‘We can’t survive like this’: Lake City business owner says hosting Tent City is crippling neighborhood

A Lake City business owner claims the neighborhood has struggled since hosting a local homeless population, with the spillover in crime largely affecting the city’s businesses.

Linda Pruitt joined “The John Curley Show” and detailed the rampant crime that has plagued her Seattle neighborhood after Tent City 4’s overextended stay.

Lake City homeless issues

Tent City 4 was previously located at the Seattle Mennonite Church in Lake City, home to more than 100 homeless residents, which recently moved to the Lake City Community Center in May.

“We’ve had a significant amount of new development, much of it intended for low-income housing, and also services that are intended for the homeless, unhoused, and struggling part of our population,” Pruitt said.

Many different services can be provided for the homeless population, which include housing, food, showers, and substance abuse treatment.

“As Lake City residents, we want to be good hosts, but we feel a little overwhelmed by what we have been experiencing here over the last decade,” Pruitt said. “The support from the city side to help us.”

In 2024, Washington had the third-highest homeless population in the nation, behind California and New York, The Seattle Times reported.

“The availability of these services attracts bad actors,” Pruitt said. “We need support from the city council, from the mayor, from our police department to respond to growing public safety needs.”

Pruitt mentioned that past business owners have left altogether as a result of the homeless crimes in Lake City.

“Many owners, unfortunately, have left our district because they just couldn’t make it work anymore,” Pruitt said. “Too many issues of vandalism, break-ins, or declining business because people don’t feel safe, they don’t come here to shop any longer.”

Pruitt reported that residents of Lake City have been uncomfortable outside of their homes.

“We have a huge immigrant population, and there are wonderful immigrant families with children who have come here to make a better life for themselves,” she said. “They’re scared to go outside. It’s not safe to take their children to the playground because they don’t know what could happen.”

Pruitt’s ideas for a better future in Lake City

Pruitt is calling on Seattle to aid her neighborhood.

“We can’t survive like this; we need help from the city right now,” Pruitt said. “We have some empty buildings right here in downtown Lake City that could easily house a satellite police precinct. I’d like to see that happen immediately.”

Pruitt recalled a specific incident where local police failed to hold a homeless man accountable.

“I just heard today that one of the big commercial properties here that is vacant had a break-in,” she shared. “It took two and a half hours for the police to arrive, and it was a mentally ill homeless man, and essentially nothing happened because he was mentally ill. They didn’t have a place to take him, and so they turned him back out on the street. How does this help our business district?”

Pruitt expressed that the city has provided good hospitality, but the homeless in the area have overstayed their welcome.

“There’s no reason they should be here any longer. We have done our part in being good hosts, and they need to find another location,” she said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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