Did You See Heartbreaking "Seattle Is Dying" Documentary on KIMA?

Is Seattle dying? Is Seattle already dead? According to a new investigative report from KOMO News that was re-broadcast in Yakima and Tri-Cities Wednesday (January 13) night, the heartbreaking answer might already be known.

As I was scrolling through my personal social media sites the other day, I noticed a significant number of people posting and commenting on the 90-minute special titled, "The Fight For the Soul of Seattle". I thought I had already watched it on YouTube but, apparently, this video was an update from a piece done by journalist Eric Johnson from March 2019 called, "Seattle Is Dying". KOMO-TV is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. They also own stations in Yakima and the Tri-Cities. Those stations are:
* KIMA
* KEPR
*KUNW

When I got home, I popped it on and was heartbroken by what I saw and heard. I showed it to my wife and she was horrified. You see, we were both born in the Seattle area (me, Lake City, she, Federal Way) and still have tons of family and friends on the west side of the state. Because of the pandemic, and life in general, we haven't been over there nearly as regularly as we used to. Maybe it's just as well after seeing the squalor that many are living in -- especially in downtown Seattle.

A couple of years ago, my wife and, then, 10-year-old son, went to a Mainers game on a Sunday afternoon. We bought some tickets but the gates weren't going to open for another couple of hours so we decided to park our car and walk up to Pioneer Square and along the pier. As we did, we noticed something that we hadn't before. The propensity of folks that were sleeping/passed out right in the middle of the sidewalk or on the threshold of the entrance to businesses was astounding. Mind you, it's not as if we had never seen this before but it was historically relegated to alleyways and such.

That was 5 years ago. It appears that it has gotten worse. Much worse, in Seattle.

How can it be fixed? I wish I had the answer as I still love Seattle and believe that it is one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the USA.

If you haven't seen the docs, I'll save you the trouble of having to look them up: