At the beginning of the 20th century, Seattle, Washington was rapidly becoming a major hub of trade in the Pacific Northwest.
Situated on a narrow, hilly isthmus, the city needed to grow in an organized way.
Following a fire which razed much of the downtown area, City Engineer R.H. Thomson took the opportunity to spearhead a wide-ranging effort to tame the terrain around the city and prepare it for a century of growth.
Canals were dug, rivers were diverted and mountains were moved.
In particular, the glacial hills and ridges which separated neighborhoods from the downtown waterfront were deemed a major impediment to travel and commerce, and a prime target for removal.
From the 1890s through the 1920s, more than 50 million cubic yards of earth were scraped away with pick axes, water cannons, steam shovels and conveyor belts. Much of the displaced earth was used for filling in tidal flats on the waterfront.
-- Edited by Digger on Saturday 14th of November 2020 09:32:44 PM
Digger said
Nov 14 9:30 PM, 2020
This fascinates me. They took down a whole hill. And all those great Gothic houses.
Anonymous said
Nov 16 1:06 AM, 2020
Was it slave labour or some other form of labour?
Maddog said
Nov 16 4:14 PM, 2020
Seattle is under siege. Over the past five years, the Emerald City has seen an explosion of homelessness, crime, and addiction. In its 2017 point-in-time count of the homeless, King County social-services agency All Home found 11,643 people sleeping in tents, cars, and emergency shelters. Property crime has risen to a rate two and a half times higher than Los Angeles’s and four times higher than New York City’s. Cleanup crews pick up tens of thousands of dirty needles from city streets and parks every year.
At the same time, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened, with more addiction, more crime, and more tent encampments in residential neighborhoods. By any measure, the city’s efforts are not working.
I was unaware of what they did to build that city.
Maddog said
Nov 16 4:15 PM, 2020
Anonymous wrote:
Was it slave labour or some other form of labour?
Wouldn't have been slaves in Seattle 30-40 years after the civil war.
Digger said
Nov 16 4:23 PM, 2020
Maddog wrote:
Seattle is under siege. Over the past five years, the Emerald City has seen an explosion of homelessness, crime, and addiction. In its 2017 point-in-time count of the homeless, King County social-services agency All Home found 11,643 people sleeping in tents, cars, and emergency shelters. Property crime has risen to a rate two and a half times higher than Los Angeles’s and four times higher than New York City’s. Cleanup crews pick up tens of thousands of dirty needles from city streets and parks every year.
At the same time, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened, with more addiction, more crime, and more tent encampments in residential neighborhoods. By any measure, the city’s efforts are not working.
I was unaware of what they did to build that city.
The world has always been a horrible place but it's getting worse.
Maddog said
Nov 16 4:45 PM, 2020
Digger wrote:
Maddog wrote:
Seattle is under siege. Over the past five years, the Emerald City has seen an explosion of homelessness, crime, and addiction. In its 2017 point-in-time count of the homeless, King County social-services agency All Home found 11,643 people sleeping in tents, cars, and emergency shelters. Property crime has risen to a rate two and a half times higher than Los Angeles’s and four times higher than New York City’s. Cleanup crews pick up tens of thousands of dirty needles from city streets and parks every year.
At the same time, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened, with more addiction, more crime, and more tent encampments in residential neighborhoods. By any measure, the city’s efforts are not working.
I was unaware of what they did to build that city.
The world has always been a horrible place but it's getting worse.
Seattle is off the chart though.
All major cities have homeless people, very few have the problems that Seattle does.
The Pacific Northwest is beautiful. It's a shame that the major city in that region isn't anymore. Unless you can find beauty in a crazy naked man taking a shit on the street.
Anonymous said
Nov 16 6:31 PM, 2020
Would someone like Bernie Sanders have sorted out homelessness? Is Jo Biden planning to sort it out? Is it a problem for the Federal Government or for the State Government? Would you need something like a Welfare State to tackle it?
Maddog said
Nov 16 9:21 PM, 2020
Anonymous wrote:
Would someone like Bernie Sanders have sorted out homelessness? Is Jo Biden planning to sort it out? Is it a problem for the Federal Government or for the State Government? Would you need something like a Welfare State to tackle it?
This may sound a little cruel, but you have to make homelessness a little uncomfortable to push these folks towards the help they need.
