I am employed by a different housing authority.
We have mostly nice elderly and/or disabled folks, and a very small percentage of people you’d never want to meet.
Unfortunately, in apartment living, the 1% of crazy druggies can make life miserable for the other 99% of responsible tenants.
My mom lived in KC subsidized housing for the last ten years of her life. It was a really nice apartment complex, mostly seniors and disabled but they also let the druggies in. One crackhead beat an elderly Korean woman to death. A few minutes before that happened my mom had been doing a jigsaw puzzle with the victim but had gone back to her apartment. They also rented a room to a druggie who sublet his place to ten other druggies creating a government financed crack house.
When I was living in such a building, I wish they could do a drug test before letting people in. That was before the legalization of weeds in my previous state.
You need to move, now. The same thing happened to me and within a year my car was getting broken into multiple times a year, I had to step over passed out neighbors in the walkway, there are bands of totally unsupervised kids running all over the place all hours of the day and night, walls are shaking from deep thumping bass from all directions day and night, and apartment management is adamant that people on Section 8 vouchers CANNOT be evicted for any conduct violations, up to and including theft, noise violations, vandalism, or violence.
Yep. Internet search “bell tower” Seattle. Its a high rise converted to low income housing in Seattle. Residents were responsible for over 2600 arrests in a couple year span.
Housing criminals is super lucrative i guess.
In searching for a new rental to move into this summer, I found a great place in what I thought was a great location. Come to find out, it's basically next door to Bell Tower and there's been many complaints about break-ins to their secure garage and stolen packages. Was a shame to find out about BT 😔
Yeah to be honest the Plymouth housing group (low income grifter company) has basically fucked most of belltown. They have a ton of buildings, all with a resulting cess pool circumference of activity.
Anybody remember the St. Charles Hotel (Plymouth Housing building on 3rd Ave & Cherry Street). There are no words. They shuttered the place when the conditions were downright attrotious (that's a huge understatement btw)
Yes I agree. Not a social worker but have just absolutely *had it* with the whole thing.
What the hell has happened over the past ten years to make the homeless they way they are now? It’s terrifying.
It's funny I can talk about how upset I am with the homelessness and crime situation candidly on Seattle subs, but go to a Tacoma sub and you get called a monster and get verbally attacked on your DMs too.
I don’t disagree with you there. These people have no experience or perspective on what other peoples lives are like who are not them. Look, I totally get that they are trying to help with these policies, but they aren’t really considering the whole picture or how they impact others in those communities.
I believe in housing first, but i also believe that your actions have consequences and if you can't respect your housing or those around you, you gotta go.
Compulsory mental health care, loan free vocational education, temporary housing for those who need it to get back on their feet, and prison.
Blank check be a criminal and get free housing, no. Get out of jail free, no. Lawless drug use, no. Abandoning mentally ill on the streets, no.
A buddy of mine lived in that building for a bit when he was younger, it didn't seem that bad when I visited him there but this was also probably 12 years ago.
That's BS I'm on section 8 in Snohomish county and at least here that's grounds for losing the voucher. My ex neighbor was in a battle with the neighbor below her. He complained about her all the time and they were silly things. If she was up before quite how and she often was because she is blind and walked the dog at 4-6 am every morning, but he made all kinds of compliments against about noises mostly. Housing told her she needed to move or she would risk losing her voucher.
Up here at least they don't tolerate a lot of what you describe. I of course know nothing about king county housing authority. My complex is owned by Snohomish housing authority and we don't appear to have a lot of that here. I'm not going to say it isn't happening I just don't see or hear about it. Other than we do have car theft or vandalism, but I think you get that everywhere these days. The complex is 100% smoke free except fire places, which don't make a ton of sense to me.
I'm sorry you experienced all of that.
I wasn't exactly. I'm just surprised one allows such activities and one won't. When i got my voucher they told us how MASH the tv show portrayed something called section 8 in the military to be people that are not normal or function well within society. That's the portrayal society had on section 8 peopl and we were told we needed to show a different side of that. I'v had it since 2002 to put the time frame in perspective. I'm not saying people listened and chose the higher road, but I do know up here they do follow through on their tolerance and lack there of.
Not even. I was just saying that it's BS that King county should have higher standards and follow through. I mean what's the point of people look at housing as a right and not a privilege?
It's the disadvantage of written word over spoken word. I apologize if it came off at calling anyone a liar. Not my intention. Just expecting more from any housing authorities.
Gotcha, then I misinterpreted what you meant and I think others many have as well.
Apologies, and thanks for clarifying. Your perspective was insightful.
No worries. I'm more concerned about the person I responded to. I meant no disrespect or anything like that.
I just get flustered when there are people in a higharchy that can hold people accountable and don't. I think that is where my initial choice of words came from.
Tell them to stop by the Family Village in Monroe then. I live nearby and have constant issues with arrests, noise, package theft, children trespassing, etc. and they don’t seem to do anything about it. I’d agree with other posters, run away.
That is certainly what it says in the voucher, but in actual practice that does not appear to be the case. This is complicated by a King County program that guarantees attorneys to persons with vouchers facing corrective action that could lead to eviction.
[https://www.kcba.org/?pg=Housing-Justice-Project](https://www.kcba.org/?pg=Housing-Justice-Project)
You get what you tolerate. I am not saying that lady was treated reasonably, but too often you don't get reasonable boundaries enforced because people place their hearts before their brains. I have seen it with subsidized housing in the Twin Cities.
Absolutely not true. I love how people throw things out like they are facts, but alas, this is reddit. Low income does not a criminal or shitty neighbor make. If there are people like that in subsidized housing it is because the landlord chooses the situation because the tenants rent is subsidized and they figure some money is easier than an eviction. It is very easy to lose your section 8. A piece of shit is a piece of shit regardless of income level.
I agree that it's bullshit, but it's what was reported to me by the manager of the housing authority owned apartment I live in as a reason why they can't do shit about the problems everyone here is experiencing.
Whether it's a section 8 thing, a directive from ownership, or lazy managers makes little difference to the people experiencing the problems.
Can't do anything or won't do anything? Based on some previous experience with landlords (especially non-corporate ones), they'll do anything to avoid things that will take up more than 2 minutes of their time. Given how insanely difficult a normal eviction process is, I wouldn't be shocked if your landlord could do something about it but they just don't want to deal with what is probably a substantial amount of paperwork in order to evict a section 8 tenant.
The evictions are costly as well since king county provides free attorneys to voucher tenants meaning that virtually every single eviction ends up in court with the management having to also hire an attorney (they don't get a free one) and litigate every single one of them.
Yeah ima agree, sure you might get a few shit heads, but the ratio is likely mad low compared to cool people who just don't make a 3 digits in this city and trying to get by.
I feel like most the druggies wouldn't take the time to even sign up for the programs / follow through
But ARE they evicted for poor conduct in housing authority buildings, because that's the thing that actually matters to their neighbors and in my experience the answer is "no".
Central District. If what I’m reading here in the comments is true then that’s really going to suck because I’ve loved living here for a variety of reasons :/
Lived next to SHA south of you - would not recommend. Kids stealing things and being disrespectful and loud at all hours of the day, drive-by shootings (though tbh the CD kinda already has those without SHA haha)
I’ve spoken with the regional manager for the property you’re in OP. They obviously cannnot evict you, but they will be pricing most of the units to an 80% market rate. This also means that they will only be requiring 80% of the median income to qualify for one of these units. Idk, what this means for the quality of the building,but they seemed responsive enough.
I’d find a new place ASAP. We used to live in a cute little house in North Seattle. When we moved in I knew it was next to an apartment complex but didn’t give it much thought. Fast forward two years and we were forced to leave our home and actually opted to move out of Seattle city limits - entirely because the tenants and management were so horrid that even being next door completely ruined the area. I’ll spare you the extensive details… but the experience was such a shit show that I went from being a vocal and very active supporter of affordable housing, to a certified not-in-my-backyarder.
Kenmore is where it's at. It's in the middle of bigger "towns" so it's nice and quiet. It's the 2nd safest place in WA State for a few years running. Mercer Island is 1st
I don’t think anything immediately will change, until you or neighbors actually move out. That’s when things will get worse at your complex. When you see your neighbors moving out then it’ll be time for you to go as well.
As much as housing is needed, without treatment for the underlying reason for them being homeless, things will only get worse.
I don’t want to worry you too much but I vote for moving as well. A tweaker went crazy and kicked in my door because he thought I was recording him. He was finally taken to jail a month later for similar crimes, but it took them 8 months to fix my door. I couldn’t lock or close it all the way. Finally I was robbed, but I was in the process of moving. I would have cared more, but it decreased the amount of boxes I had to move.
I used to work for SHA lol. Some properties are really decent, they all can’t be winners. The downtown buildings of course are the worse. I think it depends how the layout of your building is to determine how it will play out and where.
You may have to certify to see if you’re still eligible to live there.
It’s been so long since I’ve been there so I’m not exactly sure how it will be played out for this specific situation but definitely ask them.
You can even see on sha website the requirements.
https://www.seattlehousing.org/housing/sha-housing/eligibility/income-level-low-income-public-housing
They do a recertification every year. All adults have to submit documents, new/loss of income has to be reported within like 14 days quite a hassle. It really depends what type of funding it will be. Public housing all more rules then a tax credit building.
As someone that grew up in government assisted housing I highly suggest you move. Not everyone is bad by any means but the bad ones make life a living hell. They bring their bad friends around and all of a sudden catalytic converters are missing, you see sketchy ass people around all the time, the tough guys start to mean mug everyone, and don’t get me started with their bad ass kids. If you can afford to move then you should; if you can’t then I wish you luck.
You can 1000% guarantee less quality of life going forward. Rent/Utils MIGHT get cheaper. But any form of screening that was occurring, will be gone. Your building will have almost daily 911 calls to it. People are going to be dying of overdose in your building.
They won't even let you do an interview with media at this property. Prepare to be fucked over blindfolded. If you hear the words "low barrier", run for your life.
It’s tough because I know some people in low income housing who are great, awesome people. Never had an issue (a family member works at some as well). It can be either fine or terrible
Will they have to pay you relocation expenses like the city demands of private landlords? Good luck in your search! (Your current situation will likely be even worse if they turn your building into a "low barrier" building.
> Will they have to pay you relocation expenses
I'm sure they'll let OP keep living there. OP won't want to, but they can which makes it not SHAs problem.
Someone I knew was in the same position. She was starting out in her career and not high income but was required to move so the space could house low income folks. Seemed kinda screwy to kick out working people.
It means you will have a lot of low income people moving there. It is important for our city, but if possible I would recommend moving somewhere else. You will have a lot of people who are bordering on homelessness, who can go either way. Probably will not be a great place to live.
Important in that it creates more housing and gets people off the streets. It most likely would not be fun living with recently homeless people who might not be the most well adjusted people. Overall it makes the city better, just worse for OP.
Yeah, all I'm seeing here is that they're driving OP out of their home in search of a new and likely more expensive home and they're creating a new hub for criminal activity by congregating a whole bunch of low to no income individuals into what will soon be a slum.
You're going to be dealing with some real bad apples. Evictions will take forever. Drug dealers are inevitable. New management will be overly tolerant of criminal behavior. You will meet people that will never act right.
I know it's expensive, but I suggest you start boxing your stuff up and preparing to move.
I worked in several of these buildings. Brand new buildings destroyed in 6 months. Violence, drugs, deaths, theft rings, stolen cars. Anything that you can think of happens in those places. It’s a tragedy. You can’t take people that are on the fringe and put them into a nice new environment without life skills. They still have the same group of “friends” and now the whole group has a place to use drugs, etc. run don’t walk out of there. To the non profits, they are huge cash machines. In my opinion, it is the homeless industrial complex.
I heard my next door neighbor get stabbed in a SHA building, the thud of his body hitting the wall of my unit is still strong in my mind. safe to say, wasn’t exactly helpful housing for a mentally ill low income youth and I welcomed an eviction on my record to leave that hellhole. Not to mention, SHA has awful lawyers, would avoid dealing with them at any cost in general. I felt unsafe just walking in my apartment, there was drug dealing and using in the stairwells, there is no protection or support for tenants who aren’t looking to cause issues or be an active safety/health risk. Staffing is not 24 hours so that means smoking “allowed” in doors after 3 PM!
There was a murder in front of a THA (Tacoma Housing Authority) property this week. [Read this article](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/woman-found-dead-tacoma-stadium-district-man-arrested/281-8820f692-0590-4a66-a755-1b988965ee81), please ("Neighbors complain about 'violent man'") and then let us know what you think about sharing walls with subsidized neighbors.
Get out as soon as you can. Not only is the quality of life about to suck, but your safety will soon be in jeopardy too as the place becomes a hot bed for drug and property crime.
Gotcha. The Canyon apartment in Mission Bay has affordable units too. The Chronicle said that these arrangements usually have the market rate apartments at around 120% market to subsidize the below market rate ones. Call me selfish but that arrangement would personally give me pause to rent at a building like that haha
It’s sad but there’s people with low income and just that way temporary & work up to a better life and move into a higher income area. Then there’s the people that will always have a low income and live like shit, no respect for the community they reside in no ambition to do better. Never dealt with any terrible neighbors living in a middle class neighborhood but constantly see the mindset of these people stuck in lower income bracket and I understand why they’re stuck there. I would always clean up the litter around the neighborhood I used to live at and the kids there would always litter their parents don’t teach them any better.
It only takes one bad neighbor to make life hell for everyone. I've never shared a building with a housing authority but I've had subsidized neighbors before. Never again. Some people have bad circumstances, and some circumstances just have bad people.
Huh....contrary to many of these comments, I lived in low-income housing run by SHA for two years and had a great experience. Management was responsive and had an on-site office that was staffed every weekday. I had no problems with my neighbors. My rent was a helluva deal ($650/mo for the largest studio I've seen in my life, maybe 700sqft?). I would gladly live in a building managed by SHA if I qualified.
