up Beacon Hill 'jungle'". 6:00 News. KOMO 4. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  11. ↑ Thompson, Craig (December 8, 2007). "Homeless camp sweeps needed". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  12. ↑ Jaywork, Casey (February 4, 2016). "An Extremely Boring Walk Through the Jungle". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  13. ↑ Brodeur, Nicole (November 30, 2007). "Homeless haven, or hellhole". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  14. ↑ Thompson, Craig (August 18, 2011). "Changes come to 'the Jungle' near I-5 in Seattle". Crosscut Public Media. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  15. ↑ Arcega-Dunn, Maria (June 8, 2011). "City to transform notorious homeless encampment "The Jungle"". Q13 Fox News. Q13 Fox. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  16. ↑ Estaban, Michelle (July 14, 2011). "New trail to cut through Jungle, connect to South Seattle". KOMO 4 News. KOMO TV. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Murray Declares Civil Emergency on Homelessness". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Bagshaw's Committee Approves $2.3M In Homeless Funding". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Council Grills Executive Branch Over Homeless Encampment Clearings". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  20. ↑ "2 dead, 3 wounded after shooting in Seattle-area homeless encampment". KIRO-TV. January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Gunfire Erupts in Homeless Encampment During Mayor's Homeless Crisis Speech". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  22. ↑ Bush, Evan (January 28, 2016). "Seattle mayor says The Jungle should be shut down". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  23. ↑ "City of Seattle Homeless Sweeps Exacerbate Problem, May Push Others to the Streets | Columbia Legal Services". columbialegal.org. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  24. ↑ Lacitis, Erik (February 25, 2016). "$1 million razor- and barbed-wire fence proposed for The Jungle". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  25. ↑ O'Sullivan, Joseph; Clarridge, Christine (May 17, 2016). "Seattle aims to clear out The Jungle homeless camp". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  26. ↑ Young, Bob; Coleman, Vernal (June 17, 2016). "Inside the grim world of The Jungle: The Caves, sleeping in shifts and eyeball-eating rats". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 17, 2016.

External links

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