Encampments as neighbors: Encampment location and proximity to amenities among Seattle, WA’s unhoused population

Abstract

In the United States, no jurisdiction guarantees the basic conditions necessary for health, such as stable housing, even as homelessness continues to intensify. King County, Washington, the twelfth largest U.S. county, hosts the fourth largest population of people experiencing homelessness, many of whom reside in Seattle. Discouraging encampments and providing shelter beds has proven ineffective. We investigate how encampments’ proximity to basic amenities compares to those in emergency shelters and rental units. We analyze rich spatial, administrative, and outreach worker data from Seattle’s Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) REACH on individuals living in tents and on the street from 2016 to 2022. We discuss the implications of providing effective support for people living unhoused and provide, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive and recent study of neighborhood amenities proximity among the unsheltered population in Seattle, WA. We find that, in most neighborhoods, encampment locations were similarly located in proximity to a range of amenities as were rental units. Additionally, encampments were located closer than shelters to certain amenities, especially food-related ones, excluding food banks, suggesting that they may offer opportunities for meeting basic needs, and accessing WiFi. We conclude that housing options that feel like homes rather than institutions are crucial in supporting the unhoused population. Our findings suggest that emergency shelters should be more integrated into neighborhoods and better reflect the proximity to amenities of tent encampments and rentals.

Recommended citation: Sutton, A., Walker, W., Hagopian, A., Almquist, Z.W. (accepted). Encampments as neighbors: Encampment location and proximity to amenities among Seattle, WA’s unhoused population. Cities.
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