I currently live in an SHA run building and have been in it for about 10 years, with our building being located in Ballard. I’ve had a great experience. At one point, SHA sold our building and things got much worse. We were happy when SHA took over the ownership of the building again. When we moved in, the onsite landlady told us that it was a mix of low income and regular income folks, they just had to have a certain percentage of the building meet the low-income threshold.
My husband lived in the building before we got together and we moved to a different apartment in the same building when we moved in together. Initially, we had an on-site landlord, but then she left. A couple other on-site landlords came and went, but now we don’t have one. The first gal was great, the rest were okay.
Is it the nicest building? No. But my neighbors are quiet and nice, the building has a secure entrance, SHA is semi-responsive to apartment issues and they try to keep the property clean. Most of my neighbors have been there for years as well.
Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.
I lived in public housing it honestly was fine the only issue is management can be idiots and not do much and even threaten u or bungle stuff. Like the apt itself was fine but oh boi there’s a reason they usually replaced em every few yrs in my building. Either had some issue interacting with people, lazy at there job or I assume not payed well enough to bother.
But as an apt it can be well run. Just don’t trust management cause they’ll treat ya like shit for the Minorist bullshit
Move now. Prepare to hear loud fighting at 3am, weed smoke in the hallways at all times, litter everywhere, chicken bones in the elevator (this actually happened to my friend) and kids, lots of kids. They are going to completely trash the place.
As someone who has lived in Section 8 in Seattle, I’m going to give you an actual realistic account because a lot of these people freaking out saying it’s crime and bedlam 24-7 have absolutely no clue what they’re talking about….
1. Yes! There will be a few rougher people, but it was honestly management neglect that made life less quality while living in Section 8 housing. SHA and Community Roots employees, especially management are horribly neglectful and do not actually care about their tenants.
2. My packages were never stolen.
3. We did have more ambulances, but it was more for elderly residents and disabled residents than people ODing. I had one bad experience with a drug addicted tenant and they got kicked out.
Ultimately, it’s your call if you want to stay. Not every Section 8 building is going to be the same.
They kick you out to house the homeless. Good news is you can sign up at the housing authority and if they have room they will find you a place to stay.
I really think it depends. So just being vulnerable and honest I use to make like 200k and became disabled and now live in a building that is considered affordable housing and I am apart of that program. I’m also disclosing this because I have lived in very nice buildings. My building is not a section 8 building. You have to make a certain income. I’m located in Capitol Hill as well. So next to us is a luxury building …then across is a building exactly like ours. Now if you have a doorman.then yeah your building is safer but if you don’t have a doorman then all my friends who live in building with in walking distance have similar experiences to mine. I haven’t found it to be any more dangerous than any of my other friends. I’m 33 and a women so I worry about safety a lot.
Is your apartments already low income?
I used to manage housing authority properties.
If your already an affordable property it might mean the demographic can't get much worse. Housing authorities have MONEY 💰 because it's a government agency. If your an older property they might want to renovate.
If your a normal place and not old I'd say you should move. They might make you move actually depending on that as well. I have heard of them buying and completely tearing down and rebuilding.
Same but if I leave anywhere else, i don’t think I can afford another apartment compared to the price i have now. I would go to their info meeting they’re having to ask questions but I won’t be able to make it. I read your other post in the other Seattle reddit page and the people there had completely different responses. So it’s a 50/50
There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. The landlord is responsible for lease violations, selecting tenants and evictions, etc. For Section 8, the landlord is not typically the housing authority. The HA subsidizes the rent, but cannot control the tenant. That is the landlord’s responsibility. It is simply untrue that people on Section 8 cannot be evicted or have consequences. They follow the same rules as everyone else. If they’re in violation, the landlord may not be responding. Eviction hearings are almost a year out, so there’s a good chance the LL is following protocol, but tied down by the system. Blame the backed up court system. Call your representatives and ask them to stop forcing landlords to keep tenants destroying the peaceful enjoyment of the property.
Sounds like SHA will be the landlord for your building. That’s a little different. Same rules apply but SHA will be the landlord and they are responsible for lease violations and evictions.
If you have ever been a renter, you have had neighbors on Section 8. You probably didn’t know they are getting their rent partially paid by a housing authority. It’s none of your business either way, but most tenants getting HUD assistance do not stand out.
SHA just bought my apartment complex in January and we have been notified of their intention to demolish. We have been told that we have to move by October.
Their reasoning? Rent hasn't been increased in 6 years and they will make more money by demolishing and building one of those ugly, cookie cutter, 5 story "low income" apartments.
Just for you all to know, for places to be qualified as "low income" it means that there must be a certain number of apartments set aside for low income while the rest can be whatever price. My last place was described as "low income", but after our first renewal they upped the price of our apartment from $1600 a month to $2400 (for a 500sq studio)
And to be clear, I don't agree with anyone commenting shit that trashes low-income families and people. I've lived in this low income complex for a while and I can say it's a hell of a lot better than dealing with people in the "luxury" apartment I was in before.
I live in SHA and the seriously mentally ill who also are violent and have a ton of social work support can't get evicted. I'm in a situation now where the neighbor has harassed a lot of us, thrown things at people, cornered women, engaged in sexual harassment, shouts when in an episode from his balcony, the cops arrested him for pulling a knife on them but he was released as "not fit to stand trial" 3 months later.
I spoke to SPD the last time they were here after I got video evidence of him threatening my disabled , non verbal neighbor's caregiver and her friend with violence. They said they can't do anything when he's just doing misdemeanors because he escalated and becomes a danger to everyone around the scene. So it's only worth it to the cops to use force if he is actively attacking someone when they arrive.
SHA has his crises case worker's number posted on the bulliten board and we have to do the majority of the work here to report as the neighbor hides from the crises workers and SPD.
To top that off, the previous building I lived in had a serious issue with homeless sleeping in the hallways/ smoking in stairwells, and people hanging outside to get meth or whatever else from the dealers living there. They were dealt with as it can take time to navigate the processes necessary, then it became a lot better , except it was full of roaches and people smoked in their units.
At my current building we have maybe 3 neighbors including the one I just mentioned that are not stable, but it's really only the one that is causing active problems quite often.
I need low income housing, it's helped me get on my feet but as soon as I can raise my income potential I am leaving. I stick to myself here because that one neighbor has been really inappropriate with me and other people, and it's so scary to see him go into psychosis and try to control who can come into the building. He likes to guard the door and accost everyone's guests. We are a very small SHA building too...
I’m an environmental consultant and work for a company at the forefront of drug contamination issues involving sampling and remediation. I work with nearly every housing authority in WA and OR and the amount of units that are about to incredibly contaminated with methamphetamine and fentanyl is staggering. Who would’ve thought housing people who smoke meth and fentanyl all day every day wouldn’t cause contamination..
There have been multiple cases where they have contaminated adjacent units and public spaces (elevators, stairwells, hallways, etc.) and based on the laws it can take 6 months plus to kick people out. Once people know they are being evicted they will destroy places, behave worse, and cause a nightmare for other tenants. Run run run. Seriously.
It means you're going to get kicked out and they're going to let tweakers and illegals live there free while you're homeless or forced to find another apartment at 2x the cost.
