Camping Update May 11 2017

May 11, 2017
The New Chinatown Japantown Historic District in Old Town

NW Flanders between  NW 4th Avenue and 3rd Avenue is enjoying a moment of being nearly clear and clean. As it turns out our neighborhood is part of the "Clean and Safe District" which is also an organization. The Clean & Safe District "encompasses a 213-block area of downtown and is one of the oldest, largest and most successful business improvement districts in the nation. Businesses within this area elected to pay a fee to raise money that supplements publicly-financed services for neighborhood improvement, including cleaning, security, community justice services, market research and retail advocacy." Their accountability to people who live in such a district is unclear.

It turns out that all the reports on camping made to the City's One Point of Contact Campsite Reporting system had all been forwarded to Clean and Safe where they apparently landed in the garbage can. Finally, attention was turned on the organization and they finally responded by not only removing the campers but steam cleaning the street!  
A call from a landowner to the Mayor resulted in talk about a camp and loitering free zone being established with promises from Clean and Safe to keep the area clean and safe.  These photos taken this evening suggest it will  take diligence to keep the area clean.

All of this activity on the corner of NW Flanders and NW Third Avenue are around the Royal Palm Hotel owned, managed and operated by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare. The Royal Palm admits homeless individuals as residents once they have been diagnosed with a severe and persistent mental illness.


On the block where I live on NW 4th Avenue between Everette and Flanders the building that stands empty and neglected (it was once a Chinese restaurant) is also a home to folks.  Last year we fought off efforts for the landowner to rent to a Gentlemen's club.