My city offers (and many private organizations) the homeless help. It's difficult to force them to take it, but preventing them from creating mass tent cities helps. It also keeps more homeless from flocking to the area if they have similar ideas.
Bernie would have just taxed people more. Seattle already has high taxes. Bernie really hasn't done anything the past 50 years he has been in office. He has some great theories I guess.
Anonymous said
Nov 16 10:14 PM, 2020
Maddog wrote:
This may sound a little cruel, but you have to make homelessness a little uncomfortable to push these folks towards the help they need.
America has many things that are alien to the average European. I never used to understand guns in America but then I had a strong interaction with an American who kindly explained his view to me. After that I began to realise I shouldn't be imposing my own collection of learnt values and culture on others. Much better to ask people and try to understand. This is what frustrates me with the so called woke generation - they are too busy imposing their belief and value systems onto others without a willingness to understand and accept difference.
Do these homeless have voters rights or do they need a permanent address?
Maddog said
Nov 16 11:29 PM, 2020
Anonymous wrote:
Maddog wrote:
This may sound a little cruel, but you have to make homelessness a little uncomfortable to push these folks towards the help they need.
America has many things that are alien to the average European. I never used to understand guns in America but then I had a strong interaction with an American who kindly explained his view to me. After that I began to realise I shouldn't be imposing my own collection of learnt values and culture on others. Much better to ask people and try to understand. This is what frustrates me with the so called woke generation - they are too busy imposing their belief and value systems onto others without a willingness to understand and accept difference.
Do these homeless have voters rights or do they need a permanent address?
I'm sure they can vote. I doubt many of them do, or if they do vote, someone has voted for them.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Seattle, Washington was rapidly becoming a major hub of trade in the Pacific Northwest.
Situated on a narrow, hilly isthmus, the city needed to grow in an organized way.
Following a fire which razed much of the downtown area, City Engineer R.H. Thomson took the opportunity to spearhead a wide-ranging effort to tame the terrain around the city and prepare it for a century of growth.
Canals were dug, rivers were diverted and mountains were moved.
In particular, the glacial hills and ridges which separated neighborhoods from the downtown waterfront were deemed a major impediment to travel and commerce, and a prime target for removal.
From the 1890s through the 1920s, more than 50 million cubic yards of earth were scraped away with pick axes, water cannons, steam shovels and conveyor belts. Much of the displaced earth was used for filling in tidal flats on the waterfront.
-- Edited by Digger on Saturday 14th of November 2020 09:32:44 PM
Was it slave labour or some other form of labour?
At the same time, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened, with more addiction, more crime, and more tent encampments in residential neighborhoods. By any measure, the city’s efforts are not working.
www.city-journal.org/seattle-homelessness
My how they have slipped.
I was unaware of what they did to build that city.
Wouldn't have been slaves in Seattle 30-40 years after the civil war.
The world has always been a horrible place but it's getting worse.
Seattle is off the chart though.
All major cities have homeless people, very few have the problems that Seattle does.
The Pacific Northwest is beautiful. It's a shame that the major city in that region isn't anymore. Unless you can find beauty in a crazy naked man taking a shit on the street.
Would someone like Bernie Sanders have sorted out homelessness? Is Jo Biden planning to sort it out? Is it a problem for the Federal Government or for the State Government? Would you need something like a Welfare State to tackle it?
This may sound a little cruel, but you have to make homelessness a little uncomfortable to push these folks towards the help they need.
My city offers (and many private organizations) the homeless help. It's difficult to force them to take it, but preventing them from creating mass tent cities helps. It also keeps more homeless from flocking to the area if they have similar ideas.
Bernie would have just taxed people more. Seattle already has high taxes. Bernie really hasn't done anything the past 50 years he has been in office. He has some great theories I guess.
America has many things that are alien to the average European. I never used to understand guns in America but then I had a strong interaction with an American who kindly explained his view to me. After that I began to realise I shouldn't be imposing my own collection of learnt values and culture on others. Much better to ask people and try to understand. This is what frustrates me with the so called woke generation - they are too busy imposing their belief and value systems onto others without a willingness to understand and accept difference.
Do these homeless have voters rights or do they need a permanent address?
I'm sure they can vote. I doubt many of them do, or if they do vote, someone has voted for them.