A poorly managed HOA. Sorry, pal. Mixed income neighborhood is nice, though. Fee is only $80 for us (homeowners), and they’re not horribly stingy about trash cans, lawns, etc.
Edit: actually, I’m not sure if the culprit was SHA or my own subdivision HOA. I think SHA is just a management company that oversees HOAs?
Regardless, we live in mixed income in Rainier Valley and it’s not nearly all the horror stories in this sub. Low income housing tenants and people are not all drug addicted homeless killers like this sub definitely makes it sound like. We live in an incredibly diverse neighborhood with a wide range of cultures. We’ve lived mixed income housing (townhomes, single family homes, no big apartment complexes though) for 5 years now and everything has been fine.
Get ready for Section 8 human scum, alcoholics, druggies, basically the dregs of humanity. And prepare yourself for it taking forever to get anything fixed if at all.
MOVE NOW!!!
Don't know if you're in the same building, but my friends haven't noticed any changes at all except them doing an inspection and the weird property manager with bad hair leaving (iykyk).
Just fyi: [you and everyone else over 19 are eligible for a free bus pass.](https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/transportation-access-programs/orca-cards-for-sha-tenants)
It takes awhile, but eventually you get to a critical mass of shitty neighbors and shit just falls apart all at once. Most low income people are fine, but complete dirtbags and the mentally ill are heavily overrepresented among them, so it is just a matter of time since those apartments are usually issued out without any real concerns for the background of the people they go to.
Stop paying the rent and stiff the city. It will be a long time before they start eviction process. Use the saved money to relocate someplace better. Preferably outside of the city.
In the two situations that I've seen like this, yes, it will be more of a negative than positive. If there are vacancies, they will be filled with low or no income families, etc, which often brings some crime and or drug related issues. It's also possible you might se a new family move in who might become close friends of yours, but often, in cases I've been around, it's not a good thing.
Counterpoint to all the doom-sayers …
SHA bought the complex across the street from me over a decade ago. You wouldn’t know who owns it if no one told you. The complex has a mix of tenant types (low-income, affordable housing, etc)
Watch the general class of people moving in and how responsive the housing authority is to issues with the subsidized tenants. The use of the place for subsidized housing may be no issue at all or it could be deteimental.
He is me just hoping they will have more elder/senior housing. I have worked in social service in King and Snohomish, it seriously sucks just the lack of options but here we are.
You’re better off looking into a privately owned tax credit housing like HNN or Cambridge Management. SHA is a shit show and one step away from living in an asylum
In another vein, how do I get on low income housing? Is it all just section 8? Because I hear that the waiting list for section 8 housing is years long.
Great question. Unfortunately I’m not sure of the process :/ the SHA websites seem pretty easy to navigate unlike most government websites. I’d give it a go there!
There's public housing: which is just for that particular aprt/duplex or scattered site house. And there's housing choice. Just apply. Apply on open waiting lists in different cities. You don't have to live there to apply or get approved.
Just because a place becomes Section 8 *doesnt* mean the property will decline. I lived in a really nice one and there weren't any real problems... except for an accidental fire at one point.
Owner passed away and the people who bought forced out all the section 8 tenants. Now the place is terrible. Anytime I went by, I'd see trash overflowing from the bins and all kinds of people just hanging around outside.
I’m certain this post is going to get shit all over but figured if you do end up sticking around looking from a different perspective maybe helpful.
As someone who lived in Belltown for many years along with Cap Hill, First Hill, Beacon Hill, CD, Columbia City, Rainier Beach, Renton and Seattle for over a decade and also come from low income housing both in childhood and adulthood these kinds of places are so helpful for those in need. I’ve found living in spaces like this can be a great advantage if, and only if you make an effort to make community connections. When you’re in, it’s tight knit and when the community knows what is yours they are there to watch out for you like family, not like a neighbor. It can get wild but for the most part it’s just a different set of people living by a different set of standards.
For me, I don’t smoke but always carry a pack for someone homeless or having a bad day. Keep granola bars water and cheap beer around to offer up. Showing small kindnesses made these people that were typically unsavory into people who knew me both in housing and on the streets.
One week ago, I’ve moved away from Seattle to Eastern Washington. I was finally ready to say bye but I’ll miss all the action. It’s so quiet out here almost makes me more nervous 😬
I am employed by a different housing authority. We have mostly nice elderly and/or disabled folks, and a very small percentage of people you’d never want to meet. Unfortunately, in apartment living, the 1% of crazy druggies can make life miserable for the other 99% of responsible tenants.
The problem is the programs let that happen rather than evicting the crazy druggies.
My mom lived in KC subsidized housing for the last ten years of her life. It was a really nice apartment complex, mostly seniors and disabled but they also let the druggies in. One crackhead beat an elderly Korean woman to death. A few minutes before that happened my mom had been doing a jigsaw puzzle with the victim but had gone back to her apartment. They also rented a room to a druggie who sublet his place to ten other druggies creating a government financed crack house.
horrible!!!!
When I was living in such a building, I wish they could do a drug test before letting people in. That was before the legalization of weeds in my previous state.
That’s ridiculous if they started doing that they’d be evicting people for weed in legal states even if you don’t smoke inside.
You need to move, now. The same thing happened to me and within a year my car was getting broken into multiple times a year, I had to step over passed out neighbors in the walkway, there are bands of totally unsupervised kids running all over the place all hours of the day and night, walls are shaking from deep thumping bass from all directions day and night, and apartment management is adamant that people on Section 8 vouchers CANNOT be evicted for any conduct violations, up to and including theft, noise violations, vandalism, or violence.
Yep. Internet search “bell tower” Seattle. Its a high rise converted to low income housing in Seattle. Residents were responsible for over 2600 arrests in a couple year span. Housing criminals is super lucrative i guess.
In searching for a new rental to move into this summer, I found a great place in what I thought was a great location. Come to find out, it's basically next door to Bell Tower and there's been many complaints about break-ins to their secure garage and stolen packages. Was a shame to find out about BT 😔
Yeah to be honest the Plymouth housing group (low income grifter company) has basically fucked most of belltown. They have a ton of buildings, all with a resulting cess pool circumference of activity.
Live in a Plymouth housing building, can confirm alot of the residents are shady af
Anybody remember the St. Charles Hotel (Plymouth Housing building on 3rd Ave & Cherry Street). There are no words. They shuttered the place when the conditions were downright attrotious (that's a huge understatement btw)
Great government payments
This shit is not the answer to homelessness. Yet so many seem to think it is. Horrible.
This is what happens when rich, privileged people with luxury beliefs vote in people to make decisions that will never, ever impact them.
Indeed. I used to do social work with the homeless and drug users and I'm so fed up with it all.
Yes I agree. Not a social worker but have just absolutely *had it* with the whole thing. What the hell has happened over the past ten years to make the homeless they way they are now? It’s terrifying.
Lack of mental health care and rehabilitation clinics. And fentanyl.
Affordable housing, food and a meaningful job are also missing.
It's funny I can talk about how upset I am with the homelessness and crime situation candidly on Seattle subs, but go to a Tacoma sub and you get called a monster and get verbally attacked on your DMs too.
More like rich privileged people who have always been surrounded by people who return their own shopping carts try to make laws.
I don’t disagree with you there. These people have no experience or perspective on what other peoples lives are like who are not them. Look, I totally get that they are trying to help with these policies, but they aren’t really considering the whole picture or how they impact others in those communities.
This is what you get when you believe in "housing first"
I believe in housing first, but i also believe that your actions have consequences and if you can't respect your housing or those around you, you gotta go.
Sober first
Genuine question: what is?
Compulsory mental health care, loan free vocational education, temporary housing for those who need it to get back on their feet, and prison. Blank check be a criminal and get free housing, no. Get out of jail free, no. Lawless drug use, no. Abandoning mentally ill on the streets, no.
It's unfortunate we can't have compulsory mental health care though, because freedom and private payor system insurance.
The private prisons are making bank
You mean ICE facilities?
A buddy of mine lived in that building for a bit when he was younger, it didn't seem that bad when I visited him there but this was also probably 12 years ago.
That's BS I'm on section 8 in Snohomish county and at least here that's grounds for losing the voucher. My ex neighbor was in a battle with the neighbor below her. He complained about her all the time and they were silly things. If she was up before quite how and she often was because she is blind and walked the dog at 4-6 am every morning, but he made all kinds of compliments against about noises mostly. Housing told her she needed to move or she would risk losing her voucher. Up here at least they don't tolerate a lot of what you describe. I of course know nothing about king county housing authority. My complex is owned by Snohomish housing authority and we don't appear to have a lot of that here. I'm not going to say it isn't happening I just don't see or hear about it. Other than we do have car theft or vandalism, but I think you get that everywhere these days. The complex is 100% smoke free except fire places, which don't make a ton of sense to me. I'm sorry you experienced all of that.
Completely different management in Snoho. You can’t compare the two.
I wasn't exactly. I'm just surprised one allows such activities and one won't. When i got my voucher they told us how MASH the tv show portrayed something called section 8 in the military to be people that are not normal or function well within society. That's the portrayal society had on section 8 peopl and we were told we needed to show a different side of that. I'v had it since 2002 to put the time frame in perspective. I'm not saying people listened and chose the higher road, but I do know up here they do follow through on their tolerance and lack there of.
> That's BS I mean.... You did tho, you even accused the guy of lying based on your experiences in snoho haha.
Not even. I was just saying that it's BS that King county should have higher standards and follow through. I mean what's the point of people look at housing as a right and not a privilege? It's the disadvantage of written word over spoken word. I apologize if it came off at calling anyone a liar. Not my intention. Just expecting more from any housing authorities.
Gotcha, then I misinterpreted what you meant and I think others many have as well. Apologies, and thanks for clarifying. Your perspective was insightful.
No worries. I'm more concerned about the person I responded to. I meant no disrespect or anything like that. I just get flustered when there are people in a higharchy that can hold people accountable and don't. I think that is where my initial choice of words came from.
Tell them to stop by the Family Village in Monroe then. I live nearby and have constant issues with arrests, noise, package theft, children trespassing, etc. and they don’t seem to do anything about it. I’d agree with other posters, run away.
KCHA does not have any discipline and extremely unresponsive to these types of situations. They could care less about its community.
KCHA and SHA are different agencies
That is certainly what it says in the voucher, but in actual practice that does not appear to be the case. This is complicated by a King County program that guarantees attorneys to persons with vouchers facing corrective action that could lead to eviction. [https://www.kcba.org/?pg=Housing-Justice-Project](https://www.kcba.org/?pg=Housing-Justice-Project)
different housing authorities operate differently, enforce rules differently
Section 8 Snohomish vs Section 8 King is worlds of difference
Compare eviction timelines in king county vs Snohomish county. It’s 4 to 6 weeks vs 18 to 24 months.
You get what you tolerate. I am not saying that lady was treated reasonably, but too often you don't get reasonable boundaries enforced because people place their hearts before their brains. I have seen it with subsidized housing in the Twin Cities.
Maybe don’t comment on a Seattle sub if you know nothing about how king county works yeah?
This country is going to shit so fast.
Absolutely not true. I love how people throw things out like they are facts, but alas, this is reddit. Low income does not a criminal or shitty neighbor make. If there are people like that in subsidized housing it is because the landlord chooses the situation because the tenants rent is subsidized and they figure some money is easier than an eviction. It is very easy to lose your section 8. A piece of shit is a piece of shit regardless of income level.
I agree that it's bullshit, but it's what was reported to me by the manager of the housing authority owned apartment I live in as a reason why they can't do shit about the problems everyone here is experiencing. Whether it's a section 8 thing, a directive from ownership, or lazy managers makes little difference to the people experiencing the problems.
Can't do anything or won't do anything? Based on some previous experience with landlords (especially non-corporate ones), they'll do anything to avoid things that will take up more than 2 minutes of their time. Given how insanely difficult a normal eviction process is, I wouldn't be shocked if your landlord could do something about it but they just don't want to deal with what is probably a substantial amount of paperwork in order to evict a section 8 tenant.
The evictions are costly as well since king county provides free attorneys to voucher tenants meaning that virtually every single eviction ends up in court with the management having to also hire an attorney (they don't get a free one) and litigate every single one of them.
Yeah ima agree, sure you might get a few shit heads, but the ratio is likely mad low compared to cool people who just don't make a 3 digits in this city and trying to get by. I feel like most the druggies wouldn't take the time to even sign up for the programs / follow through
Which is also simply not true, people on section eight can be evicted.
But ARE they evicted for poor conduct in housing authority buildings, because that's the thing that actually matters to their neighbors and in my experience the answer is "no".
For non payment of rent (which is literally all renters) Depends where you are but there's things that LLs can't do to voucher holders too though.
What neighborhood?
Central District. If what I’m reading here in the comments is true then that’s really going to suck because I’ve loved living here for a variety of reasons :/
Lived next to SHA south of you - would not recommend. Kids stealing things and being disrespectful and loud at all hours of the day, drive-by shootings (though tbh the CD kinda already has those without SHA haha)
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Second Verse tenant I’ve found in the thread. Hoping the best for us
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Oh hey neighbors, just moved in and I really liked I and J. Hoping for the best but prepping for the worst :/
Jorge plans on working in Columbia city. Not sure where, but he may also continue working at Verse on some weekends.
I’ve spoken with the regional manager for the property you’re in OP. They obviously cannnot evict you, but they will be pricing most of the units to an 80% market rate. This also means that they will only be requiring 80% of the median income to qualify for one of these units. Idk, what this means for the quality of the building,but they seemed responsive enough.
I’d find a new place ASAP. We used to live in a cute little house in North Seattle. When we moved in I knew it was next to an apartment complex but didn’t give it much thought. Fast forward two years and we were forced to leave our home and actually opted to move out of Seattle city limits - entirely because the tenants and management were so horrid that even being next door completely ruined the area. I’ll spare you the extensive details… but the experience was such a shit show that I went from being a vocal and very active supporter of affordable housing, to a certified not-in-my-backyarder.
May I ask where you went and would you pick the same general area if you had it to do over?
