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Comment by allthecybers | Hacker News Reader

> Actively avoiding human shit or fresh vomit every morning on the sidewalks and keeping an eye out for needles everywhere (watch where you sit on the bus) really just leaves you tired and unsympathetic.

In addition to the dump dodging and vomit avoidance, you have to keep an eye on every shifty character in Starbucks or on the street to make sure you aren't going to be another victim of an intentional or inadvertent stabbing. Its getting to the point that for the safety of myself and my loved ones I would recommend commuting by vehicle and make walking around the city the exception rather than the norm.

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I think also knowing which streets to avoid entirely are good too. Each street has its own vibe and always has. 3rd and pike was bad way back in 2000's in ways that are similar to now. The ambient level of visibly homeless, and more importantly those in actively crisis has gone way up IMO--and you can't really avoid that.

Be interesting and depresisng to make map for people to use like that but I am not sure how it wouldn't devolve into fearmongering like nextdoor does.

I feel bad for the occasional wide eyed family from the burbs I see walking streets even I wouldn't dare tread on from my car or lyft.

edited typo

ya there is always some scary characters around McStabbys/StabDonalds at 3rd and Pine. I have trouble following the logic when a company decides to plop a corporate office down in the middle of the Seattle sketch corridor. Witnessed a straight up drug deal go down as people with corporate lanyards walked past.

Hey, I used to work there in the 90s, it’s always been like that. We had off duty cops staffing the place along with a frequently used banned list. And this was when it was two stories, I think it must be easier these days given that they smartly got rid of the second floor dining area.

Worked at an office on 2nd and Pine for a few years - every summer, if you opened the windows, you’d get a steady wafting of crack pipe smoke coming in the building. You could tell if any cops were nearby because people outside would be singing or whistling as a warning call. Good times.

The problem is that 3rd is where all the downtown bus stops are. If you commute by transit, it's almost impossible to ignore. Your only option is to rush to the next block and hope nothing goes wrong.

Yup my solution as a fellow bus user on 3rd is to try time it right so I am not out there for too long.

Had a friend get stabbed on Muni three times when he tried to help a woman being sexually assaulted by a homeless man.

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