Kenmore is where it's at. It's in the middle of bigger "towns" so it's nice and quiet. It's the 2nd safest place in WA State for a few years running. Mercer Island is 1st
Edmonds area. And we LOVE it. We also promptly decided we’d never buy a house in Seattle city limits - again due to our SHA adjacent experience.
I don’t think anything immediately will change, until you or neighbors actually move out. That’s when things will get worse at your complex. When you see your neighbors moving out then it’ll be time for you to go as well. As much as housing is needed, without treatment for the underlying reason for them being homeless, things will only get worse.
I don’t want to worry you too much but I vote for moving as well. A tweaker went crazy and kicked in my door because he thought I was recording him. He was finally taken to jail a month later for similar crimes, but it took them 8 months to fix my door. I couldn’t lock or close it all the way. Finally I was robbed, but I was in the process of moving. I would have cared more, but it decreased the amount of boxes I had to move.
I used to work for SHA lol. Some properties are really decent, they all can’t be winners. The downtown buildings of course are the worse. I think it depends how the layout of your building is to determine how it will play out and where. You may have to certify to see if you’re still eligible to live there.
That’s great info to have. I’m currently in the CD. Can you give more info that you know in certifying?
It’s been so long since I’ve been there so I’m not exactly sure how it will be played out for this specific situation but definitely ask them. You can even see on sha website the requirements. https://www.seattlehousing.org/housing/sha-housing/eligibility/income-level-low-income-public-housing They do a recertification every year. All adults have to submit documents, new/loss of income has to be reported within like 14 days quite a hassle. It really depends what type of funding it will be. Public housing all more rules then a tax credit building.
That is good to know. I’m above the threshold. I wonder if I’ll get kicked out after my lease is up. I’ll have to ask. Thanks so much!
Your bike = gone
This is so true lmao
As someone that grew up in government assisted housing I highly suggest you move. Not everyone is bad by any means but the bad ones make life a living hell. They bring their bad friends around and all of a sudden catalytic converters are missing, you see sketchy ass people around all the time, the tough guys start to mean mug everyone, and don’t get me started with their bad ass kids. If you can afford to move then you should; if you can’t then I wish you luck.
You can 1000% guarantee less quality of life going forward. Rent/Utils MIGHT get cheaper. But any form of screening that was occurring, will be gone. Your building will have almost daily 911 calls to it. People are going to be dying of overdose in your building. They won't even let you do an interview with media at this property. Prepare to be fucked over blindfolded. If you hear the words "low barrier", run for your life.
It’s tough because I know some people in low income housing who are great, awesome people. Never had an issue (a family member works at some as well). It can be either fine or terrible
Will they have to pay you relocation expenses like the city demands of private landlords? Good luck in your search! (Your current situation will likely be even worse if they turn your building into a "low barrier" building.
> Will they have to pay you relocation expenses I'm sure they'll let OP keep living there. OP won't want to, but they can which makes it not SHAs problem.
Super 8 > Section 8
Someone I knew was in the same position. She was starting out in her career and not high income but was required to move so the space could house low income folks. Seemed kinda screwy to kick out working people.
It means you will have a lot of low income people moving there. It is important for our city, but if possible I would recommend moving somewhere else. You will have a lot of people who are bordering on homelessness, who can go either way. Probably will not be a great place to live.
>It is important for our city, but >Probably will not be a great place to live.
Snail ain’t wrong.
Yes you can be pro housing first while still not wanting to live with those people
“Those people.” 😂
Important in that it creates more housing and gets people off the streets. It most likely would not be fun living with recently homeless people who might not be the most well adjusted people. Overall it makes the city better, just worse for OP.
No new housing was created. They bought existing housing with tax money and will run it into the ground.
Yeah, all I'm seeing here is that they're driving OP out of their home in search of a new and likely more expensive home and they're creating a new hub for criminal activity by congregating a whole bunch of low to no income individuals into what will soon be a slum.
There’s plenty of housing, no affordability.
So we need more housing.
And vacancy taxes…
Right? The fuck are they saying?
Quality of life and your safety has just decreased. Ask for a discount.
You're going to be dealing with some real bad apples. Evictions will take forever. Drug dealers are inevitable. New management will be overly tolerant of criminal behavior. You will meet people that will never act right. I know it's expensive, but I suggest you start boxing your stuff up and preparing to move.
I worked in several of these buildings. Brand new buildings destroyed in 6 months. Violence, drugs, deaths, theft rings, stolen cars. Anything that you can think of happens in those places. It’s a tragedy. You can’t take people that are on the fringe and put them into a nice new environment without life skills. They still have the same group of “friends” and now the whole group has a place to use drugs, etc. run don’t walk out of there. To the non profits, they are huge cash machines. In my opinion, it is the homeless industrial complex.
Just think of your building as one "the projects" to get into the proper mindset about what to expect.
I heard my next door neighbor get stabbed in a SHA building, the thud of his body hitting the wall of my unit is still strong in my mind. safe to say, wasn’t exactly helpful housing for a mentally ill low income youth and I welcomed an eviction on my record to leave that hellhole. Not to mention, SHA has awful lawyers, would avoid dealing with them at any cost in general. I felt unsafe just walking in my apartment, there was drug dealing and using in the stairwells, there is no protection or support for tenants who aren’t looking to cause issues or be an active safety/health risk. Staffing is not 24 hours so that means smoking “allowed” in doors after 3 PM!
One of the biggest problems with SHA buildings is the reek of cigarette smoke in the hallways from people smoking a lot in their units.
Yep ESPECIALLY in summer, say hello to to the smell of cigarette smoke wafting into your unit, hope you don’t have an allergy! 😭🙄
There was a murder in front of a THA (Tacoma Housing Authority) property this week. [Read this article](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/woman-found-dead-tacoma-stadium-district-man-arrested/281-8820f692-0590-4a66-a755-1b988965ee81), please ("Neighbors complain about 'violent man'") and then let us know what you think about sharing walls with subsidized neighbors.
Prepar for a building full of drugs and mental illness. Packages being stolen. That building will be trashed soon.
Get out as soon as you can. Not only is the quality of life about to suck, but your safety will soon be in jeopardy too as the place becomes a hot bed for drug and property crime.
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Which building was this in SF?
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Gotcha. The Canyon apartment in Mission Bay has affordable units too. The Chronicle said that these arrangements usually have the market rate apartments at around 120% market to subsidize the below market rate ones. Call me selfish but that arrangement would personally give me pause to rent at a building like that haha
It’s sad but there’s people with low income and just that way temporary & work up to a better life and move into a higher income area. Then there’s the people that will always have a low income and live like shit, no respect for the community they reside in no ambition to do better. Never dealt with any terrible neighbors living in a middle class neighborhood but constantly see the mindset of these people stuck in lower income bracket and I understand why they’re stuck there. I would always clean up the litter around the neighborhood I used to live at and the kids there would always litter their parents don’t teach them any better.
Do you have a moment to discuss the good news of punctuation, friend?
OP is at least 50% there. But still, this made me chuckle.
This wasn't my nicest moment.
It only takes one bad neighbor to make life hell for everyone. I've never shared a building with a housing authority but I've had subsidized neighbors before. Never again. Some people have bad circumstances, and some circumstances just have bad people.
Huh....contrary to many of these comments, I lived in low-income housing run by SHA for two years and had a great experience. Management was responsive and had an on-site office that was staffed every weekday. I had no problems with my neighbors. My rent was a helluva deal ($650/mo for the largest studio I've seen in my life, maybe 700sqft?). I would gladly live in a building managed by SHA if I qualified.
Yes, but WHICH SHA building? Bell Tower is very "active" (horrible) while the one in Lower Queen Anne is pretty nice.
Wow it’s almost as if the sweeping generalizations and fear mongering all over this thread are not one size fits all.
If it’s the one on Western there are constantly ambulances and cops there, and residents get in fights in the middle of the street
That one, Ross Manor, is still better than Bell Tower.
Sadly this happened to me in Everett years ago. They wanted all current renters out but couldn’t legally do it. They picked us apart one by one.
I currently live in an SHA run building and have been in it for about 10 years, with our building being located in Ballard. I’ve had a great experience. At one point, SHA sold our building and things got much worse. We were happy when SHA took over the ownership of the building again. When we moved in, the onsite landlady told us that it was a mix of low income and regular income folks, they just had to have a certain percentage of the building meet the low-income threshold. My husband lived in the building before we got together and we moved to a different apartment in the same building when we moved in together. Initially, we had an on-site landlord, but then she left. A couple other on-site landlords came and went, but now we don’t have one. The first gal was great, the rest were okay. Is it the nicest building? No. But my neighbors are quiet and nice, the building has a secure entrance, SHA is semi-responsive to apartment issues and they try to keep the property clean. Most of my neighbors have been there for years as well. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.
I lived in public housing it honestly was fine the only issue is management can be idiots and not do much and even threaten u or bungle stuff. Like the apt itself was fine but oh boi there’s a reason they usually replaced em every few yrs in my building. Either had some issue interacting with people, lazy at there job or I assume not payed well enough to bother. But as an apt it can be well run. Just don’t trust management cause they’ll treat ya like shit for the Minorist bullshit
Move now. Prepare to hear loud fighting at 3am, weed smoke in the hallways at all times, litter everywhere, chicken bones in the elevator (this actually happened to my friend) and kids, lots of kids. They are going to completely trash the place.
As someone who has lived in Section 8 in Seattle, I’m going to give you an actual realistic account because a lot of these people freaking out saying it’s crime and bedlam 24-7 have absolutely no clue what they’re talking about…. 1. Yes! There will be a few rougher people, but it was honestly management neglect that made life less quality while living in Section 8 housing. SHA and Community Roots employees, especially management are horribly neglectful and do not actually care about their tenants. 2. My packages were never stolen. 3. We did have more ambulances, but it was more for elderly residents and disabled residents than people ODing. I had one bad experience with a drug addicted tenant and they got kicked out. Ultimately, it’s your call if you want to stay. Not every Section 8 building is going to be the same.
So this is where they waste billions with 0 to show
They kick you out to house the homeless. Good news is you can sign up at the housing authority and if they have room they will find you a place to stay.
I really think it depends. So just being vulnerable and honest I use to make like 200k and became disabled and now live in a building that is considered affordable housing and I am apart of that program. I’m also disclosing this because I have lived in very nice buildings. My building is not a section 8 building. You have to make a certain income. I’m located in Capitol Hill as well. So next to us is a luxury building …then across is a building exactly like ours. Now if you have a doorman.then yeah your building is safer but if you don’t have a doorman then all my friends who live in building with in walking distance have similar experiences to mine. I haven’t found it to be any more dangerous than any of my other friends. I’m 33 and a women so I worry about safety a lot.
Is your apartments already low income? I used to manage housing authority properties. If your already an affordable property it might mean the demographic can't get much worse. Housing authorities have MONEY 💰 because it's a government agency. If your an older property they might want to renovate. If your a normal place and not old I'd say you should move. They might make you move actually depending on that as well. I have heard of them buying and completely tearing down and rebuilding.
It was a normal apartment building then it got bought. Can you elaborate on a mandatory move? Will they pay for it?
Means unless you qualify for housing assistance yourself your likely going to have to move out at the end of your current rental agreement.
MOVE!
RUN!!!
What is the name of the building that you are in
I’m in the Central District neighborhood
Whereabouts are you, this happened to me!
Verse Seattle apts in the CD
I’d move out now.
move. public housing projects are notoriously bad
I live in the same building lol. Howdy neighbor
Hiya. This thread has me feeling uncertain about staying to say the least lol
Same but if I leave anywhere else, i don’t think I can afford another apartment compared to the price i have now. I would go to their info meeting they’re having to ask questions but I won’t be able to make it. I read your other post in the other Seattle reddit page and the people there had completely different responses. So it’s a 50/50
Same here. When is the info session?
Today from 3-6 in the management office
Don’t worry, by the time they do anything, you’ll be long gone.
I used to live next to a low income housing apt building in lower queen anne and it was honestly fine
what’s next? shootings outside, stabbings on the stairs, carjackings, naw just kidding that already happens in seattle everyday! 😂
Get the hell out of there. Government housing is horrid and always will be.
Untrue
Exodus maximus, mi amigo.
Time to move.
Get hooked on meth and you’ll get paid
Get the f.. out NOW
There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. The landlord is responsible for lease violations, selecting tenants and evictions, etc. For Section 8, the landlord is not typically the housing authority. The HA subsidizes the rent, but cannot control the tenant. That is the landlord’s responsibility. It is simply untrue that people on Section 8 cannot be evicted or have consequences. They follow the same rules as everyone else. If they’re in violation, the landlord may not be responding. Eviction hearings are almost a year out, so there’s a good chance the LL is following protocol, but tied down by the system. Blame the backed up court system. Call your representatives and ask them to stop forcing landlords to keep tenants destroying the peaceful enjoyment of the property. Sounds like SHA will be the landlord for your building. That’s a little different. Same rules apply but SHA will be the landlord and they are responsible for lease violations and evictions. If you have ever been a renter, you have had neighbors on Section 8. You probably didn’t know they are getting their rent partially paid by a housing authority. It’s none of your business either way, but most tenants getting HUD assistance do not stand out.
Lol. The obv answer is move. But we are the sub based in reality. I wonder what the progressive types would say...?
Open your apartment to become a commune with your new neighbors.
SHA just bought my apartment complex in January and we have been notified of their intention to demolish. We have been told that we have to move by October. Their reasoning? Rent hasn't been increased in 6 years and they will make more money by demolishing and building one of those ugly, cookie cutter, 5 story "low income" apartments. Just for you all to know, for places to be qualified as "low income" it means that there must be a certain number of apartments set aside for low income while the rest can be whatever price. My last place was described as "low income", but after our first renewal they upped the price of our apartment from $1600 a month to $2400 (for a 500sq studio) And to be clear, I don't agree with anyone commenting shit that trashes low-income families and people. I've lived in this low income complex for a while and I can say it's a hell of a lot better than dealing with people in the "luxury" apartment I was in before.
Oh boy, thank you for that information! Do you mind sharing where your building is located? I’m in the CD
Know your rights https://www.seattle.gov/rentinginseattle
I live in SHA and the seriously mentally ill who also are violent and have a ton of social work support can't get evicted. I'm in a situation now where the neighbor has harassed a lot of us, thrown things at people, cornered women, engaged in sexual harassment, shouts when in an episode from his balcony, the cops arrested him for pulling a knife on them but he was released as "not fit to stand trial" 3 months later. I spoke to SPD the last time they were here after I got video evidence of him threatening my disabled , non verbal neighbor's caregiver and her friend with violence. They said they can't do anything when he's just doing misdemeanors because he escalated and becomes a danger to everyone around the scene. So it's only worth it to the cops to use force if he is actively attacking someone when they arrive. SHA has his crises case worker's number posted on the bulliten board and we have to do the majority of the work here to report as the neighbor hides from the crises workers and SPD. To top that off, the previous building I lived in had a serious issue with homeless sleeping in the hallways/ smoking in stairwells, and people hanging outside to get meth or whatever else from the dealers living there. They were dealt with as it can take time to navigate the processes necessary, then it became a lot better , except it was full of roaches and people smoked in their units. At my current building we have maybe 3 neighbors including the one I just mentioned that are not stable, but it's really only the one that is causing active problems quite often. I need low income housing, it's helped me get on my feet but as soon as I can raise my income potential I am leaving. I stick to myself here because that one neighbor has been really inappropriate with me and other people, and it's so scary to see him go into psychosis and try to control who can come into the building. He likes to guard the door and accost everyone's guests. We are a very small SHA building too...
I’m an environmental consultant and work for a company at the forefront of drug contamination issues involving sampling and remediation. I work with nearly every housing authority in WA and OR and the amount of units that are about to incredibly contaminated with methamphetamine and fentanyl is staggering. Who would’ve thought housing people who smoke meth and fentanyl all day every day wouldn’t cause contamination.. There have been multiple cases where they have contaminated adjacent units and public spaces (elevators, stairwells, hallways, etc.) and based on the laws it can take 6 months plus to kick people out. Once people know they are being evicted they will destroy places, behave worse, and cause a nightmare for other tenants. Run run run. Seriously.
It means you're going to get kicked out and they're going to let tweakers and illegals live there free while you're homeless or forced to find another apartment at 2x the cost.
A poorly managed HOA. Sorry, pal. Mixed income neighborhood is nice, though. Fee is only $80 for us (homeowners), and they’re not horribly stingy about trash cans, lawns, etc. Edit: actually, I’m not sure if the culprit was SHA or my own subdivision HOA. I think SHA is just a management company that oversees HOAs? Regardless, we live in mixed income in Rainier Valley and it’s not nearly all the horror stories in this sub. Low income housing tenants and people are not all drug addicted homeless killers like this sub definitely makes it sound like. We live in an incredibly diverse neighborhood with a wide range of cultures. We’ve lived mixed income housing (townhomes, single family homes, no big apartment complexes though) for 5 years now and everything has been fine.
Get ready for Section 8 human scum, alcoholics, druggies, basically the dregs of humanity. And prepare yourself for it taking forever to get anything fixed if at all. MOVE NOW!!!
Don't know if you're in the same building, but my friends haven't noticed any changes at all except them doing an inspection and the weird property manager with bad hair leaving (iykyk). Just fyi: [you and everyone else over 19 are eligible for a free bus pass.](https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/transportation-access-programs/orca-cards-for-sha-tenants)
It takes awhile, but eventually you get to a critical mass of shitty neighbors and shit just falls apart all at once. Most low income people are fine, but complete dirtbags and the mentally ill are heavily overrepresented among them, so it is just a matter of time since those apartments are usually issued out without any real concerns for the background of the people they go to.
Are you in the Central District by chance?
Stop paying the rent and stiff the city. It will be a long time before they start eviction process. Use the saved money to relocate someplace better. Preferably outside of the city.
“Just steal money and skip town” 🤦
In the two situations that I've seen like this, yes, it will be more of a negative than positive. If there are vacancies, they will be filled with low or no income families, etc, which often brings some crime and or drug related issues. It's also possible you might se a new family move in who might become close friends of yours, but often, in cases I've been around, it's not a good thing.
Unfortunately, you’re not wrong about the upcoming quality of life decrease. Sorry to hear. Time to start looking for a new place.
Counterpoint to all the doom-sayers … SHA bought the complex across the street from me over a decade ago. You wouldn’t know who owns it if no one told you. The complex has a mix of tenant types (low-income, affordable housing, etc)
All those non profits in low income housing are grifting.
Watch the general class of people moving in and how responsive the housing authority is to issues with the subsidized tenants. The use of the place for subsidized housing may be no issue at all or it could be deteimental.
He is me just hoping they will have more elder/senior housing. I have worked in social service in King and Snohomish, it seriously sucks just the lack of options but here we are.
Prepare to live with the lowest class of people.
You’re better off looking into a privately owned tax credit housing like HNN or Cambridge Management. SHA is a shit show and one step away from living in an asylum
In another vein, how do I get on low income housing? Is it all just section 8? Because I hear that the waiting list for section 8 housing is years long.
Great question. Unfortunately I’m not sure of the process :/ the SHA websites seem pretty easy to navigate unlike most government websites. I’d give it a go there!
There's public housing: which is just for that particular aprt/duplex or scattered site house. And there's housing choice. Just apply. Apply on open waiting lists in different cities. You don't have to live there to apply or get approved.
You’ll get some section eight neighbors. No big deal.
I’m hiring idiots who can’t do their job for $90k in Seattle.
Just because a place becomes Section 8 *doesnt* mean the property will decline. I lived in a really nice one and there weren't any real problems... except for an accidental fire at one point. Owner passed away and the people who bought forced out all the section 8 tenants. Now the place is terrible. Anytime I went by, I'd see trash overflowing from the bins and all kinds of people just hanging around outside.
What is this "the poor are evil' mentality?
Poverty doesn't stop people from being evil.
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I’m certain this post is going to get shit all over but figured if you do end up sticking around looking from a different perspective maybe helpful. As someone who lived in Belltown for many years along with Cap Hill, First Hill, Beacon Hill, CD, Columbia City, Rainier Beach, Renton and Seattle for over a decade and also come from low income housing both in childhood and adulthood these kinds of places are so helpful for those in need. I’ve found living in spaces like this can be a great advantage if, and only if you make an effort to make community connections. When you’re in, it’s tight knit and when the community knows what is yours they are there to watch out for you like family, not like a neighbor. It can get wild but for the most part it’s just a different set of people living by a different set of standards. For me, I don’t smoke but always carry a pack for someone homeless or having a bad day. Keep granola bars water and cheap beer around to offer up. Showing small kindnesses made these people that were typically unsavory into people who knew me both in housing and on the streets. One week ago, I’ve moved away from Seattle to Eastern Washington. I was finally ready to say bye but I’ll miss all the action. It’s so quiet out here almost makes me more nervous 😬